where: EDWARDS FAIRFIELD STADIUM 16 & I-MAX in Fairfield, CA
when: Friday, July 15th, 2011
show: 10:30 a.m.
costs: $12.00 Ticket + $6.00 small Popcorn + $0.00 Zero Sprite = $18.00
auditorium: 5, with the 3-D screen
seat: 3rd row, 10th column
2nd time
where: BRENDEN VACAVILLE 16 in Vacaville, CA
when: Saturday, July 16th, 2011
show: 4:50 p.m.
costs: $8.00 Ticket + $6.00 Snack Pack + $14.20 dinner @ Tin-Tin Chinese Buffet after the movie ( + $2.25 Tip ) = $30.45
auditorium: 16, with a 2-D screen
seat: 4th row, 6th seat
3rd time
where: EDWARDS FAIRFIELD STADIUM 16 & I-MAX in Fairfield, CA
when: Wednesday, July 20th, 2011
show: 10:05 p.m.
costs: $17.50 Ticket + $3.00 Mango-Pineapple Smoothie @ MacDonald's Restaurant on Admiral Callaghan Lane in Vallejo, CA, before the movie + $7.00 medium Popcorn + $4.75 small Zero Sprite = $32.25
auditorium: 12
seat: 5th row, 6th seat
synopsis/overview: Harry, Ron and Hermione ( Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson ) go back to Hogwarts to find and destroy Lord Voldemort's ( Ralph Fiennes ) remaining Horcruxes.
noteworthy scenes: 1.) "I need to talk to the goblin"; 2.) The wands; 3.) Hideous; 4.) The bank; 5.) Washed-off enchantments; 6.) Multiplying treasure; 7.) Dragon's flight; 8.) "He knows"; 9.) Mirror; 10.) "Suicide mission"; 11.) Tunnel; 12.) The surprise; 13.) "We don't know"; 14.) "Security problem"; 15.) "Students, out of bed"; 16.) "I've always wanted to use that spell"; 17.) "We have to talk to someone who's dead"; 18.) The grey lady, Helena Ravenclaw ( Kelly MacDonald ); 19.) "Yeah, you and whose army"; 20.) The golden cup Horcrux; 21.) Breached; 22.) The Room of Requirement; 23.) "You have something of mine"; 24.) "We can't leave them"; 25.) "It's the snake"; 26.) "I know where he is"; 27.) "The Elder Wand belongs to the one who killed its last owner"; 28.) Tear drop; 29.) "Harry Potter, I now speak directly to you"; 30.) The truth; 31.) "Like a pig for slaughter"; 32.) "There's a reason why I can hear them"; 33.) The Resurrection Stone; 34.) "We never left"; 35.) "Harry Potter, the boy who lived, come to die"; 36.) "King's Cross Station, only cleaner"; 37.) Amended statement; 38.) "Harry Potter is dead"; 39.) Neville's ( Matthew Lewis ) speech; 40.) "Not my daughter, you bitch"; 41.) Neville to the rescue; 42.) The Elder Wand; and 43.) The next generation.
audience reaction: The audience liked this movie. And some in attendance gave it a "Hands Clapper" ending.
2nd audience reaction: People liked this movie, too. But nobody gave it a "Hands Clapper" ending.
3rd audience reaction: It didn't get that enthusiastic of a response from this crowd. There were less than 20 people in this auditorium for this particular show.
recommendation: I liked it, too. Go see this if you're a Harry Potter fan.
