The Birth of Psychoanalysis...

There are times when several great people get together under the hand of a master and accomplish something beyond awesome. It happened with the Ocean's Eleven remake and I think it's going to happen again. Check out the following trailer for A Dangerous Method:





I doubt that this will gain the same level of press buzz as Ocean's Eleven, but many great films were ignored by the masses. Just think about this, we have Michael Fassbender (Hex, 300, X-Men: First Class), Keira Knightley (POTC: Curse of the Black Pearl, King Arthur, The Jacket), Viggo Mortensen (The Prophecy, Hidalgo, Eastern Promises), and Vincent Cassel (Ocean's 12, Eastern Promises, Black Swan) all in ONE Movie under the direction of David Cronenberg (Scanners, eXistenZ, History of Violence)... This is a MUST SEE MOVIE!!

Welcome to Fright Night... For Real

There was a time back in the day when horror movies were fun to watch. They didn't take themselves too seriously, but they weren't complete spoof movies either. Then came movies like Nightmare on Elm Street, Halloween, and Friday the 13th which proved that horror movies can be a serious money making  genre for Hollywood, and a good portion of the fun left the genre. Like the original, Fright Night is a fun movie.

The storyline isn't really original. A teenage boy, Charlie (played by Anton Yelchin), finds out that his next door neighbor, Jerry (Colin Farrell) is actually a vampire. Predictably, no one believes him, so he goes to the nearest vampire expert Peter Vincent (played by David Tennant) to help him kill Jerry. Honestly, it sounds like the plot of practically every vampire movie before Blade. But Fright Night differs in how it treats the concept of it's story line.

For example, it's a trope of modern day vampire lore for vampires to have exotic sounding names or old world versions of common ones, which is played with by naming the vampire Jerry. And then have the characters in the film riff on that. And there are plenty of other clever little tricks thrown in to give the overloaded vampire movie genre a fresh cleansing breath of laughter. I would say that the closest I've seen to this style of writing comes from Buffy The Vampire Slayer (the tv show), but that's not really a surprise since the main writer of this movie, Marti Noxon actually wrote for that show. Obviously the script for this version covered a great many of the plot holes of the original as well as updated the story for modern times. It also added more dimension and depth to the characters, giving the cast more to sink their teeth into, so to speak.

Speaking of the cast, the casting was also phenomenal. For me, most movies starring Colin Farrell tend to be hit or miss depending on whether or not the director chooses to let Farrell act or just focus on his movie star looks. With Fright Night, there really wasn't a chance for a miss since either approach, given the tone of the film, would just enhance the performance. Anton Yelchin is perfectly cast as Charlie, since he seems to specialize in being able to display courage, fear, sincerity and intelligence all at once. My favorite role of his is still the young Kyle Reese in Terminator Salvation, but Fright Night is a close second. But the real surprise for me was how much I loved David Tennant (formerly the 10th Doctor Who) as Peter Vincent. This Criss Angel clone version of Peter Vincent really played to Tennant's major strength as an actor which is the constant switching from semi-serious to completely outrageous and back. I do have to admit, it was awesome seeing Tennant again.

Overall, I can't say that this movie will be winning any Oscars, or even MTV Movie awards. This isn't an award type of movie. I would this more as a modern day cult classic along the lines of Army of Darkness. So, if you're looking for a cool flick to pass a couple of hours with, I would DEFINITELY recommend Fright Night. Oh and if you go see it, keep an eye out for a couple of cameo appearances, one by Lisa Loeb and the other... I'll leave as a surprise.

Oh, and to end this particular review, I'll leave you with my favorite song off the Fright Night 2011 soundtrack, Hugo's cover of 99 Problems! Enjoy!

More Medical News...

Today was the day I met the surgeon that is going to eventually take out my gall bladder. The appointment was little more than a 15 min conversation. And at the end of that conversation, I have to ask a question: Do all doctors go to a class that teaches them how to deliver news in the most doom & gloom, creepy way possible? I mean, I get it. I've watched the requisite medical shows. I understand the psychology here. Most people in my situation are kind of clueless about the dire circumstances they are in. And an overly blunt, even slightly cold recitation of the possible outcomes can be a shocking awakening, kind of like a bucket of glacier cold water dumped on you. But in my case, all it really did was showcase how little this doctor knew of the kind of man I am.

I already knew the risks, and I know the dangers I'm currently facing as well as the factors I have on my side. So while the shocking speech really had no effect on me, it did allow me to learn something about my surgeon. And I liked what I deduced. He seemed to be a no nonsense, straight talking kind of man. The type that will always tell you the truth, whether you like it or not. This is the type of man that can be a good ally in the medical battles ahead of me.

As for the medicine, we covered the risks of the procedures I have to have done. There are two. One is the gall bladder removal, and the second is an endoscopic procedure to check and make sure that all the gall stones are out of my system (and if not, remove them). There is a risk in delaying the procedures, but that same delay also buys me time to lose more weight and increase the safety factor. My surgeon has done this many times and according to him 800,000 gall bladders are removed in the US every year. It's a very common procedure with minor risks.

We went over my gall stone incident in the broad strokes, and I sketched out the particulars of the diet program I'm in. He wanted to discuss permanent weight loss options, meaning gastric bypass surgery or the lap band ring. But I pretty much vetoed that. This diet is working for me, and I want to give it a real shot before I start to consider more drastic, surgical options. As for how well the program is working, realizing how much I lost in such a short time kind of clued the doc into the fact that I was taking this very seriously.

By his assessment, (and I agree) my weight loss progress is good so far, but now I have to step up my game. The easy part of my weight loss program is pretty much over, now it's time for more strenuous activity so I can ramp up the drop in weight. A side benefit of more powerful workouts is that my muscles, skin & other organs will tighten up. This will reduce the amount of excess skin I will most likely have to remove as I keep up the weight loss.

