where: EDWARDS FAIRFIELD STADIUM 16 & I-MAX in Fairfield, CA
when: Friday, June 10th, 2011
show: 10:50 a.m.
costs: $17.50 Ticket + $6.00 small Popcorn + $4.75 small Diet Coke + $8.75 # 2 meal @ Jack In The Box ( including a car antenna ball purchase ) after the movie = $37.00
auditorium: 12, with the I-Max screen
seat: 5th row, 6th seat
synopsis/overview: "E. T. 'phone home," this ain't!
Kids make an amateur zombie movie and witness a train derailment. Soon, their town is overrun by soldiers who are in search of something just as the town's folks, dogs, appliances, and engines begin to disappear.
noteworthy scenes: 1.) Lillian Steel Company site safety board; 2.) Wake; 3.) Zombie home movie clip; 4.) Diner; 5.) Unlicensed driver; 6.) Improvised line; 7.) Train derailment; 8.) "I'm having a heart attack--and I have a scrape"; 9.) "White Rubik's Cube"; 10.) Map; 11.) Eight-millimeter film pack; 12.) T.V. news; 13.) "I'm gonna steal some money from my mom"; 14.) Camera shop; 15.) "I'll do it"; 16.) Air Force train; 17.) More white "Rubik's Cubes"; 18.) Molds of tire tracks; 19.) Gas Station; 20.) "Kind of like her, but hungry for human flesh"; 21.) "Unusual calls"; 22.) Used car lot; 23.) Missing dogs; 24.) "Cables are gone"; 25.) Cherry picker; 26.) "Military chatter"; 27.) "What was that necklace"; 28.) "Ran away in every direction"; 29.) "Operation Walking Distance"; 30.) "Deputy, let's talk--'not just here"; 31.) "We're not clear"; 32.) Cemetery; 33.) "Under military arrest"; 34.) "He's in me as I am in him"; 35.) Home movie; 36.) "Is this normal"; 37.) Monster; 38.) Flame thrower; 39.) Water tower; 40.) Rival lovers;41.) Evidence; 42.) Evacuation; 43.) "I believe you"; 44.) The favor; 45.) "Thanks for the hospitality"; 46.) Diversion; 47.) "I loosened it for you"; 48.) "We've turned him into an enemy"; 49.) "You're the deputy's boy"; 50.) "... Tell me everything or I will throw you in jail"; 51.) Military bus; 52.) "Find our kids"; 53.) "You dorks are alive"; 54.) "It's a mess"; 55.) "Out here, Sir"; 56.) Sparklers; 57.) "It was an accident"; 58.) Captured people; 59.) Firecrackers; 60.) "I'm just doing the best I can to help you"; 61.) "Bad things happen"; 62.) The focal point; 63.) Lift-off; and 64.) Short zombie film during the Ending Credits, an obvious homage to Hollywood Director George A. Romero.
audience reaction: I didn't hear much of a reaction from this crowd.
recommendation: This is not a kids' movie, per se. But it is a good, character-driven movie that will prove appealing to those who are tired of the "same ol', same ol'" UFO Alien/Sci-Fi movies that are heavy-handed on special effects.
spoiler alert! So, a sheriff's deputy ( Kyle Chandler ) is at a funeral wake, in civilian clothes, yet still carrying around a pair of handcuffs. If the deputy knew that one of his son's friends carried potentially dangerous fireworks with him all of the time, why didn't he confiscate the whole lot? Here is yet another Hollywood movie about highly-advanced extra-terrestrials who come to Earth butt-naked! Why ...? Do these aliens come here looking for nudist beaches? This movie should have been rated R, for alien nudity. Why does Hollywood keep assuming that every extra-terrestrial who lands/crash-lands on Earth can breathe our air with no problem at all? The Physics equation about Mass and Velocity ( what my classmates and I called, "The bug vs. the windshield" equation ), Mv = mV, applies in the case of the head-on collision between the train ( M, for Big Mass ) and the pick-up truck ( m, for little mass ). Simply put, the train has many more times the mass of a pick-up truck; so, when they get into a head-on collision, the train's velocity ( v ) will only be slightly affected while the pick-up truck's velocity ( V ) will be greatly affected. In other words, the train should not have derailed and the pick-up truck should have been flipped-over in all likelihood! A derailment would have been more likely had the railroad tracks been tampered with. As big and as strong as this alien was, why did it wait until after the derailment to free itself? Dogs wouldn't run away from it in real life. Why didn't any of the cops seated at the kitchen table see Joe ( Joel Courtney ) step into the room? The one bad thing about field hospitals: Flies--eeyew! Here's another Hollywood movie in which the first one to die is a black man! How did Charles ( Riley Griffiths ) load the film into the projector quickly and without being noticed? One would think that the glow of that lit marijuana in the dark would be noticed by at least one soldier. Even if the alien had a tough exoskeleton, it would still be vulnerable to rifle fire at close range if the soldier shot at it when its mouth opened. It looked like the soldiers in town were firing at each other. Where did all the dug-up dirt go? ( That was a very big hole in the ground, after all. ) In its hideout, and without the use of its "Lego building blocks" to build its spaceship with, the alien, which was at least five times taller than an average-height human, would only have 1/5th ( or less ) the manual dexterity required of any human to assemble all the precision electronic/mechanical devices with since its "hands" would be at least five times bigger than a human's hands! In an earlier scene, the alien disregarded a bicycle, but it collected a bicycle or two near the end--'it must be a gift for E. T.!
