THE ARTIST, PG-13 ( 1 hr & 40 min )

where:  EDWARDS FAIRFIELD STADIUM 16 & I-MAX in Fairfield, CA
when:  Monday, January 23rd, 2012
show:  4:45 p.m.
costs:  $8.00 Ticket + $2.00 4.0 oz Reese's Pieces Peanut Butter Candy ( Monday Candy Special with a Regal Cinemas movie watcher card ) + $0.00 small ( 30 oz ) Coke Zero ( earned "Freebie" on my movie watcher card ) = $10.00
auditorium:  9
seat:  4th row, 6th seat


synopsis/overview:  Before the advent of "talkies", a Hollywood Matinee idol, George Valentin ( Jean Dujardin ), meets lovely Hollywood-hopeful Peppy Miller ( Berenice Bejo ) by accident, and is quite taken by her innocent beauty and her effervescent charm.  But their publicity stunt for the cameras just adds fuel to George's already strained marriage.  As "talkies" become the norm, George's star eclipses as Peppy's star rises when she is chosen as the new "it" girl in Hollywood. The Stock Market Crash and the Great Depression just add to George's problems. Seeing no hope for redemption or for a proverbial "second chance", George drunkenly spirals into a deep funk from which there seems to be no escaping.


noteworthy scenes:  1.) Movie theatre; 2.) Encore performance; 3.) "Who's that girl"; 4.) Kinograph Studios; 5.) Dance rehearsal; 6.) Scene 20; 7.) Dressing room; 8.) Moving up; 9.) "Hey, you're not Napoleon!  You're just an extra"; 10.) "Don't laugh.  Since that's the future"; 11.) Noises; 12.) Talkies; 13.) "Fresh meat'; 14.) Toys; 15.) TEARS OF LOVE; 16.) October 25th; 17.) Interview; 18.) Stock Market Crash; 19.) Movie; 20.) Standing line; 21.) Visitor; 22.) Pawn shop; 23.) "You're fired"; 24.) Auction house; 25.) Bar; 26.) GUARDIAN ANGEL; 27.) "Look what became of you"; 28.) Fire; 29.) Cop; 30.) News article; 31.) Hospital; 32.) Peppy's house; 33.) A nobody; 34.) "I work for Miss Miller now"; 35.) Personal possessions; 36.) Overwhelming sense of despair; and 37.) The Dance.


favorite scene:  I liked the Peppy and the Coat Rack scene.  This scene was simply innocent, sexy and cute.


audience reaction:  There were about five old ladies in the auditorium with me.  But they all sat in the back rows so that I couldn't hear their reaction well enough to gauge it properly.

recommendation:  I liked this sweet and charming movie, especially in how it was able to convey its message without the use of sound.  This movie should sit-in well with old-timers ( Older than myself, that is.  Way older!  Eligible-for-senior-citizen-discounted-movie-ticket-price "Old Age" old folks ).  Go see this if you're such an Old Fart who waxes nostalgic for the simpler ways of a bygone era or if you simply want to see something different for a change of pace.  ( And, by Different, I mean a movie that has no foul language, no overt sexuality, no violence, no color, and no fancy SFX whatsoever yet is one that is visually-pleasing to watch and is well-received by modern-day computer-savvy audiences. )

spoiler alert!  When George's wife, Doris ( Penelope Ann Miller ), threw the newspaper at the dog, the edit was so obviously not done well.  How come most people didn't recognize George when he was out and about in public, especially with his Jack Russell dog tagging along with him?

fyi!  I don't know if it was intentional or not, but one of the famous Hollywood actors from the Silent Film Era was Rudolph Valentino.  I cannot help but take notice of the similarity in the actors' last names.

The "Beauty Mark" was the norm way back then.

I have a "Beauty Mark", too--since it doesn't sound "manly", should I even call it as such?--on my left cheek that I'm trying to get rid off since it only draws attention to itself instead of balancing-out the rest of  my facial features.

