Wednesday, June 29, 2016

INDEPENDENCE DAY: RESURGENCE, PG-13 ( 2 hr & 0 min )

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where: CENTURY 14 VALLEJO in Vallejo, CA
when: Thursday, June 23rd, 2016
show: 8:00 p.m. 3-D Advanced Screening
costs: $15.00 + $1.00 medium upgrade on a free small Buttered Popcorn ( free offer on my movie-watcher email reward coupon ) + $4.85 medium Powerade Mountain Berry Blast = $20.85
auditorium: 2
seat: 6th row from the front, 6th column from the left



2nd time


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where: CENTURY 14 VALLEJO in Vallejo, CA
when: Tuesday, June 28ht, 2016
show: 6:40 p.m. 2-D
costs: $6.25 ( All-Day Bargain Tuesday ) + $0.00 small Buttered Popcorn ( free offer on my movie-watcher email reward coupon ) + $4.20 =$10.45
auditorium: 11
seat: 4th row from the front, 9th column from the left

synopsis/overview:  The bad aliens are back for revenge, bigger and badder this time around!

noteworthy scenes: 1.) "Be nice to Jake ( Liam Hemworth ) when you see him up there"; 2.) "I honestly didn't know it was gonna work"; 3.) "After 12 years of being catatonic"; 4.) Drill hole; 5.) Distress call; 6.) "He just walked in, didn't he"; 7.) "You're the only family I've got"; 8.) Training video; 9.) "Did we win"; 10.) Red Alert; 11.) "The same circle"; 12.) "It was a spaceship" 13.) "They're coming back"; 14.) Ominous object; 15.) Fusion Drive; 16.) Debris field; 17.) Mother ship; 18.) "What goes up must come down"; 19.) "'You peed your pants"; 20.) Emergency evac; 21.) Hospital gown; 22.) "They're celebrating"; 23.) "We have alien guns"; 24.) "Why are you afraid of this symbol"; 25.) Pants; 26.) Hive; 27.) "It's a deal"; 28.) "Collective mind"; 29.) LXR-73; 30.) Dogfight; 31.) "They have their own ecosystem"; 32.) Engine failure; 33.) System offline; 34.) "There will be no peace"; 35.) New president; 36.) Interpretation; 37.) "Hello, gorgeous"; 38.) Alarm; 39.) "They're mobilizing"; 40.) Primitive; 41.) Harvester ship; 42.) Bait; 43.) Volunteer; 44.) School bus; 45.) "This thing is way cooler than a machete; 46.) "Been holding that one for a while"; 48.) Shortwave radio message; 49.) Inbound; 50.) Dad; 51.) "I don't want to calm down"; 52.) "I'm not saving the world, I'm saving you"; 53.) "Happy 4th of July"; 54.) Breach; 55.) "Uhmm, Sir, is that suppose to happen"; 56.) "Shield is down"; 57.) Yellow line; 58.) "You talk too much"; 59.) "They got me"; 60.) Eye of the tornado; 61.) Windshield wipers; 62.) "We're alive---We're rich"; 63.)  "Maybe, we should try that"; 64.) "Who are you"; and 65.) "Interstellar travel."

audience reaction: The audience liked this movie but no one gave it a "Hands Clapper" ending.

2nd audience reaction: Someone gave it a "Hands Clapper" ending. And another one gave it a whistle.

recommendation: I liked the first one better. Is it just me or is this film simply formulaic and pandering shamelessly/obsequiously to the Chinese movie market? Anyway, go see this movie if you're into big and loud summer blockbuster movies.