spoiler alert! Okay, the goblin was ALONE in the room with the sword. So, if the goblin really wanted the sword so badly, why didn't it grab the sword and disappear out of there? They had Bellatrix Lestrange's ( Helena Bonham Carter ) wand but couldn't produce it when asked at the bank? When Hermione stopped them from falling down to the cavern floor, did the camera angle have to be where Hermione's cleavage was at? Lord knows that I didn't want to see Harry and Ron take off their wet clothes--I was waiting for Hermione to do the same! I mean, have you been to a crowded beach where a bunch of bikini-clad girls are at? Well, if you have, I'm pretty sure that you saw one or two ( or more ) bikini girls change their bottoms with only a towel wrapped around their waists and change their tops after putting on shirts first. That was what I wanted to see, not Harry's and/or Ron's pasty skin. Harry's eyeglasses were clearly non-prescription prop glasses which could not fool people like me who wear glasses. When they were going through the secret tunnel, why couldn't the Dementors hear Neville talking out loud through the vent? Why did Harry Potter's head cast a shadow on the grey lady, Helena Ravenclaw's, face when she was supposedly just a ghost? Why didn't the Hogwarts' team take to the air on their brooms in the battle? When Harry Potter used the Pensieve to access Professor Severus Snape's ( Alan Rickman ) stored memories--he kept his face underwater for 7 minutes and 25 seconds ( based on my wristwatch )--so I guess even Severus' tears were trying to kill Harry Potter by drowning. I don't know about you, but I don't know of anyone who can hold his breath for 7 minutes and 25 seconds. The longest I ever held my breath was for about 2 minutes and 45 seconds! That Severus sure shed a whole lot of tears! Why were the memories of Severus not from his own point-of-view? At one point, Lord Voldemort said, "Harry Potter, I now speak directly to you"--but both Hermione and Ron were still acting like Voldemort was mentally torturing them! Hah! bad acting. There was a blister on the back of Voldemort's neck in the Forbidden Forest scene with Harry; I guess the make-up department forgot to fix it up. Harry Potter asked, "Does it hurt ... dying?" And Sirius Black ( Gary Oldman ) answered, "Quicker than falling asleep." And Cine-Man said, Well, that depends. If Lord Voldemort is gonna torture you first before killing you, then it's gonna hurt like a whole lot of Hell, you dumb-ass. Stop asking stupid questions! Harry was the only one who could kill Lord Voldemort; so you'd think that he'd make sure to finish-off Harry--even going so far as to feed him to Nagini. But ... he didn't! When Lord Voldemort struck Harry Potter down in the forest, Harry's wand fell from his hand. So ... how did he end up with his wand in his hand again after "playin' possum"? Earlier, Lord Voldemort called a truce to give his enemies time to bury their dead with dignity. But ... on his victory parade toward Hogwarts Castle, he "pushed" a dead giant's body off the bridge. The giant's body landed with a thud, instead of a series of thuds, implying that it hit the bottom of the bridge right away because the body was laying at the midpoint of the bridge. The Hogwarts Castle bridge was built over a very high precipice. But, from the time Voldemort "pushed" the dead giant's body off the bridge to the time that it hit the bottom, I counted, One-One Thousand, Two-One--i.e. the time was only approximately 1 1/2 seconds. Since all free-falling objects on Earth have a change of velocity expressed as: acceleration of gravity = 9.8 m/s/s, then, based on a time of 1 1/2 seconds, the giant's body hit the bottom of the bridge after falling for ONLY 14.7 meters or 48.23 feet--but the bridge was set higher-up than that distance! So ... the "Thud" sound should have happened a little later AND... because of the local hilly and/or mountainous terrain, the "Thud" sound should have produced a series of echoes!!! Hello .... 'Anybody there in the Hollywood Logic Department? Hmm, I guess not. Why did Nagini make rattling noises when only Rattlesnakes do it and there was no rattle on its tail? Why didn't Nagini dodge the rock that Hermione threw at it when it could easily have done so? When Harry and Voldemort were flying through the air, why did neither one of them try to gouge the other one's eyes out? After 19 years, the train station still didn't have security cameras to catch the strange/suspicious activities of the non-Muggle community. Nineteen years later ...? Come on, seriously folks, it should have been more like 12 or 13 years later--allow me to explain: War is an Aphrodisiac! In times of war, people easily realize their fragile, fleeting state of existence. The survival mechanism then kicks-in and makes people want to procreate to pass on their genes--how do you think we got the "Baby Boom Generation" to start less than a year after WWII ended? And I don't have to remind you of stories of soldiers raping women and girls, an inevitability of wartime. Neville Longbottom had it right when he declared his love for Luna Lovegood ( Evanna Lynch )--the battle got him super-horny and desperate to procreate ( Hey, I like this rhyme )! After Lord Voldemort's demise, there would have been a big celebration wherein social propriety would easily yield to unbound lust! Yup, I'm talking One Big Orgy at Hogwarts Castle, folks; and everyone was invited--except for me! Ha, ha, ha. Why am I laughing .... So, the next generation of witches and wizards should have popped-out into this world approximately nine months after Lord Voldemort's death. And said generation should have gone off to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry approximately 12 years later, not 19 years later! Duh .... And Harry's son, Albus Severus Potter ( initials, A.S.P. ) went to Hogwarts and made an asp ( pun intended ) of himself! Bwa, ha, ha, ha, ha--snort!
