LIGHTS OUT, PG-13 ( 1 hr & 21 min )

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I went to see this today, Friday, July 29th, 2016, here in Vallejo, CA, at the CENTURY 14 VALLEJO, for the 5:00 p.m. show in auditorium 11, 7th row from the front, 8ht column from the right. The price of admission was $8.50. And I bought a $5.40 Nachos w/ Cheese and $0.00 ( free offer on my movie-watcher e-mail reward coupon ) small Powerade Mountain Berry Blast at the concessions counter.

Quickie Review:  Rebecca ( Teresa Palmer ) thought that she had left her personal problem behind when she left home to be on her own. But when she realizes that her little brother ( Gabriel Bateman ) is also suffering from the same evil visitations, she decides to put an end to it, once and for all.

The audience liked this movie. I liked this movie, too. This is a good scary movie for fans of the genre. Go see this movie.

Here's what I didn't like about the movie because it just didn't make any sense at all:  I didn't like the scene at the back of the ambulance where they were drinking bottled water fresh from the refrigerator. The bottles were without labels. Come on! If you can't get a bottled water company to sponsor your movie, you can make up your own bottle labels---It's not that hard to do. Really ....

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I had some minor cough last night which affected my meditation. I took a dose of Nyquil to get rid of it. The medication and my meditation knocked me out for almost 12 hours! I was past noontime when I awakened. I had to check and see whether I was scheduled for work or not. Am I glad I wasn't 'cause I would have been way late showing up for work.

About this movie, I don't know if I reacted to it because it is a good scary movie or if I reacted subjectively to it. Because I have had four confirmed encounters with "shadow entities" in my life.

The first one was in Kidapawan, Cotabato, Mindanao, Philippines, when I was about 5 years old. My whole family slept in the same huge room that had a door which locked only from the inside. I decided to see if I could stay awake all night---Bad idea. Around midnight, with some stray dogs howling in the distance, the door opened and I saw a short, skinny "man" walk slowly into the room. This "man" was headed toward my parents bed. It stopped in its tracks as it saw the Veronica's Veil image of Jesus Christ at the altar above the headboard of my parents' bed. It stared at the image of Jesus Christ as it slowly moved back and out of the bedroom, with the door closing and locking itself after the "man" had gone away.

This is one of many examples of Veronica's Veil that I found online. My family's Veronica's Veil is somewhat similar to this, but in color. My family's Veronica's Veil cured my father of his alcoholism and cured me of my paralysis. The next time that I vacation in the Philippines, I will try and hunt down the same exact Veil to purchase and keep with me. There should be vendors of such Veils outside of Catholic churches throughout the Philippines. For the life of me, I don't know why the kind of Veil that I am looking for is not sold online ( maybe, I'm not searching hard enough ).

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The second time was in Matina, Davao City, Mindanao, Philippines, when I was about 10 years old. Outside the second story bedroom that I shared with my brother and sisters was the roof that was above the kitchens and bathrooms of the apartment building where we lived. It was raining lightly. I couldn't sleep because I had a mild fever. Then, the back-side neighbor's dog howled. I heard slow, measured footsteps on the roof. Soon, I saw a young, slender "woman" walk slowly across the 6-unit apartment's lower roof. We occupied the second unit, and the "woman" walked toward the 1st unit. As it walked past the window, it stopped, took a few steps back and peered into my room as if it had noticed me watching it. Of course, I did what little kids would do in such a situation: I covered my head with my blanket! It resumed its walk until it got to the end of the 1st unit. Then, the footsteps ended; and the dog stopped howling. ( My sisters had seen this "woman", too, according to them, on a separate, similar occasion. Our dad slept in our room one lightly-raining night armed with his Colt 1911 handgun but the "woman" was a no-show. )

The third time was in Oakland, California, USA, when I was in my early 20s. It was around noontime when I awakened in a trance. I was sleeping on my belly, with my head turned to the left. When I opened my eyes, I saw a short, skinny "man" outside of my bedroom's rear window looking at me. It ducked away as soon as it noticed that I had seen it. I wanted to go to the window to confront the "man". But I couldn't move my body as I was still in a trance. It took me quite an effort to break my trance. By then, the "man" was already long gone.

The fourth time was here in Vallejo, California, USA, when I was 36 or 37 years old. I rented a room at my sister's house back before I bought my condo. One night, while sleeping on my right side, I was awakened by an uncomfortable feeling of labored breathing. I opened my eyes to the sight of a short, skinny "man" trying to enter my body through my nostrils! I couldn't see its face because it was dark, the source of light shining through the window only coming from the light post outside at the curb. I, once again, was still in the weakening grip of a trance so I couldn't move. I did a "stare-down" contest against this "man". Slowly, it sank down into the floor. I felt enervated as I rolled onto my back in bed. Then, I felt a pair of hands pushing up against my back. I guess that I "squashed" it with my body weight. 'Served it right! Ha, ha, ha.

In 2003, I did a form of meditation that allowed me to have an encounter with the apartment building "woman". I may have put an end to this particular haunting. But I won't know until I go back to Matina, Davao City, Mindanao, Philippines, to interview the present occupants of that apartment building.

In 2010, my niece in Grand Rapids, Michigan, told me that she saw a shadow entity sitting cross-legged in a chair in her parent's room in broad daylight. She ran out of there frightened for her life. Her description of the shadow entity was the same as mine: Short and skinny. This shadow entity was not scared of my niece but seemed scared of me. I want to get to the bottom of this particular haunting someday and end it for good!


*

HILLARY'S AMERICA: THE SECRET HISTORY OF THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY, PG-13 ( 1 hr & 47 min )

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I went to see this today, Wednesday, July 27th, 2016, in Napa, CA, at the CENTURY NAPA VALLEY AND XD, for the 4:30 p.m. show in auditorium in auditorium 8, 4th row from the front, 8ht column from the left. The price of admission was $8.75. And I bought a $5.40 Nachos with Cheese to accompany my $0.00 ( free offer on my movie-watcher e-mail reward coupon ) small Lemonade purchase at the concessions counter.

Quickie Review: In this political documentary from Dinesh D'Souza, Hillary's intentions for the US, and the World, are analyzed.

The audience of about 6 to 8 people liked this movie. I liked this movie, too. It's eye-opening. If you want to know what the Democratic Party is all about, you need to see this movie.

This movie is a good accompaniment to 2016: OBAMA'S AMERICA ( if you haven't read my extensive review on this movie, go and read it ).

Speaking of the "Obama" movie which was shown before the 2012 presidential election, and which caused my computer to get infected by a ransom virus, I wonder if the same thing will happen this year because I posted this blog on the "Hillary" movie? Hmm ....

When a scene showed a symphony orchestra playing while a choir sang the National Anthem, the elderly white gentleman seated in the 3rd row, 9th column, stood up and walked to the right-side aisle and put his right hand over his heart for the duration of the anthem. He is from the old-school of Patriots--probably a war vet, too! I didn't want to look behind me to see whether or not the other senior citizen patrons ( they were all old--older than I am by just a few years! LOL ) stood up to pay their respect to the anthem. I felt embarrassed and rationalized to myself that I should remain impartial since I, as Cine-Man, am just an objective observer; but, boy! did I ever sink low in my seat to avoid further notice.

Dinesh D'Souza, as part of his community service, had to teach English to a class of immigrants. At the end of the movie, he posed the question, "How do you know when you've become an American Citizen?" His answer was, "When you've become a Republican."  By extension, Yes, I'm now a full-fledged American Citizen! God Bless America.

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After work, I went to the Vallejo Main Post Office to pick-up a week's worth of mail since the mailbox center at my condo has not been replaced yet.

On my way home to drop-off the mail and to fetch my cellphone ( which I forgot to take to work with me ), I drove on Georgia Street to see if they were doing a film shoot for the Selena Gomez TV movie. No, there was no film shoot today. I guess that was a good thing because it was VERY warm today.

