Wednesday, July 31, 2013

THE WOLVERINE, PG-13 ( 2 hr & 6 min )

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where: CENTURY 14 VALLEJO in Vallejo, CA
when: Friday, July 26th, 2013
show: 8:00 p.m. 2-D
costs: $10.50 Ticket + $0.99 3.25 oz Frito Lay Munchies Salted Peanuts ( bought at the Chevron Gas Station in Benicia, CA, and smuggled-in ) + $4.50 1-Litre Dasani Water = $15.99
auditorium: 7
seat: 3rd row ( counting from the front ), 8ht column

2nd time


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where: EDWARDS FAIRFIELD STADIUM 16 & I-MAX in Fairfield, CA
when: Sunday, July 28ht, 2013
show: 8:25 p.m. 3-D
costs: $15.50 Ticket + $14.75 buffet dinner @ Hometown Buffet Restaurant in Fairfield, CA ( + $1.00 Tip ) = $31.25
auditorium: 5
seat: 4th row ( counting from the front ), 6th seat ( counting from the left )

synopsis/overview: The Wolverine ( Hugh Jackman ) goes to a Japan that he hasn't been to since WWII. There, he finds himself on the run from its criminal underbelly and is confronted with the prospect of death for the very first time.

noteworthy scenes: 1.) Prison camp; 2.) "You can't hide"; 3.) "Don't make me do this"; 4.) "Go ahead. Ask me where I found it"; 5.) Separator; 6.) "An honorable death"; 7.) Future reader; 8.) "Hip replacement"; 9.) "He's alright"; 10.) "Who is the caveman"; 11.) Bath; 12.) "I feel violated"; 13.) Ronin; 14.) "You don't want what I've got"; 15.) Garbage eater; 16.) Death; 17.) Shinto priest; 18.) Arcade house; 19.) "You're bleeding"; 20.) "You are a toy doll. A companion for a child that is outgrowing you"; 21.) Train roof fight; 22.) Love Hotel; 23.) "Mission to Mars"; 24.) Student; 25.) "She did this to me"; 26.) "We had to wait until we were at least 15"; 27.) "In three days"; 28.) "He seems like an asshole"; 29.) Fallen tree; 30.) "Keep it safe for me"; 31.) "Everyone you love dies"; 32.) Abduction; 33.) "I saw you die"; 34.) "He was obsessed with you"; 35.) "I didn't"; 36.) Recessive trait; 37.) Ninjas; 38.) Viper; 39.) Note; 40.) Body scan; 41.) "You tried to kill your daughter"; 42.) "Live with that"; 43.) Diagrams; 44.) "Now, it's your turn"; 45.) Wolverine vs. Ninjas; 46.) Arrows; 47.) "He's made of Adamantium, just like you"; 48.) "A means to an end"; 49.) Skin shed; 50.) Two hands; 51.) "This is not my day"; 52.) "Don't look so shocked"; 53.) "I buried my grandfather"; 54.) "Sayonara"; 55.) "I've been hiding too long"; and 56.) Bonus Scene in the middle of the Ending Credits.

favorite scene: I liked the Train Roof Fight scene.

audience reaction: This audience really liked the movie and gave it a "Hands Clapper" ending twice: At the End, and after the end of the Bonus Scene.

2nd audience reaction: This Fairfield crowd was not as receptive to this movie as the Vallejo crowd was.

recommendation: I liked it. Go see this movie if you're an X-Men fan.

