TEMPORARY SHUT-DOWN!!!

I'm sorry to inform all of you readers of my blog that my site is on temporary shut-down because of a virus. I was logging-off on Thursday, the 10th, at around 1:30 a.m. when all three of my browsers ( which I had kept "ON" all that time ) disappeared as soon as I clicked-to-close a tab that features a Chinese website, LDF Group ( I think ), which supposedly is the web-site for motor-scooter manufacturers. I was looking at scooters to compare build quality, to check for CARB compliance, and to compare prices with similar scooters sold here, State-side, because I'm thinking of getting one for around-town errands. But I guess the site was just set-up to lure-in unsuspecting idiots such as myself!

Oh, well ... live and learn.

I'll try and run my computer again tomorrow, Monday ( the 14th of Sept. ), at just a few minutes before my computer's ISP's anti-virus program kicks-in. I hope that this is all it needs to arrest the problem. Otherwise, I shall be forced to buy a new computer! On the bright side, my computer is about five years old and I need a new, more powerful computer to run today's programs with.

So, once again, my blog-site will be down for at least two weeks as I start pinching pennies for just-in-case-I-really-need-to-get a new computer.

I'm sorry for the inconvenience and the disappointment that this unwelcome turn of events may cause any of you.

Sincerely,

Cine-Man

P.S. I'm at my friend's house in Oakland, CA, writing this note at around 8:00 a.m. today, Sunday, the 13th of September, 2009.

9, PG-13 ( 1 hr & 19 min )

where: CENTURY 14 VALLEJO in Vallejo, CA

when: Wednesday, September 9th, 2009

show: 2:30 p.m.

costs: $7.25 Ticket + $3.75 small Diet/Zero ( w/ Barq's & Cherry flavors ) Coke + $4.00 junior Popcorn = $15.00

auditorium: 2

seat: 6th row, 6th column

synopsis: In a post-apocalyptic world, a barren earth is the evidence of the war between man and machine fought to a Pyrrhic end: The humans succeeded in neutralizing the machines but at the cost of not only the whole of humanity but also of all living, breathing thing. As most of the machines lay rusting and losing power, a few are dispatched across the wasteland to look for the transmutata vitae ( life-energy transfer generator ) that is needed to restore power to the machine-making machine. The very same generator that a scientist infused his rag-doll robotic creations with and entrusted in the sole care of his very last creation, 9.

Soon after 9 comes to life, he is reunited with the other eight and convinces them that they cannot hide anymore but must go on the offensive and destroy the machines once and for all if they are to survive and carry on the legacy of their creator.

noteworthy scenes: It is now almost 1:00 a.m. Thursday. I shall finish the rest when I wake up later on today.

audience reaction: The audience liked this movie.

recommendation: Although this is an animation film, it may be dark and scary for little ones.

spoiler alert! None of the corpses was undergoing the process of putrefaction. Most of the rag-doll robots have metal hands and fingers and should therefore not be able to get a solid grip on any object, including their weapons of choice. The time setting for the movie is indeterminate: There are hand-cranked phonographs from the early 1900s, propeller planes, futuristic giant bi-pedal war machines, rocket-propelled poison gas bombs, a reference to 1939 ( i.e. Wizard of Oz song ), World War Two-type newsreels, and even button-type batteries. How will they be able to carry on their creator's legacy when there's no one left--no humans, no animals--in the world and they cannot procreate and they don't have alternate sources of energy and their "skin" made of fabric will become irreplaceably worn-out and their metal parts become rusted and their wiring becomes brittle--remember what I said earlier about their hands and fingers?

fyi: Thomas Edison thought of his phonograph more as a dictation machine than as a music player. Edison was a supporter of Nazism.

word of advice: "This world is ours .... It's what we make of it." 9

tidbits: Before the show, I swung by Postal Annex to drop-off some mail and to check on my box. The meditation CDs package had arrived! I can't wait to try them out and see if my hunch is correct.

A female customer walks up to a male clerk in the Health and Beauty aisle of a store and asks: "Do you have cotton balls?"

"Lady, do I look like a rag-doll?" answers the clerk.