When "talkies" became the Hollywood standard, a lot of silent film actors actually lost their jobs because they spoke with "un-American" accents.  ( Speaking of which, pay close attention to the closing scene when this point was driven across clear-as-a-bell: "Widhz playshur." )

Which must be why Hollywood turned to making musicals shortly after "talkies" replaced the silent movies.  'Nice transition, if I may say so myself.

It's simply amazing how back in the day, people actually dressed formally just to go and see a movie!  Hey, I should try this some time.  Who knows, I just might end-up restarting a movie-going fashion trend.

word of advice:  Never forget those who helped you rise to the top.

tidbits:  I could only eat half of my Reese's Pieces Peanut Butter Candies because I pigged-out at Tin Tin Chinese Buffet in Vacaville, CA, earlier today.  So, I just took the rest home with me to snack on.

After the movie, a theatre employee asked me how I liked the movie.  I told him that I really liked it.  And I also told him the bit about how some famous actors of silent movies lost their jobs when the studios switched to talkies.

I had planned on seeing this movie at the UA Emery Bay 10 in Emeryville, CA, on Thursday, the 19th, of last week because I was gonna pay Hector and his family a visit first; then catch this movie on my way home to Vallejo.  But I scrapped that plan because sometime between late Tuesday, the 17th, and early Wednesday, the 18th, somebody unsuccessfully tried to steal my Geo Metro and just ended-up vandalizing it and stealing a bunch of my stuff from it!  Here's a list of the vandalism and theft:

1. They--I believe that it was the work of at least two lowlifes--smashed the driver's side window when they couldn't open the driver's side door.  The door lock was damaged in the process.
2. They cut the steering wheel to remove the security bar lock that I used to hook the steering wheel to the clutch pedal.
3. They cut a hole next to the ignition key to try to "hotwire" my car.  But that failed because I had the steering mechanism locked.
4. So, they just took the security bar lock.
5. They took the sun shield.
6. They took the am/fm cassette radio.
7. They took the speakers.
8. They ripped the headliner.
9. They stole the rearview mirror.
10. They stole the ashtray.
11. They stole the pop-out cigarette lighter.
12. They ripped-up the center console housing the stick shift.
13. They ripped-out the air-vent grills.
14. They stole my box cutter.
15. They stole my tire pressure gauge.
16. They stole my "Free Chevron Car Wash Coupon."
17. They stole my pens.
18. They stole my mini box wrench set.
19. They ripped-out a bunch of wires.
20. They stole my floor mats.
21. They stole my owner's handbook and service log.
22. They took my registration form from the left visor--Yup! now they know my name and where I live.
23. They stole the mirror from my car's right visor.
24. They stole my lottery slips--So, if somebody wins the lottery big along with me and that lowlife lives near where I live, you know whose winning numbers they actually were.
25. They stole the $10.00 that I kept inside the lottery slip holder.
26. They stole my blue windshield squeegee. 
27. They stole my black coach's jacket, embroidered with my first initial, middle initial, last name and nickname. 
28. They stole my work apron.
29. They stole my baseball cap.
30. They stole both of my umbrellas.
31. They stole my folding knife.
32. They stole my flashlight.
33. They stole my spare gas cap.
34. They stole my spare eyeglasses.
35. They stole my emergency roadside kit.
36. They stole my emergency tire inflator.
37. They stole my emergency 1 1/2 gallon gas can.
38. They ripped-up the floor upholstery on the driver's side.
39. They ripped-up the bench seat.
40. They stole a 4-pack of toilet tissues.
41. They stole a 50-count of paper plates.
42. They stole a bag of cat-food that I bought for Hector's cat, Tiger.
43. They stole my "Jesus in Tears" mug and my A&W mug.
44. They stole my spare wiper blades.
45. They stole my yellow I-Max 3-D glasses.  Well, I kinda "stole" this pair of 3-D glasses from Edwards Fairfield Stadium 16 & I-Max so I guess that it doesn't count.
46. They stole my brand-new, never-used plastic popcorn tub that I bought at a dollar store.
47. They stole a bottle of Chevron 10w-30 motor oil.
48. They stole my CSAA road maps.
49. They cut a battery cable to steal my car's battery.
50. They stole my late mother's yellow-colored rosary.
51. They stole two of my three Bibles.  They didn't take the third one because it only measures 1 3/4 inch x 1 1/2 inch x 3/4 inch.