spoiler alert! In the arcade house, why did the bad guy try to body slam the locked door when he should have tried to kick it down, instead? I always thought that one had to buy a ticket first before boarding a train! Where did he get the money to buy a train ticket? The side wall of the bullet train looked like it was made out of paper, and without any kind of structural support in it. Why didn't the other passengers hear the train roof fight? Why didn't the knives and daggers penetrate through the train roof? He wouldn't have been able to keep himself parallel to the train roof as he "flew" toward the bad guy because he had no Thrust and Lift--he only had Drag, Uneven Weight Distribution and Gravity ( which all worked against him, by the way ). One guard was directly behind another one who just got "flying-kicked" in the head but the guard didn't react to the surprise attack on his fellow bodyguard. When Logan/Wolverine removed the note from the chest of a dead bad guy, the dagger in the chest of the dead bad guy shook around. Yokoi ( Rila Fukushima ) was hit in the face by the samurai of a bad guy who wanted to kill her; but all she got was a small nick in the face. The Yashida Research Laboratory was approximately 500.00 km ( 310.69 miles ) away from the Yashida residence. AND I DON'T THINK ANYBODY CAN DRIVE A MOTORCYCLE THAT FAR WITHOUT WEARING A PAIR OF WINTER-WEATHER MOTORCYCLE GLOVES, AMONG OTHER THINGS, SINCE IT WAS SNOW SEASON!!! And speaking of the Yashida Research Laboratory, I guess nobody at the facility ever heard of Stem Cell Research where cell cultures from organs are used to regenerate/revitalize old organs. When a particular enemy got entangled in a cable that went up an elevator ( ? ) shaft, the counterweight that hit said enemy should have been forceful enough to decapitate the entangled enemy. When the old bad guy transformed into the young bad guy, the SFX was ruined by the fact that the two didn't have the same mandibular dental arch--which could have been fixed easily using some computer manipulation or Photoshop. I thought Wolverine's whole Skeletal System was completely replaced with Adamantium?

fyi: I was always under the impression that the Japanese kept their cars' passenger cabins neat and clean at all times. They don't even want to drive their cars with their shoes on, so I heard. And if I remember correctly, cars in Japan don't have cup holders ( Maybe, things have changed by now---blame it on us messy Americans. Ha, ha, ha ).

You know what's fun about knowing to speak ( or knowing certain words ) in another language? Some foreign words end up sounding amusing to hear. For example, a female character's name in this movie is Mariko ( Tao Okamoto ). And it almost sounds like the Spanish word Maricon ( a homosexual man ).

word of advice: Face your fears.

tidbits: Before seeing this movie, I had a Big Mac dinner at the MacDonald's Restaurant at 1602 E. 2nd St., Benicia, CA. As I was getting my Sweet Tea at the soda fountain counter, a Hispanic man came up and asked me what Pilipino language I speak. I told him that I speak Cebuano. He asked me what word we have for drinking straw. I told him that we don't have a native word for drinking straw, that we just call it, "Estro ( straw )." But I added that we have the Spanish word Chupa ( suck ). He said that in South America, they call it, "El Pitillo." And then he added that he has Pilipino friends who taught him some naughty words such as "Suso ( Tagalog for Breast[s])." And I remarked, Oh, Tetas ( Spanish for Breasts ). Then, he said that his friends also taught him how to say, "Titi-ulo ( dick-head )." We both laughed. Then, he left---Hey! wait a minute .... Did he just call me a dick-head?!?!?!

Where's a Border Patrol Agent when I need one?

2nd tidbits: Earlier in Benicia, CA, today, I saw a man wearing a T-shirt which had a cartoon drawing of a bear holding a rifle and the caption which read: "I Believe In The Right To Arm Bears." Ha, ha, ha. Good one! How come I didn't come up with that, myself.

I decided to have dinner at Hometown Buffet Restaurant at 1315 Gateway Boulevard, just across the street from the Westfield Solano Mall where the theatre is at, once I got to Fairfield, CA. I was pressed for time so I only ate two platesful + a cup of corn chowder + a "sorry excuse" for a Taco + a quarter loaf of a round Sourdough Bread + a saucer of Strawberry Cheesecake w/ a side of Banana Pudding. I didn't have my usual fill at the "pig-out feeding trough" because I ate two cookies ( Chocolate Chip and Oatmeal ) an hour before while I was at the MacDonald's Restaurant in Benicia, CA ( the same one as mentioned in the 1st tidbits above ). I think those damned cookies spoiled my appetite for me!

While I was eating my dinner, another dining patron came up to me and introduced himself to me. He was the young Chinese man I see occasionally in Benicia, CA. He told me that he was on his way home to Cordelia, CA, and stopped-off at this Hometown Buffet restaurant to have dinner first. He works at a Chinese restaurant. 

Yup, just like me, he could only have so much of "all-you-can-eat" Chinese buffet meals. The key to a successful lifetime of pigging-out at buffet restaurants is: Diversity, man. Diversity. After all, there is more to buffet restaurants than just Chinese, you know.  ( Belch! excuse me .... )

*

Friday, July 26, 2013

TURBO, PG ( 1 hr & 36 min )

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I went to see this yesterday, Thursday, July 25th, 2013, here in Vallejo, CA, at the CENTURY 14 VALLEJO, for the 4:40 p.m. show in auditorium 4, 4th row ( counting from the front ), 9th column ( counting from the left ). The price of admission was $7.75. And I bought a $4.50 1-litre bottle of Dasani Water at the concessions counter.