ALL ABOUT STEVE, PG-13 ( 1 hr & 38 min )

where: UA EMERY BAY STADIUM 10 in Emeryville, CA

when: Sunday, September 6th, 2009

show: 9:50 p.m.

costs: $10.75 Ticket + $4.50 small Zero Coke + $6.00 small Popcorn = $21.25

auditorium: 4

seat: 6th row, 11th column

synopsis: These boots were made for stalking!

Mary Magdalene Horowitz ( Sandra Bullock ) is an eccentric, socially inept cruciverbalist who is set-up on a blind date with CNN camera man Steve ( Bradley Cooper ). Believing that he is "Mr. Right" for her, she follows him around as he goes from one news assignment to the next.

noteworthy scenes: 1.) The Sacramento Herald; 2.) Career Day; 3.) The first date; 4.) "All about me;" 5.) Hostage crisis; 6.) Truck stop; 7.) Wheeler Community Hospital; 8.) Mary and Hartman Hughes ( Thomas Haden Church ); 9.) Media Pool tent; 10.) The accident; 11.) Jogging alongside CNN van; 12.) 1976 AMC Gremlin; 13.) Storm Drain; 14.) Deaf mute kids; 15.) The disguise; 16.) The rescue; 17.) The accident simulation; 18.) The note; 19.) Steve's interview; 20.) The imminent danger; 21.) Candle vigil; 22.) Reason for red boots; 23.) The fire hose; 24.) The "lift;" and 25.) Bonus scene after the ending credits.

audience reaction: The audience found this to be a funny and enjoyable movie.

recommendation: See this movie if you like silly Rom-Com and Road-Trip kinds of movies.

spoiler alert! The kids at Youngstrum School's "Career Day" asked what I felt were age-inappropriate questions of Mary. For someone with an high I.Q., Mary sure acted like an over-age nymphomaniac sex addict on her very first date---Whoa, Scary Mary! Why was "that" particular crossword puzzle printed in the newspaper in the first place? Don't they have editors working at that place? If so, an editor should have been fired instead. Even though she knew beforehand of the collapsed mine shaft, and even though she saw that that particular spot was cordoned-off by emergency personnel, and even though she could easily have seen that big, gaping hole in the ground in broad daylight since it was "down slope", she still somehow managed to let herself fall into the gap! Why was the fire hose, in an emergency situation, unattached? Why didn't Mary get rightfully credited for the improvised pulley system? For someone in her line of work, Mary didn't get the clues that she had more in common with Howard ( D. J. Qualls ).

fyi: Many years ago, I had this co-worker--also named Mary--who was highly intellectual ( Mensa member ) and very, very, very talkative. During breaks, she would dominate the conversations so much so that it was near impossible to squeeze-in a word or two sideways. My other co-workers called her "Motor Mouth." Finally, two supervisors ( a male and a female ) couldn't take it anymore so they tried and "cooked-up" an excuse to fire her. Once they came up with the right excuse, they got into a verbal argument over who got to have the privilege of firing Mary and looking good in front of the manager ( I stood just a few feet away from them as they were arguing). When Mary was called up to the manager's office, I knew what was about to happen. As Mary walked out in tears, her parting words were, "They just fired me." I felt sorry for her. And I never saw her after that.

I like Sandra Bullock a lot, although her "Mary" character would be just too much for a guy like me to handle ( even though I probably wouldn't mind being sexually dominated by such an one, the male "slut" that I am ). But I love my Peace and Quiet, the requisites of Meditation and Mantra Work, so I would probably just avoid--like the plague--a "Mary Magdalene Horowitz" type of girl in the first place.

word of advice: Give credit where it is due.

Don't kiss on the first date.

tidbits: I went to Oakland, CA earlier in the day today. Traffic was almost a breeze, what with the Bay Bridge closure. I was supposed to go to the lake with my friend and his family and then go out for dinner and a movie, but he was having mild diarrhea and I, myself, had an upset stomach ( I took a dose of a store brand of "pepto bismol" before I left the house ). So we just stayed-in at his place and watched Nostradamus and Apocalypse programs on the History Channel. Later, I cooked dinner for everyone since I'm a better cook than my friend.

On the way home tonight, I decided to see the movie which is the subject of this blog post, not the movie that my friends and I intended to go see this afternoon.