spoiler alert! Yup, blockbuster movies won't be such without product placement--Chinese "Moon Milk", in this case ( whatever that is .... ). Okay, that scene wherein the warlord planted a kiss on the lips of his dead brother's picture didn't seem appropriate. All of those destroyed defense satellites would eventually rain down debris on Earth. Here are some figures to consider: The mother ship was greater than 3,000 miles ( 4,828 km ) in diameter; the Moon is 2,159 miles ( 3,474 km ) in diameter; the Earth, at the equator, is 7,926 miles ( 12,756 km ) diameter. If the mother ship was travelling to Earth at such a speed that air friction caused its leading edge to heat-up and glow, then it was travelling faster than the speed of sound and would have caused such a loud disturbance in the air. The mother ship would have such a gravitational field that, coupled with the Moon's own gravitational field, tsunamis and earthquakes would have wreaked havoc on Earth. All the mother ship needed to do was to give Earth a slight "tap" ( since it had a force field ) and that would have been the end of the movie---Goodbye, Humanity! When the mother ship landed on Earth, Earth's rotation, revolution and tilt would have all been affected ( can you say, Wobble? ). Once landed, the mother ship's underside would have created a temperature inversion first; then, hurricane-strength winds would have been generated all around it, hampering Earth's defenders in their effort to fight back against the alien invaders. I really don't think that a patient is allowed to wear underwear while dressed in a hospital gown. When the alien ship drilled a hole into the ocean, water would have vaporized and the sea level would have lowered. And the vaporized water would have turned into rain clouds that would have rained down on Earth, too. So, this movie is missing hurricane strength winds and rainstorms! When you and your fellow pilots engage the enemy in a dogfight, you don't look at each other for more than a second---Heck, you don't look at each other at all--look at the enemy! Why couldn't the alien space ships shoot with much better accuracy if the aliens were more technologically advanced than we are? Okay, how would their own ecosystem be compatible with ours? Earth was either contaminated by the alien ecosystem or vice versa! It was simply amazing that the alien ecosystem's water was similar in pH to ours--what a coincidence! Shouldn't the soldiers have been more spread-out? Why didn't the alien ships come with safety ejection seats?

Hollywood really should hire my services as Cine-Man, technical adviser!

fyi: There is a scene wherein Jeff Goldblum's character says in a tongue-in-cheek way, "I like how they go for the landmarks," or such-like, to emphasize what I said earlier about pandering.

I remember reading a newspaper article in the '80s in which an experiment was done in a submarine. Plants were grown in a section of the submarine. And it was shown that this helped the sailors in a psychological way.

I saw the first INDEPENDENCE DAY movie at the AMC THEATRE here in Vallejo twenty years ago. The theatre is no longer there. It was torn down and a retirement home (?) parking lot was built in its place.

Anyway, after I saw that first movie for its last show for the evening, I decided to take the long, winding way home. From Redwood Street, I turned right onto Tuolumne Street. As I was crossing Tuolumne's intersection with Loma Vista and Fleming Avenue, I saw two cars up ahead driving side-by-side as they raced toward me. Mind you, this stretch of Tuolumne Street only has one lane for each direction. I had to pull over to the curb as quickly as I could to avoid getting into a head-on collision with the middle car! What a couple of f-cking irresponsible idiots!

The Earth's inner core has its own inner core:  http://rense.com/general30/core.htm

Speaking of the first INDEPENDENCE DAY movie, I liked the scene wherein the space aliens destroyed the White House and Austin Power's arch enemy, Dr. Evil, used that movie scene to scare the leaders of the world into submission! Ha, ha, ha. That was really funny.

word of advice: To you horndogs out there, pay close attention when Maika Monroe's character walks up to the crashed alien ship. As she readies her gun for shooting, she makes her right breast bounce three or four times! Ha, ha, ha. I think that the director put her up to it. Naughty, naughty ....

Hollywood, please stop using your "tried-and-true" formulaic movie script in your Summer Blockbuster movies. It is wearing thin on some of us viewers.

tidbits:  I was at this same theatre the night before, June 22nd, to see the movie, ME BEFORE YOU, for its last show at 10:25 p.m. in auditorium 9, 2nd row from the front, 7th column from the left. The price of admission was $11.00. And I bought a $6.80 Lite Bites at the concessions counter.

1 hr & 50 min.  PG-13
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There were just about six people in the auditorium, all-in-all. The audience seemed to like it. ( Psst, I think the lead actress's sister looks better. )

I went to see this movie based on a co-worker's recommendation.  It's basically a "Chick Flick date movie". I hoped for a better ending because I know of one person in a similar situation who was told by his doctors that he would never walk again. He used brainwave entrainment Chakra Meditation to enable himself to walk again. Well, I was in for a major let-down! I stepped out of that auditorium feeling sorry for the ill-fated love between the two protagonists--I don't like movies like this; I prefer "feel-good" movies!

