PAD MAN, PG-13 ( 2 hr & 20 min )

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Today, Monday, February 12th, 2018, I went to the Century 16 Hilltop, in Richmond, CA, to catch the 11:45 a.m. matinee showing of, PAD MAN, based on a true story. The price of admission was $5.75. I bought a $5.60 Snack Pack ( junior popcorn & drink ) at the concessions counter. And I went to auditorium 10 and sat in the 3rd row, column 8 seat to watch this movie.

Quickie Review:  In India, a man sacrifices everything to make sanitary napkins readily available to the 88% of women ( approximately 440 million ) who have no easy access to such a personal hygiene product.

I liked this movie a lot! It is a "must-see!" I especially liked the "panties experiment."  ( Ha, ha, ha---What a riot ! )  I also liked the scene wherein he pulled out a sanitary napkin from his pocket, on a darkened road, when some female stranger was having an "emergency." And his speech at the UN--in Linglish, at that! was also quite a charmer. Lastly, it is simply admirable how a simple man with an 8ht Grade education was able to drastically cut down the retail cost of sanitary napkins from 55 Rupees ( $0.86 ) to 2 Rupees ( $0.03 ) for a 5-pack, starting a revolutionary cottage industry in the process!

I don't know if it's just a cultural difference. But his wife, Gayatri ( Radhika Apte ), should have stood by his side.

I was hoping that Pad Man ( Akshay Kumar ) would end-up in a relationship with Pari ( Sonam Kapoor ) because of their shared interest--and because Pari is more beautiful than Gayatri.

Interestingly enough, in the Old Testament of The Bible, there is also a similar requirement imposed on ( ceremonially unclean ) menstruating females. ( If you ask me, however, I think that it was just to keep couples from engaging in promiscuous sex! Remember folks, thousands of years ago, people had a very limited set of options for birth control. )

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After the movie, I went to Yome Chinese Buffet Restaurant at the Hilltop Mall, to have a late lunch. I was charged $4.00 extra because today is a holiday, Lincoln's Birthday. Had I known, I would just have eaten lunch at the nearby McDonald's! Oh, well ....

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After I got back to Vallejo, CA, I went to the local MetroPCS Store to finally upgrade from a ( dual core ) Samsung Galaxy Mega 3 to a ( octa-core ) ZTE Blade Z Max:

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They're essentially the same size, but the Blade is newer, stronger, better and faster. And I was issued a new 'phone number because I couldn't remember the PIN on my Mega! Well, if I'm gonna start with something new, I might as well have a new number, too! I paid over $180.00 for the cellphone, its initial month's service, a case and a screen protector. And I also ended up spending almost $30.00 for an extra USB cable.

I will buy a 128 GB Micro SD Card for it soon!

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PADMAAVAT, NR ( 2 hr & 44 min )

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I went to see this on Tuesday, January 30th, 2018, at the Century 16 Hilltop in Richmond, CA, for the 11:25 a.m. matinee show.

Quickie Review:  An ambitious, egotistical, ruthless and greedy Muslim king, Sultan Alauddin Khilji ( Ranveer Singh ), hears of the legendary beauty of the Queen of Chittor, Padmavati  ( Deepika Padukone ), and raises an army to capture the queen.


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The day after I saw this movie, I talked to the owner of the Taj Grill Indian Buffet Restaurant here in Vallejo, CA, about it. He said that it was based on a true story and that there had been widespread protests in India over the release of this movie. I thought that it was all just fiction but, apparently, there are historical references to the Sultan and his Rajput rival, Maharawal Ratan Singh ( Shahid Kapoor ). But he and I agreed on the screen performance of the movie's bad guy, Sultan Khilji; it will be a good shoe-in for an award.

However, the movie's ending, which shows a mass Jauhar, will not go over well in today's #MeToo movement.

Here are the things that I found wrong in this movie: Why did nobody from the queen's father's kingdom of Singhala come to the aid of Chittor?

Why didn't the Rajput king dress a not-so-beautiful woman and used her as a substitute for the queen when it came time to present the queen to the covetous sultan? This would have accomplished two things:

1.) The sultan would have been so disappointed as to exclaim incredulously, "You call this The Most Beautiful Woman In The World? Why, my queen is way better looking than this!"

To which, the Rajput king would have answered along this line: "Well, beauty is, as they say, in the eye of the beholder."

This deception would have put a stop in the sultan's plan to conquer Chittor, right there and then!

2.) The sultan, then, would have had the Brahmin sage, Raghav Chetan ( Aayam Mehta ), executed for wasting his time and resources before any other lives would have been unnecessarily lost.


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I bought a new back-up cellphone, a Samsung Galaxy J3 Luna Pro, a few days beforehand. Because I somehow lost my LG back-up cellphone on Saturday, September 27th, when I had to go home sick from work because I was having diarrhea. Hey, maybe I flushed the LG down the toilet in one of my "episodes"! Ha, ha, ha.

But I think that losing my LG back-up cellphone was a blessing in disguise since my Samsung Galaxy J3 Luna Pro is w-a-y better than the previous 'phone!

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And when I was loading my Galaxy J3 Luna Pro with apps, I came across a free off-line GPS app! This is great as it works with my 'phone's Location app to give me navigation instructions without the need to use up my 'phone's data.

And this off-line GPS also has a "heads-up" function as well as a "dash-cam" function. Sweet! My only gripe is that its instructions are in kilometers--I found this out soon enough when I tried the GPS. Maybe, I can get someone to switch it to miles, instead.