I have to go back to Oakland tomorrow for a Labor Day barbecue at my friend's oldest son's girlfriend's mom's ( whew! ) house. I hope that your Labor Day celebration will be happy and safe.

EXTRACT, R ( 1 hr & 30 min )

where: CENTURY 14 VALLEJO in Vallejo, CA

when: Saturday, September 5th, 2009

show: 12:15 p.m. "Dollar Off special on first show" Matinee

costs: $6.00 Ticket + $3.75 small Diet/Zero ( w/ Cherry flavor ) Coke = $9.75

auditorium: 1

seat: 4th row, 7th column

synopsis: Joel Reynolds ( Jason Bateman ) is the founder and owner of a successful flavor extract company. Thinking about retirement, he starts planning to sell his company to a national brands company, General Mills. But, then, a freak accident occurs at his plant. This incident plus the drug-addled advice from his bartender friend, Dean ( Ben Affleck ), set in motion a series of disasters that threaten both his business and his personal life.

noteworthy scenes: 1.) Music store; 2.) Reynold's Extract Company; 3.) Nathan, the neighbor ( David Koechner ); 4.) Sidelines Sports Bar; 5.) Pawn shop; 6.) The accident; 7.) The newspaper; 8.) The new temps; 9.) The supermarket; 10.) The horse tranquilizer; 11.) "Mission accomplished;" 12.) The sunscreen; 13.) No charge; 14.) The bong; 15.) Joel and Brad ( Dustin Milligan ); 16.) The swimming pool; 17.) Step's ( Clifton Collins, Jr. ) house; 18.) Brad and Suzie ( Kristen Wiig ); 19.) The lawyers; 20.) The employees; 21.) "15 times;" 22.) Joel and Cindy ( Mila Kunis ); 23.) Step and Joel; 24.) The unexpected event; 25.) The date; and 26.) The Porsche Carrera.

audience reaction: They enjoyed this comedy.

recommendation: I liked this movie, too. Go see this movie if you like comedy that's not "over the top."

spoiler alert! I take offense to the poor choice in choosing a name for Rory's ( TJ Miller ) band. The two women, Mary ( Beth Grant ) and Gabriella ( Lidia Porto ), should have been fired. Nathan, the neighbor, seemed to always be on the look-out for Joel to arrive home everyday no matter what time it was ( Is this character supposed to be a psychic? ). It's illegal and dangerous to take prescription pills from anyone who's not a pharmacist or a doctor. The pool cleaning scene was stupidly funny, and this should have tipped Suzie off. Being that I do Sound Meditation everyday, I find it offensive, as well, that Sitar music was used as background music for the "bong session" since I don't use drugs to get "high."

fyi: Back at GSIS Heights in Matina, Davao City, Mindanao, Philippines, when I was about 12 or 13 years of age, my right testicle retracted far up into my scrotum. The pain was almost unbearable whenever I was forced to laugh. Foolishly, I told my neighborhood pals to please not make me laugh--I never had such a painful laughing fit in my whole life before or after! I was in misery for days as I took pains to avoid my friends and/or funny situations or jokes. Finally, one of my friends took pity on me and told me to firmly tie a piece of string ( but not tight enough to cut-off the blood supply ) on the big toe directly below the painful testicle, i.e. the one on my right foot. It work almost immediately!

word of advice: My misery was the price I had to pay for the "free" advice on how to end testicular pain. My lesson was: "Nothing in Life is free."

tidbits: If I were Joel, I would have recommended Brad Sanchez's "pool cleaning service" to Nathan, the obnoxious neighbor. Ha, ha, ha.

I swung by Postal Annex again after the movie. And, wouldn't you know it, they're closed for the three-day holiday weekend!

I was gonna get a haircut today. But I decided not to. Maybe I'll just buy a hair clipper set and do it myself so I don't have to dip into my movie-watching budget anymore.

I capped my day off by going to a Filipino buffet on Springs Road to pig-out.

