where: CINEARTS @ PLEASANT HILL in Pleasant Hill, CA
when: Thursday, April 1st, 2010
show: 8:00 p.m.
costs: $10.00 Ticket + $4.25 small Popcorn ( w/ Butter ) + $3.75 small Diet/Zero Coke + $1.00 Fudge Brownie Cookie Dough Bites ( bought at 99 Cent Only Store & smuggled-in ) + $4.00 Bridge Toll = $23.00
auditorium: 1, The Cinedome
seat: 6th row, 22nd column
2nd time:
where: CENTURY 14 VALLEJO in Vallejo, CA
when: Sunday, April 4th, 2010
show: 7:45 p.m.
costs: $10.00 Ticket + $3.00 3-D Glasses + $3.75 small Diet/Zero ( w/ Barq's & Cherry flavors ) Coke = $16.75
auditorium: 8, with the 3-D screen
seat: 5th row, 9th column
synopsis: Perseus ( Sam Worthington ) watches helplessly as Hades ( Ralph Fienes ) kills his family. After being rescued from the shipwreck by the soldiers of the city of Argos, he learns that he is a demigod son of Zeus ( Liam Neeson ). Angry over his loss, he joins a small ragtag army on a quest to exact vengeance on his uncle, Hades.
noteworthy scenes: 1.) Plucked from the sea; 2.) One day; 3.) Statue of Zeus; 4.) Sunk; 5.) Love that feeds us; 6.) Argos; 7.) Era of Man; 7.) Demigod; 8.) Interrogation; 9.) Io ( Gemma Arterton ); 10.) Bring everything; 11.) Volunteers; 12.) Alliance; 13.) Flutes; 14.) Sword lesson; 15.) Gift from the gods; 16.) Pegasus; 17.) Scorpions; 18.) Together; 19.) Caravan; 20.) The witches; 21.) I hate to refuse you twice; 22.) Charon, the Ferryman of the dead; 23.) I'm trying to help you live; 24.) Medusa ( Natalia Vodianova ); 25.) Don't become one of them; 26.) You're the best of both; 27.) Kraken; 28.) Religious mob; 29.) Andromeda ( Alexa Davalos ), the sacrificial offering; 30.) The Furies; 31.) The fall; 32.) That's almost human of you; and 33.) The reunion.
audience reaction: Hard to tell since there were just about five people in the audience.
synopsis: Perseus ( Sam Worthington ) watches helplessly as Hades ( Ralph Fienes ) kills his family. After being rescued from the shipwreck by the soldiers of the city of Argos, he learns that he is a demigod son of Zeus ( Liam Neeson ). Angry over his loss, he joins a small ragtag army on a quest to exact vengeance on his uncle, Hades.
noteworthy scenes: 1.) Plucked from the sea; 2.) One day; 3.) Statue of Zeus; 4.) Sunk; 5.) Love that feeds us; 6.) Argos; 7.) Era of Man; 7.) Demigod; 8.) Interrogation; 9.) Io ( Gemma Arterton ); 10.) Bring everything; 11.) Volunteers; 12.) Alliance; 13.) Flutes; 14.) Sword lesson; 15.) Gift from the gods; 16.) Pegasus; 17.) Scorpions; 18.) Together; 19.) Caravan; 20.) The witches; 21.) I hate to refuse you twice; 22.) Charon, the Ferryman of the dead; 23.) I'm trying to help you live; 24.) Medusa ( Natalia Vodianova ); 25.) Don't become one of them; 26.) You're the best of both; 27.) Kraken; 28.) Religious mob; 29.) Andromeda ( Alexa Davalos ), the sacrificial offering; 30.) The Furies; 31.) The fall; 32.) That's almost human of you; and 33.) The reunion.
audience reaction: Hard to tell since there were just about five people in the audience.
2nd audience reaction: There were more people in the audience this time around. And I believe they enjoyed this movie.
recommendation: There are too many slow scenes in this movie billed as a mythological fantasy adventure. To me, it's not good enough to rate a very positive recommendation. I may have to see this in 3-D to see if it will make a difference in my opinion.
recommendation: There are too many slow scenes in this movie billed as a mythological fantasy adventure. To me, it's not good enough to rate a very positive recommendation. I may have to see this in 3-D to see if it will make a difference in my opinion.
2nd recommendation: The "after-thought" 3-D SFX that Hollywood used to hook audiences into paying $3.00 extra for this movie is not worth it! Most of the time, I had to strain my eyes just to notice the 3-D effect. At other times, the 3-D effect was distorted so that the actors' images each looked like a deck of cards. And the fight scenes were too frenetic for the barely-there-to-begin-with 3-D effect to be discernible. Save your money and watch it in 2-D, instead! You won't miss a thing--trust me.
spoiler alert! How and when did Perseus learn acrobatics? The scorpion claw looked fake as it rested on the ground because it was too loose at the joint. Who forced Io to wear a mop-head around the collar of her toga? The sword went through her body in such a way that her diaphragm would have been sliced in half and then it would have killed her almost instantly through asphyxiation--she wouldn't have been able to talk at all! When the sea floor ripped open, there should have been an earthquake on land and the water should have receded, followed by a tsunami. The Kraken was flailing its arms about for an inordinately long time before it surfaced its ugly head. As they swam up to the surface, not one of the hundreds of boulders and rocks hit them. The Golden Owl was not employed in this one, unlike in the original CLASH OF THE TITANS ( 1981 ).
fyi: I decided to see this movie here because the Cinedome is the perfect venue for blockbuster movies since it's an huge auditorium, with a big screen to boot.
