where: CENTURY 14 VALLEJO in Vallejo, CA
when: Thursday, August 18ht, 2016
show: 7:30 p.m. 2-D Advanced Screening
costs: $8.00 Ticket + $6.80 Lite Bites = $14.80
auditorium: 9
seat: 2nd row from the front, 8ht column from the left ( as you can tell from where I was seated, there were a lot of people who went to see this movie--mostly older folks ).
2nd time
where: CENTURY 14 VALLEJO in Vallejo, CA
when: Tuesday, August 23rd, 2016
show: 4:40 p.m. 3-D
costs: $9.75 Ticket + $6.80 Lite Bites = $16.55
auditorium: 2
seat: 4th row from the front, 7th column from the right
synopsis/overview: A Jewish prince, Judah Ben-Hur ( Jack Huston ), is betrayed by his adopted Gentile brother, Messala ( Toby Kebbell ), loses his family and property, is sold into slavery, escapes death by drowning, and swears to exact revenge on his estranged brother in a chariot race with the help of an African tribal chief, Ildarin ( Morgan Freeman ). He encounters Christians and Jesus ( Rodrigo Santoro ), Himself, along the way. ( They weren't called Christians back then. Their fellow Jews referred to them as, Ebionim, i.e. the poor and destitute. )
noteworthy scenes: 1.) Accident; 2.) "We have different Gods, Messala"; 3.) Family; 4.) Carpenter; 5.) A wounded Zealot; 6.) Life as a soldier; 7.) Pacified town; 8.) Sword; 9.) Cemetery; 10.) Brother's bow; 11.) "I may kill your brother, someday"; 12.) Death or peace; 13.) Assasination attempt; 14.) I confess; 15.) "You killed them both"; 16.) "He needs water"; 17.) New galley ship slave; 18.) "Don't care ... just survive"; 19.) "Keep rowing"; 20.) Chain; 21.) "All are dead to the last man"; 22.) "How long were you a galley slave"; 23.) "She couldn't keep pace"; 24.) On the road to Jerusalem; 25.) Message of Jesus; 26.) A gift; 27.) S.P.Q.R. ( Senatus Populus que Romanus ); 28.) "Where's my mother and sister"; 29.) "He brought you back to me"; 30.) "Twenty Jews from the street"; 31.) "There's nothing here for you anymore"; 32.) "In the circus, there is no law"; 33.) The wager; 34.) "The Gate"; 35.) "Bury us together"; 36.) "First to finish, last to die"; 37.) "She wants you"; 38.) "I know where your family is"; 39.) "If he wouldn't save her, I would save her from his own mistake"; 40.) Chariot race; 41.) "They want blood. They are Romans now"; 42.) "Find something for yourself"; 43.) The kiss of betrayal; 44.) "My life I give of my own free will"; 45.) The Crucifixion; 46.) Miracle; 47.) "Come, you are free"; 48.) "Come see what you did to me"; 49.) "What I can do is carry you"; and 50.) Reunited.
audience reaction: The audience liked this movie but didn't give it a "Hands Clapper" ending.
2nd audience reaction: The audience liked this movie but didn't give it a "Hands Clapper" ending.
recommendation: I liked this movie. Go see this movie if you like Action/Adventure movies. And especially if you're an old fart because most of the audience members were that old ( says the man who almost always is given a Senior Citizen discount--keep the discounts coming, baby! ).
