where: EDWARDS FAIRFIELD STADIUM 16 & I-MAX in Fairfield, CA
when: Friday, August 5th, 2011
show: 10:10 p.m.
costs: $11.00 Ticket + $4.75 small Zero Coke = $15.75
auditorium: 4
seat: 3rd row, 12th column
synopsis/overview: A research scientist, Dr. Will Rodman ( James Franco ), in search of a cure for Alzheimer's Disease, discovers a promising side effect on his test subjects, some Chimpanzees. But because of an unfortunate incident at the lab, funding for his research is cut-off. Against protocol, he continues with his research on the last surviving Chimpanzee, an infant which inherited the drug's side effect In-Utero. But the doctor is caught unprepared for the biological repercussions of his "Frankenstein" experiment.
noteworthy scenes: 1.) Poachers; 2.) Number Nine; 3.) "One is all we need"; 4.) A cure to Alzheimer's; 5.) Bright Eyes; 6.) "Attachments"; 7.) "You know everything about the Brain except the way it works"; 8.) Company property; 9.) Precocious juvenile chimp; 10.) ALZ 112; 11.) "I'm not sick anymore"; 12.) Angry neighbor; 13.) Zoo chimps; 14.) Veterinarian's office; 15.) Muir Woods National Monument; 16.) Supplication; 17.) Dog; 18.) "What is Caesar"; 19.) Dining table; 20.) Anti-bodies; 21.) Car; 22.) Chase; 23.) San Bruno Primate Shelter; 24.) Cages; 25.) "I can't lose them both"; 26.) "More aggressive virus strain; 27.) Fire hose; 28.) Drawing; 29.) ALZ 113; 30.) Alpha chimp; 31.) Jacobs; 32.) Blood; 33.) Circus Orangutan; 34.) Frustration; 35.) The double-date; 36.) Knife; 37.) Gorilla; 38.) The new boss; 39.) "Some things are meant to be changed"; 40.) Risks; 41.) Sick; 42.) The bribe; 43.) Refusal; 44.) "Cookie Rocket"; 45.) "Apes stupid"; 46.) Escape; 47.) The stolen virus; 48.) Green eyes; 49.) Ape group meeting; 50.) The apartment unit; 51.) The command; 52.) Break-out; 53.) "He spoke"; 54.) The leaves; 55.) Video surveillance; 56.) Break-in; 57.) Viral infection; 58.) Zoo; 59.) Golden Gate Bridge; 60.) The bus; 61.) The helicopter; 62.) Redwood forest; 63.) "Caesar is home"; and 64.) Bonus Scene during the Ending Credits.
favorite scenes: I liked the Leaves Falling From The Trees In The Neighborhood Street scene.
I liked the Caesar Gains A New Ally scene. So did the audience.
I liked the two Caesar Got The Better Of The Bad Guy scenes. So did the audience.
I liked the Caesar's Goodbye To His Friend scene. So did the audience.
audience reaction: The audience enjoyed this movie. They even "got" the classic references to the original versions. And they gave it a "Hands Clapper" ending.
recommendation: I liked the character development in this movie which is a rarity in Sci-Fi movies. If you're a fan of the original Planet of the Apes movies, this movie won't disappoint you. Or, if you're a PETA activist, this movie will give you a visual orgasm.
But, unfortunately, I will now have to take advantage of my knowledge of Human Anatomy & Physiology, Biology, Microbiology, Anthropology and Ape Anatomy because it is time for the ...