Natalia Vodianova, as Medusa, is the hottest babe in this movie! She makes Uma Thurman's Medusa in PERCY JACKSON & THE OLYMPIANS: THE LIGHTNING THIEF ( 2010 ) look like a plain-Jane. This Medusa can turn any hot-blooded man to rock--iykwim!
I don't remember much about the original 1981 version except for the Golden Owl--and vaguely at that!
It was a common belief in ancient times that gods had sex with humans. Even the Bible mentions this in Genesis 6:2. On a broader range, female spirits called, Succubi, and male spirits called, Incubi, have sexual intercourse with humans. How do you think the mother of Jesus got herself pregnant?
word of advice: Do not commit the sin of Blasphemy against God for it is "The One Unpardonable Sin" ( Matthew 12:31-32 and Mark 3:22-30 ) that Jesus Christ didn't die on the Cross for. [ This is my Good Friday message to everyone. ]
tidbits: At 7:30 p.m., as I was wiping my hands with a paper towel in the men's room, I made the comment that the motion-activated faucets in this room will not activate themselves independently because I've never seen any of them do that, unlike in the other men's room around the other side of the theatre. Just then, the faucet that I had just used came on by itself! 'Proved me wrong.
On my way home, I swung by the Safeway grocery store in Benicia, CA, to buy grape juice, gefilte fish, a banana, and an orange. Then I stopped at the Chevron gas station next door to get some gas and to buy some lottery tickets. And I hurried home because I had to eat the gefilte fish with my matzo unleavened bread and horseradish, and wash it all down with the grape juice before midnight or I'd turn into a permanent gentile! Ha, ha, ha.
I would have posted this blog before noontime today, Good Friday, except that there was something wrong with BlogSpot.Com earlier today and I couldn't post this at all until it was almost midnight.
spoiler alert! How and when did Perseus learn acrobatics? The scorpion claw looked fake as it rested on the ground because it was too loose at the joint. Who forced Io to wear a mop-head around the collar of her toga? The sword went through her body in such a way that her diaphragm would have been sliced in half and then it would have killed her almost instantly through asphyxiation--she wouldn't have been able to talk at all! When the sea floor ripped open, there should have been an earthquake on land and the water should have receded, followed by a tsunami. The Kraken was flailing its arms about for an inordinately long time before it surfaced its ugly head. As they swam up to the surface, not one of the hundreds of boulders and rocks hit them. The Golden Owl was not employed in this one, unlike in the original CLASH OF THE TITANS ( 1981 ).
fyi: I decided to see this movie here because the Cinedome is the perfect venue for blockbuster movies since it's an huge auditorium, with a big screen to boot.
Natalia Vodianova, as Medusa, is the hottest babe in this movie! She makes Uma Thurman's Medusa in PERCY JACKSON & THE OLYMPIANS: THE LIGHTNING THIEF ( 2010 ) look like a plain-Jane. This Medusa can turn any hot-blooded man to rock--iykwim!
I don't remember much about the original 1981 version except for the Golden Owl--and vaguely at that!
It was a common belief in ancient times that gods had sex with humans. Even the Bible mentions this in Genesis 6:2. On a broader range, female spirits called, Succubi, and male spirits called, Incubi, have sexual intercourse with humans. How do you think the mother of Jesus got herself pregnant?
word of advice: Do not commit the sin of Blasphemy against God for it is "The One Unpardonable Sin" ( Matthew 12:31-32 and Mark 3:22-30 ) that Jesus Christ didn't die on the Cross for. [ This is my Good Friday message to everyone. ]
tidbits: At 7:30 p.m., as I was wiping my hands with a paper towel in the men's room, I made the comment that the motion-activated faucets in this room will not activate themselves independently because I've never seen any of them do that, unlike in the other men's room around the other side of the theatre. Just then, the faucet that I had just used came on by itself! 'Proved me wrong.
On my way home, I swung by the Safeway grocery store in Benicia, CA, to buy grape juice, gefilte fish, a banana, and an orange. Then I stopped at the Chevron gas station next door to get some gas and to buy some lottery tickets. And I hurried home because I had to eat the gefilte fish with my matzo unleavened bread and horseradish, and wash it all down with the grape juice before midnight or I'd turn into a permanent gentile! Ha, ha, ha.
I would have posted this blog before noontime today, Good Friday, except that there was something wrong with BlogSpot.Com earlier today and I couldn't post this at all until it was almost midnight.
2nd tidbits: When I stepped out of this auditorium after the ending credits, I could have easily walked into auditorium 13 across the hallway and watched this movie again in 2-D. Believe me, I was tempted. But I have a long day ahead of me tomorrow so I decided not to give in to this particular temptation.
After I left the theatre, I swung by the local CVS store to buy a beach chair. It is just the perfect height for doing cross-legged meditation without putting undue stress on my bad knee.