Quickie Review: Turbo, a garden snail, fantasizes about becoming an Indy 500 racer. When an accident infuses his body with a massive dose of Nitrous Oxide which turns him into a 200+ mph speedster, circumstances happen that guarantee the fulfillment of his seeming impossible wish.

The audience liked it. There was a lady, in particular, seated a few rows behind mine, who really--and quite audibly--enjoyed this movie. And two ( or more ) audience members gave this movie a "Hands Clapper" ending.

I went to see this movie with the preconceived notion that I wasn't going to enjoy it. But, wouldn't you know it, I actually ended-up liking it. Go see this with your brats.

And I liked the blurb: "He's fast. They're furious."

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After work, I went to Selecta Pilipino Buffet on Springs Road, here in Vallejo, to have a late afternoon lunch and to buy some lottery tickets ( $14.68 total ).

And since it was a warm Summer afternoon, I decided to go see this movie just to be somewhere air-conditioned while I digested my big meal.

After the movie, I went to the Chase Bank in the Food Maxx Supermarket on the corner of Tuolumne and Redwood Streets to make a deposit into my checking account. And I went home to rest-up for a while before going back to the theatre once again to catch an advanced screening of THE WOLVERINE. But I decided to catch this show at a later date as I hadn't had much sleep in the last few days.

*

Tuesday, July 23, 2013

THE CONJURING, R ( 1 hr & 51 min )

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where: CENTURY 14 VALLEJO in Vallejo, CA
when: Tuesday, July 23rd, 2013
show: 1:45 p.m.
costs: $7.75 Ticket = $7.75
auditorium: 13
seat: 4th row ( counting from the front ), 4th column ( counting from the left )

synopsis/overview: A family moves into an 18th century farmhouse out in the woods, not knowing that something evil lurks in the shadows and plans on killing them all. Based on a true story.

noteworthy scenes: 1.) Annabelle Case; 2.) "Inhuman spirit"; 3.) Dog; 4.) Secret basement; 5.) Barking dog; 6.) "Funky smell"; 7.) 3:07 a.m.; 8.) Death; 9.) Ghostly artifacts; 10.) Sleepwalker; 11.) "Another bruise"; 12.) Bird; 13.) "Hide and clap"; 14.) "It wants my family dead"; 15.) "Can we do it again"; 16.) Basement; 17.) Antique wall cabinet; 18.) Infestation, Oppression, Possession; 19.) "Rotting meat"; 20.) "Does it come in 3s"; 21.) "Something awful happened here, Ed ( Patrick Wilson )"; 22.) Rory; 23.) Tree; 24.) "This dark entity has latched onto you and your family"; 25.) "We're a threat"; 26.) Tape recording; 27.) "Ultimate offense to Him"; 28.) "What ...? I had to go"; 29.) "It must have been a draft"; 30.) Apparition; 31.) Lorraine's ( Vera Farmiga ) encounter; 32.) "Look, what she made me do"; 33.) "Somebody's with her"; 34.) Secret room; 35.) Basement; 36.) "She's feeding off of her"; 37.) Nancy ( Hayley McFarland ); 38.) 'Phone call; 39.) "This is complicated"; 40.) Curious kid; 41.) Back to the house; 42.) Possessed wife; 43.) Birds; 44.) "She's already gone"; 45.) "You said, 'This meant the world to you'"; 46.) "I'd take a guy with a gun any day"; and 47.) Another ghostly artifact.

audience reaction: The audience was not that scared.

recommendation: I had to resist falling asleep as I watched this not-scary movie. Don't believe the marketing hype: This movie isn't as scary as they'd have you believe it.

spoiler alert! Anybody in his right frame of mind would have good reason to worry about when a pet behaves in a scared manner. Why didn't the children awaken to the loud sound of the crashing family portraits? Why did the mother ( Lili Taylor ) go to the basement when her children were all accounted for? I would have locked and blocked that basement door, if I were her, and called the cops right away about an intruder in the house. When Lorraine fell down, why didn't Ed go right down to the basement, the logical place where she would have landed? The bird stuck in the window pane should not have been able to move its head around because its neck would have already been broken.

fyi: BRIDE OF CHUCKY ( 1998 ) comes to mind.