I must ask again, When is Hollywood gonna get smart enough to hire my services as script consultant and/or technical adviser so that their movies will be more appealing to those of us who know how to think? Come on, Hollywood, what have you got to lose? Think of what you'll gain by simply hiring me!
fyi: If you noticed, in the Hogwarts Castle's tower, the staircase spiraled from the right. There is a reason for that: Right-handedness. Since most people are right-handed, spiral staircases in medieval towers were designed to spiral up from the right side so that invaders, facing up, would have their sword-wielding hand, the right hand, up against the tower wall. This was a big disadvantage to them because the defenders, facing down, could swing their sword-wielding hand freely from the on-guard position to defend the tower.
word of advice: "Greater Love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." Jesus Christ ( New Testament of the Bible, John 15:13 )
tidbits: I took my Hyundai Accent to Quality Tune-Up on Sonoma Boulevard here in Vallejo, CA, first thing in the morning today, for an oil change.
I still had plenty of time--at least half an hour--after I arrived at the theatre for the 9:45 a.m. I-Max show and the 10:10 a.m. 2-D show. But there were already two long lines of movie-goers waiting to get in. So, I just bought a ticket for the 10:30 a.m. 3-D show. The box office clerk gave me a choice: either use the standard 3-D glasses or the special edition Harry Potter glasses. Of course, I took the Harry Potter glasses--it was such a "No-Brainer"! And, instead of waiting in line like the others, I decided to wait it out in my car where I could do more Zhunti mantras.
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| You can barely see my Hyundai Accent's right rear corner in this photo. It is up in the air. Yep, my car is a levitating yogi car. |
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| I went to this Big!Lots discount store in Fairfield, CA, after seeing the movie to buy some toilet paper, an 8-pack of notepads for my movie reviews, and a bag of really delicious fruit slices candy. |
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| I took this from the driver's seat of my Geo Metro. To the left of this place is the 99 Cent Only Store and to the far right of this place is the Filipino Grocery Store, Island Pacific. |
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| And here's a closer telephoto shot of the same place. I came here to Selecta Filipino Buffet to eat after I got back to Vallejo from watching the Harry Potter movie in Fairfield, CA. |
But ... if you're a guy who looks like a very beautiful woman then, I guess, it's okay to let the whole world know about it--and make good money while you're at it! Case in point:
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| This hot super-model is actually a guy! His name is Andre Pejic. |
2nd tidbits: I forgot to bring my digital camera with me so I'm just re-using three previous Vacaville photographs.
I bought more of the fruit slices candy today, a Saturday, as well as a cat collar for Tiger, and a pair of headphones after seeing this movie for the second time.
When I stepped into this buffet restaurant, I surveyed the dining area and realized that there was only one white person in there. The rest were Chinese and a Filipino couple. Uh-oh, I knew what that meant: No Rice left for me! Sure enough, when I went over to the rice cooker, there was nothing in it but burnt crusted-up rice. I had to tell one of the waiters to get me some rice.
Later on, two Hispanic couples on a double-date came in. As soon as they sat down to eat, the background music switched from Chinese to Spanish. And a song played had the male singer keep saying, "Amor para tu " ( Love for you ). But the way it was sung sounded not Spanish but more like Filipino ( Cebuano )-Spanish, " Amoy barato " ( Smells cheap ). I think one of the Chinese employees at this restaurant had spent some time in the Philippines and picked this particular song to slyly convey the message that the Hispanic girls' dates were wearing cheap cologne which was probably bought at a dollar store. Ha, ha, ha. Ah, wait a minute ... that song better not had been played in reference to my cologne!
If you must know, my favorite cologne is Bod Man's Fresh Blue Musk. And, nope, you can't buy it at a dollar store! Sorry, you cheapskate.