I then drove on over to the American Canyon, CA, Wal-Mart Super Center to return the defective ONN Personal CD Player for my money back. And I planned on using the money to go and see this movie.

I wrote this blog at the MacDonald's Restaurant in Napa, just a block away from the cineplex.

This is the Napa, CA, MacDonald's Restaurant that I went to after seeing this movie. My Hyundai Accent's left quarter window tint and rear window tint both need replacement. I'll get around to having the window tints replaced someday.

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Just as I left the place, as I was driving to the intersection, I saw a ball of light in the sky at approximately 9:38 p.m. I observed what I thought at first was a meteor. But it moved slowly in the night sky. I reasoned that it was just a police helicopter looking for a fugitive and thought nothing else of it.

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This is not the movie itself, but for your viewing pleasure--or shock/disbelief:

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3BUUy1C0_4g


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For this week that just ended, my movie blog site got 638 hits from Russia alone! Thanks, to my Russian readers. This is the most hits that my blog site has ever gotten in any one week from any one country.

To Russia, with Thanks!

*

STAR TREK BEYOND, PG-13 ( 2 hr & 2 min )

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where: CENTURY 14 VALLEJO in Vallejo, CA
when: Thursday, July 21st, 2016
show: 10:30 p.m. 2-D
costs: $11.50 Ticket + $6.80 Lite Bites = $18.30
auditorium: 7
seat: 5th row from the front, 8ht column from the left

2nd time

I picked this because I like how Jaylah ( Sofia Boutella ) looks. She's one hot alien species! 

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where: CENTURY 14 VALLEJO in Vallejo, CA
when: Saturday, July 23rd, 2016
show: 11:50 a.m. 3-D ( Extra Dollar Off First Show Matinee )
costs: $11.00 Ticket + $6.05 small Buttered Popcorn + $2.20 small Powerade Mountain Berry Blast ( $2.00-off Drink Offer on my movie-watcher e-mail reward coupon ) = $19.25
auditorium: 10
seat: 4th row from the front, 7th column from the left

3rd time:

I chose this poster in honor of Anton Yelchin. 

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where: EDWARDS FAIRFIELD STADIUM 16 & I-MAX in Fairfield, CA
when: Monday, July 25th, 2016
show: 10:45 p.m. I-Max 3-D
costs: $8.00 Ticket ( I received a movie-watcher discount on my movie-watcher reward card ) + $5.29 33.81 oz ( 1 litre ) Dasani Water + $1.00 1.5 oz ( 42.52 grams ) Squirrel Brand Italian Black Truffle Almonds ( that I bought at Grocery Outlet and smuggled-in ) + $1.40 1.5 oz ( 42.52 grams ) Krave Beef Jerky Chili Lime Flavor ( that I bought at Big Lots! and smuggled-in ) = $15.69
auditorium:  12
seat:  5th row from the front, 6th seat from the right

synopsis/overview:  The crew of the USS Enterprise is lured into unknown territory where they face a threat from an alien species that wants to destroy the interplanetary federation.

noteworthy scenes: 1.) Beloved artifact; 2.) Captain's log; 3.) Bedside manners; 4.) Yorktown Base; 5.) "It's definitely you"; 6.) Distress call; 7.) Surprise attack; 8.) Abronath; 9.) "They're taking the crew"; 10.) "You knew we'd be attacked"; 11.) Horsesh*t/Doodad; 12.) Insignia; 13.) Artifact's origin; 14.) House; 15.) "He's been watching us this whole time"; 16.) "Not every ..."; 17.) "This strength of unity which has kept you alive ..."; 18.) "A new Vulcan"; 19.) "Good nose for danger"; 20.) Rock; 21.) "He likes that seat"; 22.) Camouflage; 23.) "Because I don't want it to be just my fault"; 24.) "Well, at least I won't die alone"; 25.) "At Death's door and he's quoting Shakespeare"; 26.) Tracking device; 27.) "You cannot go there"; 28.) Diversion; 29.) "Let her go"; 30.) "You take my house and you make it fly"; 31.) Terminal velocity; 32.) Swarm behavior; 33.) "He's gonna love this"; 34.) Very High Frequency; 35.) "Is that classical music"; 36.) "My house is breaking"; 37.) "It's him"; 38.) Gravitational slipstream; 39.) "What would I be without you, Spock ( Zachary Quinto ); 40.) "Vice Admirals don't fly, do they"; 41.) Old group photograph; 42.) Birthday surprise; 43.) Acceptance letter; and 44.) In Loving Memory Of Leonard Nimoy and For Anton Yelchin dedications during the Ending Credits.

audience reaction: The audience liked it but didn't give it a "Hands Clapper" ending.

2nd audience reaction: The audience liked it and gave it a "Hands Clapper" ending.

3rd audience reaction:  I was the only one in the auditorium for this particular show. A couple of girls did come in to watch this, but they left before the movie ended. And I left before the Rihanna song began!  LOL

recommendation: I liked this movie. Go see this movie if you're a Star Trek Fan.

spoiler alert! When the USS Enterprise traveled in warp drive, space particles enveloped it like candle fumes would in a car's wind tunnel aerodynamic test. But this shouldn't be since a car in such a test is stationary and the turbulence it creates would soon collapse; space particles, however, wouldn't collapse as easily when a spaceship cuts through them at warp speed in the vacuum of space! The space particles would just scatter away. Or ... I could be wrong And The Space Particles Would Quickly Readjust Their Orientation In Outer Space To Compensate For The Disturbance In The Space/Time Continuum. And what was that I learned in Theoretical Physics, that the closer you get to traveling at Light Speed the more you accumulate Mass and the slower you end up traveling ...? ( Or something like that. ) When Capt. Kirk ( Chris Pine ) was fighting a bad guy while the USS Enterprise was free-falling and spinning out of control, he and the bad guy were both slipping, sliding and tumbling BUT ... the crew in the bridge just sat/stood around like everything was A-Okay! Why couldn't the bad guys out on patrol in the forest hear people running behind them? I don't know why the bad guy leader derided the Starship Enterprise crew's sense of unity when he and his troops looked pretty unified to me! Okay, I've said this before, Outer Space is One Big Vacuum. If your spaceship's hull or your artificial "planet's" shield is compromised or you are thrown into Outer Space without a spacesuit on, you will expand like a balloon until you explode! Have you ever had your "appendage" ( ahem! ) caught inside of a vacuum cleaner's hose? Well, your "appendage" expanded, didn't it? It's kind of like that in the vacuum of Outer Space. Of course, you'll just keep on expanding until you explode. Ha, ha, ha. How was the badly-injured Spock able to maintain a hold on Capt. Kirk to keep him from falling to his death?

fyi: I have a co-worker, Patrick, who has a friend whose relative worked for Paramount Pictures. Patrick's friend told him that if he ever found himself in Los Angeles, CA, to call him up so that he could arrange a job interview for him with Paramount Pictures, the studio that made STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION. Patrick passed the job interview. He met Leonard Nimoy, William Shatner, Patrick Stewart, LeVar Burton, Brent Spiner, etc. But his soon-to-be-ex wife didn't want him to work for the show! Too bad.

'You know how they say that since Outer Space is a vacuum there is no sound because there is nothing for the sound to travel through? But, the thought just occurred to me that, in the space battle where thousands of space ships were destroyed which left such a considerably-sized debris field, there would be a temporary mode of transmission for the explosive sounds in that localized area in Outer Space.