Is it just me or do the Roman Catholics suffer the most from Demonic possession? Gee, I wonder why ....

When my family lived in the old house in the Fruitvale District of Oakland, CA, a house that was behind a mortuary, the first thing that my mother did was to have the house blest by a priest---A lot of no-good that did! I encountered so many entities in that house that it wasn't even something to laugh about. Anyway, I had lots of books on the Occult and Supernatural in my bedroom. When I started reading the Bible, I packed-up my occult and supernatural books and put them in the garage. That seemed to lessen the severity of my otherworldly encounters noticeably. And it led me to believe that "specialized" books are imbued with energy, good or bad, depending on its subject.

word of advice: On a similar note, a ghostly artifact would also be imbued with good or bad energy. So, collecting ghostly artifacts imbued with bad energy is really not a smart and safe thing to do--even for someone like me who learned the hard way how to handle otherworldly encounters!

tidbits: I went to Goin' Postal in the Food Maxx Shopping Center on the corner of Tuolumne and Redwood Streets, here in Vallejo, to drop-off some bill payments.

Then, I went to the Selecta Pilipino Buffet on Springs Road to have lunch, my first meal for the day. As I walked towards the buffet restaurant, I saw this SUV in the parking lot and took a picture of it since its ad sign was apropos for the movie which I planned on seeing after I have had my lunch ( $8.71 ) and after I have had shopped next door at the 99-Cent Only Store to buy a jar of Strawberry Jam and a loaf of 100% Wheat Bread ( $2.00 ).

Its ad sign reads: "SoulseekerS, paranormal investigation."
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After the movie, I called my friend, Hector. And I learned that his wife is still in the hospital. And she's been in the hospital since April 4th of this year! Hector is all stressed-out because his wife, Elsa, refuses to get out of the hospital bed for fear of falling down on the floor and not being able to get back up! They cannot do Physical Therapy on her if she just stays in bed 24-7. I've told him before, and his children have told him twice, his wife needs to be ( re- )committed to a mental institution. He's just delaying the inevitable at the expense of his own health; he doesn't realize it yet but HE IS THE VICTIM OF ABUSE, Spousal Abuse.


*

Monday, July 22, 2013

R.I.P.D., PG-13 ( 1 hr & 38 min )

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where: CENTURY 14 VALLEJO in Vallejo, CA
when: Friday, July 19th, 2013
show: 5:20 p.m. 2-D
costs: $7.75 Ticket + $2.12 bulk Chocolate Candies + $4.50 1-L Dasani Water + $12.70 dinner @ Empire Chinese Buffet here in Vallejo, CA ( + $2.00 Tip ) after the movie = $29.07
auditorium: 1
seat: 4th row ( counting from the front ), 7th column ( counting from the left )

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2nd time

where: CENTURY 14 VALLEJO in Vallejo, CA
when: Monday, July 22nd, 2013
show: 2:45 p.m. 3-D
costs: $10.25 Ticket + $6.75 medium Popcorn w/ Butter + $4.50 medium 30.0 oz Powerade Mountain Berry Blast + $3.45 15.2 oz Naked Green Machine Juice Smoothie ( @ Starbucks Coffee Shop in the nearby Target Shopping Center ) = $24.95
auditorium: 2
seat: 4th row ( counting from the front ), 8ht column ( counting from the left )

synopsis/overview: Nick Walker ( Ryan Reynolds ), a police detective, is cold-bloodedly killed on-duty. In the afterlife, he is immediately recruited into the Rest In Peace Department ( RIPD ) and partnered with a long-time veteran, Sheriff Royseefus Pulsifer ( Jeff Bridges ), to catch Deados, dead bad guys who escaped judgment by coming  back to Earth to mingle with the unsuspecting humans while in disguise. But the Deados have an evil plot: Send the evil dead back to Earth. And it is up to Nick and Roy to restore the balance of things between the mortal and supernatural realms. Otherwise, life on Earth will end as we know it.