I was in that sorry state of mind when I entered the restroom to wash my hands and rinse my mouth at the 1st lavatory sink. There are four motion-activated lavatory sinks in the men's restroom, from right to left. As I stood there washing my hands at approximately 12:39 a.m., the 2nd lavatory faucet turned-on all by itself. There was nobody else in the restroom with me. I just quietly said, Thank you for your company. It was nice to know that my new day started-off on a supernatural note which made it personally special.

Later on in the morning, I received an email informing me that my meditation CDs were just shipped-out to me. I can't wait to try them out.


2nd tidbits:  A few hours before seeing this movie, I swung by the Grocery Outlet Discount Market on York and Marin Streets, here in Vallejo, to buy a Zero-Gravity Chair for $29.99 plus tax. It was the very last chair left in the store, just sitting there waiting for me to buy it and take it home with me.

What I bought is very similar to this in design ( but a cheaper version ) and in color. I found this image on the Internet.
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I will put this chair in my bedroom. I need it for my meditation sessions. I am about to start doing Shamanic Meditation. And my bedroom is the ideal place for it since that is were I encountered the most number of ghosts and spirits. I will set-up the chair in such a way that my head will be pointing east. I have found, through my countless personal experiences, that the east is the ideal cardinal point for such encounters.

I went into the men's restroom to wash my hands prior to the start of this movie.  Once again, I used lavatory sink # one. As I washed my hands, I thought about a poor friend of mine who married a mentally disabled woman just to supplement his meager social security income with her lifelong disability income. I said to myself that he was just keeping her alive long enough for him to die first. Once I said that, the motion-activated faucet of the 2nd lavatory sink turned-on all by itself three times in quick succession! That told me that my hunch was right since, in the occult/supernatural world, 3 means "Yes" and 2 means "No."


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Monday, June 27, 2016

FINDING DORY, PG ( 1 hr & 43 min )

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I went to see this on Monday, June 20th, 2016, here in Vallejo, CA, at the CENTURY 14 VALLEJO, for the 9:45 p.m. 2-D show in auditorium 8, 5th row from the front, 9th column from the left. The price of admission was $6.25 ( Senior Discount Monday, although I don't look the part yet ). And I bought a $6.80 Lite Bites at the concessions counter.

Quickie Review:  It has been a year. And Dory just now realizes that she has family. And she will do anything to find them, even if it means having to cross an open ocean to do so.

The audience liked it but didn't give it a "Hands Clapper" ending. I liked the movie, too. Go see this movie if you liked FINDING NEMO because it has one particular "easter egg" that true fans will really appreciate. And stay around for the Bonus Scenes during and after the Ending Credits.

I want to see this movie again in 3-D. But I want to go see it at the AMC BAY STREET 16 & I-MAX in Emeryville, CA, since that theatre complex is less than a mile away from the Pixar Studios. You won't believe how many people go to this particular theatre complex just to see a Pixar movie! All shows will be packed or even sold-out for the 1st two weeks. And it hasn't been two weeks yet. So, I'll wait a few more days before I go see this movie in Emeryville.  I originally planned on going to Emeryville to see this movie tonight, Monday, June 27th, for the 10:45 p.m. 3-D show; but I don't want to travel over 20 miles/32.17 kilometers only to be told that the last show for the evening is all sold-out!

I think that Hank, the octopus, stole the show!

And speaking of Hank and of "easter eggs", Hank and Dory ( or Hank y Dory, in Spanish ) had a wonderful time together, i. e. everything was hunky-dory ( 'get it? ).

I was gonna point out that, since it has been a year after the events shown in FINDING NEMO, Nemo should have already reached maturity by now. But a little bit of online research showed me that juvenile Clownfishes don't reach maturity in the presence of a dominant male. And there's also an interesting fact about Clownfish sexuality which I shall leave to you to find out on your own since this is a PG-rated Disney movie.

One of my co-workers took her grandchildren with her to see this movie in 3-D. It was her very first time to go see a 3-D movie. She didn't like it, neither did her grandchildren. She said that watching a 3-D movie is like looking at View Master slides.

View Master. I found this on the Internet.
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Yup! View Master is the old-school virtual reality glasses way back in the day.

