where: CENTURY 14 VALLEJO in Vallejo, CA
when: Friday, October 22nd, 2010
show: 1:00 p.m. ( Dollar-Off First Show Matinee )
costs: $6.25 Ticket
auditorium: 1
seat: 4th row, 5th column
synopsis: A French journalist, Marie ( Cecile De France ), and a surviving twin boy, Marcus ( Frankie McLaren ), whose lives have each been devastated by tragedy, come into contact with a reluctant American psychic, George ( Matt Damon ), "cursed" with the ability to see the dear departed of grieving loved ones. George desperately wants to leave his past behind and just lead a normal life, then sees that opportunity when a troubled beautiful stranger ( Bryce Dallas Howard ) walks into his life.
noteworthy scenes: 1.) Tsunami; 2.) Brotherly favor; 3.) "A life that's all about death is no life at all"; 4.) June; 5.) Photograph; 6.) Drunken mom; 7.) Child protective services; 8.) 'Phone call; 9.) Bullies; 10.) Accident; 11.) TV interview; 12.) Visions; 13.) "You came back too soon"; 14.) Italian cooking class; 15.) Pleading woman; 16.) Freak; 17.) Church service; 18.) Foster care; 19.) Book idea sales pitch; 20.) "When you die, you die. The lights go out"; 21.) Blindfold taste test; 22.) Flash of vision; 23.) Charles Dickens; 24.) 'Phone message; 25.) Choice; 26.) "I'm sorry for pressing you like that'; 27.) Staircase; 28.) Foster home; 29.) YouTube; 30.) Hospice; 31.) Research; 32.) Downsized; 33.) "Your website's still up, waiting"; 34.) Missing money; 35.) Psychic center; 36.) Fake psychics and paranormal investigators; 37.) Website; 38.) Subway; 39.) "Conspiracy of Silence"; 40.) New billboard poster; 41.) "You've always told me to ask the tough questions"; 42.) The publishers; 43.) The goodbye letter; 44.) Tour group; 45.) Book readings; 46.) George's hotel room; 47.) At the May Fair; and 48.) What the future holds.
audience reaction: A lot of people turned up for this show, people who are searching for answers and, perhaps, closure. And they were all genuinely entertained by this movie.
recommendation: I liked this movie, too. Although, I must confess, it was the Tsunami Scene in particular which made me go see this movie. But the Ending Scene, with its "seeing-into-the-future" bit was somewhat off-putting since it brought-up a psychic ability which is in sharp contrast to George's other ability, making it seem "added-on" at the last minute. ( Or maybe the whole thing was just wishful thinking on George's part. )
spoiler alert! If I saw coconut trees toppling over like that and accompanied by the loud sound of crashing water, heck, I wouldn't stand around looking on at the spectacle that was obviously heading my way. The tsunami was not done right: The time between when the water receded and when it came back in force should have been farther apart. There should have been fish flapping around on the sand when the water receded. The water was too clear; it should have been gritty with sand and muddy-colored, also. But since they insisted on making the water clear for underwater shots, they should have picked the color blue ( for saltwater ) and not the color green ( for freshwater ). With all that water channeled down the road, more objects and debris should have been carried along, too. I have seen how people in San Francisco's apartment complexes park their cars at the curb: Practically bumper to bumper. And there is no way that anyone who's just a visitor can find a big enough spot to squeeze his car into at the curb during the night when everybody's home from work or school. Why were the Sikhs inside a Christian church for funeral services? The hotel receptionist sure was rude to the boy.
And does every Clint Eastwood-directed movie have to feature one of his penned musical compositions, too? Is this the only way that he can get people to listen to his music?
fyi: On the evening of December 17th, 2004, I was on the freeway heading off to my other job in Oakland, CA. I was still in the Vallejo area between the Tennessee Street and Georgia Street exits when there, descending in a 45-degree angle from the upper left of my windshield, appeared a very huge glowing disc emitting a red, yellow, orange and blue glow heading down into the distant Pacific Ocean. ( My eyeball "guesstimate" for this distant object's size is that its length is approximately half the diameter of the moon! ) I expected to witness the flash of an explosion but it never occurred.
I was so excited that when I got to work I promptly told all of my co-workers about the UFO that I saw. And, the next day, I also mentioned it to some of my co-workers at my other job here in Benicia, CA. But nobody seemed to take me seriously. So, that night, I called the Vallejo Times Herald to report what I saw. But the reporter that I wanted to speak with was not in. Then, I called the CHP Hotline to report it. The highway patrol officer who answered the 'phone said that she didn't get any similar calls. She told me to call the local Coast Guard and the Oakland air traffic controller. I didn't get any luck from either one, too. But I do know that at around the same time of my sighting, there was a Vallejo Police Helicopter flying in the air whose radar may have picked up the signal. I didn't bother to check with the VPD, though. So, I was left with no proof at all of what I saw.
Nine days later, an Asian Tsunami killed about 300,000 people. I never really thought that there was any connection at all between this tsunami and the UFO that I saw. Until I read the book, AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A YOGI. In it, it's author, Paramahansa Yoganda, talks about how when a great multitude of people are about to die here on Earth, an equal number of souls are transported here to replace those people that are about to die. In other words, what I saw was not a UFO; it was an SOS ( ship of souls ).
Identical twins have the unenviable tragedy of seeing themselves die twice: First, a twin sees the death of the other; then, he/she witnesses his/her own death.
The C & H Pure Cane Sugar Plant is just across the bridge from Vallejo, CA.
word of advice: Psychic abilities are gifts from God. Use them wisely.
tidbits: I would have gone to the midnight show had I not been scheduled to work today.