GAMER, R ( 1 hr & 45 min )

where: CENTURY 14 VALLEJO in Vallejo, CA

when: Friday, September 4th, 2009

show: 11:45 a.m. "Dollar Off special on first show" Matinee

costs: $6.00 + $4.25 medium Diet/Zero ( w/ Barq's & Cherry flavors ) Coke + $5.00 small Popcorn = $15.25

auditorium: 14

seat: 3rd row, 5th column

synopsis: Uber-billionaire game developer Ken Castle ( Michael C. Hall ) has come up with his mega-hit game which allows humans to play with each other via the use of real humans as game avatars. This game has three components of performers: Society, in which gamers interact which each other through their "actor" avatars in vicarious ways; Slayers, in which death-row inmates are used as avatars and pitted against each other in actual battles; and "Walkers," those death-row inmates who chose to be avatars forced to walk in cross-fires.

While the "actors" are not necessarily put in harm's way, they are at times when a Slayer game spills over into a Society game. A death-row inmate gets a reprieve if he/she survives one Slayer game as a "walker" or 30 Slayer games as a combatant.

Kable ( Gerard Butler ), an ex-military on death-row, is controlled by a highly-skilled young gamer, Simon Silverston ( Logan Lerman ). Together, they battle the odds to become the first Slayer team to win a reprieve. There is just one problem: no slayer or walker ever lived long enough to win a reprieve. This problem is all the more compounded in Kable's case since he knows too much about the "hidden agenda" which killed his friend Scotch ( Johnny Whitworth ).

noteworthy scenes: 1.) First battle; 2.) The interview; 3.) The star gamer; 4.) Fat gamer; 5.) Second battle; 6.) The Nanex command module; 7.) Hackman ( Terry Crews ); 8.) The relay delay; 9.) "Stringless;" 10.) Game modification; 11.) Third battle; 12.) Child custody hearing; 13.) Humanz Brother ( Ludacris ); 14.) Vodka; 15.) Fourth battle; 16.) The news; 17.) Angie ( Amber Valletta ) and Kable; 18.) The rave; 19,) Interrogation room; 20.) Anti-spyware program; 21.) Tech support; 22.) Crucial flashback; 23.) Simon's game room; 24.) Kastle's home; and 25.) Reason for Nanex.

audience reaction: Average, on the whole.

recommendation: This is just a typical and senseless action movie. It was just a so-so movie experience for me. You may or may not like this movie at all.

spoiler alert! The truck that Kable did his MacGyver-inspired "improvisation" on is one that has a typical ( approximate ) 15-mile city mpg ( a gallon is 128 ounces ). With the amount that he put in the gas tank (assuming that he put in 16 ounces [450 ml bottle]--it was more like 12 ounces [350 ml bottle ] --and knowing that not all of it went into the tank ), he would just have gotten a one-mile use out of it, At The Most--but he couldn't have gotten even that far because of his hard accelerations, decelerations and hard stops! As they were racing through the city on a motorbike, Kable's jacket's hood didn't come off even though he didn't tie it down. Why was the previously "stringless", "strung" in a deciding battle, as Kable, himself, pointed out? Can anybody in the actual world really come up with a game that kills ( i.e. murders ) innocent bystanders and get away with such an heinous crime? Why was the P.O.V. camera-work jerky and/or fast-paced except when in those scenes where it focused-in on Angie's crotch? Don't get me wrong, I liked her crotch! But the rest of the movie suffered for it by a lot!

fyi: One of my friend's sons went to automotive school in Phoenix, Arizona. One day, just to prove a point, the instructor had the tank of a test engine emptied out. Next, the instructor put in Dr. Pepper and started the engine. Supposedly, it ran on this, according to my friend's son. I'm not sure whether or not he was just "pulling my leg" on this story. I'm just telling you what he told me, that's all.

word of advice: You can't get away with murder. Sooner or later, it's gonna catch up with you.

"Live by the sword, die by the sword." ( Matthew 26:52 )

tidbits: When I exited the cinema, I saw a man parking his yellow Honda Reflex motor scooter. I went over to him and chatted him up a bit about his scooter. I didn't know that the 250cc Reflex can reach a speed of 90 mph, albeit inadvisable.

Next, I went to Postal Annex to see if a package of meditation CDs has arrived for me. My box was empty because, as it turned out, some idiot addressed the package wrong. So, now, the sender is putting a trace on it to know its whereabouts. And I was so hoping that the package had arrived because I was planning on doing an eight-hour marathon meditation with it and another set which I've used for six years running because I have a hunch that both sets will produce a synergistic effect on me. But I guess Fate has a different plan in mind.