( But why they would steal my rosary and a couple of my Bibles is beyond me!  They should burn in Hell for what they did, the lowlife scums that they are! )  

I was on my way to work in my Hyundai Accent at around 2:45 p.m. on Wednesday, January 18th, when I noticed the vandalism, first, and the subsequent theft.  I had to call my workplace to tell management that I'd be coming in late because I had to assess the damage and the theft, and because I had to call my insurance and because I had to notify the Vallejo Police Department.  Here are pictures of my poor Geo Metro a day or so after it was victimized:

( The time and date shown in each of the eight photos are wrong.  I had just put in a fresh set of AAA batteries in my digital camera and forgot to reset the time and date.  These pictures were taken on Thursday, January 19th, 2012, between 12:30 p.m. and 1:00 p.m. )

This is the hatch area at the back of my Metro.  On the left side was were I kept a box with my popcorn tub, 3-D glasses, spare wiper blades, a "Jesus in Tears" mug, the toilet tissues, the paper plates, and the cat food in it.  On the right was were I kept a box with the 1 1/2 gallon gas can, the emergency tire inflator, the A&W mug, and the Chevron motor oil in it. They didn't bother to steal my cheap 25-foot long garden hose  or the cheap sprayer attached to it.  I used this to hose down my car every now and then.

This is the bench seat in the back, ripped-up from its base. On the bench seat was where I had my baseball cap.

This is the smashed driver's side window.

They ripped-away a section of the headliner just so they could steal the rear-view mirror and the rosary that I kept on it.

You can see where they cut a hole next to the ignition, where they ripped-out the air-vents, where the car radio once was, where the ashtray used to be, where the pop-out cigarette lighter once was, and how the center console for the stick shift was ripped-off and twisted to the left.  Just below the cup-holders was where I had my box cutter, a pen, a tire gauge, and my free car-wash coupon.  Just below the cut steering wheel is the driver's side door compartment where I kept  an umbrella and some road maps.

This is the glove compartment where I used to have a flashlight, my owner's handbook and service log, my lottery slips, my folding knife, a bible, a pair of spare eyeglasses, and a spare gas cap.

You can see where one battery cable is cut so that they could steal my Russian car battery which I bought at Wal-Marts a few years ago.

This picture shows the driver's side seat cover that they decided not to steal after all.  They also didn't take the passenger's side seat cover.  I had my work apron on the passenger's side seat and my black coach's jacket at the foot of this seat.  Beneath the driver's side seat was where I had my blue squeegee.  Beneath the passenger seat was where I had my emergency roadside kit, an umbrella, and a bible.

The next two photos of my Geo Metro being moved to the back of the tow truck have the right date and time shown.  My Metro was parked in Parking Space # 0, to the left of Carport Space # 1.  The tow truck driver had to push my car in the photos below since its battery was stolen.  I asked him if he needed my help to push it up to the tow truck.  He said, No, since it was light enough for just him to take care of.

The Physical Damage Appraiser that my car insurance company, AAA, sent over, Miss A. S., declared my car a total loss.  And , to think, I spent over $3,000.00 on it in the last year or so to have the transmission rebuilt, to replace the struts, to fix the hit-and-run damage caused by Hector's Chinese bitch neighbor, to have a new set of tires put on, to have the driver's side door lock replaced and to have the CV boot replaced.  Miss A. S. told me that since my car was well-cared for, she'll give me a higher pay-out rate for my loss.  And she wanted to know if I'd exercise my option to buy it from my insurance on a Salvage Title.  I told her that I would if I could but I'm not mechanically-inclined, that it would cost me as much to have it fix as it would to put a good down payment on a new car, and that the f--king lowlifes know where I live and which one is my car!

