1st time:
where: CENTURY 16 DOWNTOWN PLEASANT HILL in Pleasant Hill, CA
when: Friday, July 31st, 2009
show: 12:01 am
costs: $10.50 Ticket + $3.75 small Diet Coke + $4.00 junior Popcorn + $4.00 Bridge Toll = $22.25
auditorium: 4
seat: 4 row, 9th column
2nd time:
where: CENTURY 14 VALLEJO in Vallejo, CA
when: Monday, August 3rd, 2009
show: 2:35 pm
costs: $7.25 Ticket + $3.75 small Diet/Zero ( with Barq's flavor--Cherry was out ) + $1.40 assorted bulk Chocolate Candies = $12.40
auditorium: 2
seat: 4th row, 6th column
When extra-terrestrial aliens come to conquer Earth, things get "Pearson-al!"
Mr. Stuart Pearson ( Kevin Nealon ) decides that it's time to spend some quality time with his children and extended family at their vacation home in Creek Landing, Michigan. As they start to settle in for the weekend, a four-alien advance exploration team lands on their rooftop. The children soon learn that these aliens want to dominate and enslave the whole human race with their mind control plugs, or exterminate us if , and whenever, mind control is not feasible. As the intruders search for an embedded domination machine secretly planted by an earlier scout team, a battle ensues between the kids and the knee-high "unwelcome "guests."
noteworthy scenes: 1.) The on-line report card; 2.) The "perks of divorce;" 3.) The paintball assault; 4.) The lecture; 5.) The talk between young Tom ( Carter Jenkins ) and Ricky ( Robert Hoffman ), the boyfriend of Bethany ( Ashley Tisdale ); 5.) The rooftop close encounter of the dreaded kind; 6.) The rotary phone; 7.) The anti-gravity bomb; 8.) Fighting over the remote control for the "Ultimate Game Boy" Ricky; 9.) The "adult diapers;" 10.) The techno-geek alien, Sparks, in the little girl's room; 11.) Bethany and the mind-controlled Ricky; 12.) The Sheriff ( Tim Meadows ) responding to the 911 call; 13.) Ricky vs. Nana ( Doris Roberts ); 14.) The IEBs ( Improvised Explosive Beverages ); 15.) The beacons; 16.) The giant fight; and 17.) "Funky Ricky."
audience reaction: There was only I and an Hispanic family in the auditorium. I laughed at the funny scenes, but they didn't.
2nd audience reaction: The audience this time was comprised of native-speaking families, so it was a better representation. This time around, I was not the only one laughing.
recommendation: This is a so-so kid-friendly movie. See this only if your kids beg of you.
spoiler alert! The remote-controlled fight between Ricky and Nana are of the cheap video game variety. There is no way that a big-headed knee-high alien in battle dress uniform--or even butt-naked--can snake itself through a house's toilet plumbing. Granted that the tiny aliens probably came equipped with a fast-digging machine, where did all that soil go? I don't know why the adults were completely oblivious to the giant fight taking place on the other side of the house. None of the adults noticed the big UFOs hovering above the house. Who re-implanted Ricky since the original implanting gun was not shrunk back to original size? I don't think that there is such a place in Michigan as Creek Landing--I couldn't find it on Google--maybe my sister in Michigan knows for sure. Bethany's "rug" doesn't match her "curtains" ( meaning, she's not a natural blonde )!
fyi: Go to Google and type-in: UFO sightings in Michigan. They have lots of sightings there! My niece saw one with her own eyes a couple of years ago on her way to school with her mom, my eldest sister.
I saw one earlier this year on my way home from a surprise birthday party for my Aunt Viola in Fremont, CA. It was after 10 pm on February 28ht. I was on Highway 880 N on my way home to Vallejo. About one to two miles before I got to the Oakland Coliseum, this light-grey football-shaped object flew across the sky in a straight line. It had no lights on. And it was directly in my line of sight for two seconds maximum. By the time I finished blurting, What the Hell is that ...? it was already gone! This would make it my 7th UFO sighting in the last four years.
My best friend, his wife, his brother and his son's girlfriend's mother all saw UFOs, as well. Yep, they're out there ....
2nd fyi: I decided to see it for the second time just to gauge the reaction of a better representative set of audience. And ... I pigged-out on soup and salads at FRESH CHOICE in Fairfield and needed to sit down for a while to digest my food before I had to head for home.
word of advice: Stay 'til after the ending credits roll up because that's where they put in the out-takes.
tidbits: Yesterday afternoon at around 4:00 pm, after I picked up my check at work, I swung by the Chevron Gas Station on Military West here in Benicia. As I was paying for gas, I noticed that I had left my wallet at home, the one with my current driver's license. I told the clerk, John R., about it. He told me to be careful driving around town because there are new cops patrolling who are just eager to fill their quotas. I've never been ticketed before, I laughed, as I knocked on the counter.
On my way to Pleasant Hill for the midnight show, I found out that Cal-Trans had blocked off the interchange so I had to go up the overpass the get on 680 N then find a detour because I didn't want to have to go to Fairfield with all that re-paving going on there. I looked at my watched to check the time ( it was 11:34 pm ). When I did so, I veered off-course on the curved overpass. Just as I signaled to merge with the northbound traffic, red, white and blue lights flashed in my rear-view mirror. That car behind me all along this time was a Benicia Police Cruiser! I pulled over. The police officer told me that he pulled me over because I was drifting in my lane and thought that I was drunk. I told him that I don't drink ( I just drive like I do ) and was just disoriented because of the detour as I was on my way to Pleasant Hill. He told me where to take a detour and added that I won't have to detour on my way back home. He was very nice and kind enough not to give me a ticket. I got lucky that time--knock on wood!
I should have given him some of my Cine-Man business cards. And I forgot to tell him to say, "Hi!" to the Police Chief, who happens to be a "hottie." I showed Mike A., a co-worker of mine in Oakland, a newspaper picture of the new Benicia Police Chief. He remarked that she looks like Mary Ann of "Gilligan's Island." I told him that it was fine by me because I preferred Mary Ann over Ginger, anyway.
I am not a drinker. If I go to a party and be designated as the driver, my passengers will really be much better off staying drunk as I drive!
Back in late October of 2005, as my eldest sister was driving me to the Grand Rapids, MI Airport for my return flight to Oakland, CA, she told me that I should get a computer because there are lots of stuff that you can find on the Internet. " You can find anything by just going on Google," she said. And I said, Well, if they really want to find him then, all they have to do is Google Osama Bin Laden. I bet Osama is hiding somewhere in Creek Landing, MI!
Can you believe that Osama, if he's still alive, is hooked-up to a kidney dialysis machine? Why don't our troops just go searching for the longest extension cord in the mountainous border between Afghanistan and Pakistan 'cause it's probably the one Osama is currently using? If and when they do find it, they should just cut it and be done with it! Then call it a day--Party Time!