noteworthy scenes: 1.) Gold artifact pieces; 2.) "Advise for the day"; 3.) Shoot-out; 4.) Freeze-frame; 5.) Tunnel of Light; 6.) "I've sat in that chair"; 7.) "What's with the Steely Dan"; 8.) R.I.P.D. Boston; 9.) New partner; 10.) VCR Repair; 11.) "Disappointing turn-out"; 12.) Coyotes; 13.) "You don't look like you"; 14.) "That makes you way less creepy"; 15.) "'Sounds like an STD"; 16.) Indian take-out food; 17.) "You're really gonna rummage through that"; 18.) Bus; 19.) "This is called 'Giving the dog a bone'"; 20.) Trifecta; 21.) Confession; 22.) Music video talent scout; 23.) "I'm sick of hiding"; 24.) "I'm okay. 'Nothing to see. 'Gotta go"; 25.) Elevator; 26.) "I've never seen that before"; 27.) Internal Affair; 28.) Suspend and erase; 29.) "I haven't left you--it's me ...."; 30.) "The coyotes are the heroes"; 31.) "Take-off the St. Christopher medal"; 32.) "I know it's wrong, but the whole 'cowboy thing' is working for me; 33.) Deception; 34.) Gold pieces; 35.) "I invented this sh*t"; 36.) Chase; 37.) Human sacrifice; 38.) "I missed you so much"; 39.) "I like violence"; 40.) "She billy-goated me"; and 41.) New I.D.

favorite scenes: I liked the scene wherein the wall-climbing fat deado showed its "whale-tail butt floss" in slow motion.

I also liked the scenes wherein Roy was mistaken for a hot blonde by unsuspecting males.

audience reaction: The audience liked it. But no one gave it a "Hands Clapper" ending.

2nd audience reaction: This group was not as receptive to this movie as the first group was.

recommendation: It was okay. Roy's avatar ( Marisa Miller ) is the one "must-see" factor of this movie. Go see this movie when you have nothing else better to do on a hot Summer day--if the weather ever gets warmer since it has been like Winter weather here where I live ( we only got about a week's worth of Summer, and that was it; not that I'm complaining, mind you, since I'm more of a cold weather person [ 'notice I didn't say, Freezing Weather--there's a big difference ] ).

spoiler alert! The way he landed on the floor after he was shot didn't look real. The first day he was declared dead at the scene; the next day his body was probably examined by a pathologist at a hospital as required by law before a death certificate could be issued; the third day was when his body would have been taken to a funeral home for embalming and for other burial preparations; therefore, I DON'T THINK THAT HE WAS BURIED ON THE FOURTH DAY because that would have been the day for viewing the deceased at the soonest!!! But ... if you follow the scenes closely, Nick was buried the day AFTER he was killed! How ...? ( 'Another example of why Hollywood should hire my services as Cine-Man, Technical Adviser, before they spend tens of millions on their blockbuster movies--I'm willing to work for cheap; say ... a couple hundred grand per movie. ) The car was traveling at city-speeds and shouldn't have flipped over so many times for lack of inertia/momentum. Nick's wife Julia ( Stephanie Szostak ) remarked that the short Chinese guy was back. But, actually, James Hong ( Nick's avatar ), at 6'0", is just two inches shorter than Ryan Reynolds, according to Hong's on-line information found on www.imdb.com.

fyi: How odd it was to see the bad guy wearing a St. Christopher charm. Or, maybe, it was just meant to humorously depict the saint as the unbiased protector of travelers, whether human Roman Catholics/Orthodox christians or other-worldly entities.

My paternal grandfather married my grandmother after he accidentally ( ? ) saw her ankles! How quaint is that?!?!?!

I can just imagine myself getting lured into marriage by a scheming--but hopefully not fat, old and ugly--female who flashes me her ankles (no offense, grandma )!!! These days, it would take more than just "flashing me your ankles" to get me all hot-and-bothered and desperate for some---

Ha, ha, ha---Snort!

word of advice: Life goes on.

tidbits: I was at the Safeway Supermarket in Benicia, CA, earlier in the day. The purchase total for the customer in front of me was $14.96. I remarked, Fourteen ninety-six, that was a good year ....

He said, "Fourteen ninety-two was a better year. The year when Columbus "discovered" America."

I said, Well, some say it was the Chinese or the Vikings who discovered America first.

"Actually, it was the Phoenicians in the 4th century BC. They landed somewhere in Massachusetts," he informed me. He had seen a recent TV documentary on the controversial subject.

At first, I thought he said, "... Benicians ..." Wow, I didn't know that people in Benicia, CA, have been around that long! But, then, I realized that I heard him wrong---I really need to do a better job of cleaning-out my wax-impacted ears!!! Ha, ha, ha.

