Shawn and I went to see Nacho Libre at the Sunday matinee. I loved it! I thought it was hilarious although Shawn did not think it was as funny as I.

Who does not think that the world of lucha libre is funny? Bizarre costumes, funny names, and the fact that all the styles are so ten-years-ago was depicted on the screen in its utmost detail. Jack Black longs to be a luchador even though he is a monk. His friend also cracked me up with his love of corn on a stick smothered in butter and sprinked with chile powder. The humor struck me as being similar to that of Napoleon Dynamite.

Shawn and I pondered about being luchadores for Halloween this year as we drifted off to sleep. I thought about being "La Pera", which means the pear and would definitely talk to my body shape in those polyester tights, but it is too close to "La Perra", which is a female dog. I also thought that I would make a good "Mantequilla", which means butter. It is also just a very funny word.

Shawn and I watched The Motorcycle Diaries on Saturday night. The film details a motorcycle journey undertaken by a young Che Guevara and his friend. It is a slow movie but it plays as would the Odyssey, where the two best friends are challenged to find food and love and fix their bike over and over again. Along the way, their adventures shape their feelings about politics and South America's people. I would recommend this movie but only for a thinking kind of evening.

Shawn and I watched Kung Fu Hustle last weekend, and I would definitely recommend this film. It is very silly and comical with some cool action and some great effects on top. The film takes place in a mythical 1930's Japan on the wrong side of the tracks. The main characters are working people - a landlady and her husband, a baker, a tailor and so on - interrupted by two lousy cons with dreams of becoming part of a vicious ax gang. Suspend disbelief and just enjoy this film!

As one of the South's premiere lepidopterists, Alan Chin Lee (Yes, our Alan!) has a beautiful new book out called Flying Flowers. You can get it at Amazon.com, or if you were one of the lucky ones to receive a copy for Christmas, write a review on Amazon about it! Alan even sent out his own butterfly Christmas cards! Check it out...

On Thursday night, Shawn and I went to see I Heart Huckabees, and frankly it was painful. There was a lot of stiff, robot acting and long, drawn-out speeches about philosophy. It was all topped off with some very crazy special effects and an absurd plot about existential detectives. These kinds of films make me wish that the movie theater had a money back guarantee.

Shawn, Mona and I watched Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind on Sunday afternoon. I really enjoyed it because it made me feel so happy that although these people were erasing each other's memories, they could finally realize what they had. To me, it was the triumph of true love! They even have a second chance to make things that much better!

Although the film is categorized as a comedy, it is more quirky and creative than funny. I was mortified rather than laughing at the fact that Joel would undergo what is essentially brain surgery in his home. Maybe it was the fact that the ones who were doing the procedure were so young? I was also left questioning Mary's motives in returning the tapes to everyone, who had had their memories erased at Lacuna. Finally, I kept wondering whether I would ever erase a portion of my memory and what portion that would be. Hmmmmm?

Shawn and I also finished watching Super Size Me this week. I really enjoyed this documentary and would recommend it to most. Essentially, the film is about Morgan Spurlock's one month McDonald's diet, and his subsequent health problems including weight gain, depression and decreased libido. As he progresses, there are MTV-style clips, which detail in cartoons how McNuggets are made and about obesity in the United States, as well as interviews with interesting people like the BigMac enthusiast and an older couple, who collect McDonald's memorabilia. Honestly, after watching the film, I never want to go to McDonald's or any other fast food chain again. If you love your BigMacs, don't watch it!

As an aside, check out the special features on the DVD. Morgan sets up a little experiment for eight weeks where he witnesses how hamburgers, fish sandwiches, and fries decompose...or not! Shocking!

On Wednesday, Shawn and I went to the movies after work and saw Team America: World Police. It was really funny, but definitely not for everybody. If you are an actor, an extreme flag-waver, country music lover or hate foul language, you will not enjoy this film. If you like South Park humor with a heapin' helpin' of politics and hilariously lame puppetry, you will love this film! Keep an eye out for the dangerous panthers (Winston's favorite)! The vomiting was overdone and stupid though. The puppet sex, which somehow almost rocketed this film to an NC-17 rating, was funny rather than sexy. (Can a puppet actually be pornographic?) The music was also a hoot! I am still singing the Team America theme song days later...