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| As you can see, it costs more than a dollar! |
As I was finishing my dinner at 8:52 p.m., I noticed my waitress at another table wiping down a 28 oz. bottle of Sriracha Hot Chili Sauce. She had that thing wrapped in a towel and with both hands was gently stroking it up and down, up and down, nice and easy-like. So sexually erotic, the way she was doing it. And I was starting to feel uneasy in my seat! Up and down, nice and easy. Hot sauce, warm towel and gentle hands--a perfect sensual combination, if I may say so myself! I wondered if she moonlighted as a masseuse at one of those Oriental "massage" parlors. And I had an epiphany: The way to Cine-Man's heart is through a bottle of Asian Hot Chili Sauce, not shaken, not stirred, but gently stroked. Damn! there goes my Yogi aspirations .... I swear, it is getting harder and harder for me ( pun intended ) to become a full-pledge Yogi.
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| This gets me hot, babe! |
3rd tidbits: I went to Fairfield, CA, earlier in the day today, a Wednesday, because I wanted to watch the Harry Potter 3-D show at 10:30 a.m. just because of the special edition 3-D glasses made for this last-and-final Harry Potter movie that I was gonna keep, unused, as a collector's item memento of this movie ( I brought along a regular Real-Deal 3-D glasses to use ). But they had already ran-out of the special edition 3-D glasses. So, I just decided to make today my final time watching this movie in I-Max 3-D--I was saving the I-Max 3-D show for tomorrow, a Thursday, at the AMC Bay Street in Emeryville, CA, after paying a visit to Hector in Oakland, CA.
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| I originally bought an I-Max 3-D ticket for the day's first showing of the I-Max 3-D Harry Potter movie. And the weather was starting to get uncomfortably warm--and I don't have air conditioning in my Geo Metro ( or my Hyundai Accent, for that matter )! |
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| After buying my movie ticket, I went to the Fairfield, CA, Big!Lots discount store to by an am/fm stereo cd player as a gift for Hector. |
I still had plenty of time before the movie was to start, so I decided to just get out of the sun and have an all-you-can-eat buffet lunch at this restaurant on the opposite end of the Westfield Solano Shopping Mall from the Edwards Fairfield cineplex. This restaurant used to be the Great Wall Chinese Buffet; but there was a change in ownership and management almost a year ago, I was told by the hostess. This was my first time coming here after the take-over. And they really spruced-up the place! They even installed a couple of fancy-schmanzy Sloan waterless urinals! Don't ask me how "waterless" urinals work because I don't know. Us guys don't care about such things, we just pee anywhere when we think that nobody's watching! Ha, ha, ha. Anyway .... The dining area looked very attractive, but I didn't take any interior pictures with my camera because I didn't ask for permission to do so--maybe, next time. Nope, I didn't see any attractive waitresses--yet! As for their buffet selections, I think the former establishment had more to offer. But, then again, maybe they were just reserving the more extensive selections for the dinner crowd. At least, they had a "serve yourself" soda fountain.
So, I sat there enjoying my buffet lunch and thinking that I had plenty of time before the 12:15 p.m. I-Max 3-D show was to start. Sometime later, I looked at my movie ticket just to double-check on the start time. I had it wrong! I thought that the box office clerk said that the first show was at 12:15 p.m.; it was not. The first show was at 12:50 p.m.! There was no way that I could watch it, go home, change clothes, change cars and go to work on time! I had to go back to the theatre to switch my ticket for the last evening show.
Money spent at the buffet restaurant = $8.58 Lunch + $1.00 Tip
Later on today, after work, I swung by the MacDonald's Restaurant in the Target Shopping Center on Admiral Callaghan Lane here in Vallejo, CA, to order something and pass the time before heading on to the Edwards Fairfield Stadium 16 & I-Max in Fairfield, CA, for the last evening show of the Harry Potter movie.
I was gonna have a burger meal here, but I changed my mind because I decided to "popcorn" the Harry Potter movie. By "popcorn", I mean that I will just sit back, relax and enjoy a movie with a cup of soda and a bag of popcorn without taking any movie review notes at all.
This particular MacDonald's has a bad history:
Back in 1997 or 1998, a black kid who worked here was fired. He came back later with a gun and shot to death one of his former co-workers, a Filipina girl who came here to the States on a work visa to help support her family back home in the Philippines. I avoided dining at this restaurant for about two years after the tragedy. Yet, still, whenever I would eat at this place after that, I couldn't help but wonder where exactly she was shot to death and whether or not any of the current employees know about what happened here, or if her ghost was haunting the place. I really, truly, feel sorry for that poor innocent girl and her family.
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