Thank God that they played Rihanna's song, Sledgehammer, after the dedication to Leonard Nimoy and Anton Yelchin were over because you really wouldn't want to have to sit there and listen to it especially after you've seen its bad music video!

word of advice: You should not face a common enemy alone by your own self.

tidbits:  My new Memorex CD player is a piece of crap! It stops, about every other time that I use it, approximately 5 to 10 minutes too soon, whenever I would play a meditation CD with two 33-minute tracks on it--I had to meditate to one particular track 3 times because it took a 3rd try for the CD to play through properly. At first I thought that the player was just eating-up the AA batteries' "juices" too fast. So, I switched to using an AC adapter. But the premature shut-off continued. I will have to return it to Rite-Aid for an exchange. I'll exchange it for their Craig CD Boombox which I hope is a better quality one.

So, anyway, I went to the American Canyon, CA, Wal-Mart Super Center last night, Friday the 22nd, to buy a different CD player and to buy a USB flash drive. Wal-Mart has its own brand of CD player, the ONN CD player for $22.88 plus $1.83 tax. I tried it as soon as I got home---It's Even More Of A Piece Of Crap than the Memorex CD Player! As soon as I turned it on, a loud static noise almost pierced my eardrums! I had to fiddle around with the "Play" and "Pause" buttons to get the noise to stop and to get the CD playing. And there was a faint background Static and Ticking noise which cycled on and off that I thought was because of the cheap earphones that it came with. I switched to using one of my headphones yet the problem persisted. And it made that same loud static noise after the track ended. I am very particular about my CD Sound Meditations and demand a good, if not excellent, performance from my CD player and head-/earphones! Friday night, I wasted almost three hours' worth of brain entrainment CD sound meditation time! I will have to return this piece of crap to Wal-Mart either on Monday or on Wednesday right after work.

2nd tidbits:  After seeing this 3-D movie version, I walked across the parking lot to look around inside of the Office Depot. I wanted to know if they sold CD players and I wanted to see if they have a hard drive eraser. And I also wanted to check-out the computers they have on sale. 

I found out that their USB flash drives are cheaper than the ones at Wal-Mart, that they don't sell CD players, that they have good prices on computers ( I accidentally triggered the alarm on one of them because I tilted it back to see if it has a CD/DVD player--I quietly walked away embarrassed ), and that they still sell electronic typewriters ( they have a Brother Electronic Typewriter for $165.99 ) that I'm very interested in buying. Too bad that they don't sell a manual typewriter ( mine was stolen when someone broke into my storage unit back in 1997 ).

I drove across the street to look around inside of the Best Buy Electronics Store. Unlike at Office Depot, this store's computers are more expensive and, for the life of me, I Don't Think That I Saw Any Of Their Laptop Computers With A CD/DVD Player!

But they have a CD player, the Insignia CD Player with Headphones ( not earphones ), on sale for $24.99 plus $2.15 tax. I bought one and will test it out tonight when I get home.

On my way back to my car, I found a penny, a nickel and a dime in the parking lot. I picked them up and said to myself, Thank you, Lord, for this token of abundance.

I guess that name-brand companies don't make CD players anymore. All the ones that I bought are either cheap store brands or cheap no-names all made in China. I will have to check online and see if Amazon or some other site sells Sony Walkman CD Players.

I went to the MacDonald's Restaurant on Sonoma Boulevard to have a late lunch. I was there for about 3 hours checking up stuff on my Facebook page,  going through my e-mails and starting this blog. It was a much cooler weather outside when I finally decided to leave. 

I was at the local Indian buffet restaurant, the Taj Grill, a few days ago where I inquired about Ladoo, the sweet Indian delicacy. The waiter told me that it was sold at an Indian bazaar on the corner of Highway 37 and Sonoma Boulevard. 

I decided to check out the bazaar after I left MacDonald's. I asked the store clerk where they keep their Ladoos. They keep it ( Bundi Ladoo ) in the refrigerated section and sell it for $7.00. I walked around the store to see what else they sold. And I found out two other kinds of Ladoo displayed on a table and priced for less. Of course, they weren't fresh. But I'll try them some day.

The Indian Bazaar is to the left of center in this photo. You can see my blue Hyundai Accent in the middle of the background.

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A few doors away from the bazaar is an Indian eatery that specializes in vegetarian dishes and sweet delicacies. I tried their $3.99 Vegetable Biryani  with their $1.99 Mango Drink. My meal came with a side of cold Yogurt Soup (?). It was a good meal. And I ate the most amount of rice at this meal than at any other time in the last 2 years or so. And I absentmindedly asked if they serve Chicken Biryani, forgetting the fact that IT IS a vegetarian restaurant.  Ha, ha, ha.

And here's the Indian vegetarian eatery.

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I bought 3 kinds of sweet delicacies ( a dried melon and two kinds of sweetened cheese balls ). They have other kinds, too, including Ladoo and Gulab Jamon, all for $0.75 each. 

When I got home, I used my new Insignia Personal CD Player to do a 33-minute brain entrainment Chakra Sound Meditation and two sessions of a 70-minute brain entrainment Shaman Sound Meditation. This Insignia CD Player is much better than the Memorex and Onn CD players! But I don't like the headphones that it came with because it is the type that cradles the back of your neck instead of resting at the top of your head. I switched the headphones with my old standby headphones. Since I do my meditations lying down because of my bad back, I prefer to use headphones with sponge cushions instead of vinyl ear cups--sponge cushions don't make a noise if you turn your head. And sponge-cushioned headphones are perfect for brain entrainment sound meditations. I am not a fan of earphones/earbuds because they can get uncomfortable in the ears and they're bad for your sense of hearing.

I found personal CD players for sale online. But brand new Sony Walkmans are priced anywhere from $250.00 to $300.00--what a mark-up! I am not buying a Sony Walkman for that price since I already had 2 Sony Walkmans conk-out on me. I'll stick to buying CD players in the $20.00 to $50.00 price range. And if this Insignia Personal CD Player lives up to my expectations, I will buy another two or more as standbys.

Yes, I thought of buying a Bose CD Player but I really don't want to pay top price for an obsolete device especially since it will just become defective a few years from now.

Why don't I just use mp3 brain entrainment sound meditations? The answer is simple. Such compressed data formats affect the music's sound fidelity---So I was told by someone years ago; and I am not arguing with that since I am not a Sound Engineer.


3rd tidbits: The Craig CD Boom Box that I got as an even exchange for the Memorex Personal CD Player doesn't come with a headphone jack at all!  Argh .... I will just have to donate it to charity after all since I cannot use it. I have to have a CD player with a headphone jack to use with my meditation CDs.

On a brighter note, I am beginning to think that the Insignia Personal CD Player which I bought at Best Buy Electronics Store may just be up to the task, after all. I'll give it a solid week of 173 minutes ( almost 3 hours ) of run time per day before I make a final decision on whether or not to buy more of this kind as back-up CD players for the foreseeable future.

One of my co-workers, Patrick ( the one that I mentioned earlier ), made fun of me when he heard that I was going to Vacaville, CA, after work, to look for a brand new CD player for my meditation CDs. He laughed when I mentioned that I spent hundreds of dollars on my meditation CDs ( actually, I've spent more than $3,000.oo [!] on such CDs through the years ). He said that I should just meditate the old-fashioned way. Well, what "mister-know-it-all" apparently doesn't know is that it takes DECADES of Patient Meditation at a minimum of 8 hr/day to become proficient at meditation! No one has that kind of patience and time in this Day and Age. With brainwave frequency entrainment meditation, all you have to do is press a button and, a few minutes later, you're synchronized in the right meditative brainwave frequency. But I'll let him discover that much later in his life since he's a "mister know-nothing" when it comes to meditation.

After work today, Monday, July 25th, I decided to go to the Vacaville, CA, Big Lots! discount store to see if they have any CD player for sale. It was around 6:35 p.m. when I headed-off for Vacaville. The trip was just a shade over 29 miles ( 46.67 km ) away. I browsed around the sales floor at Big Lots! as I haven't been there in well over a year ( I think ). They do have the Sylvania CD Boom Box for sale .... And it was exactly like the Craig CD Boom Box: No Headphone Jack. Of course, at only $20.00 each, it is $10.00 cheaper than the Craig. But, still, I cannot use a boom box for my meditation sessions.

