I liked much of Judd Apatow‘s This Is 40, but in my unpublished review (to be posted in mid December) I say the following: “You know how Bill Maher goes on about the Republican bubble that rightwingers live inside of, that gelatinous membrane that keeps out all the facts and the general reality of things? That’s what I was feeling during the first hour or so of This Is 40. Like I was stuck inside a Westside Liberal Membrane for people who live north of San Vicente and west of Bundy.

“‘I’m not sure if I like these people very much,’ I was telling myself. ‘I think these people need to quit whining and complaining and basically take their fingers out of their asses and smell the breeze coming off the sea, and the daughters need to read the Baghavad Gita or go work on a horse ranch or go to Africa to help impoverished people. One way or another these fickle folks need to climb out of their bubble and focus on something greater and more nourishing than their north-of-San Vicente, west-of-Bundy problems and frustrations.”