where: CENTURY 14 VALLEJO in Vallejo, CA
when: Monday, January 18th, 2010
show: 12:00 p.m. Extra Dollar Off First Show Matinee
costs: $6.25 Ticket + $3.75 small Diet ( w/ Barq's flavor ) Coke = $10.00
auditorium: 14
seat: 3rd row, 5th column
synopsis: Go West, old man!
A mysterious man, Eli ( Denzel Washington ), following a voice in his head, encounters post-War people in what used to be the United States as he heads west, fighting-off murderous gangs/cannibals intent on taking his precious prized possession, a Bible.
noteworthy scenes: 1.) Cat; 2.) Boots; 3.) Rat; 4.) Hijackers; 5.) Stay on path; 6.) Battery recharge; 7.) Books; 8.) Water; 9.) Bar fight; 10.) Solara ( Mila Kunis ); 11.) Saying "Grace"; 12.) "Amen"; 13.) Sign of the Cross; 14.) Shoot-out; 15.) Spring; 16.) "Weapon"; 17.) Deal; 18.) Arrows; 19.) Psalm 23; 20.) Reason for War; 21.) "Walk by Faith, not by sight"; 22.) Old couple; 23.) Out-gunned; 24.) TV?; 25.) Just a man; 26.) Going back to town; 27.) Return; 28.) Golden Rule; 29.) Golden Gate; 30.) Row boat; 31.) Alcatraz; 32.) Dictation; 33.) Holy book of Surprise; 34.) Feverish; 35.) Revolt; 36.) Giving Thanks; and 37.) New King James Version, Alcatraz Press.
audience reaction: The audience liked this movie.
recommendation: I liked it. It's a good action movie. Go see this movie.
spoiler alert! How was Eli able to sense things and their exact locations? Why didn't he retrieve the arrows? The shot to the crotch from the back would just have, at most, paralyzed the man from the waist down for the moment; he would have died later on. What happened to the woman who liked to kneel on the ground? They had enough time to shoot the Gatling Gun gunner. At his advance age, Carnegie ( Gary Oldman ), would have to, first, teach someone else to read, before he could preach on the Bible, to carry-on his legacy. Why didn't Carnegie have the hots for Solara? With all the hard alcoholic drinks in the bar, why didn't Carnegie have his "surgeon" soak his hands in alcohol and use it to sterilize the wound? It's not explained how Solara was able to drive a vehicle. A shot to the abdomen like that will result, in all probability, in a massive infection that will kill the victim in as little as one hour.
It would be impossible to round-up all of the bibles and burn them. Through the centuries, the Bible survived such extreme censorship. A case in point is the bible printed by Robert Barker in 1631 called "The Wicked Bible" ( a.k.a., Adulterous Bible and Sinners' Bible ). It was so named because in the book of Exodus, chapter 20 verse 14, it commands believers thus: "Thou shalt commit adultery." This bible was gathered-up and burned. But eleven original copies remain to this day. Carnegie should have coveted this bible above all the rest, being that he was not married to Claudia ( Jennifer Beals ), the mother of Solara! ( If you look at the sad state of Christianity today, you would think that everybody is in possession of , and possessed by, The Wicked Bible. )
fyi: Bible Time!
The Bible is THE NUMBER ONE most popular book in the whole world, printed in many languages and in print for hundreds of years!
I have 2 King James Version, 1 New King James Version, 1 New International Version, 1 New Century Version, 1 Scofield Study Bible ( Oxford ), 1 Catholic Bible, 1 Cross-Reference Bible, 2 Children's Bibles, 2 Gideon New Testament Pocket Bible, 1 New Testament Key Chain Bible, and 1 Old & New Testament Key Chain Bible, for a grand total of 14 Bibles. And I would like to have a Calvin Bible as soon as I can afford to buy one ( the "deluxe" edition is well over $100.oo ).
There are 774,746 words in a standard Bible.