I just bought a $1.40 small ( 1.5 oz./42.52 grams ) bag of Krave Beef Jerky, Lime Flavored, and a $1.50 small ( 8.0 oz./226.80 grams ) bag of Amport Foods roasted/salted Sunflower Kernels at Big Lots!

I took this picture on my way back to my car.

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And I headed back to Fairfield to wait for the 10:45 p.m. show of STAR TREK BEYOND, in I-Max 3-D, at the Burger King Restaurant at 1475 Holiday Lane, which is just across the freeway from the cineplex. They have free Wi-Fi at Burger King; and I wanted to check it out. They had a promotional food offer: Mac Cheetos--the key word being, "Had." The promotion ended last week, so I was told. Dang it! I never got to try it. Heck, I never even heard of their promotion until I walked up to the counter where I saw a big promotional poster for it above and behind the cashier. Anyway, I just ordered their "5 for $4.00 Special." I had it with a Powerade Zero Lime fountain drink. ( I only ate the chocolate parts of the cookie and I didn't eat the hamburger bun. )

This is the Burger King where I was just at. I was in a hurry and didn't get a good shot of it. Although I could have taken a better shot earlier, before I entered this place, when the sun was still out. But I guess that I was just too hungry to think properly. Ha, ha, ha.

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The Burger King Wi-Fi is somewhat slow, forces you to watch an interactive ad each time you log-in, and I think that it has a time limit of just 30 (?) minutes, as opposed to MacDonald's time limit of 2 hours and Starbucks' time limit of w-a-y ... l-o-n-g-e-r ... t-h-a-n ... 2 ... h-o-u-r-s! And don't even get me started on Jack In The Box's free Wi-Fi ( it doesn't let me log-in to my movie blog site because my site is "flagged" for its adult content since I also blog about Rated R movies--the idiots )!



*

MIKE & DAVE NEED WEDDING DATES, R ( 1 hr & 38 min )

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I went to see this on Thursday, July 7th, 2016 here in Vallejo, CA, at the CENTURY 14 VALLEJO, for the Advanced Screening in auditorium 10, 4th row front the front, 8ht column from the left. The price of admission was $11.50. And I bought a $6.80 Lite Bites at the concessions counter.

I went to see this again for a second time on Tuesday, July 19th, in the same theatre, for the 10:15 p.m. show in auditorium 10, 4th row from the front, 9th column from the left. The price of admission was $6.25 ( All-Day Bargain Tuesday ). And I bought a $0.00 small bag of Buttered Popcorn ( free offer on my movie-watcher e-mail reward coupon ) and a $4.85 medium Powerade Mountain Berry Blast at the concessions counter.

Quickie Review: Brothers Mike ( Adam DeVine ) and Dave ( Zac Efron ), who have both ruined many family get-togethers, are given the ultimatum: Behave yourselves and bring along nice girls if you want to attend your sister's Hawaiian wedding. To speed-up the match-making process, they both place an ad on Craigslist that goes viral. And they soon meet their match in Tatiana ( Aubrey Plaza ) and in Alice ( Anna Kendrick ), who present themselves as prim and proper girls until they reach Hawaii where they let their inhibitions run wild. Based on a true story--kinda.

The audience liked this movie. I liked it, too. Go see this if you like Stupid-Funny movies.

The massage parlor and sauna room scenes were particularly ridiculously funny scenes.

Of course, some funny scenes were too contrived to be believable.

And I don't find the girls' use of profanity to my liking--I don't know if this is the new "normal". But the use of profanities could have been dialed-down a bit.

I went to see this movie for a second time because I needed to unwind after work by watching a Stupid-Funny movie.


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On Monday,  July 18th, I was in the restroom at the Safeway Supermarket in Benicia, CA, answering Nature's "urgent call" when an old man with a walking cane came into the restroom and proceeded to try to open the door of the stall that I was in. There's someone here, I said. "Please hurry," he begged. As if I could just interrupt Nature's "call" and get out of there as quickly as possible just because someone else got the "call", too. Sorry, busy signal. Ha, ha, ha. Besides, there IS another toilet stall next to the one that I was using.

After a few seconds, the old man noticed the unoccupied stall. As soon as he entered that stall, I heard him pass gas. I was worried that he was going to soil his pants. He proceeded to sit down on the toilet and passed more gas. Then, he passed more gas. But I didn't hear anything plopping down into the bowl. That was when I understood the meaning of the expression of "Old Fart"! Now, I know why. Ha, ha, ha.

But I shouldn't be laughing at the Old Fart's predicament because I'll be joining the Senior rank before I know it.


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Today, Tuesday, July 19th, I was awakened by two kinds of what I call "Alien Exhaled Breath." Since I've been doing Chakra Meditations starting in 2003, I've experienced at least a dozen different types of Breaths. But the Alien Exhaled Breath is the one which has stayed faithfully with me all of these years. Here is how I can best describe it: I inhale and "something" else exhales for me. But this is no ordinary kind of exhalation because the force and volume are at least twice as those of the normal variety. Only today, the Alien Exhaled Breath was definitely more than twice the force and more than twice the volume! Minutes later, I experienced a "different" kind of Alien Exhaled Breath. How best to describe this new phenomenon? Like this: It came out concentrated like a "rod". Imagine yourself exhaling a breath that, if it were visible to the naked eye, comes out of each nostril shaped like a piece of rod. That was how it was like the second time around. The Shamanic meditation might have something to do with it because I cannot think of another possible explanation.

I went to the Rite Aid drugstore in Benicia, CA, to buy a CD player because my GPX CD player and my Sony CD player both are no longer working. They're both just a few years old but, still, they should still be working. Especially my Sony Walkman. I guess they're programmed to work for just a few years to force you to buy yet another one, a planned obsolescence. Luckily, I still have two other CD players ( Panasonic and Craig ) to use in the meantime; until I was able to buy another one today, a Memorex CD player, for $29.99 plus $2.95 tax.

After work and before going to see this movie for a second time, I swung by the MacDonald's Restaurant, at 1602 East 2nd Street in Benicia, to have dinner. A former co-worker was there ahead in line of me. His name is Wiley. He looks like a young version of the Hollywood actor Adrian Brody. We just chatted for a short while before he had to leave.

Just like one of the characters in this movie, I, too, was ordained to officiate at weddings. But I didn't get my ordination via the Internet, I got mine through the mail over 20 years ago. I never did officiate at any wedding, though, because I just wanted to have that ministerial credential for income tax purposes. And I never even did use it to lower or eliminate my income tax payments at all, not even once.

One of my co-workers and one of the theatre security guards asked me the same question today, "Where's your hat?" They are so used to seeing me with a hat on ( no, it's not a typo--wink, wink ) that, today, they asked me why I didn't have it on. Well, sometimes, I forget to put it on ( due to old age? ) or I just don't want to bother putting it on.

When I got home, I had to try out my new Memorex CD player ( which was quite a challenge to remove from its confinement ). 'You remember Memorex's slogan, "Is it live or is it Memorex?" Well, the answer in this case is, No, it definitely isn't "live" because your CD player has no bass control at all and your earphones are crappy!

I miss my Sony Walkman and my Sony earphones ....  I mean, seriously!


*********************************************

Here's an excerpt of where it all began:


http://books.simonandschuster.com/Mike-and-Dave-Need-Wedding-Dates/Mike-Stangle/9781476760087



*

THE INFILTRATOR, R ( 2 hr & 7 min )

-

I went to see this on Saturday, July 16th, 2016, here in Vallejo, CA, at the CENTURY 14 VALLEJO, for the 7:30 p.m. show in auditorium 11, 3rd row from the front, 7th column from the left. The price of admission was $8.00. And I bought a $0.00 ( free on my movie watcher e-mail reward coupon ) small Buttered Popcorn and a $4.85 medium Powerade Mountain Berry Blast at the concessions counter to go with the pack of Beef Jerky/Cheese Stick combo that I smuggled-in.