spoiler alert! It is my understanding that Chimpanzees are indigenous to Africa. So, how come those illegal poachers didn't look like Africans at all? Why did Will go shopping for Chimpanzee Food at a local Safeway Supermarket since about the only chimp food that is sold there is Bananas? Ha, ha, ha. It's illegal, without a permit, to have an exotic pet in the State of California; so, the neighbor could have easily called animal control or the Humane Society. Caesar was raised as a "child", and taught to communicate in Sign Language and had never had contact with the adult Chimpanzees in his "impressionable" years. Therefore, the hand gesture for Supplication would have never been known to Caesar at all. In real life, a Chimpanzee would have bitten his face off! ( Do you remember the guest on the Oprah Winfrey Show who was attacked by a Chimpanzee? ) The distance from San Bruno, CA, to San Francisco, CA, is approximately 14 miles. And the apes probably took, on average, three hours to get to the lab without stopping for rest, food and water. ( How did they avoid detection by humans, dogs, and cameras? ) Therefore, those apes had been tired, hungry and thirsty since their escape to freedom--the humans could just keep them surrounded and tire them to submission or starve them to death since there would be nobody to hand them out cookies while they were in hiding and since they wouldn't have the experience and/or skill ( being the lab creatures that they were ) required to go foraging for food in the wild. Even if the apes had the skills and experience required to go foraging for food in the jungle, a Tropical Jungle is quite different from a Redwood Forest! And if they do eat and drink out in the wild, more than likely, they will suffer from stomach distress ( i.e., Diarrhea which leads to Electrolyte loss ) since they are not yet used to such things in a strange environment, further weakening them for a human assault. Apes have color vision, meaning that they have very poor night-time vision. But their human adversaries ( i.e., military, police and militia, and armed citizenry ) can see in the dark with the aid of night-vision goggles and scopes, thermal imaging, lasers and flashlights. The apes numbered less than a hundred. Therefore, the humans could very well pick them off one-by-one in the dark employing nothing but a handful of snipers. A few of the apes would fall prey to mountain lion and bear attacks since these forest creatures have good night-time vision. The surviving few would be hunted down in the daytime by helicopter patrols with thermal imaging, by hunting dogs and by trackers probably within a week's time of their escape. And speaking of Helicopters, how come there was only one helicopter in the sky when there are at least four TV Stations with their own News and Traffic Helicopters in the San Francisco/East Bay area? And the surrounding cities each have their own Police Helicopters. Why did the mounted police only used batons on the Chimpanzees which are each at least five times stronger that the strongest man? The mode of viral transmission from infected human to another human in this movie is through blood contact, much like how HIV is transmitted. Viruses that are species-specific don't kill all of their host organisms. Viruses just "weed-out" the young, the weak, the sick and the aged--THIS IS THE ONLY WAY THAT A VIRUS CAN SURVIVE AND MUTATE INTO A BETTER STRAIN WITH EACH SUCCEEDING GENERATION! Just look at the Cold, Flu, HIV and Ebola viruses: None of these can ever wipe-out the entire Human Population, even the experimental ALZ 113 virus--contrary to what this movie implies. And another thing, such viruses cannot survive in sub-zero temperatures. So, the humans who live in the Arctic and Antarctic regions would be, for the better part, spared from this global epidemic. In the scene where Caesar, the chimp, towers over his friend/caretaker, Will, Caesar's stature would only have been made possible through two anatomical adjustments: The Chimpanzee's legs would have to be longer AND straighter! But Caesar's legs were not longer and straighter since he still ambulated around by knuckle-walking/running. Chimpanzees, for millions of years, have had short bow-legs adapted for arboreal life. Therefore, Caesar's legs couldn't have possibly gotten longer and straighter in just a few short years IN HIS OWN LIFETIME! The bi-ped Human's skull sits directly above the first cervical vertebra, C1, called, the Atlas. However, the Ape skull is connected to the Atlas diagonally because Apes are not bi-pedal! So, for Caesar to be looking directly at Will would be similar to Will touching his own chin to his chest; either way, speech from either species would be greatly impeded. So, Caesar could never have made the vocal sounds normally. Also, the position of the Skull in its relation to the Atlas in bi-pedal Humans is the determining factor in the development of Speech. As with the legs evolving into bi-pedalism, it takes countless generations for the skull placement/evolution to facilitate Speech. Therefore, Caesar would not have been able to talk without his skull structure ( and Brain ) undergoing radical evolutionary change; and neither would his succeeding generations without such a change--understand, this movie's ALZ 112 and 113 viruses only work on the apes' intelligence, not on their anatomy ( except for the green eyes ). I guess the sequel to this movie is the Matt Damon movie coming up called, CONTAGION! Ha, ha, ha.
fyi: Years ago, it was rumored that the HIV virus responsible for AIDS was made in a US laboratory and administered to lab monkeys, according to a conspiracy theory that I came across. This remake stole heavily from that theory.
