YOGI BEAR 3-D, PG ( 1 hr & 25 min )

where: CENTURY 14 VALLEJO in Vallejo, CA
when: Friday, December 17th, 2010
show: 8:10 p.m.
costs: $13.75 Ticket + $6.00 Snack Pack ( upgraded with Reese's Peanut Butter Cups ) + $10.32 Carne Asada Nachos w/ small Pineapple drink ( @ Baldo's Restaurant on Redwood Street after the show ) = $30.07
auditorium: 8, with the 3-D screen
seat: 5th row, 9th column

synopsis/overview: Yogi Bear ( voiced by Dan Aykroyd ) and Ranger Smith ( Tom Cavanagh ) must cast their differences aside and work together to preserve Jellystone Park and keep it safe from a "Land-Grab Scheme."

noteworthy scenes: 1.) Slow motion; 2.) Protect and preserve; 3.) On target; 4.) The land-grab scheme; 5.) Nature documentary filmmaker, Rachel ( Anna Faris ); 6.) Baked beans; 7.) Shoot you; 8.) Boo-Boo ( voiced by Justin Timberlake ) cam; 9.) Bad news; 10.) Basket Nabber 2000; 11.) Repercussions; 12.) Dinner date; 13.) Park donation box; 14.) "I don't care"; 15.) Jellystone 100th Anniversary; 16.) "I can't wait 12 years"; 17.) Doughnut; 18.) Razzle-dazzle; 19.) "The mic is on"; 20.) Water-skiing; 21.) Fireworks; 22.) "How smart are you now"; 23.) "You both deserve a better man than me"; 24.) Foraging for food; 25.) Evergreen park; 26.) Busy foraging; 27.) "Just getting started"; 28.) Shopping cart; 29.) "You don't want me to go gorilla on you"; 30.) Turtle; 31.) Basket snatch; 32.) Flotation device; 33.) Rapids and falls; 34.) Pressed for time; 35.) "I'm sorry, he was open"; 36.) Diversion; 37.) Evidence; 38.) Bear hug; 39.) Himalayan Snow Leopard; and 40.) The kiss.

favorite scenes: The Slow-Motion Scene.

Rachel trying to engage the bears in Brown Bear Speak.

The Boo-Boo-not-wanting-Yogi-to-jump-over-him Scene.

The Doughnut in Outer Space Scene.

audience reaction: The audience enjoyed the 3-D "sight gags."

recommendation: This movie is cute but is not as funny as I had hoped that it would be. I don't know which is to blame here: Bad directing, bad scripting and/or bad acting. Anyway, it's good for little brats who like movies with talking animals in it, especially if one such creature is cute, little Boo-Boo Boy.

spoiler alert! This 3-D movie does not feature Anna Faris' character in a skimpy "HOUSE BUNNY" bikini! ( For some reason, the Playboy Bunnies' stretching-exercises-on-the-lawn Scene comes to mind---Opps! I forget, this is a PG movie .... Excuse me. ) Two bipedal talking bears ... I don't know what would be more crowd-pulling/pleasing than that! The park is State-owned ( perhaps, even Federally-owned ) property. No city/town official has authority over it. Ranger Smith has bad comic timing and bad comic acting skills. Ranger Smith is the "Leaden Sandwich Surprise" in Yogi Bear's Pic-a-Nic basket. The TV cartoon show Ranger Smith has more facial expressions than this live actor Ranger Smith. The fireworks was planned for a daytime display? The transition to nighttime during the fireworks was too fast.

fyi: I live right outside a city park that is just across a small lake from the Marine World Amusement Park. Every July 4th and New Year's Eve, the amusement park would put on a fireworks display. People would crowd the city park just to see the fireworks. I went to it once, but that was it for me.

word of advice: After you've seen it once, you've seen it all.

tidbits: As I made my way up to the box office to buy my ticket, I could hear a couple of women having a screaming match at each other about 50 yards away.

After the movie, I decided to try Baldo's Carne Asada Nachos. I didn't like it that much. Ten years ago, I used to eat Carne Asada Nachos on my lunch break at a restaurant at the Northgate Shopping Center, a few doors down from the Terra Linda Safeway, in San Rafael, CA. Their nachos are much better than Baldo's.