Quickie Review: During Pres. Reagan's "War on Drugs," an undercover agent, Bob Mazur ( Bryan Cranston ), poses as a money "launderer" to infiltrate drug lord Pablo Escobar's inner circle. Based on a true story which brought down the biggest drug cartel in American history.

The audience liked this movie. I liked it, too. Go see this if you like Crime Thrillers.

I felt sorry for the innocent waiter. I hope that he got a Big Tip for his trouble!

Likewise, I felt sorry for the family of three at the wedding reception. The father/husband was a likable bad guy.

If Hollywood didn't stray too far away from the real story, then this movie is as violent as the real events it depicts!

According to this movie, 400 Million Dollars in drugs were smuggled into the US mostly through Florida. That's 1.6 Billion Dollars per week, and 19.2 Billion Dollars a year! Adjusting for inflation, that's more than what Bill Gates currently makes each year. Wow! Can you imagine making that much money each and every year--legitimately, of course! What would you do with that kind of money?



********************************************


I needed to see a movie today to de-stress.

It was crazy at work today! Four front-end employees called-in sick. And when the front-end supervisor came in and took a look at the work schedule and saw the absences, said supervisor went home sick! I think that there is a "Saturday Summer Fever" going on, and it's contagious. I was gonna get myself intentionally infected with this contagion for next Saturday but, unfortunately, I am already scheduled off for that day. Dang it!

Today, Saturday, was supposed to have been the second day back for my 2nd Assistant Manager; you know, the one who was attacked with a hammer at a bank's parking lot in broad daylight a few months ago. Luckily for her, though, her psychiatrist extended her therapy or she would have had another one of her major panic attacks in front of everybody.

After having a late afternoon lunch at the MacDonald's Restaurant on 1602 East 2nd Street in Benicia, CA, I headed-off to the Southampton Shopping Center, also in Benicia, to buy a bottle of Solgar Olive Leaf Extract at the local health food store. Then, I walked a few doors down to buy a beef jerky/cheese stick combo to take to the movies with me, a bottle of shampoo, and a couple of snack bags to take to work with me.

I still had over an hour left to spare before the start of the 7:30 p.m. show. So, I went to the Target Shopping Center on Admiral Callaghan Lane here in Vallejo just to look around.

And I noticed that Hancock Fabrics had already forever-closed their doors. It's too bad that they went out of business because I shopped at this place once in a while for fabrics and sewing notions. Now, I have no other local option other than the fabric/sewing notions department in the American Canyon, CA, Wal-Mart Super Center. The next closest one, I think, is across the Benicia Bridge in Concord, CA; but it's just too far away just to go shop for fabrics and sewing notions!

-

To the left of the now-defunct Hancock Fabrics is a Pilipino store, 3 J's Oriental Store. I browsed around to see what I could buy as a snack for work. I settled for a small bag of Totoy Saging Special Crispy Banana Chips.

Then, I headed on over to the Office Depot across the parking lot from the CENTURY 14 VALLEJO to buy a hard drive eraser and a Windows software upgrade for my old Compaq Presario Windows XP computer. But they were about to close since it was almost 7:00 p.m. I will have to come back here some other day.

On my way to auditorium 11 to see this movie, I had to make a stop at the security guard's station to present my ticket stub for inspection. I wasn't even able to dig into my pocket to get it because the guard just motioned me through as he said, "You're good." Ahh ... the perks of being a frequent movie-watcher. Or, maybe he knew that I'm a movie blogger and he wanted me to mention him in a positive way---Consider it done! Now, if I can only remember his name and what he looks like ....

Back at my condominium, I noticed that, as I was about to open my front door, there was a blob of "oil" at the bottom of my doorknob. I don't know if it was just the internal lubricant that seeped out of it or if somebody had some malicious intent against me. As a precaution, I made sure not to touch it. I went to my kitchen to get a piece of napkin to wipe it off; and I got a piece of moistened paper towel to clean my doorknob. And I washed my hands with soap and water afterward just to be on the safe side.


*

GHOSTBUSTERS 3-D ( 2016 ), PG-13 ( 1 hr & 47 min )

-

I went to see this on Thursday, July 14th, 2016, here in Vallejo, CA, at the CENTURY 14 VALLEJO, for the 3-D Advanced Screening in auditorium 10, 4th row from the front, 6th column from the right. The price of admission was $11.50. And I bought a $1.00 medium Buttered Popcorn upgrade on a Free Small Popcorn ( free offer on my movie-watcher e-mail reward coupon ) and a $4.85 medium Powerade Mountain Berry Blast at the concessions counter.

Quickie Review:  Someone invents a device that creates a portal for ghosts and spirits to pass through and terrorize the people of New York City. It is up to a small group of female paranormal investigators to save the day.

The audience liked it, especially the little brats in the audience. I thought that it was okay. It certainly is not as funny and as appealing--to me--as the original.  Go see this if you liked the original 1984 Ghostbusters movie. And see how many cameo appearances of the original cast you can pick out.

There are Bonus Scenes during the Ending Credits, along with a "Michael Jackson's Thriller"--like group dance.


********************************************

I had to go to the Vallejo Main Post Office to pick-up my mail. I turned right on Virginia Street from Sonoma Boulevard. On the corner of Virginia and Sacramento Streets, I stopped at the 3-way stop T-intersection. Some bitch cut me off as I started to make a left turn at the intersection! I honked at her to let her know that she crossed the intersection in an unsafe manner. The Asian bitch just looked at me. She must be one of those reckless "Manila drivers" that I heard about. I should have written down her license plate number. Someday, I'll have a traffic camera installed in my car.

On my way to the post office, I noticed a police roadblock on Virginia and Marin Streets and on Georgia and Sacramento Streets. I reasoned that they were doing another film shoot for Selena Gomez's TV movie series for Netflix.

The postal clerk told me that I didn't have any mail because the mailman delivered all of my mail to my mail box because the mail box center at my condo was fixed. On my way back to my car, I decided to look around on Georgia Street to see if I could catch a glimpse of Selena Gomez.

I parked my car in the back lot and walked up on Marin Street. There was a movie props truck parked at the curb. And assorted movie-making stuff were on the sidewalk. There was a police car blocking-off Georgia and Marin Streets. I talked to a tall security personnel to find out what was going on. He told me that they were filming scenes for Selena Gomez's upcoming TV movie series.

Th1rteen R3asons Why TV movie series poster. I found this on the Internet.

-

I asked if I could walk around and take pictures. He said that I could.

I took the following photos at approximately 3:30 p.m. Thursday, July 14th, 2016 on a hot and humid afternoon here in Vallejo. Yeah, it was hot and humid. So, I don't know why one of the crew guys, the one I talked to, was wearing a black leather jacket.

This is on Georgia Street between Marin and Sacramento Streets. I think that all of these photos' time-stamps ran late.

-

I stood in front of the "theatre's" marquee and made the remark to a man standing there that I've lived in Vallejo since 1989 and never saw this "theatre", The Crestmont. It was just a false facade, as it turned out; a movie prop. The one that I talked to, a "black leather jacket" short and skinny white man ( shorter than I am ), told me that they will be here in Vallejo for quite a while to shoot the needed film scenes.

Just before a scene was about to be filmed, a caterer walked around with a tray of snacks. All eyes were on me as I was about to pounce on it like a hungry cat! I couldn't make a move on it though because of all the people there.

At one point, just before the "walk-in" rehearsal, a crew chief came up to me and told me to keep my voice down because they were about to shoot a scene. I guess that they didn't want any of their microphones to pick-up my voice because it sounds too "Filipino" and the scene is set in some fictitious little town where everyone is white! Ha, ha, ha.

