More Entertainment Columnists

• J.A. Montalbano: At the movies, having the time of your life
• Lisa Abeyta: Snippy swimmer deep-sixes my trip to pool
• Tribune staffers pin their hopes on these fall films

MOST RECENT TRIB STORIES

• ABQTrib.com to remain available
  08:48 a.m., February 25, 2008
• Congressman is indicted
  08:37 a.m., February 23, 2008
• Series of attacks target Green Zone
  08:36 a.m., February 23, 2008
• Iran is defying U.N., agency says
  08:35 a.m., February 23, 2008
• Waterboarding approval probed
  08:34 a.m., February 23, 2008

TRIB IN THE BLOGOSPHERE*

• Ty Murray Invitational thrills fans in Albuquerque
• Is Rome Burning?
• Ominous Skies
• The Road to Invalidation
• Albuquerque company participates in “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition”

*Note: The Tribune does not create and is not responsible for the blogosphere's headlines and stories. These links to blogs talking about ABQTrib.com are automatically generated. Use them at your own risk.

STORY TOOLS

• E-mail story
• Comments
• iPod friendly
• Printer friendly

SHARE THIS STORY [?]

Ugh! George Clooney.

Can't sexy be fresher?

Call me a traitor to my generation. But when People magazine landed in the mailbox, and George Clooney was named Sexiest Man Alive - again - I groaned. Too boring. Too predictable. Too old.

Come on, People. In the 20 years of Sexiest Man, all but one, Denzel Washington, was a white guy. All but one, JFK Jr., was an actor. And all, no exceptions, were pretty-boys, perfectly pumped up, moussed and dressed by Armani. Harry Hamlin? Mark Harmon? Ben Affleck? Matthew McConaughey? Please.

Men like to think they, unlike women, get sexier with age. Phooey. Clooney, once he got past the mullet, was never hotter than on "Sisters" and "ER," nine years ago, when People first named him Sexiest Man.

People's editors are far too enamored of vintage wine and aged cheese. About half its sexiest were well into their 40s, 50s and even 60s - Richard Gere, Harrison Ford, Nick Nolte, Sean Connery, to name a few. Clooney is 45. Most of the rest were firmly in their 30s.

Mix it up, People. Sexiest Man is a touchstone. Let it re-examine what it means to be sexy.

Give me faces with character, men of substance, some youth. Instead of Brad Pitt, Ryan Gosling. Naveen Andrews for Tom Cruise, Shia LeBeouf for Jude Law, Peter Sarsgaard for Pierce Brosnan, Gael Garcia Bernal for Patrick Swayze.

And if older is better, how about Alan Rickman, Lyle Lovett, Jon Stewart or Barack Obama?

Surprise me.

Nancy Salem

Yum! Charm and silver.

What's not to love?

George Clooney is not a mere mortal like the other men who walk this Earth. He's got that extra special something that keeps him hot.

Like the other older dudes who have made People magazine's Sexiest Man list, it seems the Academy Award winner just gets better with age.

Clooney's always been a cutie, heck I even liked him sporting a mullet on "Facts of Life," but it wasn't until that same hair gathered some silver in the temples that he reached uber-sexy status for me.

These days he seems more self-assured and he maintains his boyish charm even when getting hounded by paparazzi. He works hard and plays harder. He's well-respected and has lots of friends.

All those things, combined with his looks, make him one sexy older man.

The reason a lot of these younger, unconventional men/boys can't even make the list, let alone top it, is that they're totally not that hot, they take themselves and their "art" way too seriously and they don't appeal to the masses.

Clooney would probably cause grandmas in the Himalayas to swoon if they saw him on screen. Ryan Gosling, not so much.

As my mother likes to embarrass me by saying, "George Clooney can put his shoes under my bed anytime."

Mary-Ann McBride