This was the last time that I saw my Metro.  It served me faithfully for exactly 17 years and 4 months!  It was a highly dependable, easily-maintained and extremely economical ride with a good engine and a forgiving manual transmission.  I would easily get 60 miles on the freeway using  just 3 quarts and 29 ounces of regular unleaded gas if I didn't go faster than 63 mph!  It was easy to park, owing to its diminutive size; and it was fun to drive.  It never failed a Smog Check or a Smog Test--never ever!  And it was my first-ever brand-new car.  If Suzuki were to bring the Swift/Metro back on the US Market, I'd buy one right away!  I called my brother after my Metro was towed away to tell him the bad news.  There was a light rain going on, the first of the season.  Just like in a romantic movie where the lovers have to go their separate ways and the cliched rain comes pouring down.  But it's a fitting sad goodbye in this case.  I called my sister in Michigan the day before.  Now, I'm down to one car: My Hyundai Accent, which isn't as good a car as my Geo Metro was.  Maybe, after I get the insurance money for my Metro, I'll use the money and my Accent to get a new car.  I don't know.  Let's wait and see.  I'm thinking, Lexus--Yeah, if I win the lottery.  Heck! I'd move out of this f--king lowlife neighborhood first and foremost if and when I do win the lottery big-time. 

So, why did this happen to my 1994 Geo Metro?  Is it because I put a curse on Hector's Chinese Bitch neighbor for doing a hit-and-run on my car and then denying it to my face?  No, highly unlikely.  Because the way a Karmic Backlash works is measure-for-measure alike; otherwise, if it's more or less, it would be unjustifiable either way.  You know, just like what it says in the Bible, "Eye for an eye.  Tooth for a tooth."

More than likely, it is because I absorbed some of Hector's son's bad karma.  His third son was my favorite one, the one I felt a "connection" to.  I say, Was, because after I got myself initiated into Kriya Yoga, I slowly began to understand the True Dynamics of Karma.  And I've been avoiding this particular son of his as much as possible ever since--you will notice from reading a previous blog that the last time I was at Hector's place was over two months ago.  ( He had to move back home over a year ago because he's on permanent disability due to work-related injuries. ) I thought that this was enough time to dissipate his third son's bad karma's ( and everybody else's bad karmas in that family [ Misery loves company ] ) hold on me.  But I was wrong!  My Yogi warned me not to needlessly absorb other people's bad karma and stressed to me the importance of letting-go of My Past if I want to control My Future.  After my Metro became the victim of the hit-and-run in May of last year, this particular son of Hector said, "The same exact thing happened to my car in that spot!"  And he spent over three thousand dollars on his car only to have it broken into, have a bunch of his stuff stolen from his car and eventually just had it  towed away--just like what happened to my car!  This son of Hector has had a neck pain for years, I have had a neck pain for many months now.  And this son of Hector had his own male Pit-Bull turn on him and almost killed him--my next dog will be an old half-blind, three-legged toothless Chihuahua!

I've said it before, about my Geo Metro being the last connection that I have to my late mother and to my favorite cat, Winky.  But the connection is not one of good memories.  When my mother died, I was filled with the emotions of Anger and Frustration.  She didn't have to die had she just kept on following my advice. And when I was forced to have my cat, Winky, put to sleep, I was overcome with the emotions of Grief and Depression.  And 9-11 just added more Depression to the equation.  These were the Bad Karmic emotions which permeated my Metro and which gradually increased in bad influence over me for almost 15 years.  But at the moment when I saw what had happened to my Metro, I was not filled with rage or anger, even though I loved my car very much.  Instead, I experienced a feeling of calm within me as if a sense of burden was removed from my psyche ( a Blessing in Disguise ).  I guess that this is "The Letting-Go Of My Past" process that my Yogi talked about and that which I didn't pay a close enough attention to. Duh ....