Side view of the "theatre's" marquee.

 -

As I stood there talking to the "black leather jacket" man, a beautiful brunette in a jeans mini-skirt came out to the "theatre's" main lobby. I don't know if it was Selena Gomez or a "double", I couldn't be sure. I guess she came out to see who the handsome gentleman ( ahem! ) was that talked in a Filipino-sounding voice--guilty as charged! LOL

This is on Sacramento Street. I wanted to take a picture of the Paramount Pictures truck. But, for some reason, I ended-up with a picture of the sidewalk, instead!

-

So, remember this particular scene when this TV movie series airs on Netflix. If you hear a background voice in the Movie "Theatre" Scene that sounds like it was made by a Filipino with a raspy voice, that voice will most likely be mine. Then, do let me know so that I can sue Netflix and Paramount Pictures for using my voice without my permission! Easy money. Ha, ha, ha.

This is the "porta-potty" trailer for the cast & crew. To the right is the Paramount Pictures truck that I failed to take a photo of. To the left is Selena Gomez's wardrobe trailer--I don't know why I didn't take a picture of that!

-

You know, nobody was there to guard Selena Gomez's wardrobe trailer. I could've broken-in and snatched some "souvenirs". Why do excellent ideas come to me so late? Why, oh, why ...?

This photo shows a movie props truck and some props on the Marin Street sidewalk.

-

I walked across Marin Street to take the above photo.

And here's another side view of the "Crestmont Movie Theatre's" marquee, taken from the corner of Marin and Georgia Streets..

-

In the above photo, the main storefront is a Psychic Reading Center ( I wonder if the resident psychic "saw" this TV movie coming ). Between this center and the movie "theatre" is an unoccupied storefront that the cast & crew used for in-between takes.

Below is the old-style real movie theatre, The Empress, just a block over on Virginia Street:

I don't know why they didn't use this real movie theatre, instead! I found this on the Internet.

-

I saw a black-and-white movie once at The Empress a few years ago. This theatre is a throwback to how movie theatres were during Hollywood's Golden Age. Back then, the seats didn't come with cupholders. You had to put your drink and/or your popcorn/hotdog on the floor between your feet because that was what the floor was there for! But you knew best where to stick your used chewing gum.

Nowadays, they rarely show movies at The Empress. Instead, it's now a venue for other entertainment events.


********************************************

When I got home, I went to the hall lobby to fetch my mail at the mailbox center. The right side of the mailbox was, once again, tampered with!

If you notice the opened mailbox at the very top, the one diagonally right below it is my mailbox.

-

Presently, one of my neighbors walked by. I asked him when the mailbox center was tampered with. He said that it happened recently. I said, Since the HOA got rid of the on-site property manager, this place has been going downhill. This neighbor, who lives just a few doors from me on the 2nd floor, told me that he and his girlfriend were moving out after 5 years of living here because someone kicked-open his unit's door and stole a bunch of his, and his girlfriend's, personal items. I asked him if his door frame had a metal anti-theft plate in place. He said that it didn't, that the door frame split open when the door was kicked-in. I felt sorry for him and his girlfriend. He was always nice to me. But I don't know why his pit bull, Poppa, was not able to prevent the break-in. I suspect that whoever broke into his place was someone his friendly pit bull knew. I wish him and his girlfriend better luck in wherever they move into.

And I couldn't help but notice that this particular neighbor was sporting a black eye. His right eye was bruised.


********************************************


I was saddened to learn that, once again, France fell victim to a senseless and cowardly terrorist attack.

I found this on the Internet.

-


I send my condolence to the families of those killed in the senseless act of violence in France during its Bastille Day celebration. I pray for you all.


*

SULTAN, NR (?) ( 2 hr & 49 min )/THE ACHY BREAKY HEARTS, NR ( 1 hr & 59 min )

-

I went to see this on Monday, July 11th, 2016, in Richmond, CA, at the CENTURY 16 HILLTOP, for the 6:00 p.m. show in auditorium 9, 4th row from the front, 8ht column from the left. The price of admission was $11.00. And I bought a $4.85 medium Powerade Zero Orange at the concessions counter.

2nd time

-

I went to see this movie for a second time on Wednesday, July 13th, 2016, at the same theatre, for the 9:40 p.m. show in auditorium 9, 4th row from the front, 8ht column from the left. The price of admission was $0.00, as in, Free Movie Pass. And I bought a $4.80 medium Powerade Zero Lemon at the concessions counter.

Quickie Review: A former world-class wrestler, Sultan ( Salman Khan ), decides to come out of retirement and go into the Octagon to redeem himself and to bring glory to India.

The audience liked it. I liked it, too. Go see this Bollywood's answer (?) to Hollywood's LOVE & BASKETBALL ( 2000 ).

There was a scene approximately 27 minutes into the movie wherein the leading lady, Aarfa ( Anushka Sharma ), was carrying a trayful of Motichoor Ke Ladoos when a little brat ran up the steps to where she was at and stole some of the ladoos from her tray. A bunch of them fell on the ground and Sultan helped Aarfa put the ladoos back on the tray---Yuck! I don't care if the "5-Second Rule" applied. There ain't no way I'd eat any one of those ( well, maybe if I was starving to death and I had no other option ).

Motichoor Ke Ladoos. I found this on the Internet.

-

I'm not sure if I have had this delicacy before. I'll be sure to look for it or ask for it the next time that I go eat at an Indian buffet restaurant.

Sultan's first MMA fight was against a Capoeira stylist who could have easily used Capoeira's deadliest kick on him. A kick that can spell instant death on its victim when properly executed. Since the Capoeira stylist didn't use such a kick on Sultan, I think the match was rigged!  Ha, ha, ha.

*********************************************

Monday, July 11th, didn't start-off well enough for me. I wore the wrong pair of eyeglasses to work. Luckily, I had an extra ( old ) pair on my car's dashboard. My plan was to eat first at MacDonald's Restaurant then travel to Richmond, CA, to see this movie. But because I had on the wrong pair of eyeglasses, I had to go back home to fetch my new pair of glasses.

On my way home, I swung by the Goin' Postal office first to fetch a couple of packages that arrived in the mail for me. One of said packages was the one with the meditation CDs that I wanted to try out.

I decided to have a late lunch at a buffet restaurant in Richmond.

-

This restaurant was once Lee's Garden Buffet Restaurant. I asked the hostess when the ownership change occurred. She said that it was back in January. Yup, I haven't been here in at least that long of a time. I paid $13.13 + $2.00 Tip for my lunch.

Yome's menu is different from that of Lee's menu. I noticed a pig knuckles stew mixed with some hard-boiled eggs. I asked the kitchen staff what it was. Motioning with his arms to indicate male virility, he said that it was for "health". Yeah, I'll drink to that. Or, should I say, I'll eat to that?

I parked near the far end of the theatre's parking lot because I wanted to jog it back to my car after the movie ended. There was a stray tabby there on the hillside just looking up at me. Another cat, a black one, showed up shortly after. I wanted them to come closer so that I could give them some of the cat food that I keep in my car for stray cats such as these two. But neither one wanted to come near me.

The auditorium was nearly packed to capacity with about 85% of the seats occupied. The movie began, with everyone having a good time. Then, 30 minutes into the movie, in the scene wherein Sultan and his friend crashed a wedding party and they were dancing, when the two seated men in the scene's foreground shot their rifles into the air, the power went out!  Ha, ha, ha. Talk about perfect timing.

Everybody in the building had to leave the theatre because nobody knew when the power would come back on. We were all issued Free Movie Passes. 'Remember what I said earlier about bad things happening to me two in a row? Well, this is officially part two because a somewhat similar scenario also occurred when I went to see BFG for the first time in Vallejo, CA.

