where: EDWARDS FAIRFIELD STADIUM 16 & I-MAX in Fairfield, CA
when: Friday, January 29th, 2010
show: 1:25 p.m.
costs: $7.50 Ticket + $4.50 small Diet/Zero Coke + $8.98 lunch @ Hometown Buffet ( + $1.00 Tip ) = $21.98
auditorium: 8
seat: 3rd row, 15th column
synopsis: A Boston police detective, Thomas Craven ( Mel Gibson ), hunts down his daughter, Emma's ( Bojana Novakovic ) assassin and finds out about a corporate cover-up involving the government.
noteworthy scenes: 1.) Moonlit lake; 2.) Bleeding and vomiting; 3.) Front porch; 4.) Lavatory; 5.) Rules don't apply; 6.) Morgue; 7.) Stake-out; 8.) Urn; 9.) Gun; 10.) Emma's boyfriend's ( Shawn Roberts ) apartment; 11.) Meter; 12.) Secret meeting; 13.) Northmoor; 14.) Darius Jedburgh ( Ray Winstone ) at Thomas' backyard; 15.) Activist; 16.) Night Flower; 17.) Illegal in Massachusetts; 18.) Tailed; 19.) Pull-over; 20.) Another assassination; 21.) Park bench; 22.) News reporter; 23.) Northmoor's attorney; 24.) Emma's lady friend; 25.) Discs; 26.) Debacle; 27.) Activist leader; 28.) Milk; 29,) Unsurvivable; 30.) Hallucinations; 31.) Senator Jim Pine's ( Damian Young ) home; 32.) Rear-ended; 33.) Need to abort; 34.) Shaving; 35.) Betrayal; 36.) Escape; 37.) Payback time; 38.) Got milk? 39.) Working on an alibi; 40.) By what standard? 41.) Newsroom; and 42.) Radioactive isolation.
audience reaction: The audience seemed to like this movie.
recommendation: Despite Mel's propensity for over-the-top violence in his movies and his anti-Semitic rantings, this crime drama is above-average and probably worth a look-see to some of you out there. I liked it.
spoiler alert! There is no way in the world that a shot-gun shot can push its target back with such force that it breaks a door open as the target flies backwards in the air--the shooter would end up with a dislocated shoulder, back and hip! The force exiting the muzzle is equal to the kick of the rifle butt with each shot. Thomas slapped-away the knife at the blade-part; and since his hand motion was semi-circular, the knife should have sliced-off his fingers. The activist leader could easily file a lawsuit based on police brutality. Thomas, after pulling-over Jack Bennett's ( Danny Huston ) car, swung his car door wide open and promptly stepped-out of his car without even glancing at the on-coming traffic! Even though a police officer is hired by a local government ( i.e. city/township ), since that local government is accountable to the state government, then, yes, a police officer is also a state employee and has jurisdiction over the entire state ( Mr. Lawyer-guy probably got this wrong in the Bar Exam ). How was the would-be assassin able to know when Emma's lady friend was about to exit the car so that he could floor the gas pedal--and where was he waiting to do his dastardly deed all that time ( 'had to be somewhere near )? Why did the cop shoot Jedburgh who was in the process of surrendering himself? Why didn't an alarm go-off when the monitor flat-lined?
fyi: I read of a state trooper once from the '60s or early '70s who would pursue a fleeing criminal across more than two state lines. And once the offender was caught, this officer would issue him a speeding ticket for each and every single city and township that he drove through in the process of trying to evade capture! Now, this is a cop that Hollywood should be making a movie about!
Here's what "The Long Arm of the Law" means: The local police has legal jurisdiction over a criminal who runs to and hides in any country where extradition laws apply!
word of advice: So, my dear readers ... Behave Yourselves!
tidbits: Before going to the movies, I took my Hyundai Accent to WheelWorks in Vallejo to have them replace the defective brakes that they installed in my car over 14 months ago. They tried to "fix" it three times with a silicone spray but it amounted to nothing more than a temporary fix that lasted about a week or less each time. The front brakes would make an embarrassing noise whenever I would turn the wheel and step on the brakes. It was especially bad during the summertime when I would pull up to a gas station where there would be beautiful and sexy girls pumping gas as I would go around looking for an available pump ( and checking-out the "scenery" ) to use and my brakes would make this god-awful noise that could be heard blocks away! And all I could do was slip down and try to hide, out of embarrassment! But WheelWorks fixed the problem--I think--free of charge 'though they didn't guarantee the labor ( 'must be why my brake pedal feels kinda soft ). I might have to take it back next Monday to have them adjust the brakes. As a side note, the burnt rubber/oil smell is gone which I suspected was caused by the defective brakes all along ( Gee, I wonder how much of this toxic fume did I inhale over the months as my car sat and idled at traffic lights whenever I had the fan on ). [ Just kidding. I had the presence of mind to turn-off the fan and roll down the driver's side window at traffic lights whenever the weather was hot enough--whenever the weather wasn't hot enough, I would keep my windows rolled-up so people would think that my car had air-conditioning! Appearance counts too, you know. ]
I went to HomeTown Buffet because I wanted to know how much I paid for my lunch last week when I was in Concord, CA to watch LEGION and THE TOOTH FAIRY so I could finish my blog's movie-watching COSTS section on LEGION. But, about twenty minutes into my lunch, I found out that I was at the wrong buffet! The one I went to last week was J. J. North's. Whoopsie! Okay, that's it! I'm just gonna have to give J. J. North's a call and ask them for the cost of their week-day lunch. Now, why didn't I think of this before ....