Back when I worked as a Dental Lab Tech, I told a co-worker that the bones connected to the Big Toe are the bones which make bi-pedal locomotion possible, that if the Big Toe was separated from the rest of the toes, just like the Thumb is separated from the rest of the fingers then, walking would be impossible. Because the other Toes and the bones associated with them are too weak to be primary bones and are just used to stabilize the locomotion. He proceeded to stand-up on his toes and--trying to look serious and smart--said, "Well, I'm up on my toes but not on my Big Toes and I can walk!" I just shook my head, smiled ( trying hard to suppress my laughter ) and walked away since there was no point in arguing with an idiot who was deeply-set in his own idiotic ways.
word of advice: Don't fool Mother Nature.
tidbits: I would have finished this blog yesterday, a Saturday, if not for the fact that my computer was acting-up again even though I optimized, cleaned, defragged and scanned it for viruses.
So, I called PeoplePC for tech support. And I was connected to someone named, "Jonathan," who spoke with either an Indian or Pakistani accent. That guy was only trained on Internet Explorer. So, I had to switch over from Google Chrome. And he asked me if I was using Google. I told him that IE doesn't have a Google search engine anymore, that it now uses Babylon Search--how he could not know this when he was trained specifically on IE, I do not know. Anyway, "Jonathan" had me go through the You-fix-it routine, but my opened tab would not load-up. In exasperation, "Jonathan" said condescendingly, "Maybe you should have someone sitting there next to you the next time you use a browser since you obviously don't know how to use it!" Raising my voice, I said, I've been using the Internet for over six years now and I know how to go to a website ( as a learning incentive, porn sites can raise your "learning curve"--ahem! very quickly ) and I've been blogging for over two years now. The idiot didn't even know what I meant by "blogging". He then hung-up on me! How rude!!!
That's PeoplePC for you folks: Bad Service. Maybe when I come back from my vacation, I will switch ISPs!
And mark my words: I now put a Yogic Curse on all IT Techs in India and Pakistan who work for PeoplePC and who are named, "Jonathan". They will all die within the next 85 years! And I will be symbolically dancing on their graves--wait a minute ... they get cremated. Heck, I will be Fire-Walking on their pyres! That's how good I am at casting an evil curse. That will teach them not to mess around with this 1st-Stage Kriyaban Yogi!
Since I couldn't do any blogging at all, I decided to adjust the hem on my new pair of carpenter's jeans. I broke three sewing machine needles doing it! I would have to go to a fabric store to buy more needles.
But, first, I stopped at the Admiral Callaghan Lane Safeway Supermarket to get a refill on my prescription and to buy a loaf of French Bread before driving over to the nearby fabric store in the Target Shopping Center. Then, I walked a few doors down to the Dollar Tree Store to buy some paper plates, corn chips, pomegranate tea and two 3-litre sodas.
Then, I decided to go to Hector's place in Oakland, CA, to finish this blog. So, I called his number but nobody would pick-up the 'phone. I called a number of times. Still, no answer. So, I said, The heck with it, I'm going there anyway because I need to finish this blog.
I got there--but no one was there, except for Tiger, the kitten. The rest of them had gone to a picnic without letting me know. They wouldn't even answer my call on their cellphones. How inconsiderate of them. Hey, just because I'm a well-trained eater from my years of experience eating at all-you-can-eat-buffets doesn't mean that I wouldn't invite myself to their family get-together where food would be a-plenty!
 |
| Tiger was at the door hoping that I would be able to let him in. |
 |
| Here, Tiger was grooming himself as he was waiting to see me off. |
That was the third time in a row that I ate at a Chinese buffet and could only finish two plates instead of my usual three plates' full! Maybe, I should just stop eating at buffets since I can no longer get my money's worth.
When I got home, guess what happened? My computer was working perfectly! What a waste of time and money my whole Saturday had been! Live and learn ....
Special Announcement: I would like to take this time to say, Thank You and Welcome, to my readers in these countries:
Netherlands Antilles and Nicaragua
Thank you, once again. Please keep on reading my weekly updates. And don't forget to tell your friends, and everyone else who you know, about my movie blogsite.
No comments:
Post a Comment