Anyway, I resolved to see this movie once again just to see it all the way through to the end. And, besides, it got a good Rotten Tomatoes movie rating.

I didn't jog it back to my car because there were just too many cars exiting the parking lot at the same time.

I went to the Richmond Wal-Mart to check out their shoes and polo shirts on sale. They didn't have the polo shirt that I wanted to buy: white polo shirt with a chest pocket. They had the type of shoes ( 3 kinds ) that I wanted to buy but I had to keep to my daily budget. Perhaps, at a later time.

I swung by the theatre on my way home to see if the power had been restored. It wasn't.  I went home in bumper-to-bumper freeway traffic because three of the four lanes were blocked off for some road repair.

When I got home, I tried the new CD, the one on Shamanic meditation. The CD is approximately 70 minutes long. I slept for a good long time after doing the CD meditation. The next day, I checked to see why it "knocked me out" for a good night's rest. Sure enough, it had Delta brainwave frequencies mixed-in with its Theta brainwave frequencies. Delta brainwave frequencies can make you fall asleep fast and long.

And I had a strange dream when I was asleep. I dreamed that I was at an eatery. I was seated in a white wrought-iron chair next to a white wrought-iron glass-topped table. A group of men came up to me and told me that I had to accompany them because they needed help killing some loose zombies! Ha, ha, ha. I followed them but kept thinking to myself that there were no such things as zombies because of what I know about human anatomy and physiology. That was when I woke up. Gosh, darn it!

I used the Shamanic Meditation CD two more times upon awakening because I wanted to accelerate my altered consciousness state. But it's rather too early to tell if this Shamanic meditation will yield a positive result. I'll meditate to it at least twice a day for the next 30 days or so before I can expect "anything" to happen. I will just keep my fingers crossed for the time being.

*********************************************

Wednesday, I got off work at 5:45 p.m. It was still too early to drive to Richmond, CA, for the 9:40 p.m. show. I went to the MacDonald's Restaurant  on 2nd Street in Benicia, CA, for the next hour, to have a large cup of Sweet Tea w/ Lemonade while I updated my movie blog and while I checked on my Facebook page's posts.

I decided to have everything for this movie trip to be as similar to those on my movie trip on Monday.

I went to have dinner at Yome's Garden Buffet restaurant again. I paid the same amount but I saved 3 pennies by paying with my credit card. Hey, money's money---And it adds up sooner or later! Wait a minute ... I just remembered. Credit card use comes with interest payment. Okay, it will be back to paying with cash next time around.

All of the menu items were the same as those served on Monday. I said to myself that these dishes better not be Monday's left-overs.  I had a serving of their pig knuckles stew w/ hard-boiled eggs "male virility dish" ( ahem! ) once again. But, this time around, the pig knuckles were overcooked and the white part of the hard-boiled eggs was almost as tough as leather! Can someone say, "Hey, Cine-Man, splurge a little and get yourself some Viagra!" Ha, ha, ha. 

Whatever ....  

Anyway, I think that Lee's Garden Buffet Restaurant was better than this new one.

There wasn't enough time to check-out the polo shirts and shoes at the Richmond Wal-Mart this time as I only had about 20 minutes left before the start of the show.

I parked closer to the theatre this time around. I parked in the space adjacent to the handicap parking space.

On my way back to my car right after the movie ended, I saw the two stray cats near the far end of the parking lot. The tabby was eating something at the curb while the black one was roaming about. I'll try and make friends with them the next time that I see them.


*********************************************

On Tuesday, July 12th, 2016, I went to see this movie ...

NR  ( 1 hr & 59 min )

-

here in Vallejo, CA, at the CENTURY 14 VALLEJO, for the 10:10 p.m. show in auditorium 13, 5th row from the front, 7th column from the left. The price of admission was $6.25 ( All-Day Bargain Tuesday ). And I bought a $6.80 Lite Bites at the concessions counter.

Quickie Review:  This is a story about a 30-something single woman, Chinggay ( Jodi Sta. Maria ) who becomes infatuated with Ryan ( Ian Veneracion ), whose girlfriend recently broke up with him, just when her ex-boyfriend, Frank ( Richard Yap ), walks back into her life. Who will Chinggay choose?

The audience liked it. I liked it enough. It is definitely a "Chick-Flick".

I didn't like the ending when all three had a chance meeting at an intersection. It didn't make sense on Frank's part!

This movie took advantage of Jodi Sta. Maria's successful TV pairing with Ian Veneracion in Pangako Sa 'Yo and her pairing with Richard Yap in Be Careful With My Heart. And I guess their fans "took to it like fish to bait" because it did well in its Philippine market debut, one of four top grossers for 2016.

I don't know why this movie didn't have, as its theme song, Billy Ray Cyrus's Achy Breaky Heart. I guess that they didn't want to have to pay artist royalty fee.

My family had a brown short-hair native female dog in the Philippines which was named, Chinggay, the partner of our brown short-hair native male dog, Chinggoy. WHY DIDN'T THIS MOVIE HAVE A MALE LEAD NAMED, CHINGGOY?!?!?! Ha, ha, ha.

*********************************************

I was "cheated" at the concessions counter on my Lite Bites purchase. The concessions clerk put my cup in the box instead of out of the box so that I didn't get enough popcorn in it. And I also specifically told him that I only wanted 2 pieces of ice cubes in my cup. When the movie ended two hours later, I still had ice cubes in my cup! Okay, that's it. I know which one to avoid at the concessions counter the next time that I go and buy some Lite Bites.


*

THE LEGEND OF TARZAN, PG-13 ( 1 hr & 50 min )

-

where: CENTURY 14 VALLEJO in Vallejo, CA
when:  Saturday, July 2nd, 2016
show:  10:30 a.m. 3- D Extra Dollar Off First Show Matinee
costs:  $11.00 Ticket + $3.90 20.0 oz Dasani Water that I bought at the concessions counter to wash down the snack pack bag of mixed nuts that I smuggled-in ( I only ate half of the amount ).
auditorium:  7
seat:  6th row from the front, 8ht column from the left

2nd time:

-

where:  EDWARDS FAIRFIELD STADIUM 16 & I-MAX
when:  Tuesday, July 5th, 2016
show:  7:20 p.m. 3-D
costs:  $11.75 Ticket ( Economy Tuesday ) + $4.89 20.0 oz Dasani Water + $13.68 dinner @ Hometown Buffet before the show + $1.00 Tip = $31.32
auditorium:  12
seat:  6th row from the front, 7th column from the right

synopsis/overview:  A vengeful warrior chief, Chief Mbonqa ( Djimon Hounsou ), and a king's henchman, Leon Rom ( Christoph Waltz ), plot to lure Tarzan ( Alexander Skarsgard ) back into the Congo where revenge could be exacted.

noteworthy scenes:  1.) "All I need is a name"; 2.) Slavery; 3.) "The jungle consumes everything"; 4.) Alpha gorilla's rage; 5.) Diary; 6.) Lionesses; 7.) Ledger; 8.) Ivory; 9.) "Tarzan, you look funny"; 10.) The Legend of Tarzan"; 11.) Mating calls; 12.) Handkerchief; 13.) Jane's home; 14.) Night raid; 15.) "They have my wife and their families"; 16.) Orchestrated truth; 17.) Cliff jump; 18.) Vine; 19.) Ears; 20.) French; 21.) Gorilla beatdown, part one; 22.) Madagascar spider silk; 23.) Candlelight dinner; 24.) Ostriches; 25.) Gorilla beatdown, part two; 26.) "You want me to lick his nuts, too"; 27.) "Tastes like bacon"; 28.) "Walking, talking powder keg"; 29.) Hippopotamuses; 30.) Broken promise; 31.) Tarzan's call; 32.) Tarzan versus Chief Mbonqa; 33.) Stampede; 34.) 1886 model Maxim Machine Gun; 35.) Hug; 36.) Open letter to King Leopold of Belgium; and 37.) One year later.

audience reaction:  The audience liked it but didn't give it a "Hands Clapper" ending.