I also got a time frame for the surgery. Balancing risk vs reward, safety vs medical necessity,  he would recommend the procedure be done within the next 2 months. I set up another appointment with him in a month to further assess my progress. If things are going well, he'll schedule the surgery at that time. But the surgery will have to be at least a month out. We both agreed that this is the best course of action.

From here on out, my goals are basically to stick with the diet, ramp up the physical exercise and focus on losing as much weight as I possibly can. I still believe that I can lose all the weight I need without surgical intervention. Now, it's time to put my money where my mouth is and PROVE IT!

Diet Update: Week 5

Well, it's Tuesday night, again, and you all know what that means!! That's right, it's time for my diet update!! Grab the popcorn, put the kids to bed, this is going to be an amazing ride!!! (Not really..) For those of you who don't remember, my diet changed last week due to financial difficulties. I couldn't afford the diet with all the medical supervision, so they dropped the doctor visits. This had the unexpected side effect of switching me to an alternate beginner's track.

Before, my diet consisted of a minimum of 3 shakes & 2 entrees. I could have more, but that was the basic minimum I had to consume daily. The numbers approximate 1,000 calories a day. But that was with medical supervision. Now, my diet has an added "catch", I have to have 5 servings of fruits and veggies a day. MINIMUM... What's a serving? Usually about 1 cup of whatever item your discussing. Unless it's salad greens.. one serving of lettuce (for example) is THREE cups!! DAMN!!

According to their numbers, the average U.S. citizen eats about 1.5 cups of fruits & veggies COMBINED in a day. My diet requires I almost TRIPLE that. Nice, right? Well, this first week, I tried the best I could, and managed to get up to about 3 servings a day for 3-4 days. But something about the switch worked. Check out my weigh in results!!


Previous Weight: 480.8lbs
Current Weight: 476.2lbs
Weight Delta: -4.6lbs


And another 4 lbs down!!! Yeah!! Right now, I'm at the weight I was when I left the hospital after my GSI (gall stone incident). This is kind of a mind blowing thing. Get this: I was on IV fluids for 4 days with no food of any kind and then on hospital food for 2 days. When I left I was 474lbs. Get that? In less than ONE WEEK, I dropped from 506 to 474. When I started eating solid foods, I gained it all back.

It took me FIVE WEEKS to lose almost the EXACT SAME AMOUNT OF WEIGHT!! Fucked up, right? And this latest 4 lb drop was INCLUDING fruits & veggies!! All in all, this was a good weigh-in. I kinda feel like celebrating, but I don't really have a way of doing that just yet. I'll think of something!

Strange Events Today...

Today has become kind of surreal for me. First, I realize that all my clothes are starting to feel looser than they were before. I have 3 pairs of jeans, 1 pair that is blue and 2 that are black. The blue jeans were always loose on me. One of the black jeans was a little tighter than the blue but still kinda loose. The other black jeans were tight. Both of my black jeans were so tight in fact, that I didn't need belts to wear them. Yesterday, around mid-afternoon I noticed that I had to keep pulling up my jeans (they were a black pair). Today, I grab the other black jeans and the same thing starts happening, to the point where I had to dig around to find my belt or risk my pants sliding half way down my butt and making me look inappropriately cool (NOT).

Secondly, at lunch today, one of my co-workers tells me that there is a noticeable difference in my appearance! I've been looking at myself and referencing an old pic (prior to all of this) and I have NOT seen a difference. Then a second co-worker concurred! This part is cool, but kind of unbelievable.

Finally, there's my walk. One, I noticed that I've gained speed again. I'm now at 6 min per quarter mile. Which is great, until you realize that the same 18 min that it took me to do 2 laps, I'm now doing THREE laps!! DAMNIT!!!! What's worse is, I did 3 laps and I only had minor cramping in my back. It looks like my new shoes and insoles are helping out my cause.

But this walking thing is getting kind of dangerous, I was almost hit by a FedEx truck during my second lap. I'm still a big guy, I can't believe the guy almost didn't SEE me!! But I'm okay and it looks like this new diet stuff might actually be working!

Looney Tunes Auto Insurance

I've always found the art of filming commercials interesting. Such a short time to hawk a product to millions of people. And very few make good ones. One such company is my car insurance company, Geico. For years, their commercials have had me rolling on the floor laughing my ass off!! (or ROTFLMAO for those of you who can't read normal english anymore)

I just saw a new commercial (to me) for Geico that I think is hysterical!! Check it out:





However, my favorite commercial is the one with "the Movie Trailer Guy" Don LaFontaine. *does the voice*

In a world where no recognizes a man, his voice becomes memorable..

Check out this one:





That is by far my FAVORITE Geico commercial!!

Economic Implosion....

I am very particular about the movies I like. I used to think that I was open to any and all movies, but to be completely honest, I'm a movie snob. And being the "larger than life" personality that I am (a quote from my friends, I don't actually believe that about myself), I make sure that everyone knows how much of a movie lover I am.

The cool thing about my friends is that whenever they find an interesting or "out there" kind of movie, they bring it to my attention. This was after they stopped trying to find movies that I haven't seen at the local video store. The age of the internet makes it easier to just send me links to movie trailers. Here's the latest trailer I was recommended by my friend, Rafael.





Hollywood continues it's obsession with beginning of the fall of US economy in 2008. But given how little has been actually explained, it is a rich topic for exploration. The really interesting part of all this is the casting though.

For a single film to attract the attentions of Kevin Spacey, Paul Bettany, Jeremy Irons, Zachary Quinto, Simon Baker, Stanley Tucci and Demi Moore, the concept and script must have been an AMAZING read. This is a movie I'm DEFINITELY going to see. Thoughts?