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Well, I'm still familiarizing myself with my new Samsung Chromebook 3's idiosyncrasies. The second time that I gave it an overnight charge failed to charge its battery! I learned from fiddling with it that you have first to open the LCD screen, then plug-in the DC jack. You may have to move the jack slightly in and out to activate the charge. It has 3 battery charge status lights: Red, Blue and Green. Red means it needs to be charged. Blue means it is turned "ON". And Green means that it is fully charged. But you won't see any of the lights if you don't open the LCD screen first before wiggling-in the DC jack. It fast-charges in 2 hours' time. But I think an additional 2 hours is needed to really fill the battery up with "juice". And it froze on me when I tried to log-in after it was fully charged; I had to wait a few minutes before I could re-log.

Or, maybe, I just ended-up with a defective Samsung Chromebook 3. Someone DID tell me not to buy high-end electronic devices at Wal-Mart because they may not have original components in them ( the reason why they supposedly can be sold cheaper than at other places ). I'll observe it for the next few days to see if it will act-up once again so that I can return it for an exchange before the 15-day return policy ( good until 6/30/'16 ) expires on it.

I finally did a Powerwash on my Acer C70 Chromebook in order to do a Hard Reset and restore it to its original factory settings. My bookmarks were saved. Woo hoo!

I'm thinking about giving my Acer C70 to my brother as his back-up computer. But I will need to have three of its keyboard keys ( e, d, n ) replaced first; and, maybe, its bottom cover, too, because two of the air vent grills broke off. And I'll see if I can have its battery replaced with one that has more than a 3-hour life. And since I still have the original box that it came in, I can repackage it and present it to my brother as a "brand new" computer.  ( I won't tell, if you won't tell. )

I had to fetch my mail at the main post office once again because the mail boxes were tampered-with at my condo complex once again. Ever since the homeowners' association got rid of the on-site manager ( to save on money? ), lowlifes have gotten more aggressive in their acts of thievery and vandalism.

Here's a picture of the vandalized mailbox center:

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As you can see from the above photo, the right side of the mailbox center was taken out for repair. This side is the only one vandalized because it has the outgoing mail slot in the lower right corner. You know, the slot where people put their monthly bill payments in.

On my way home from the post office, I stopped at the Shell Gas Station on the corner of Tennessee Street and Sonoma Boulevard for some gas and to buy some lottery tickets. I was at pump # 1. A motorcyclist stopped at the pump in front of mine. The rider of the sport bike was only about 5 feet tall ( 1.52 meters )! I took my time pumping gas into my car tank because I wanted to see him get back on his standard size sport bike. He couldn't even tippy-toe it properly once he was straddle-seated on it. But he got his bike going! Yup, there's still hope for me as a sport bike rider since I'm a few inches taller than he is. Ha, ha, ha.

I went home to drop-off the mail, to meditate, and to rest for a while before I headed-off to the movie theatre to see this movie.

Someone found Nemo at a sushi restaurant:


I found this on the Internet.
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Leave it to some sushi chef to ruin things for the rest of us.  Ha, Ha, ha.

Anyway ....


Happy 7th Anniversary!

This month of June marks the 7th year of my movie blogging hobby. I don't know if that's an accomplishment or not. But thanks for reading my blogs through all of these years.

My very first blog was on the Pixar movie, UP! which I saw at the AMC BAY STREET 16 & I-MAX.



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P.S.  I used my Samsung Chromebook 3 to upload some pictures to my blog on THE MAN WHO KNEW INFINITY. In case you want to see the handful of pictures that I was able to take before my camera's batteries died-out on me.

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Sunday, June 26, 2016

THE SHALLOWS, PG-13 ( 1 hr & 27 min )

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I went to see this yesterday, Saturday, June 25th, 2016, here in Vallejo, CA, at the CENTURY 14 VALLEJO, for the 8:00 p.m. show in auditorium 4, 5th row from the front, 5th column from the left. The price of admission was $11.50. And I bought a $1.00 medium upgrade on a free small popcorn ( free on my movie watcher e-mail reward coupon ) and a $4.85 medium Powerade Mountain Berry Blast at the concessions counter to go with the beef jerky stick that I smuggled-in with me.

Quickie Review: Nancy ( Blake Lively ), a med-student, takes a break from her studies to go explore a paradise beach that her late mother had visited. An avid surfer, she soon is in the water. But an angry territorial shark wants the beach all to itself.