2nd audience reaction:  The audience liked this, too, but didn't give it a "Hands Clapper" ending.

recommendation:   I liked this movie since I'm a Tarzan fan. Go see this movie if you're a Tarzan fan, too.

spoiler alert!  Why doesn't Tarzan have a beard in this movie? After all, growing wild, he wouldn't have had the concept of shaving off one's beard. I guess imitating different mating calls is Tarzan's idea of foreplay.  Two things about the hide-and-seek game scene: a.) You don't go playing said game in the jungle where dangerous animals lurk about; b.) The village where Jane ( Margot Robbie ) was staying at WAS FAR, FAR AWAY from the jungle territory of the vicious Mangani Apes ( Why would Jane and the children travel such a great distance just to play a game of hide-and-seek? ). To put it into proper perspective, Tarzan and George ( Samuel L. Jackson ) left Jane's village, ran across the savanna, jogged through a forest, climbed up a hill, jumped off a cliff, swung through the trees, rode a train, and hiked for a while before they could even reach Mangani Ape territory! Yup, Tarzan sure was butt-naked when he and Jane first meat--oops! I mean, met. Ha, ha, ha. A tribesman said that it was their custom not to enter Jane's home while she was away; that seemed like his way of saying, "Nope, we ain't doin' your housecleaning for you. We're scared of spiders. And your house is covered in cobwebs!" Unlike in the comic books that depicted Tarzan beating apes in a fight, this movie is more realistic--which is good. All of those machine guns and rifles, with their combined thousands of rounds, could have easily slowed down and diverted the stampeding herds had they been all put into use. Did the bad guy get eaten by crocodiles or did he get himself sexually violated by them since they were first attracted to him by the sound of a mating call? This Tarzan never said, "Ungawa numbato!" ( I don't know how many of you out there remember this command. ) Which was kind of a disappointment to me. And, Tarzan only put on his loincloth at the end of the movie!

fyi:  Seeing the sight of all of those elephant tusks made me feel bad for all of the elephants and rhinoceroses that were killed through the centuries just to supply the Ivory Trade. 

I like Johnny Weissmuller's  "Tarzan Call" much better. I guess because that was the "Tarzan Call" that I grew familiar with as I watched old Tarzan movies on TV back in the Philippines.

I like Casper Van Dien's Tarzan's ( 1998 ) "simian fighting style" better.

I don't know if you all know this, but Tarzan was originally given the name, Zantar.

Samuel L. Jackson is likable in this movie since he kept his use of profanity largely turned down.

I wonder how Koko, the gorilla, would rate the apes in this movie.


This garment shown below ...

I found this on the Internet.

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was woven from the silk gathered from 1 million Madagascar Golden Orb Spiders.

Back in the Philippines, I had a crush on the daughter of my mom's coworker. We visited their place one early evening, after seeing a movie, for a get-together dinner. Then, we all posed for a picture. The girl sat on the sofa and I stood directly behind her. Before the photo was taken, I managed to curl a lock of hair at either side of my head, a la "comic strip" Tarzan's hair locks.

Look at Tarzan's hair locks in this image. I found this on the Internet.

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There I was, a little fat kid with Tarzan hair locks! Ha, ha, ha. I wish I had a copy of that old black-and-white picture. Because it is good for a few more embarrassingly good laughs.

Lastly, Edgar Rice Burroughs, the author/creator of Tarzan, couldn't get any publisher to publish his novel. He had to self-publish it. And the rest, as they say, is history!

word of advice:  Revenge can be an all-consuming passion.

tidbits:  After I bought the bottled water at the concessions counter, I went up to one of the supervisors and explained to him what had happened the night before, that everybody had to leave the building, and that I didn't get to finish watching THE BFG and that I would like to see it again. The supervisor went to fetch me a Free Pass. I asked him what the emergency was all about. He said that some a**hole low-life punk pulled an emergency lever as a practical joke! Some inconsiderate lowlifes had got nothing else better to do than to inconvenience everyone else--another prime example of what I refer to as "The Vallejo Crowd".

2nd tidbits:  At 4:31 p.m., I was thinking of the movie, FINDING DORY. And of how Dory befriended Hank, the octopus. And it occurred to me that in Spanish, you would introduce them both as, Hank y Dory. As in, Hunkydory! So, yeah, later on, I went back to my FINDING DORY post and added-in this particular "easter egg". 

As I was about to leave the Benicia Safeway Supermarket parking lot, on my way to see this movie, some bitch just cut me off! I had the right-of-way but she just made her left turn like she owned the parking lot. What a dumbass bitch.

Bad things always happen twice to me. There's gonna be another incident later on today, I said to myself.

I was on northbound I-80, approaching the Vallejo hill section when, all of a sudden, I saw a red pickup truck suddenly appear in my rear-view mirror. The idiot driver was travelling well in excess of the speed limit as he weaved in and out of lanes without even using his signal lights!

There is a section of the freeway just as you enter Suisun that is a well-known speed trap. I hoped and prayed that a highway patrolman would be there to catch the over-speeding idiot. But, it was not meant to be.

As I got to Fairfield, I had a choice of having dinner at  Burger King and accessing their Wi-Fi while I ate or eat at Home Town Buffet Restaurant just across the street from the cineplex. One hour on the Internet wouldn't have been enough for me. So, I decided to have dinner at Home Town Buffet Restaurant, instead.

I had a good enough dinner. But their battered fried chicken was just too salty for my taste. 

It was time for me to go for seconds at 6:32 p.m. I scooted to the left to get off the seat. But I over-scooted and would have fallen onto the floor hard on my butt had I not extended my left arm out to break the fall. I felt a jolt in my bad left shoulder. I was worried that I managed to dislocate my left shoulder once again as I could feel some pain in the joint area. But the pain lasted for just a few minutes while I finished my second and third plates. 

Before the Tarzan movie started, the audience was "treated" to a Rihanna music video, Sledgehammer, which is the theme (?) song of the upcoming Star Trek movie.

I found this on the Internet.

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You might say that this is Rihanna's answer to Miley Cyrus's Wrecking Ball. But it is one godawful song-and-dance video! I truly wanted to boo my displeasure at this "music" video and would have had I been uncouth. It has "FLOP" written all over it, I think. 

I made a detour, on my way home, at American Canyon Road, to go to the American Canyon Wal-Mart Super Center to buy some work uniforms. They were sold-out of the white pocket Polo Shirts that I wanted to buy. But they had the Khaki Pants that I needed to buy. I bought three at $9.00 each.


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A female news reporter hiked through the dense jungle of Africa to interview the legendary ape-man, Tarzan. Finally, she came upon him and began the interview thus:

Reporter: Tarzan, rumor has it that you are of noble blood. What is your full name?

Tarzan: ( proudly ) Me, Tarzan! ( thumps his chest )

Intimidated by such an imposing presence, the reporter switched the subject.

Reporter: Tarzan, you have a son. What is your son's name?

Tarzan: ( impatiently ) Son named, Boy!

Reporter: ( nervously ) Well, I guess that that makes sense since he was born in the jungle and wouldn't have need of a proper name. ( switching the subject ) But your wife, Jane, was born in the outside world and would have a whole name. So, please tell us. What is Jane's whole name?

Tarzan: ( puzzled ) Jane whole name?

Reporter: Yes, Jane's whole name. What is Jane's whole name?

Tarzan: Jane whole name, PUSSY!



( 'Sorry .... It's a stupid joke but it's Tarzan-related. Which is why I posted it here. I first came across this joke at least 32 years ago, back when I still had somewhat of a juvenile mind. I knew that if I was patient and waited long enough I would eventually get to use this joke---Hah!  LOL )




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