where: GUILD THEATRE in Menlo Park, CA
when: Sunday, June 6th, 2010
show: 4:30 p.m.
costs: $9.75 Ticket + $4.25 small Diet Coke + $4.00 Carquinez Bridge Toll = $18.00
auditorium: 1 ( and only one, since this is an old, one-screen theatre )
seat: 4th row, center section, 5th column
synopsis: A wealthy old man, Henrik Vanger ( Sven-Bertil Taube ) , haunted by the possible murder of his favorite niece, Harriet Vanger ( Ewa Froling ), by one of his own relatives forty years ago, hires the services of a disgraced journalist, Mikael Blomkvist ( Michael Nyqvist ), and a disturbed and tattooed computer hacker, Lisbeth Salander ( Roomi Rapace ). But as both of them dig deeper and deeper into the case, they uncover dark family secrets that could very well cost them their own lives.
noteworthy scenes: 1.) The yearly package; 2.) Libel suit; 3.) Photographer; 4.) Lisbeth Salander; 5.) Swedish meatballs; 6.) Father's former employer; 7.) Old news reel; 8.) Newly-appointed guardian; 9.) The attic; 10.) Letter of resignation; 11.) Computer hacking; 12.) Ganged-up on; 13.) Computer hard drive; 14.) Research for clues; 15.) Former Nazis; 16.) Nobody and everybody; 17.) Cecilia Vanger ( Marika Lagercrantz ); 18.) There is no answer; 19.) Spying on computer hacker; 20.) Abusing trust; 21.) Soap and water; 22.) Photo archives; 23.) Frame by frame; 24.) The killer; 25.) Lured away; 26.) Handcuffed and raped; 27.) Camera girl; 28.) Norsjo Carpentry shop; 29.) Honeymoon snap shots; 30.) Taste of his own "medicine"; 31.) New computer; 32.) Send e-mail; 33.) Bible reference from the book of Leviticus 20:16; 34.) Hospital visit; 35.) New partner; 36.) Kia Sportage rental car; 37.) Pinioned and tortured; 38.) Magda's case; 39.) Dream; 40.) Tuna Motel [ how funny is this "sexual-reference " name for a motel! ]; 41.) Jimmied lock; 42.) Photographic memory; 43.) Quickie sex; 44.) Updating Henrik; 45.) Gustav Morell ( Bjorn Granath ); 46.) Vanger Group; 47.) Necklace; 48.) Anita; 49.) Plague; 50.) Sniper; 51.) Security cameras; 52.) "It's on the internet"; 53.) Last one; 54.) Jewish names; 55.) Vanger Group accounts and records; 56.) Breaking and entering; 57.) Blue sweater; 58.) Pattern; 59.) Killer; 60.) Like father, like son; 61.) The chase; 62.) Crash; 63.) Flashback; 64.) Photographic evidence; 65.) "'Not finished yet" ; 66.) Australia; 67.) The visit; 68.) The surprise; 69.) Secret confession; 70.) Paper trail; 71.) Cayman Islands bank account ; and 72.) Mystery woman.
Okay, this officially makes it "The Most Entries" for Noteworthy Scenes! Whew! Foreign subtitled films, I swear ....
audience reaction: The audience liked this sub-titled Detective/Murder-Mystery/Thriller movie.
recommendation: I liked it, too. And I would highly recommend it to fans of such genres.
spoiler alert! Why didn't the pervert yell for help when he had the chance? The sniper had the advantage of knowing the lay of the land and could have easily taken down his prey. Why did they let the bad guy make a run for it? The girl who got away could/should have reported the whole thing to the authorities years ago. If someone was trying to kill me and I got the better on him, I'd finish him off or, at least, incapacitate him one way or another. If I'm in a car and somebody was chasing me down on a motorcycle, I'd simply put a smile on my face and ... Bwa, ha, ha, ha, ha. Take that, you punk!
fyi: It ain't no Swedish film if it ain't got no Swedish Meatballs! Just like with Italian movies in which they show Pizza and/or Pasta dishes, a real Swedish movie, I guess, must have Swedish Meatballs--and this one has it! And Mikael even gave a tip on how to form a meatball. But why couldn't he just use a bowl of water instead of running the tap water? Better yet, he should just have coated his hands with oil first. But I digress, yet again, so I'll just shut-up on this subject now.