The early scribes who wrote the books of the Bible had a very limited vocabulary. The Hebrew words that they used have multiple meanings. One such word is Ruha or Ru'a. This word means = 1.) Air; 2.) Wind; 3.) Breeze; 4.) Atmosphere; 5.) Breath; 6.) Soul; 7.) Ghost; 8.) Holy Spirit; 9.) Life Force; 10.) The sentient force which drives the Four Winds and which is at the beck and call of the Men of God; and it may have other meanings that I am presently not aware of. This limited vocabulary compounds the problem when it comes to interpreting the Word of God. For example, if you write down a two-word sentence using two Hebrew words, with each word having ten different meanings, then that two-word sentence can be interpreted in 100 different ways. Let's suppose you write down a 10-word sentence in Hebrew and, again, each word has ten different meanings, then your sentence can be interpreted in 10 Billion ( YES ) different ways! And there are practically 3/4ths of a Million words in a standard Bible! So, who has got the right interpretation?!?!?!
Because of this problem in interpretation, an early Bible called the Calvin Bible came with notes printed so that the Word of God could be properly understood. But the King James Version did away with all of that! Allow me to quote a source verbatim:
"THE MOST FEARED BIBLE
"In 1557, while in exile in Geneva, Switzerland, a then unknown Clergyman, John Calvin, assisted by a handful of Englishmen who had fled the persecution of Bloody Mary, undertook to translate the complete Bible. This made Calvin's Bible the first complete Bible to be translated into English from the original Hebrew and Greek texts. Calvin and his associates did far more than a translation. Their editions contained thousands of marginal notes. Because words and phrases quite often had several meanings the marginal explanations were meant to remove all doubt from the mind of the reader. Calvin's Bible, out of print since 1644, was the Bible of choice for Oliver Cromwell, John Milton, and the pilgrims who landed at Plymouth Rock in 1620. William Shakespeare quoted Calvin's Bible more than 5,000 times in his plays. In 1644 Calvin's Bible was replaced by the King James version because the state needed a Bible that was more compliant to its agenda. James declared Calvin's Bible 'seditious' and made its possession a felony.
"King James I of England was a devout believer in the 'divine' rights of kings. Among his many other faults, he preferred young boys to adult women. James enjoyed killing animals. He called it 'hunting'. Once he killed an animal he would literally roll about in its blood. Some historians claim that he practiced bestiality while the animals lay dying. James was a sadist as well as a sodomite. He enjoyed torturing people. While King of Scotland he personally supervised the torture of poor wretches caught up in the witch-hunt trials, and even suggested new ways of torture to his henchmen. Knowing what King James was we can easily discern his motives. James ascended the English throne in 1603. He wasted no time in ordering a new edition of the Bible in order to deny the common people the marginal notes, and thus the real meaning of many Biblical accounts. The doctrines espoused in the marginal notes struck terror into the heart of kings and their servants of the church. So James edited his own version without marginal notes. The King James Bible was, and is for all practical purposes, a government publication.
"A limited number of copies of 'The Most Feared Bible' have now been printed for the first time in over 400 years. Prices start at about $50." ( Scoopified, Spring 2009, page 38 )
The first Bible that I started to read was a Gideon Bible on the night of my eldest sister's wedding in Reno, Nevada. It was in a nightstand of a motel we stayed at. I shared the room with my brother and my brother-in-law's older brother. When my sister entered the room, she saw me in bed on my stomach reading. She said, "Butch ( my nickname ) is reading the Bible." Since this was on the first week of the first month of the year, I made it my resolution to read the Bible through.
When we got back to Oakland, California, I wasted no time in going to the local drugstore to buy a copy of a fancy-looking "red letter edition" King James Version with a white hardcover. I read it through once in the span of a year. Then, I bought a New International Version and read it through in a few months. Now, I read passages from the Bible for research purposes.
When I studied Anthropology, I learned that Religion is behind all the wars in recorded history. And of all the religions in the world, the Christian religion is by far and away the most blood-stained. The last century is the bloodiest so far. It was so bloody that it was named the century of Hemoclysm ( Greek for "Blood Flood" ). Over 150 million people perished last century primarily because of religion. And the communists' prime targets for death were also those who practiced religion. Did you know that Hitler was a Roman Catholic and that Joseph Stalin was a Russian Orthodox? Or that the man responsible for starting World War One, a Bosnian Serb named Gavrilo Princip, was a Muslim? Did you know that President Truman, a Baptist, personally had up to 4 million German prisoners of war starved to death ( according to a newspaper article I read over a year ago )? So, Mao Zedong was evil because he killed millions, and Stalin was evil because he killed millions, and Hitler was evil because he killed millions, and Pol Pot was evil because he killed millions, but Truman was good because he killed millions. Tell me what's wrong with my previous sentence because I would very much like to know!