I don't have a problem mentally converting meters into yards, as they are approximately the same length. It's the kilometers into miles that I have a problem with, especially when the GPS would post the speed limit signs! At which point, I would have to quickly glance at my car's speedometer to do the speed conversion and the speed adjustment.

The off-line GPS's female voice is British. And I really don't have a good ear for such an accent.      :-/

I'll see if there's another off-line GPS app that's geared more for Americans.

I will try out the "heads-up" function tonight. And I will try the "dash-cam" function in a day or two.

Lastly, it has a "Real View Navigation" function that isn't free. It costs $12.49. I might get this someday, though.    :-)


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Update: I tried the "heads-up" function. It didn't work properly because the image projected onto my car's windshield was just an upside-down reversed image of what was on my 'phone's screen.    :-(     Somebody needs to fire the programmer who wasn't clear on the "heads-up" concept!    :-/


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STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI

PG-13,  2 hr & 32 min

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There's a new multiplex cinema in Concord, CA, at 2035 Diamond Boulevard. It's the Veranda Luxe Cinema & I-Max; it has 10 screens. It showed advanced screenings of STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI on Thursday, December 14th, 2017, ahead of its Grand Opening the next day, Friday, December 15th.

I couldn't attend any of the advanced screenings because I had to be at work early the next day. But I was able to catch the 9:00 p.m. show during their Grand Opening on the following night.

I bought a ticket for auditorium 2, row E, seat 11.

I had to take a menu with me into the auditorium. Once I was seated, I pushed a button to summon a waiter to take my order. I ordered a small buttered popcorn, a lemonade and some garlic fries. I got the popcorn and the lemonade ( with too much ice ), but I never got my garlic fries--and I didn't get any napkins, at all! Halfway through the movie, the waiter came back with my check ( to interrupt my movie-watching pleasure? ). I told the waiter that I never got my garlic fries, and he adjusted the bill for me. ( I don't remember how much I paid for the ticket & for the concessions items. )

Oh! about the movie ... the recliner seat was so comfy that I dozed-off through a bunch of scenes! I may have to watch this movie again. But, then again, I am not a huge Star Wars fan; so, maybe not.

I like how this multiplex has cellphone blockers in each auditorium so that I don't have to put up with rude and inconsiderate assholes who talk and/or text during a movie presentation. There are also an ice skating rink( for now ) and some dancing water fountains outside!

I had to go back to the ticket taker to pay on my concessions purchase. I didn't know where to leave the lemonade's drinking glass; so, I took it home with me as a souvenir. I think that I'll take home another one!

I hope that the other theatres in the area will also install cellphone blockers in their auditoriums! This would be a blessed relief.

I attach some photos. The 1st one is during the Grand Opening. The rest where taken on Christmas Day ( but, first, I had lunch at Tomi Sushi & Seafood Buffet at the Sunvalley Mall across the freeway ) when I drove back to Concord to watch THE GREATEST SHOWMAN at 3:45 p.m. ( because the movie that I really wanted to see was sold-out at 2:45 p.m. ) and DARKEST HOUR ( the movie that I really wanted to see ) at 5:45 p.m. I was seated in row C, seat 12 for THE GREATEST SHOWMAN. And I was seated in row A, seat 1 for DARKEST HOUR ( and the seat had wet spots on it so I had to wipe it dry with a napkin that I happened to have handy ). I don't remember how much I paid for each movie and which auditoriums I was in.

THE GREATEST SHOWMAN was a good musical. But DARKEST HOUR was mostly dialogue.

I pressed the button on my seat because I wanted to have some lemonade while watching DARKEST HOUR. But no waiter/waitress ever came to take my order!

After watching the DARKEST HOUR, I saw an old white lady seating on a bench in the hallway, along with some relatives, who was complaining about some chest pain. When I exited the multiplex, I saw a fire truck and an ambulance pull up at the curb to attend to the emergency.

Anyway, here are the photos:

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The photos are all time-stamped an hour ahead because I didn't bother to adjust the time for the end of Daylight Savings Time.

I hope that all of you had a

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And, lastly, I wish you all a

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A BAD MOMS CHRISTMAS, R ( 1 hr & 44 min )

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I went to see this today, Monday, November 6th, 2017, here in Vallejo, CA, at the CENTURY 14 VALLEJO, for the 4:50 p.m. matinee show.

synopsis:  Three over-stressed and under-appreciated moms rebel against the spirit of Christmas. This movie is the antithesis of what Christmas movies ought to be.

If you like seeing little bratty girls taking God's name in vain because you think that it's cute, and if you like hearing a "Christmas" song laced with profanity, then this movie is for you. Hollywood is going down the drain due to its overly liberal point of view. There are Hollywood movies that I just refuse to go see because of such mentality.

But, I must confess, Kristen Bell Is The Only Reason Why I Decided To Go See This Movie In The First Place!


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THOR: RAGNAROK PG-13 ( 2 hr & 10 min )

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Today, November 2nd, 2017, a Saturday, I'm seeing the 7:45 p.m. advanced 3-D screening here at the Century 14 Vallejo, in Vallejo, CA, because curiosity has the better hold on me: I would like to know how they were able to dress the raging Hulk in a gladiator suit! Have you tried putting clothes on a spoiled brat toddler having a temper-tantrum? It's near damn impossible! How much more so when you're dealing with the Incredible Hulk!!!     SMDH

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So, after seeing this movie, I'm still clueless as to how they put the gladiator suit on the raging Incredible Hulk in the first place!

Two things that didn't make sense:

1.) How was a Valkyrie able to knock-out Loki when the bigger and more powerful Hulk, himself, couldn't do it?

2.) If Hela, the Goddess of Death, gets killed, what exactly will happen since Death is her own dominion?


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