Whoever they were who did what they did to my Geo Metro had Bad Karmic Energies and subsequently absorbed the Bad Karmic Emotions which permeated my car.  "Like attracts Like", this is one of the Laws of Karmic Attraction; and which is why the lowlifes picked my car to victimize instead of some other fancier, newer and more expensive car in the parking lot.  The Bad Karmic Burden, i.e. Curse,  is now upon them.  I should thank them for it.  'You think? Nah ....  I'm not that nice of a Yogi, yet.  And it will be a long while before I become a nice Yogi because I'm happy just taking my sweet time doing it.

When you Meditate and do Mantras, you're doing so to clean-out your Bad Karma and accelerate your Spiritual Evolution.  But unless you "live in a cave", you'll just keep on absorbing Bad Karma from the people, places and things all around you! You'll be like an empty glass that keeps on getting unwanted free refills.  Of course, bear in mind, when you accelerate your Spiritual Evolution in your Present Lifetime, you're actually letting your Karma potentially deal you a Mega-Whammy of Bad Karmas in this lifetime ( The reason why bad things happen to good people! ) instead of evenly and thinly spacing them out over the course of Many Lifetimes--which is usually how Spiritual Evolution is attained by the Ordinary Masses.  Why do you think Yogis go hide in a cave for?  And why do you think Jesus Christ disappeared for 18 years?  Now, before you self-righteous christians out there turn sanctimonious on me over this perceived sacrilegious slight to your inculcated beliefs, consider this:  God said, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased," ( Matthew 3:17 ) not when Jesus was born in a manger but approximately 30 years later when he was baptized!  Think about it ... if you've always wanted to have a son and your wife finally delivers a baby boy, won't you say, "This is my beloved son, in whom I am well-pleased," right away at the moment that he is born into this world and not 30 long years later ...?  Plain and simple Biblical fact:  Jesus was a man, Christ is the Savior God; the God that saves you from Sin.  And Sin is just one meaning of  Bad Karma. Jesus was the first to be in-dwelt by Christ, the Savior God, and became free of Sin and made Holy (please review the Old Testament of the Bible to find out the ways by which things became Holy ) unto the Lord God.  In effect, Jesus became the First-Born Son of Christ, the Savior God, at the Baptismal In-Dwelling, and only then!  Before Jesus Christ came along, there was only one other kind of spiritual in-dwelling that occurred in His area of Ministry: The Demonic Possession kind of in-dwelling.  Here's a point to consider:  Jesus Christ healed people by telling them that their sins--i.e. Bad Karma--were forgiven ( paid in full ).  From that point on, such people became free of the Cycle of Karmic Reincarnation and had earned the right to join God in Heaven in The House with many rooms ( John 14:2 ).  ( Ever wonder why many dead "believers in Christ" still walk on Earth as ghosts instead of go to Heaven right away?  Their Karmic Debts have not yet been paid in full and they will eventually just get reborn into this world when their  Karmic Time is right for them to repeat their Karmic Cycle until everything's paid-up. ) Because without Bad Karma, they no longer had the need to reincarnate into this world. They had become Immortals, in effect!  The prefix "Im-" means, "Not"; and as it is applied to the word, Immortal, in this context it means not mortal any longer because the person's Karmic Debts have been satisfactorily paid in full!  You have to Meditate and do Mantras and do Good Deeds, as well, to "clean your slate" ( Forget what some wishful-thinking idiots with Slave Mentality say about "Salvation through faith, not through works" because YOU REALLY HAVE TO WORK AT BEING GOOD especially since you were born into Sin! ) to the point that bad karma is deflected away from you and you, instead, shower others with the blessing of Good Karma either visually/audibly through Darshan or through physical touch ( Luke 8:40-48 ).

So, my dear readers, pray for me so that I will win the lottery Big-Time! which will enable me to live the life of a reclusive hermit--like I've always wanted to ( a childhood dream of mine )--until My Karma becomes "squeaky clean".  Don't worry, I will still be able to do my movie reviews by way of movie2k.com--even though I'll be avoiding people like The Plague!  Back-off--keep away from me! Ha, ha, ha.

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