where: EDWARDS FAIRFIELD STADIUM 16 & I-MAX in Fairfield, CA
when: Monday, February 15th, 2010
show: 8:05 p.m.
costs: $10.50 Ticket + $4.50 small Diet/Zero Coke + $1.00 Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough in Mint flavor + $10.84 before-the-show dinner at Great Wall Chinese Buffet ( + $1.00 Tip ) = $27.84
auditorium: 4
seat: 4th row, 4th seat
synopsis: Absent from his family's home in Blackmoor, England, for many years, a young aristocrat, Lawrence Talbot ( Benicio Del Toro ), returns at the request of his brother's fiancee, Gwen ( Emily Blunt ), who's worried about the fate of her missing lover. He arrives too late as a long dormant curse kept secret by his father, Sir John ( Anthony Hopkins ), has once again reared its ugly head. And just like how his older brother before him had tried to put an end to the curse, he, likewise, decides to take matters into his own hands, for better or for worse.
noteworthy scenes: 1.) Ben Talbot ( Simon Merrells ); 2.) The prodigal son; 3.) The slaughterhouse; 4.) Pub; 5.) Childhood memories; 6.) Gypsy camp; 7.) Recuperation; 8.) Curses; 9.) Scotland Yard detective, Aberline ( Hugo Weaving ); 10.) Posse; 11.) Mirror; 12.) Restless villagers; 13.) Mausoleum; 14.) Crypt; 15.) Hunters; 16.) Capture; 17.) Lambeth Asylum; 18.) Feral boy; 19.) Small gift; 20.) Medical observation room; 21.) The escape; 22.) Monster; 23.) Bad luck for you; 24.) Old Gypsy, Maleva ( Geraldine Chaplin ); 25.) Singh ( Art Malik ); 26.) Singh's room; 27.) Fight; 28.) Alone with Gwen; and 29.) The bitten one.
audience reaction: Fright-wise, I didn't hear a reaction from anybody.
recommendation: This movie is a remake of the 1941 Lon Chaney, Jr. classic of the same title and it plays like one. In other words, it is blase by the standards of today's horror fans even with its use of modern-day special-effects.
spoiler alert! This movie relies too much on the "Boo--Gotcha! pop-up shots" scene device which renders it unimaginatively predictable. Knowing that a bite is contagious, why did Maleva use her teeth to cut-off the thread? Why didn't the hunters put stakes in the pit? Why didn't they take advantage of "high ground"? Why didn't they have a net? Why didn't they have torches at the ready to try and burn the werewolf once it was in the pit? That was one stupid-ass custodian ( David Keyes ) which , I guess is to be expected of anyone doing menial tasks at an asylum. And the orderly ( Barry McCormick ) was stupid, too! Why wasn't the dog inquisitive about the strange noises in the dark of night? Why did the fire spread rapidly throughout the mansion, which was mostly made of stone, cement and tiles? Originally, a man turns into a werewolf only during a bright Autumn moon.
fyi: THE WOLFMAN
"Even a man who is pure at heart
and says his prayers at night
may become a wolf when the wolfbane blooms
and the autumn moon is bright."
That Benicio Del Toro is one scary-lookin' dude even without make-up on!
There's a forested area in England called Cannock Chase, and a German POW cemetery nearby, where reported sightings of werewolves are still on-going to this day. They are mostly seen peripherally, as if they have a way of not being seen directly by eyewitnesses. According to paranormal researcher and author, Nick Redfern, in the book, Timothy Green Beckley's Big Book of Werewolves, a theory goes that such creatures are from another dimension which were forced to appear in our world through the evil practice of secret occult rites, rituals and incantations involving the use of carved figurine heads called, Hexham Heads.
If you go to see someone in Punjab where every male who's a Sikh has the surname, Singh, you'll have a hard time looking-up the right person in the local telephone directory. You'd probably think that someone was playing a sick joke on you, which is nothing to sing about! ' Sorry for the pun jab at Punjab.
I read a newspaper article years ago which claimed that the only reason why more crimes took place on a full moon was because the bad guys could see better with their naked eyes on a full moon than on any other night.
word of advice: Be on your guard on a full moon.
Don't go for a walk in the woods at night all by your lonesome self. Heck! don't go walking in the woods at night, period.
tidbits: I went to Great Wall Chinese Buffet because I wanted to make my own Sweet & Sour Chicken dish. All that I needed were sweet & sour sauce, chicken nuggets, pineapple chunks, chopped onions, diced bell peppers, cucumber slices, carrot slices, and celery slices. They had everything that I needed except for the carrot and celery slices. Darn! I guess that I'll have to make it at home again, since I already have my own "secret sauce" recipe which is better than what they serve at Chinese restaurants. I don't mean to brag, but I was told at one time that my Sweet & Sour Chicken is better than the restaurant version. "Yan Can Cook" but so can Cine-Man. 'Damn right! Unfortunately, I don't like to cook anymore--time to get a wife, I think.
At 3:30 a.m. this Monday, a New York Website, FriendsEat.com ranked my blog at # 1. Yes, finally! It is for my blog on WHEN IN ROME. You can check it out by going to the website, then clicking on the "Places" sub-head, then scrolling down to New York, then clicking on Brooklyn Restaurants, then typing-in "Empire King Buffet" on their search engine, then clicking on Empire King Buffet, and, finally, scrolling down to Empire King Buffet Blogs; mine should be at # 1 ( as of Monday ). It was listed at # 5 last week, then it moved down to # 7. But it's now at # 1! I thought, at first, that it was just Google's search engine simply giving me preferential treatment because BlogSpot.com is owned by Google. So I tried other search engines with the same consistent result every time--if this ain't a "scientific approach", then I don't know what is. I know--and would be the first to admit--that they posted my blog at # 1 solely on the basis of a technicality, but you won't hear me complain about it! Never, ever .... That's that on that! I had better start drafting my acceptance speech for the awards nomination ( just in case there's actually such an exclusive thing for blogs ) ....
Hey, I just found out right now at 10:54 a.m., Tuesday, the 16th of February, 2010, that there is such a thing as an awards event for blogs. It is called "The Annual Weblog Awards." They hand out a "Bloggie" ( kinda like an Oscar ) for outstanding work in any of a number of categories such as Humor, Entertainment, Food, ( mine are perfect for such categories ) etc. The prize money is twenty dollars and something cents. But it ain't for the money that bloggers are vying but, rather, for the "bragging rights." And there is no limit to the number of categories that a blog may be nominated for. It's too late for this year, but you readers of mine can help me out for next year by submitting my blogs for awards consideration. DO IT NOW! please, before you forget. Thank you. ( And you thought that my blogs were all a freebie. Well, think again .... )
This reminds me of an event which supposedly took place somewhere in Mindanao, Philippines, many years ago back when I was but a little kid. A datu ( native Muslim chief ) was the guest of honor at a local beauty pageant's "Coronation Night" and was tasked with crowning the beauty queen. As he proceeded to crown the queen, this was how he addressed those in attendance: "Good ibning, Koronesyon Night. I kem her to koronesyon da queen!" Then, he plopped the crown on the most-embarrassed beauty. Ha, ha, ha--snort!