The audience liked this suspense thriller. I liked this movie, too. Go see this if you like "shark movies".

Here's what I didn't like about the movie: If you see a known surfer, sans a surfboard, stranded on a rock, who frantically waves at you and warns you that there's a shark in the water, You Don't Argue Back By Saying That There's No Shark In The Water! You get the Hell out of there A.S.A.P.

It's movies like this that make me not want to be a surfer! But, not to worry, I don't like being in fresh- or seawater that's over 5 feet deep, in the first place.  Ha, ha, ha.

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I was at the Benicia, CA, Safeway Supermarket about two hours prior to the start of this movie. I learned the following day that I missed-out on what some lowlife did in the store, at around 6:30 p.m., in the back of Aisle 9: Someone defecated in that area and left a stinkin' "lincoln log" for somebody to clean-up after! I swear, this store is turning into a ghetto store.

Hours later, I dreamed of being on a beach watching the sun rise. As the reddish sun started to peak over the horizon, I said to myself, This would be a perfect time for me to start the practice of "Sun Eating". It was such a vivid dream that I thought I was experiencing it in a conscious state. I may try this practice someday to find out what it's all about. Scientists and debunkers are all saying that it's one of those crazy practices foisted on the gullible and the ignorant. But I still want to try it out before I arrive at a conclusion; an informed decision, you might say.


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Thursday, June 16, 2016

CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE, PG-13 ( 1 hr & 57 min )

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I went to see this today, Thursday, June 16th, 2016, here in Vallejo, CA, at the CENTURY 14 VALLEJO, for the 7:15 p.m. show in auditorium 7, 5th row from the front, 7th column from the left.  The price of admission was $8.00. And I bought a $4.15 1.25 oz. bag of Jack Links Beef Jerky and a $4.20 small Powerade Mountain Berry Blast at the concessions counter to go with the $1.00 bag of Salsa-flavored Almonds that I smuggled in.

Quickie Review:  A CIA agent, Bob Stone ( Dwayne Johnson ), and his former high school classmate, Calvin Joyner  ( Kevin Hart ), reunite for an action-packed top-secret mission.

The audience liked this Action/Comedy movie. I liked it, too. Go see this movie if you like Action/Comedy movies.

There are Outtakes shown during the Ending Credits.

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Last night, Wednesday, June 15th, I found out that the headphone jack on my ACER C70 Chromebook wasn't working. At first I thought that it had something to do with my Sony earphones; I switched to another set of earphones. But that wasn't the problem at all. The problem was in the Chromebook, itself. I tried Refresh + Power On but that didn't solve the problem. My only other option was a hard reset by doing a Powerwash. The only problem with that was the fact that by doing a Powerwash, my Chromebook would go back to a Factory Reset mode. And I didn't currently have my Google bookmarks saved onto another computer since I recently did a Factory Reset on my 2005 Compaq Presario Windows XP computer! And I wasn't exactly sure if my Samsung Mega smartphone was properly synced to my Chromebook.

And ... I still need to do a Hard Drive Erase on my Compaq Presario before I can try an upgrade on it.

Hmm, what to do ....  Oh, I know! Buy another computer. Yes!

I went to the American Canyon, CA, Wal-Mart Super Center at around 10:30 p.m. to browse the selections in their electronics department. I narrowed down my choices to a Windows 10-type computer for $299.00 with an 8-hour battery life and a Samsung Chromebook 3 for $189.00 ( $207.12 w/ tax ) with an 11-hour battery life. Obviously, I picked the Samsung Chromebook 3 for its out-of-the-box functionality and its built-in malware/virus protection.

It took me a while to figure out how to do a "caps lock" on this particular Chromebook, though. I had to go on-line to learn how it's done: Alt + Search.

I found this on the Internet. 


Starbucks and McDonald's Restaurant are REALLY Gonna Hate Me Now that I can walk into either establishment with my 11-hour battery life computer!  I mean, I don't care now whether or not they have electrical outlets for their patrons' use. Ha, ha, ha.

This Samsung Chromebook has a water-resistant keyboard.  It stays cool; unlike my Acer C70 which could melt an igloo, figuratively speaking. Its speakers are louder than those in my Acer C70. And the built-in battery is a fast-charger, too!  Sweet!