fyi: In 2005, my sister in Michigan took me, along with her husband and daughter, to Mackinac City at the foot of the Mackinac Bridge, the bridge that connects Southern Michigan to Northern Michigan. We were gonna go to Mackinac Island, but it was too windy and the Lake Michigan water was too choppy for a boat ride to the island.
In a few months, though, my sister, her family and I are gonna go to Mackinac Island, for sure. Because, I heard that "Mackinac Island is beautiful this time of year."
I remember when Sony Walkman first came out. It made quite a name for itself when people actually got hit and killed by trains while listening to music on the new, fashionable device. It took me many years before I finally got the nerve to buy myself a Sony Walkman--and I never used mine anywhere near railroad tracks!
Hey, maybe this movie's railroad scene would have made more sense had the pick-up truck driver been listening to music on a Sony Walkman. Ha, ha, ha.
I had a co-worker, J. Galindo, at PayLess Drugstore, who studied film directing at the nearby California College of Arts and Crafts. He wanted my input on his script. I gave his script the title, COMPULSION CONTRAST, because it was about a guy with a compulsion to steal and a girl with a compulsion to kill. Anyway, long story short, he had me play the bad guy; and I had my Anatomy and Physiology classmate play the role of the bad girl because I had a "thing" for her. But, she ended-up being more interested in my movie director co-worker than in me because he rode an 80cc Honda Elite while I rode a 50cc Honda Gyro. Hmmph! women .... ( I don't even remember her name anymore--not that I care! )
About J. Galindo's student film, COMPULSION CONTRAST .... I improvised a scene where my character walked past the girl's character and my character turned and looked at her appreciatively as he said, "Chihuahua ( which was my slang for, cute little bitch )." Next thing I knew, Steven Spielberg's TV show, AMAZING STORIES, aired an episode about a boy genius who invented a pink liquid that turns pictures of humans into life-size, three-dimensional living, breathing replicas. A scene had this boy genius walking past a girl at a crosswalk and turning around to appreciatively say, "Chihuahua." Steven Spielberg and/or one of his TV show's writers used my improvised line without giving me any credit WHATSOEVER!!! What f---ing low-lifes! All they do is go to student film festivals trolling for fresh ideas that they can steal!!!! How despicably low is that? I will never work for or with Steven Spielberg without any kind of acknowledgement and apology from him and/or his writing staff! I don't want money, I just want credit where credit is due. It's all a matter of principle!
By the way, the California College of Arts and Crafts changed its name to, California College of the Arts. Why ...? Because the academic staff got tired of its students calling the school, "California College of Farts and Craps!" L.O.L.
word of advice: We are not alone.
tidbits: On the way home from the theatre, I decided to grab a bite to eat at the Jack-In-The-Box Restaurant right off the freeway between Fairfield and Vallejo. And I decided to get a Jack-In-The-Box antenna ball to replace the old, raggedy Union 76 antenna ball on my blue Hyundai Accent.
Then, I realized that there is a Union 76 gas station right across the street. So, after eating my meal, I went to get gas at Union 76 and asked them for an antenna ball. But, they don't have them anymore. I went and put a lesser-quality gas in my tank for nothing!
Hours later, I went on the Internet to look-up Union 76 antenna balls. These are now collector's items that are sold on E-Bay for a goodly sum. No wonder I always had my Union 76 antenna balls stolen!
It took me longer than usual to post this particular blog because I have recently started doing Delta Brainwave Frequency Meditation. Before this, I did Alpha Brainwave Frequency Meditation for about eight years. Delta Brainwave Frequency Meditation is as low a frequency as you can consciously get your brain to function. But, after such a meditation period, you fall asleep fast. The first time that I tried Delta Brainwave Frequency Meditation, I fell asleep soon afterwards and stayed asleep for about 12 hours! ( I was glad that I didn't have to go to work the next day. ) I only awakened from it because my kidneys were in pain and begging me for mercy. And I've been doing Delta Brainwave Frequency Meditation everyday ever since; and I've been falling fast asleep soon afterwards ever since! Which is why it took me this long to finish this blog.
If you'll excuse me, I will now be doing my Delta Brainwave Frequency Meditation. Goodnight ....
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