Well, kids.... here we are again. It crept up on me this year, but it's officially my 2nd birthday celebration for this blog! I can't believe I've been filling the internet with my silly thoughts for that long, but it seems to be true. Yet, somehow you all keep coming back!

My goal for this year is to expand the readership of 'A Momentary Lapse, With Joel' and I could use your help. I've already started looking for listing sites to share the love, but I'd love it if you could pass this along to your friends and family too. My other goal is to be a bit more consistant with the reviews. It's been a crazy year and this one is starting out no differently. However, I still want to make this more steady, like my other blog: http://gregoryrobot.blogspot.com .

I also am considering adding a book review every now and then, more television reviews and maybe even video game reviews! Now that I have been reading again, getting into some TV shows people have recommended and playing a lot more XBox 360, it only makes sense to blog about it. Right? Not that I feel I have a whole lot of insight to offer you on any of those things. I just love to write and people seem to enjoy it. Also, if you have anything you specifically want me to talk about or review, drop me a line or leave a comment. I'll do my best to honor your request.

That's it! I won't keep you too long, as I want to get back to writing more fun stuff for you to read. All in all, I give this blog 4 out of 5 stars. I don't want to give it 5, as I need something to strive for next year. Thank you so very much for your continued support and here's to yet another year of fun! ENJOY!

If you like this blog, check out some of my favorite films: 'House of a 1000 Corpses', 'Dead Man' and 'Eraserhead'

(below is the NSFW trailer for a movie that I don't think is real.... but it's fun anyway.... check it out! I would watch it, if it got made.)

my thoughts on.... 'Rubber'

In this day and age, it's hard to find anything original to watch. 'Rubber' is a movie that when you watch it, you can honestly say you've never seen anything like it before. The film maker, Quentin Dupieux, has laid it all on the line to make something completely fresh and unique. When I first head about it, I was geeked to see it as it sounded unusual and fun. I can honestly say that it lived up to my expectations, but it also surprised the hell out of me. What I actually saw vs. what I was originally expecting were two totally different things. Not bad things, just unexpected things. I had no real expectations of what I was going to see and wasn't entirely sure which direction the movie was heading. All I knew was that I was going to enjoy the ride. With the movie being over now and in hindsight, I can say that I did in fact enjoy the ride. All of this because some crazy guy wanted to bring a tire to life and make it his main character. Robert the tire.

According to Netflix.com, the story is somewhat like this: "'Rubber' follows a car tire named Robert that rolls through the desert Southwest using its strange psychic powers to blow up birds, bunnies, human beings and more. But when Robert spies a gorgeous woman motoring down the highway, he decides to follow her and take a chance on love." It sounds completely insane and impossible to do without being stupid, 'Rubber' pulled it off without much effort. I mean, they gave an inanimate object a life and a personality.... that's not an easy task. It's like being a Kardashian's agent.All in all, love it or hate it, this movie is a breath of fresh air. Not unlike the works of Eugène Ionesco. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eug%C3%A8ne_Ionesco This is a film makers version of the theater of the absurd. I really enjoyed this movie and am looking forward to what comes next. It also gives me hope that there is still something new under the sun. I can't call this the best movie I've ever seen or one that I need to watch very often. It is what it is. A movie about a tire with a bad attitude and a love of a human girl.

I really want to give you more details about what happens here.... I really, really do. However, if I was to spoil the ending then there would be no point to go back to the beginning. Needless to say, it's a perfectly absurd ending to a perfectly absurd beginning. It leaves you wondering what will happen next and it plays upon one of my favorite sub-genre's of horror. But wait, is this a horror movie? Honestly, I don't know what I'd call it. Granted there is a LOT of head explosions and violence. At the same time, there is a lot of other things going on that aren't horrifying. I'm not even 100% sure if this was to be some kind of commentary on the world at large or if it is just what it claims to be: a movie about how all movies revovle around events that happen for "no reason". 3 out of 5 bizarre stars. Go watch it, but watch it with an open mind and a clear head.

If you like this, also check out: your car tires, perhaps they're plotting against you RIGHT NOW....!