Yesterday evening, Shawn and I headed to the movie theater to watch Shaun of the Dead. The first thing we learned was that Wednesday at about 8 PM is the best time of the week to see a movie. We were the only two people in the theater! The movie was really funny, too! Shawn is a HUGE zombie movie fan, so he could identify the subtle and not-so-subtle references to other zombie movies. I particularly enjoyed the quick, dark humor of the two lovable and very English main characters. Their pub called "The Winchester" reminded me of Fado's back in the day - the answer to everything. The movie got a little slower towards the end, but the finish itself and prologue were like a nice dessert after a good meal. If you have not already, I would recommend checking this film out for silly laughs!

Before there was The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover, Peter Greenaway wrote and directed The Draughtman's Contract. In the film, an English noblewoman employs a haughty artist to paint portraits of her husband's estate in exchange for sex. The plot is filled with twists that you can spot a mile away and the kind of sharp English banter that one would experience at a duel. It was 103 minutes, which felt like 3 hours of watching a poorly-made History Channel period piece. The best part about this movie was a naked man (yes, full frontal), who poses in the garden as a wall or as a horseman on a statue - among other things. Everyone knows that he is there. In one scene, he is even chased away, but there is no explanation!

Another wrist-slitter, which I watched while Shawn was away was I Don't Know Jack, a documentary about Jack Nance, who is best-known as the lead in David Lynch's Eraserhead and as a character in many other David Lynch movies. In the documentary, lots of strange people recount boring stories of Jack. At the end, I knew that Jack was a sloppy drunk and probably accidentally killed himself. Just to make sure, I tortured myself watching the special feature about the one-eyed investigator, which was assigned to the case. He seemed to agree with me and even accused actor types of people of being terrible witnesses (probably true). It was the funniest part of this slow film.

On the flight back from Arizona, I finished Angels & Demons by Dan Brown. This is the main character, Robert Langdon's first adventure (i.e. before The Da Vinci Code). I did not consume the book as quickly as its successor, but I admit that I enjoyed it. There were some very interesting plot twists and a lot about what happens when a new Pope is elected. The book also resurrects the Illuminati, whose former members included Galileo and Bernini.

Whenever I know that I will be travelling for at least a week and renting a car, I always buy a CD that I have been wanting or one that simply looks good. This method gives me a chance to repeatedly enjoy the new CD without interference or influence of others, and then make up mind mind about it. It also shields me from the risks associated with finding a decent radio station in a place where I may not know of one.

On Thursday evening at the airport, I bought the new Beastie Boys CD To The 5 Boroughs. I had been wanting this CD for a while despite having watched their lackluster performance of "Ch-Check It Out" at the 2004 MTV Movie Awards. It is therefore no surprise to report that the CD has not grown on me yet even after having listened to it in its entirety four times now. The first thing that struck me was the hollow and generic rythms, more in the direction of old school. It sounds like a neophite on a bad Yahama home drum machine. Sampling and scratching was lame and scarce. The Beasties awesome and unique rhyme style still shines through but is unfortunately ruined by blatant political statements in almost every song. To make matters worse, there is a lot more unnecessary cursing. Anyway, I was really disappointed and would not recommend this album.

Upon arrival in Frankfurt airport on Friday morning, I was already facing the bleak prospect that I had finished the only book that I had brought on the flight in. Although foreign airport book stores seem to focus their inventory on smutty paperback romances and obscure art novels, I picked up a copy of the New York Times bestseller The Da Vinci Code. I read it like a starving man at a buffet. I finished two hundred of the close to six hundred pages by the time that I had landed in Linz, Austria. The balance had to wait until Sunday when I lay in bed in Heidelberg devouring the tremendously interesting murder mystery instead of getting the sleep that I so desparately needed as a result of the weekend's party and 6 hour time change. Two things that I enjoyed the best about the fictional work were that my favorite characters were involved (i.e. secret societies and the Church), and that the story was integrated into a true framework. In other words, I have seen some of the things and places mentioned in the books, and they are described using facts. For example, the Louvre is almost a character in the book. So, I thought it was really a fun read, and I would highly recommend it!