( Note: When Germany lost in WWII, many German soldiers surrendered to the Americans and the British because they feared, and rightfully so, Soviet reprisal. But the American and British camps were so overwhelmed that, perhaps, they shipped a number of prisoners over to the Russians. This is probably what the newspaper article on Truman alluded to. But the German POWs held here in the US and Canada fared better. Even so, up to 13.7 million Germans were killed by the Allies after WWII, according to a book by James Bacque, Crimes & Mercies. )
Further note: "Some 9 million Germans died as a result of Allied starvation and expulsion policies in the first 5 years after the Second World War. General Eisenhower ( a Jehovah's Witness at the time. Blogger's note ) alone-under the pretense of a food shortage-starved over 1.7 million German POWs to death in prison camps. German civilians were not allowed to take food to German POWs starving to death in American camps. Compassionate GIs, under threat of death penalty, were not even allowed to feed the dying men waste from the kitchen garbage. Eisenhower reclassified German POWs as 'Disarmed Enemy Forces' to circumvent the Geneva Convention accords. When General Patton released his German POWs after the war Eisenhower was infuriated and demanded that the POWs be transferred to him. Patton, however, ignored Eisenhower's request ( ' must be why the outspoken Patton died in December of 1945. Blogger's note ). 'Ike' was a war criminal of epic proportions who was never brought to justice. For more information do a web search for 'Eisenhower starving German POWs.'" Scoopified, Autumn 2008, "News You May Have Missed" section, page 3, paragraph 6
( Understand that Eisenhower was just following an order, an Executive Order, that is. )
If the last century was the "Hemoclysm Century", and history repeats itself, what does this new century have in store for Mankind?
"Christians" are in grave error when they think of Christianity as a religion. It is not a religion! True Christianity is a spiritual way of life. Study the teachings of Jesus Christ if you don't believe me.
In the Old Testament, the prophet Jeremiah said in chapter 28, verse 9, that if someone's prophecy comes true then that man is a Prophet of God. People, keep this in mind when someone comes to you preaching about the Bible and claiming to be in-dwelt by the Spirit of God. Put that person to the test. Ask that person for the winning lottery numbers if it's true that he can see the future because of his "divinely ordained" power to do so since the Holy Spirit is God and God is Omniscient. In Old Testament times, a prophet who was not 100% precise in his prophecies was dragged outside of town and stoned to death! Remember, one of the Ten Commandments says: "Thou shalt not take the name of God in vain." By simple logical extension, someone who claims to be in-dwelt by the Holy Spirit of God can perform miracles like restoring the limbs of amputees and raising back to life stinking corpses, and is conversant in any and every language and dialect known to man. Do you personally know anyone today who can do all of that? I didn't think so. If someone tries to proselytize you, you can be sure that that someone is not confident in his/her faith in God; otherwise, he/she will not go around looking for security in numbers! Yep, Religion is one big "numbers" game. Don't play it.
word of advice: Don't just read the Bible, research it!
Question authority.
Think for yourself. Don't follow a "herd mentality".
tidbits: Before the movie, I saw a white-haired old white man in the video game room "trying" his "skill" on the Dance, Dance Revolution Supernova while facing away from the screen and holding on to the hand rail. It sure was a funny sight to behold! I should at least have given him credit for trying.
This movie gives a literal meaning to "Eating pussy."
It has been 27 long years since the movie, FLASHDANCE, came out. And Jennifer Beals is still looking HOT!!!
Seated to the right of me were a couple of older black ladies who really enjoyed the movie ( Denzel Washington fans, perhaps ) and were very polite and courteous. I need more movie-goers like them watching a movie with me! It's nice to know that there are still people out there who know how to behave properly around others--and in Vallejo, of all places!
After the movie, I went to 99 Cent Only Store on Springs Road to buy a cheap umbrella, some rice and three cans of chili beans.
And, since I still had plenty of time before the 4:05 p.m. showing of LOVELY BONES, I decided to have lunch at Selecta Filipino Buffet next door. There, I met an old lady who also came from Cotabato, Mindanao, Philippines. And she lived in the town next to Pikit and probably had met with my relatives there. It's a small world, after all!
I also bought some lottery tickets while at the buffet. Where was a Man of God when I needed one?