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On a somber note ...

The recent Orlando, Florida, mass shooting seemed suspect as videos showed people taking the "wounded victims" towards the nightclub instead of away from it. It gives me the impression that the whole thing was a "false flag/crisis actors" production meant to divert our attention away from the Bilderberg Meeting.  Or it was all staged to help outlaw assault weapons and disarm the citizenry in time for Martial Law.

Somebody sent this to my Facebook page today. 'Makes about as much sense.
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However the case may be, innocent people did die. Add to that the singer who was killed and the toddler who was attacked by an alligator. Three unforeseen tragedies which happened one right after the other. It is such a sad, sorrowful time for the people of Orlando, Florida, and for the rest of the world who are simply at a loss for words on how to come to grips with these triple tragedies.


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Sunday, June 12, 2016

NOW YOU SEE ME 2, PG-13 ( 2 hr & 9 min )

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I went to see this movie on Saturday, June 11th, 2016, here in Vallejo, CA, at the CENTURY 14 VALLEJO, in auditorium 7, 4th row from the front, 6th column from the left. The price of admission was $8.00. And I bought a $1.00 upgrade to medium on a free small Buttered Popcorn ( free on my movie watcher e-mail reward coupon ) and a $4.85 medium Powerade Mountain Berry Blast at the concessions counter.

Quickie Review: The Four Horsemen illusionists reappear a year later to do a spectacular take-down of a very unscrupulous tech billionaire.

The audience liked this movie and gave it a "Hands Clapper" ending. I liked this movie, too. Go see this movie if you liked the first one.

The one magic trick that I didn't like was the one which involved the private jet. The unsuspecting targets of that trick should have noticed something was wrong when the gravitational pull and the air pressure did not change at all.

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Fun Facts: The service adviser at the Vallejo Wheel Works Automotive Center looks like a younger Morgan Freeman.

The Japanese invented Hair Transplant Surgery ( micro-graft, mini-graft and follicular unit transplant [ FUT ] ) years before the bombing of Pearl Harbor which forced our entry into the war. If not for World War II, balding American males would have benefited from such a surgery sooner.

Micro-grafts, Mini-grafts and FUT techniques are more refined than the old, abandoned methods of strip transplant and "doll hair" plugs. And some patients actually died while undergoing strip and plug surgeries.

Nowadays, you don't even want to go to a doctor who only offers Micro- and Mini-graft hair transplant service. Take your money and run ... to another doctor trained in the more advanced techniques of hair transplant surgery.

Your better options now would be Neo-graft, ARTAS, and FUE ( follicular unit extraction ) which is slightly different from an FUT. Follicular Unit Transplant still involves taking a strip of flesh from the back of your head ( 1" x 7" x 1/2" ) to harvest viable hair follicles. Neo-graft, ARTAS and FUE harvest donor hair without taking a strip of flesh from the back of the head and are therefore less invasive and leave no visible scar tissue. Neo-graft and FUE are done by hand; ARTAS is done by a robotic arm. ARTAS can harvest donor hair faster which equates to a shorter stay at the doctor's office for the transplant procedure.

Micro-graft and Mini-graft hair transplant surgeries can take up to 7 or 8 hours at the doctor's office. Neo-graft and FUT/FUE take half that time. ARTAS is shorter still.

Neo-graft is usually done by a technician. Whereas, FUT/FUE are mostly performed by the doctor or a nurse practitioner under the doctor's supervision; sometimes, technicians are involved. ARTAS is either done by the doctor or the nurse practitioner.

ARTAS is mostly recommended for men with black or brown straight hair.

Yes, pubic hair has been successfully used as donor hair in some hair transplant surgeries.

But I don't know why hair transplant surgeons don't want to use beard hair as donor hair.  ( I guess they just want to use pubic hair to have a good laugh at their patients' expense! )


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Friday, June 10, 2016

WARCRAFT, PG-13 ( 2 hr & 3 min )

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I went to see this on Thursday, June 9th, 2016, here in  Vallejo, CA, at the CENTURY 14 VALLEJO, for the 7:00 p.m. 3-D Advanced Screening in auditorium 1, 4th row from the front, 7th column from the right. The price of admission was $15.00. And I bought a $0.00 small Buttered Popcorn ( free offer on my movie-watcher e-mail reward coupon ), a $4.85 medium Powerade Mountain Berry Blast and a $4.15 bag of Beef Jerky at the concessions counter.