I guess the Swedes prefer to use Apple Computers, or maybe it's just an advertising gimmick. Hmm ....
The Guild Theatre is an historic landmark. It was originally built in 1926 as a burlesque house. In the 1940s, it was converted to show movies with a soundtrack. It has a very tiny lobby with the concession counter and ticket "booth" on one side and the men's and women's rooms on the opposite side. I don't think much was changed about this place, structure-wise, since it first opened 84 years ago--except for the screen, sound system and theatre seats, of course. It's as if you go back in time when you step into this itsy-bitsy place.
When you drive down the El Camino Real strip from Menlo Park, to Palo Alto and part-way down Mountain View, you'll notice that a bunch of "Psychics" have set-up shop on either side of the street. I guess I know now why Stanford University is such a prestigious university: The students get good grades on their exams with the help of psychics. Now I know where to go for higher education!
word of advice: Don't keep skeletons in your closet.
tidbits: After watching GET HIM TO THE GREEK and checking-in at Menlo Park's Mermaid Inn ( $68.20 for the over-night stay ), I realized that I had enough time to walk one and a half blocks to the Guild Theatre to check out the place and its featured movie after I looked-up my copy of the San Francisco Chronicle's movie guide list.
After I got out of the theatre, I was gonna walk two blocks further up to the MacDonald's Restaurant. But I changed my mind after much deliberation. I headed back toward Mermaid Inn and made a quick trip to the Menlo Park Safeway, adjacent to the inn, to buy something to eat for dinner.
At Safeway, I bought a 12 ounce size of raw and unfiltered Madhava Mountain Gold Clover Honey ( $2.99 ), a 33.8 ounce Refreshe bottled water ( $0.89 + $0.10 CRV tax ), an 8.75 ounce Signature Cafe Quinoa Berry & Spinach Layered Salad ( $3.59 ) and a deli "all natural" Chicken Thigh ( $2.29 ), for a grand total of $10.07. What I found odd was the woman who got me the chicken at the deli counter: She didn't say anything--or smiled, for that matter--after she handed me the piece and just gave me a "look". I guess she's used to serving rich Menlo Park/Palo Alto people who buy more than one piece of chicken from her! Damn, why couldn't I have been a Safeway Secret Shopper!
When I walked into my room, #26, I turned on the air conditioner since it was hot in there. And I decided to do my Kriya Yoga before having dinner. After my yoga, I changed my mind and got in my car to go to MacDonald's to grab a bite to eat, instead.
At MacDonald's, I decided on the Grilled Chicken Southwest Salad ( $4.39 ) and a cup of Sweet Tea ( $1.00 ), for a total of $5.89 with "eat-in" tax included. I wonder if I could have save myself the extra $0.50 had I ordered my meal "to-go". But maybe they'd just impose a "to-go" tax on it, too! What a con-job the government is running. Anyway, I asked for a couple of mini-tubbed coffee creamer to put in my sweet tea because it was just too darn sweet for me.
The other reason why I went to MacDonald's was because I wanted to buy a "Fiona" drinking glass to complete my SHREK Collection. But they didn't have any because it was recalled since the paints used had Cadmium in them, I later found out from reading the Friday, June 5th, edition of the San Francisco Chronicle that I brought with me on this overnight stay at Menlo Park. Hell, I'm keeping my three glasses with me since they're bound to be real collector's items down the road--for sure!
As for the stuff that I bought at Safeway, I had them the following day for breakfast and for lunch with the two really-ripe bananas that I brought with me on this trip. Today, June 9th, I still have not finished-up on the honey. I get my "sugar fix" on it every now and then--never mind what I said earlier about the sweet tea!
P.S. I put in $16.00 worth of regular gas in my Hyundai Accent for my overnight stay in Menlo Park. But $13.00 worth of gas would have been enough.
