The pounding beat of a headache, or the sear of a migraine, is something I rarely have to face. That makes me lucky, for the most part, but it also means that when one hits, like today, all I can think of is heads and brains like a zombie in training. Naturally, this has me thinking of movies that focus on the stories of the noggin. Should I go for The Man with Two Brains or other similar brainy fare? Nah.

Instead, I'm going to focus on a man behind the camera, one who brought us two of the best stories of the mind to date: Mr. Charlie Kaufman. It all started with a little Malkovich Malkovich, and then continued with the overwhelming urge to erase love from the mind -- two stories that make a little headache seem like nothing. On this warm Friday, I give you: Being John Malkovich and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind ...

Well, it's official. The Writers Guild of America is going on strike tomorrow. Here's hoping the strike ends quickly and that all parties come away happy. And writers? Use this time off to study my choices for the seven best screenplays of the 2000's:

The 40 Year Old Virgin by Judd Apatow & Steve Carell

The blending of improvisation and the written word gives Apatow's two classic comedies -- Knocked Up would be the other -- a feeling of authenticity that is all too rare in today's film world. Apatow takes the strategy of writing for specific performers and their strengths, and it really pays off. Scoff if you want at a sex comedy making the list, but for a movie to be this incredibly funny -- while keeping an oddly touching romance and a spot-on character study afloat -- the screenwriters deserve high praise.

About Schmidt by Alexander Payne & Jim Taylor

One of the saddest comedies ever made, and one of the most truthful and painful portraits of old age. Payne and Taylor specialize in scripts about people on the verge of cracking, depressed souls who tend to find the smallest redemption possible. Payne/Taylor characters never go from Point A to Point B over the course of the screenplay, they go from Point A to Point A.1. The small, gradual changes in their characters are reflective of the way actual humans (as opposed to movie humans) work. Warren Schmidt's personal growth is so minor that it is confined to the last thirty seconds of the film, but when it comes it's an emotional punch in the gut.

Sometimes the work of film directors just amazes me. Classic films like Orson Welles' Touch of Evil, Francis Ford Coppola's The Godfather or Steven Spielberg's Shindler's List serve to remind us just how well films can be made and yes, that "magic" can happen -- at least once in awhile. Another such director is Michel Gondry. His films Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, the upcoming Be Kind Rewind and a fantastic array of music videos and commercials superbly demonstrate his immense talent and show what the "art" in filmmaking is all about. In short, I think he's pretty much a genius.

Apparently, Gondry's genius stretches into other areas besides directing -- like geometry and contortion -- because if you watch this video you'll see the amazing Gondry solving a Rubik's Cube with his feet! Yes, I said his feet. Most people have enough trouble solving the damn things using their hands and this guy uses his feet. Impressive. I don't know about you but watching this sorta makes me feel like less of a man somehow. I really need to do something to feel better about myself. Where's Pauly Shore so I can punch him?

While some of us try to merely ignore Kirsten Dunst's irritating existence, some of the gossip blogs despise her so much, they'd like to either erase her from their memory, or rewind her career in order to block it from beginning in the first place. The film I was most easily able to tolerate her in is Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, where she was directed by Michel Gondry. Now she's negotiating a possible reunion with the visionary filmmaker for Be Kind, Rewind. The film will star Jack Black and the plot is, of course, a bit complicated (Read Martha's original report).

Now, even without screenwriter Charlie Kaufman, I'm still excited about the tricks Gondry has up his sleeve. He's a remarkably imaginative director, and no matter how insufficient his own scripts might be compared to Kaufman's, he still gives the audience a lot of worthwhile visuals. And yet, I can't quite get around the fact that by adding Dunst to Black, I am likely to be in annoyance overload. The best I can hope for is that Black will not be left to ham it up -- I bet he could be quite good if allowed to be serious, and perhaps he can follow in Jim Carrey's Eternal Sunshine footsteps -- and Dunst's acting will once again be overshadowed by Gondry's talents.