Anyway, I looked it up on-line and found out that the "Phoenician angle" of America's discovery has been floating around for about 200 years or so. And it is the basis for the Mormons' belief in the Jewish discovery of America. But this Phoenician Theory is largely founded on "archaeological" forgeries.

So, it's back to either the Chinese or the Vikings who first discovered America. I'm betting on the Chinese because they're all over the world!!! LOL


Later in the day ...

I went to eat at a Chinese buffet restaurant after I watched this movie.


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I have talked about eating at this Chinese buffet restaurant here in Vallejo on a number of occasions. I finally decided to take a picture of it. By the way, this is the first photo I took with my red waterproof digital camera, a VistaQuest VQ 9100 Sport UW 12 MP, which I posted on my blog---And I had a hell of a time figuring out how to post it because my Acer C7 Chromebook has its own set of Google programs/apps that are not similar to those of Apple's and Microsoft's. But, ever the resourceful and creatively smart ( ahem! ) Cine-Man that I am, I was able to finally do it ( but not before I spouted a whole string of expletives and curses ).

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2nd tidbits: I took my car to Wheel-Works at 8:00 a.m. today for an Oil Change/Tire Rotation/Battery Check.

I took this picture, about an hour later, on my way back to fetch my car after I had my spinal adjustment at the Chiropractor's clinic just three doors down from this auto shop.
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Then, I had my spine adjusted at my Chiropractor's clinic just three doors down from this shop.

When I got back to the shop an hour later, the service adviser told me that everything checked-out okay but my passenger side license plate bulb was out. So, I had them replace the bulbs for me.

And I went to the MacDonald's Restaurant just a block down, on 3289 Sonoma Boulevard and at 9:22 a.m., after I left the auto shop, to have a large Sweet Tea and Cookies ( an Oatmeal and two Chocolate Chip ) for $2.17. I worked on this blog while I was there. I sat in the playroom dining area where a bunch of brats were boisterously playing around ( where was a pair of earplugs when I needed it the most ... ). They don't have electrical outlets there so I had to blog via battery power.

The date on this photo is off by one day: it says July 21st when it should be July 22nd, instead. I took this photo after I was done at MacDonald's and just before I entered my Hyundai Accent, the roof of which is shown in the foreground.

After I made my left turn onto Sonoma Boulevard from the MacDonald's parking lot on Valle Vista Avenue, I spotted a wonderful sight on the sidewalk in front of my Chiropractor's clinic at 11:54 a.m.:

A tall, sexy brunette dressed as Wonder Woman, with a white cape and shades on, was walking towards the corner of Valle Vista Avenue. Had I had enough time, I would have taken a photo--or lots of photos ( heck, it's a digital camera after all )--of the costumed wonder!!! 'Remember Lynda Carter of the '70s TV's Wonder Woman fame?

Lynda Carter as Wonder Woman ( www.thecomicscode.weebly.com )
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Lynda Carter as Wonder Woman ( www.fanpop.com )
Lynda Carter as Wonder Woman ( www.picasaweb.google.com )
The Wonder Woman who delighted my eyes had the requisite body stats to fill-in the "gap" ( ahem! ) left by Ms. Carter. Boy--oh, boy, oh, boy---Hubba-hubba!!!

After the movie, I went to the Starbucks Coffee Shop at 966 Admiral Callaghan Lane, in the Target Shopping Center, to finish this blog.

Congratulations on the birth of the royal baby prince!

*

Saturday, July 20, 2013

GROWN UPS 2, PG-13 ( 1 hr & 40 min )

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where: CENTURY 14 VALLEJO in Vallejo, CA
when: Wednesday, July 17th, 2013
show: 8:05 p.m.
costs: $10.00 Ticket + $2.01 bulk Chocolate Candies + $4.50 1-L Dasani Water = $16.51
auditorium: 1
seat: 4th row ( counting from the front ), 7th column ( counting from the left )

synopsis/overview: Lenny Feder ( Adam Sandler ) relocates his family back to the small town where he grew up with his childhood buddies just as Summer vacation starts. As the old gang gets together to relive childhood memories, they run into some conflict that will add to their lives' lessons on lasting friendship.

