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where: AMC METREON 16 in San Francisco, CA
when: Monday, October 22nd, 2012
show: 5:05 p.m.
costs: $12.00 Ticket + $5.00 Curly French Fries + $4.75 20.0 oz Powerade Mountain Berry Blast = $21.75
auditorium: 5, on the 3rd floor
seat: 4th row, 5th column
synopsis/overview: Yang Lu Chan ( Daniel Wu--or is it Jayden Yuan? [ I'm confused ] ) was born with an abnormal growth on his right temple which makes him the town's social outcast. But his mother ( Shu Qi ) sees potential in him and encourages him to master the Martial Arts. But his fighting skills come at a great cost: Each time he fights a great fight, the abnormal growth on his head gradually weakens his life force. A good doctor tells him to stop using External Kung-Fu because it is killing him slowly from the inside. He must learn Internal Kung-Fu before it is too late, according to the doctor. So, he travels to Chen Village, a remote nearly-inaccessible mountain village populated by legendary Tai Chi practioners in the Chen Tradition, in hopes of learning Internal Kung-Fu from its acclaimed grandmaster, the inimitable Master Chen ( Tony Leung Kar-Fai ), himself. But nobody wants the determined, unwelcomed stranger hanging around their village. Yang gets beaten in a series of duels, especially at the hands of Yuniang ( Angelababy---Yup! that's her name. And she's one hot babe! Shu Qi's got some serious competition here in the Looks Department. ). But the fool-hardy Yang is not discouraged and just keeps coming back for more "beat-downs". An old man takes a liking to Yang and gives him precious tips on how to better his skills at fighting. What Yang doesn't know is that the old man is actually Master Chen, himself, who also happens to be the father of Yuniang! When a railway company decides to demolish Chen Village in order to put a railway right through it, Yang joins forces with Yuniang to thwart the evil plan and to unleash the Tai Chi Warrior within himself.
noteworthy scenes: 1.) Rice; 2.) Three Blossoms On A Crown; 3.) Three moves; 4.) Internal Kung Fu; 5.) Night raid; 6.) Mountain village; 7.) Village meeting; 8.) Coffee; 9.) "I'm not a good match for you"; 10.) Village gate; 11.) Governor's place; 12.) "Power of Technology"; 13.) Tofu fight; 14.) "There's a monster"; 15.) Secret love; 16.) Diagram; 17.) Sworn enemies; and 18.) "There's only one person who can save him."
audience reaction: Somebody in the audience gave this a "Hands Clapper" ending. But, I don't know why ....
recommendation: I didn't like this movie at all. It was at times like a video game; and the wire-work ( i.e. Wire-Fu ) didn't help it any, in my opinion. Also, this movie is part one in a two-part series. Wait for this to come out on DVD unless you're a fan of Shu Qi and Angelababy!
spoiler alert! Why didn't the governor hear the "monster" approaching? So, the legendary Chen-style Tai Chi can be easily defeated by Clumsy-style Tai Chi. Ha, ha, ha. How was the "monster" able to get to the near-inaccessible Chen Village?
fyi: Back in the early '70s, the late Bruce Tegner, a martial arts legend, published a book on Tai Chi. The form that he illustrated in his book complements well the song, Kung Fu Fighting. See it for yourself if you have a copy of his book and have learned the form. But I guess any Tai Chi form will do.
"Everybody was Kung Fu fighting. Those kicks as fast as lightning." Oops, I got carried away. Sorry ....
In the mid-'70s, Mad Magazine came-up with a martial arts parody on how a movie director gets the fight started by yelling out loud that he doesn't have enough rice for everybody! I get a chuckle thinking about that now. And this movie reminded me of it!
word of advice: Don't impose your will on others.
tidbits: I started today bright and early. I went to my chiropractor for a spinal adjustment at 8:30 a.m. Then, I went to the local BofA ( Bank of America ), US Bank and Chase Bank to make deposits.
When I got home, I waited until after 12 noon to leave for a trip because I was waiting for my mail to arrive. I missed the 12:20 p.m. bus in the process. Actually, I think the idiot bus driver came by too early; otherwise, I would have seen the bus approaching. I walked back to my condo after I called and placed a complaint with the transit line.
I got on the 1:20 p.m. bus and transferred to the El Cerrito bus at the main transfer station so I could go to the El Cerrito Del Norte Bart Train Station to board a San Francisco bound train.
At the MacArthur Bart Train Station, a young Mexican couple, with an infant in a baby stroller, got on the forward car. I was pretty sure about their nationality because the man had an accordion with him painted in the Mexican flag colors. He played his accordion for the passengers as they moved from car to car. His wife had a 30.0 oz cup in her hand that she held out as they moved toward the rear of the train. I gave her a dollar bill when she walked by at 2:52 p.m. By then, her cup was pretty full.
Maybe, I should give this a try someday. I gotta learn how to play the accordion first, though, then borrow someone's wife and baby. LOL
I went to San Francisco, CA, for a little bit of vacation time. I never spent some nights in San Francisco before; and today, Monday, was my chance to do so. So, I seized upon the opportunity.
I got off at the Montgomery Bart Train Station and walked up Montgomery Street on my way to the hotel where I placed my reservation. At 3:10 p.m., on the corner of Montgomery Street and Sutter Street, a crazy black man was in the middle of the intersection holding-up traffic as he yelled at the cars and swung at them with an invisible sword!
