where: CENTURY 14 VALLEJO in Vallejo, CA
when: Friday, December 25th, 2009
show: 10:00 a.m. Extra Dollar Off First Show Matinee
costs: $6.25 Ticket + $3.75 small Diet/Zero ( w/ Barq's & Cherry flavors ) Coke + $2.12 bulk Chocolate Candy + $13.38 lunch at Empire Chinese Buffet ( + $2.62 Tip ) = $28.12
auditorium: 13
seat: 3rd row, 6th column
synopsis: A string of female sacrifices and murders lead Sherlock Holmes (Robert Downey, Jr. ) and Dr. Watson ( Jude Law ) on the trail of an evil man, Lord Blackwood ( Mark Strong ), who's Hell-bent on creating a trans-Atlantic Evil Empire after his resurrection from the dead.
noteworthy scenes: 1.) Aborted sacrifice; 2.) Recluse; 3.) Character study; 4.) Fight; 5.) Blackwood's last request; 6.) Death is only a beginning; 7.) Miss Irene Adler ( Rachel McAdams ); 8.) Mugging attempt; 9.) Exhumation; 10.) Alchemy lab; 11.) Ship yard; 12.) Secret Order; 13.) Grand Hotel; 14.) Secret chamber; 15.) Secret meeting; 16.) Slaughter house; 17.) Train; 18.) Royal Veterans Hospital; 19.) Pentagram; 20.) Wanted; 21.) Parliament; 22.) Cyanide pellets; 23.) The Thames' Tower Bridge; 24.) Professor Moriarty; 25.) Hanging around; and 26.) Rhododendron.
audience reaction: The audience enjoyed this movie but it didn't get a "Hands Clapper" ending.
recommendation: This is a "thinking man" type of action movie for those who are tired of seeing "all brawn, no brain" action movies.
spoiler alert! I didn't care at all for the explain-the-fight-moves-before-using-them-on-the-opponent scenes; they were just a waste of time. The setting for this movie is circa late 1880's ( judging from the unfinished construction of the Thames' Tower Bridge ), approximately 30 years before the word, Discombobulate, was presumably coined. Yet, Sherlock used it to describe a fight move. I would be tearing and coughing if I were to find myself in a smoke-filled room! Why can't they speak in English in such a way that we, Americans, can easily understand? After all, they lose their English accent whenever they sing and sound just like us, Americans.
fyi: "Elementary, my dear Watson," is not yet Sherlock Holmes' famous line in this movie.
You will notice that the sewers looked clean in this movie. That's because "The Great Stink" of 1858 forced Londoners to do a massive clean-up, which lasted about 100 years, of the badly polluted and highly toxic Thames River. But, still, it looked too clean, if you ask me. And I wouldn't be swimming in it like Holmes did way back when.
word of advice: Don't render invaluable services for free.
tidbits: On my way to the theatre, as soon as I got on the freeway from Fairgrounds Drive, some idiotic over-speeding, aggressive driver tried to intimidate me into moving out of his way by coming up very close to my Metro's rear end. I should have slammed on my brakes--and I would have if I didn't need to go see this movie first thing, Christmas Day. I stayed in my lane. So he switched to the left lane, where he should have been in the first place, and took off. What an asshole!
I called my brother to wish him and his "Happy Holidays." He's in Las Vegas with his wife and kids.
To my disappointment, Stara, the Indian Buffet here in Vallejo, went out of business, which was why I went to the Chinese buffet, instead, after first checking to see if Selecta Filipino Buffet was open, which it wasn't.
And the Chinese buffet's owner's daughter was there, looking hot as always. Too bad I don't celebrate Christmas anymore or else I'd have Santa put her on my lap! Ho, ho, ho.
