where: CINE-ARTS @ PLEASANT HILL in Pleasant Hill, CA
when: Saturday, March 31st, 2012
show: 2:55 p.m.
costs: $10.50 Ticket + $4.50 medium 24 oz Diet Coke + $9.78 lunch @ China Wall Buffet in the Park 'n' Shop in Concord, CA, before the movie ( + $2.22 Tip ) = $27.00
auditorium: 5
seat: 5th row, Center Section, 7th column
synopsis/overview: A drug lord/landlord is holed-up in a tenement building that he rents-out to assorted bad guys and scum-bags because it's the only place in town where the local cops are afraid to go. But a S.W.A.T. team makes a daring raid to capture the boss. Their cover is blown soon enough, though. And they must fight their way to the top floor to fulfill their mission and try to survive their deadly task.
noteworthy scenes: 1.) "I'll bring him back"; 2.) Execution; 3.) New recruits; 4.) Necessity; 5.) Alarm; 6.) "They're here"; 7.) Snipers; 8.) "Fifth floor secure"; 9.) "Infestation"; 10.) Alone; 11.) Ambush; 12.) "I want this situation under control"; 13.) Secret hide-out; 14.) Butter knife and chopsticks; 15.) Elevator; 16.) "You have to break your way out"; 17.) Four machete guys; 18.) "Who ordered this hit"; 19.) One-on-one; 20.) "He just wants you home"; 21.) Fifteenth floor; 22.) Video monitor; 23.) Drug lab; 24.) Torture room; 25.) "You've been dead since he got the call"; 26.) Evidence; and 27.) "It just fits."
favorite scene: I liked the Butter Knife and Chopsticks scene simply because it was so unexpected.
audience reaction: The audience liked it. After the movie, the man behind me said to his wife, "That was pretty good." And his wife answered, "Yeah, it was."
recommendation: I liked it, too. Go see this Action Movie.
spoiler alert! I thought that S.W.A.T. vehicles were armored. Why didn't the S.W.A.T. Team cut the power to the building before or just as the firefight began? Why didn't the S.W.A.T. Team have Night-Vision goggles? Why didn't the S.W.A.T. Team have Tear Gas? Why did they use an all-rookie S.W.A.T. Team? I don't know about the bad guys in Indonesia but in this country the bad guys have watchdogs! Do you see what happens if you're a bad guy and you eat dogs OR if you're a bad guy who thinks that dogs are unclean and therefore are not to be kept as pets ...? That man with a sick wife must have been deaf because he didn't hear the footsteps behind him as he was opening the main door. Why would such a man and his wife choose to live in an apartment that was teeming with assorted low-life neighbors? The fight scenes were good but ... Quick-Kill Moves were not liberally employed in the kill-or-be-killed fights; I guess because such moves are not as exciting to watch. In such a situation, finishing-off the incapacitated bad guys would be justifiable "in my book". One of the reasons why the army of Alexander, The Great, was deadly in Unarmed Close Combat was simply because they shaved-off their beards and kept their hair short! What worked for Alexander and his men still works in this day and age. What I'm getting at is that the bad guys with long hair in this movie could have easily been put under control had their hair been used against them. For a guy who lives alone, he sure has one big rice cooker--assuming that that is his apartment unit. Since he, of all people, knew about all of the hallway security cameras, he should have come-up with a better lie to say to his boss. That guy who was chained and used as a punching bag should have ended-up with cracked and/or broken ribs and rendered unable to fight! But he got up and fought anyway even with that stabbed-through right hand of his. And speaking of his right hand, he shouldn't have been able to make a fist with it--much less use it for punching--because the knife cut through the Ligaments ( and quite possibly the Tendons, too ) of his Middle Finger and his Ring Finger! The fresh slash wound on Rama's ( Iko Uwais ) Left Cheek didn't bleed even after it was repeatedly hit by the bad guys. He didn't have to catch the bad guy who got up on the table and charged at him; all he had to do was squat down and stand up at the right time to trip the bad guy and have the bad guy fall face-first against the floor! There were so many missed opportunities for the cops to permanently disable or kill the bad guys using nothing more than just simple Unarmed Close Combat Moves. Okay, that bad guy that they called, Mad Dog ( Yayan Ruhian ), was really short and skinny, so much so that they could just grab him--height and reach advantage--and easily swing him around the room like he was some kind of a rag doll. So, why didn't they keep doing this to him since it was pretty much the only thing that worked on Mad Dog?
fyi: The fighters didn't get very sweaty and/or really short on breath even in the intense and long fight scenes because ... most of the fight sequences were done in "half speed" and the scenes were then speeded-up in the final edit. 'Sorry to say ....
Contrary to what some other reviewer said, Wire-Work was definitely used in some of the "Falling Down" scenes. 'Think about it ....
word of advice: Simple Self-Defense Moves can end a deadly fight quickly. ( Which are the Simple Self-Defense Moves, you ask? They're usually the ones that your Martial Arts Instructor { who just wants to avoid a potential lawsuit } tells you not to use on your Sparring Partner--usually [ So pay close attention ]! The other ones, you'll just have to discover on your own; hopefully, not the hard way. )
tidbits: I made a deposit at the Chase Bank branch inside of the Lucky's Supermarket here in Vallejo, CA, first thing this morning. The teller gave me a Dum-Dum Lollipop after the transaction. I don't know why since "Dum-Dum" is also a slang for, "Silly and Stupid person"---Hey! wait a minute ....
Then, I went to AJR's Watch Repair at the Mi Pueblo Shopping Center here also in Vallejo, CA, to have two links removed from the strap of the new watch which I bought at the Super Wal-Mart in American Canyon, CA, the night before. The watch is a fancy-looking generic "no-name" all-metal watch with Day-Glo illumination. I paid $13.88 for the watch and $7.00 for the strap adjustment.
I'm tired of buying plastic watches because the straps pop-out with just a slight tug and they dry-up, get brittle and tear apart easily.
At the concessions counter, they have a display ad for Icee collectible cups to promote the upcoming THREE STOOGES movie. I wanted to get the "Curly" cup but, would you believe it, they were all out of cups. "Oh, wise guy, 'ey. Hey, Moe! Hey, Larry! Nyuck, nyuck, nyuck."
While waiting for this movie to start, I realized that I had forgotten to swallow a Lecithin capsule after pigging-out at the buffet. So, I popped my Lecithin capsule into my mouth and "washed" it down with the soda. But ... the "horse pill" got stuck sideways in my throat! And I wasn't about to Heimlich Maneuver it out myself since I needed to swallow it. No matter how hard I tried to swallow and no matter how many sips of the soda I used to try to "wash" it down with, it stayed stuck in my throat until the gelatin capsule melted enough for the whole thing to slide down my throat. And it took approximately 10 minutes for it to do so.
I probably have said this already, but I always take a Lecithin Capsule after pigging-out on a High-Fat, High Cholesterol meal because it keeps my Arteries smooth afterwards so that I don't get that sluggish feeling which always follows such a heavy meal. And Lecithin is good for the Liver because it keeps the Liver from forming Liver Stones. Lecithin granules work even better and faster than capsules! But I just use the capsules because they are more convenient.
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