This is the hotel where I stayed at, Grant Plaza Hotel, on the corner of Pine Street and Grant Avenue. I don't think I got my money's worth staying at this hotel that had seen better days ( probably back in the '50s and '60s ) and which has loose and creaky floor boards, plus thin walls, on top of it all. This is not the place to go to for some hot and wild passionate sex romp! Fortunately for me, I went by myself.
I paid over $100.00 a night staying at this place. Yup! Because my room, # 211, is a Double-Occupancy room. I placed my reservation too late and could not get a Single-Occupancy room at all! And this place doesn't even have a coffee maker, it doesn't have a mini refrigerator, they charge $0.25 for a small bucket of ice, and they charge $5.00 for every 20 minutes spent on either one of their main lobby computers. I think that there is a Motel 6 on Geary. I'll go there next time---Never mind ... I just now found out on the Internet that it is more expensive to stay over at Motel 6.
These are the twin beds in my room. Believe me, I alternated beds each night if only to get my money's worth on my stay, somehow. By the way, that's my backpack that you see on the bed, my only "luggage" for my entire stay. If my sister in Michigan sees this, she's gonna wonder why I always haul two or three luggages with me whenever I go to visit her for less than a two-week stay; yet, here I am with just a backpack, of all things! 'Sorry for the blurry shot. I guess that I was just too excited to have a Double-Occupancy room all to myself---Woo-Hoo! I could prance around in my room butt-naked. Oops, too much information. ( I hope that they don't have "Spy Cams" installed in each room or else I'll be famous--or infamous--on YouTube. LOL )
This is the staircase just two doors away from my hotel room. If you notice, the door is set flush against the bottom step. Obviously, this was an "after-thought" job.
If you go to see a movie at an AMC theatre, forget about getting the Popcorn. Have the Curly French Fries, instead. You'll definitely get your money's worth on it because they give you such a generous serving of the fries.
After the movie, I walked on over to the Burger King on Powell Street because I had a "buy one, get one free" Chicken Parmesan Sandwich coupon with me. But, would you believe it? They don't honor their own coupons. I guess only franchises outside of Big Rip-Off San Francisco honor such coupons! I spent $8.77 for a Whopper w/ Cheese Meal with a medium Diet Coke. And I really didn't enjoy that meal because ....
On my way back to the hotel, I took a photo of this window display of a clothing store on the corner of Bush Street and Grant Avenue, just one block down from my hotel, because a mannequin is posed with its panties showing---That's a first, I think. Don't worry, I didn't leave you perverts hanging. There's a better daytime shot of this window display below, just scroll down to it.
The night was still young so I asked the desk clerk if there was a MacDonald's Restaurant nearby, for the next day's meals. She said that there was one just two-and-a-half blocks down on Pine Street. I walked down Pine Street until I got down to Market Street. And there was no sign of a MacDonald's at all!
I just walked back up to Grant Avenue and I made a right turn to go do some window shopping in the Chinatown District. But it started raining hard. So, I just walked back to the hotel with my clothes soaking wet because I left my umbrella in my hotel room--"smart", really "smart" ....
As soon as I got back into my hotel room, I turned-on the TV set just in time to see the San Francisco Giants win the game. Hurray!
Tuesday, October 23rd, 2012:
This is the Pine Street view from my hotel room. The man you see outside the window is one of three Parking Enforcement Authority personnel checking the parking meters.
Here's the better daytime shot of the mannequin, as promised. Now, aren't you glad that you were patient with me?
This is the corner of Bush Street and Grant Avenue, the gateway to Chinatown in San Francisco, CA.
This is Maiden Lane, on weekdays. They actually close this side street to vehicular traffic during lunch time so that people can dine out in the middle of it. Don't have your GPS find Maiden Lane for you on a weekday at noontime or else!
And here's the first pair of dining patrons! The next pair of dining patrons will probably order a couple of Pigeon dishes!
I made a twelve-second movie clip of the corner of Bush Street and Grant Avenue, quite by accident, if you must know.
This is inside of a bakery, Eastern Bakery, the first bakery in Chinatown. That is former President Bill Clinton in the poster. He visited this bakery in 1996. I bought one of those rice-dishes-wrapped-in-leaves "thing".
I ate at the Food Court on Grant Avenue, and which was just three blocks away from the hotel where I was staying. I was in Chinatown for about 1 1/2 to two hours.
Wednesday, October 24th, 2012:
The topless guy in the picture is me, Cine-Man. And this is as "naked" as I'll ever get for you guys. It's not a Vanessa Hudgens, Miley Cyrus, Scarlett Johansson or even a Demi Moore publicity stunt photo but it will just have to do. So, use your imagination! Ha, ha, ha.
This is the shower stall in my hotel room. Anyone who weighs 300 pounds or more WILL NOT FIT IN THIS STALL!!!
Here's one more shot of the mannequin, for good measure. "Third time's a charm," as they say.
Okay, that's it! I can't afford to spend any more of my vacation time and vacation money in Big Rip-Off, Highly-Congested, Overly-Rated and Undeservedly Romanticized San Francisco!
I left my ---- ( rhymes with "Part" ) in San Francisco.
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