noteworthy scenes: 1.) Deer; 2.) "Well, we're not gonna pay for college"; 3.) "Looks like heck"; 4.) Dad Higgins' picture; 5.) Conditioner; 6.) School bus; 7.) Boyfriend; 8.) Monkey boy; 9.) "Watch this"; 10.) Squat aerobics; 11.) G-string; 12.) K-Mart; 13.) Classroom; 14.) Gym; 15.) Parking lot; 16.) Dance recital; 17.) Bully; 18.) Lifetime job; 19.) Ice cream machine; 20.) Fruit Loop; 21.) Statue; 22.) The quarry; 23.) Jump; 24.) "That's my son, Satan"; 25.) Tire; 26.) Graffiti; 27.) Football field; 28.) "Be safe. Don't do what I just did"; 29.) Driver's test; 30.) "Yesterday's history, tomorrow's mystery"; 31.) Car wash; 32.) "They're not all '10s"'; 33.) Dinner time; 34.) Grocery store; 35.) Ice cream parlor; 36.) '80s theme party; 37.) Music prodigy; 38.) Pee stain; 39.) Swimming pool; 40.) Fight; 41.) Party crashers; 42.) Kiss; 43.) "It's a monkey"; 44.) "He was an accident"; and 45.) Talking to future baby.

favorite scene: I liked the scene wherein Marcus Higgins' ( David Spade ) son, Braden ( Alexander Ludwig ), meets him for the first time and double-checks him with the picture that Braden had in his hand. It was just too stupidly funny!

audience reaction: The audience liked this but nobody gave it a "Hands Clapper" ending.

recommendation: I didn't like it that much. This movie is definitely for Adam Sandler fans only---And I know that there are plenty of you out there, based on the number of hits my Adam Sandler movie blogs get!!!

spoiler alert! Why didn't the dog bark at the deer? Why did the daughter hug his father who was still drenched in deer urine? Etceteras .... All in all, this movie labors hard to deliver cheap laughs, some of which are preposterous in their premise and/or delivery. And Nick Swardson ( Nick Hilliard in this movie ) really needs to broaden his comedic acting skills since his presence in his recent movies are more irritating than they are funny.

fyi: I was 4-years-old when my parents decided to put me in 1st Grade! Heck, I couldn't even speak properly yet. And I didn't know anything about "Reading, 'Riting and 'Rithmetic" because my parents didn't bother to send me to nursery school or kindergarten! And the teacher had this little game ( designed to torture me ) that she had us pupils participate in once a week: Math flash card contest. The pupils, picked two at a time, would stand at the back wall and take a step forward for every correct answer made---I was stuck to that wall each week ( that back wall probably still has my butt imprint on it )!

And the other boys ( it was an all-boys school, Notre Dame Elementary School, Boys' Department in Kidapawan, Cotabato, Mindanao, Philippines ) in that 1st Grade class were two years older than I was and were consequently bigger than I was. So, guess who got picked on quite a lot by the class bullies?

Yup, my initial foray into education was riddled with such instances of humiliation, physical abuse and ridicule! It is no wonder that I detested going to school. As a result, I flunked school twice ( in 1st and 2nd Grades ) and had to go to summer school ( in 5th Grade ) to keep from flunking for a third time. But, despite such setbacks, I made it to the Honor Roll in 3rd Grade and in 4th Grade; and I tested with the highest IQ in my 6th Grade Class!

When my family moved here to the United States, my high school experience was no better. Not only that, but in one of my classes in which I never missed a day of attendance, where I was never late, where I always did my homework, and where I always got good grades in tests I ended-up with a C grade because the lowlife redneck racist blonde, blue-eyed short teacher at Pacific High School in San Leandro, CA, a Mr. Remer, switched my A grade with that of a track and field athlete who couldn't even triple-jump further than I could ( and I wasn't even on the team )!

Because of my bad experiences with education since 1st Grade ( or Grade One, in the Philippines ), I've become a very stubborn learner who picks and chooses which subjects pique my capricious interest. And I now only learn what I need to learn; then, I move on.

word of advice: Stand up for each other.

tidbits: As I was getting some bulk Chocolate Candies at the concessions counter, I overheard a male patron ask the cashier a question about his soda fountain drink: "If my Coke tastes like Pepsi, will I get my money back?" The cashier just laughed.

I found this on the Internet. It's somewhat similar to the one at Century 14 Vallejo.
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I went up to the cashier after I got my bulk Chocolate Candies. And as he rang-up my purchase, I asked him, If my Dasani Water tastes like 7-Up, will I get my money back? He just laughed--what was up with that guy ...?

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