Quickie Review: An Orc chieftain decides to form an alliance with the humans to help defeat an evil force which has consumed the Orcs' planet and is now starting to consume the Earth.

There were only about half-a-dozen people in the audience, myself included. I guess they liked this movie enough. I thought that it was just "okay". I never played the World of Warcraft video game so I am not really into this movie. But I'm sure that its die-hard fans will want to go see this movie.

The audience liked the Dungeon Guard scene.

Here are what I didn't like about this movie: The Orcs, the Dwarfs, the Elves and the Sorcerers all reminded me of similar characters in the LORD OF THE RINGS and THE HOBBIT movies. And since the Orcs didn't have armor, why didn't the humans use arrows on them? And mass-produced pistols would also come into play against the Orcs. So, if there will be a part two, I expect the humans to have such weapons to give them a "reach" advantage against the Orcs.


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I used the toilet soon after I got out of bed. I flushed it then noticed that there was no water! The plumbers worked on the pipes without properly notifying the tenants, and they started at 8:00 a.m. when the usual time for such work is at 9:00 a.m. When I got downstairs, I noticed that some idiot posted small cards on the inside of the front and rear doors to notify everybody of the planned work. They should have posted the signs on the OUTSIDE of the doors the night before; and they should have used big, colored papers like they usually do! Some plumber probably ended up with a mouthful or faceful of my unwanted, unsolicited stinking "advice", 'sorry to say ( Eew! ) .

I had to go to the Vallejo Main Post Office, on Santa Clara Street, to get my mail because some lowlife once again vandalized the mail boxes at my condominium complex. On my way to my 9:30 a.m. follow-up appointment with my optometrist, I took a slight detour from Sta. Clara St. by making a left on the corner of Georgia and Sacramento Streets, instead of just driving up on Georgia Street. I turned right onto Virginia Street. On the corner of Main Street, I saw a cop ( one of two ) standing guard. I asked him, Officer, is there a movie shooting here on Virginia Street? He said that there was and pointed to a local business establishment just a couple of doors down from the Army surplus store where an indoor scene was being shot. I thanked him for the information.

A TV series is being shot here in Vallejo and at two other cities. The TV series stars Selena Gomez. The title of the series is, "Th1rteen R3asons Why." I couldn't stay to watch the shoot because of my doctor's appointment.

I arrived at the doctor's office only to find out that my appointment had been canceled because my doctor had some emergency to attend to! I thought about going back to the film shoot but I had some errands to do.

I mentioned the film shoot to some people in Benicia, CA. And a couple of them told me that the film shoot will last a few more months. Who knows, I might just get a chance at playing the role of a paparazzo so that I can post pictures of Selena Gomez on my movie blog.

Then, I went to the Benicia Library to go on Facebook to post about the film shoot. The table next to mine was occupied by an elderly tutor and a high school kid which he was helping with some math problems in Algebra and in Geometry. I couldn't help but hear their conversation. And I said to myself, "I wasn't a good student at math. But this kid is really having a hard time at it ( to say it nicely ).

On my way home, after I had a late lunch at the Empire Chinese Buffet Restaurant on Sonoma Boulevard, I swung by the Goin' Postal Store on the corner of Tuolumne and Redwood Streets here in Vallejo, at around 4:00 p.m., to return a package which I didn't order but which some company automatically sent to me, and billed me for, as I had ordered an online course from them before. I had to pay $18.98 to ship it back. What a waste of money ....


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Tuesday, June 7, 2016

TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES: OUT OF THE SHADOWS, PG-13 ( 1 hr & 52 min )

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I went to see this on Thursday, June 2nd, 2016, here in Vallejo, CA, at the CENTURY 14 VALLEJO, for the 7:45 p.m. 3-D Advanced Screening in auditorium 1, 4th row from the front, 8ht column from the right. The price of admission was $15.00. And I bought a $4.35 Hot Dog, a $6.05 small Buttered Popcorn and a $0.00 small Powerade Mountain Berry Blast at the concessions counter.

