New and Improved

So, here we are again. I thought I would take the summer off, and when I came back to my blog duties, I decided I needed a change. I was getting tired of the movie forum. Don't get me wrong, I will still be discussing my favorite obsession, but I just felt like I couldn't talk about anything else. I felt like it was a movie blog and I couldn't deviate from said course. So now I present to you Epileptic Monkeys. Those two words have made me laugh for so many years now. I can remember being a freshman in high school with my friends Jonathan Phillips and Andy Shinick talking about our band, The Epileptic Monkeys. To this day, Jon and I still talk about our band and this glorious title. And now that I am learning to play the guitar, I'm sure the dream will become a reality.

Well, lets catch up. In short, I turned 25, went to Canada for the fourth of July and Vanessa's grandmother's 80th birthday, spent a week in Marco Island, FL just before the onslaught of hurricanes, and had an operation because of a hernia. I just can't decide which part was the most fun. I got to see my niece a few months ago, that's always a delight. I finally got to meet the psycho cat named after one of the greatest video games of all time. And as for movies, I don't even want to think about how many I've seen in the past few months. Especially what with the hernia and having to lay around for a few weeks, I think I watched anything that came on HBO. Vanessa always makes fun of me, saying that I will watch anything, and it's true. I'll watch anything once. And once I've started it, I have the hardest time turning away from it until it's done. It doesn't matter how bad it is, I'll watch it. For example, I sat through What A Girl Wants a few weeks ago. This teenage comedy is about a young American girl who learns that her real father is an important barrister in London, and part of the Royal Family. So the girl goes to visit him, him not knowing anything about having a daughter, and she turns his high style fancy life upside down with her wild American ways. They of course get along great, everything is going good, then he turns on her because his political career is going down the drain, she goes back home to the good ole USofA, he follows, they make up, and then he rekindles his romace with her mother. Why did I just tell you all of this? To prove a point, I'll watch anything. It's really sad. And by the way, that movie is about the worst movie I've ever seen. Horrible acting (even from Colin Firth whose usually pretty good), horrible story, horrible ending.

On the other end of the spectrum is Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Probably the greatest movie of the year in my mind. Outstanding performances from a great cast which include: Jim Carey, Kate Winslet, Mark Ruffalo, Elijah Wood, and Kirsten Dunst. Short synopsis, the main character has a procedure done to erase all memories of a former love from his mind. Most of the movie takes place in his dreams starting with the most recent memories of her and going backward. In the most recent ones they fight alot and generally aren't happy with each other, hence the term, former love. But as the memories go back, he begins reliving the good times, and he realizes he doesn't want them gone, so he begins trying to hide in the deepest recesses of his brain to save the memories of her. The film is written by Charlie Kaufman who is the greatest screenplay genius in a long while. It's only his third film, and the other two, Being John Malchovich and Adaptation, are just as brilliant. What I love about him is his originality and his sheer imagination.

Thats all I've got for now. I'll try to keep the posts a little more current. My apologies to all my fans. Until next time, how 'bout them Sox.

Movie Recommendation: Second Hand Lions - starring two greats, Robert Duvall and Michael Caine. Oh yeah, and that annoying kid who sees dead people.