Quickie Review:  An alien warlord joins Shredder in his fight against the ninja turtles and in his quest for world domination.

The audience of about half-a-dozen liked this movie. I thought that it was just okay. This is a movie for fans of the franchise

The two scenes that got the most laughs were the "Giant Rat" and the "Tortoise" scenes.

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After I got out of work at 6:00 p.m., I went to my parked car and discovered that my front left tire was completely flat! I noticed tiny radial cracks on the tire's sidewall in the flattened area upon closer examination. The tires obviously were old and needed replacement. I bought the set of tires back in 2012.

I had wanted to go to the nearby Benicia, CA, MacDonald's Restaurant on 1st Street to have a light dinner before heading-off to the theatre to see this movie. That was not meant to be.

I opened up my car's trunk and unloaded some junk and personal items to get to the spare tire. Dang, my trunk was really loaded up with junk. Well, at least I got to do some cleaning up. It took me a while to locate the tire jack crank handle because it was attached to the underside of the floor carpet and I thought that it was just a support brace for the carpet!

Here's an image of the 2001 tire jack set. I found this image on the Internet.
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Whoever was the idiot who designed the tire jack's crank handle needs to get a good slap upside the head! This crank handle is small, flimsy and very hard to crank. And it was an unseasonably warm weather and I wasn't dressed appropriately for the task at hand---And I forgot to loosen the nuts before jacking-up the tire! Oh, boy .... Some driver offered to let me use his portable air compressor. I politely declined the offer because I was just about a hundred yards/meters from the nearby Chevron Gas Station where they have a free self-service automotive air/water station.

The spare tire was under-inflated---Why are car spare tires designed to be undersized and with a very limited speed recommendation? My Hyundai Accent's spare tire is designed only for a maximum freeway speed of 50 mph. My 1978 Honda Civic CVCC had a full-size spare tire which was a more practical consideration on the automaker's part. Of course, that was then and this is now. The car makers of today should really go back to installing full-size spare tires in all of their cars.

It took me more than 30 minutes to replace the flat tire with the spare tire because of that damn crank handle!

I informed my assistant manager that I would be coming in late the next day because I had to have the flat tire repaired first thing in the morning or I would be stuck driving with a spare tire 'til Tuesday, my next day-off.

I went to the Chevron Gas Station to inflate the spare tire to its maximum 60 psi recommendation.

I got on the freeway where cars were travelling at 65 mph to 75 mph. Driving at 50 mph only served to irritate the drivers behind me. To avoid being a road-rage victim, I upped my speed to between 60 mph and 65 mph; and cars were still passing me by! Obviously, someone needs to have a long, serious talk with car makers about their teeny-weeny spare tire policy.

I had to see this movie after all of that stress!

I took my car to Wheel Works on Sonoma Boulevard the next day, Friday, June 3rd. They recommended that I need to get a new set of tires. I expected that, judging from the condition of the flattened tire.

Saturday, June 4th, after work at 10 p.m., I swung by the Chevron Gas Station to clean my front tires, wheels and wheel covers in advance of the tire replacement.

Sunday, June 5th, I noticed that the rear tires, wheels and wheel covers needed to be washed and cleaned.

Monday, June 6th, after work at 8:30 p.m., I went back to the Chevron Gas Station to wash and clean the rear tires, wheels and wheel covers.

Then, I decided to go see the movie, POPSTAR: NEVER STOP NEVER STOPPING, at the same theatre for the 10:30 p.m. show. I liked this pseudo music documentary. Go see it. Be forewarned, it has drugs, foul language and male nudity.

The "Stage Magic" and the "Limousine" scenes really stood out, in a "male nudity" sort of way.

R  ( 1 hr & 26 min )
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Tuesday, June 7th, I took my car back to Wheel Works on Sonoma Boulevard here in Vallejo for its 7:00 a.m. tire replacement appointment. All four tires cost me a total of $501.00 for a full 40K tire lifetime warranty coverage and for a car lifetime wheel alignment. The work was finished at around 9:15 a.m.

I then drove on over to the O'Reilly Auto Parts Store, two doors up the street from Wheel Works to buy a $4.99 can of Simoniz Nitro Xtreme Gloss Tire Dressing ( 13.75 oz [ 390 g ] ) to shine-up my brand new tires.

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