But, seriously, my dear readers, pay no attention to the bad reviews that it got.
spoiler alert! There were townspeople just standing around when they should have helped Messala carry his wounded and unconscious brother. Another Archaeological Faux Pas: Red Hot Chilis. No one back then had travelled to the Americas to gather hot chilis. And chilis are not to be mistaken for peppers. It was Columbus who mistakenly named American Chilis as Peppers because he noticed a similarity between the two types of spices. Black, green and white peppers from India would have already been in common use in Israel during Jesus' time. This movie presupposes that Jesus Christ remained in Jerusalem all of His life and learned His father's carpentry trade. So, Jesus' 18 lost years are attributed to His dedication to His vocation. And this movie downplays Jesus Christ's miracle works. Did the galley ship slaves get bathroom breaks? There is no mention of Jesus Christ stopping the stoning of a man in The New Testament. The setting for the stoning was all wrong. People that were found guilty of sin back then were first dragged out of the town before they were stoned to death. In this way, blood would not be spilled on the town's ground and made it unclean and defiled ( contrast that with today's execution chambers and abortion clinics that are operated well within a town's boundaries--people do anything and everything to turn God away so that they can claim that He doesn't exist! ). You would need more than two men to carry a chest full of thousands of gold coins ( they could just have used a wheeled cart )! The question should have been, "Not appropriate for whom?" They didn't stone lepers to death back then; they just ostracized them since killing them would have been tantamount to commiting murder. There were no women in the Garden of Gethsemane on the night of Jesus' betrayal by a kiss. Jesus Christ was crucified on a tree ( New Testament Book of Acts 5:30 ) which actually makes more sense and that I could effectively argue for. I don't recall a mention of rain when Jesus Christ died on the cross. The Bible mentions darkening of the day, ghosts going up to heaven ( Rapture? ) and an earthquake that rips the Temple's curtain; but rain isn't mentioned at all ( I think ). I'm not sure if I saw it or if my eyes fooled me, but there were no stirrups back then.
fyi: I don't remember the Charlton Heston version of BEN-HUR because I was still very young when I saw it and my English vocabulary was limited to the words that I learned in English Nursery Rhymes and in simple sentences like, "See spot run," et cetera, for the most part.
Back in Ancient Times, only the rich could afford to have fancy clothes. Others wore the same old clothes 24/7/365!
The sign's acronym, S.P.Q.R. ( Senatus Populus que Romanus ), as it was nailed on the front door, meant that the place belonged to a Roman citizen ( since Messala was adopted into the royal Jewish family ) of high standing. In other words, as it applies to this example, trespass only at the risk of death! Which is why the abandoned mansion was not ransacked.
I felt sorry for the horse.
According to Ancient Jewish tradition and superstition, Jesus Christ would have been hanged totally butt-naked to let everybody see the "nakedness of His sins"!
And His hair and beard would have also been cut short. Just like in this Veronica's Veil image:
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| I found this on the Internet. |
Since, more than likely, Jesus Christ took some kind of a vow, which would have made Him a Nazirite, just like Samson was. And we all know what happened to Samson after his hair was cut!
And speaking of Jesus's hair, He more than likely had sported dreadlocks, just like Morgan Freeman's character did, because He spent time in India, during His 18 lost years, where holy men and ascetics had dreadlocks. ( https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Bible-Verses-About-Dreadlocks/ )
This movie should have been released around Easter time.
word of advice: "Forgive and forget."
tidbits: Early this morning, just past midnight, on my way home from watching HOW TO BE YOURS, some idiot drove fast on Admiral Callaghan Lane behind me and gained fast on me. We were coming to a stop sign on the corner of Rotary Way. I pumped my brakes to slow my car down and to let the idiot know that we were coming to a stop sign. I did a full stop and the idiot behind me had to swerve his car to the right to avoid rear-ending my car! What was it about pumping-my-brakes-to-slow-down-my-car-before-reaching-the-stop-sign that the idiot behind me did not understand? Some people are just so damn clueless.
Partway through my sleep, I had the beginning-stage sensation of an Out-of-Body-Experience ( OOBE ). The last time that I had a full OOBE was sometime around 2008. The most OOBE experiences that I have had was when I was in my late teens and early 20s. They'd have had numbered in the 100s had I taken the time to document each one, I kid you not! My OOBEs became fewer and fewer and further and further apart the more I studied The Bible. Maybe, I'm being set-up for more of such experiences now that I am older and wiser.
I went to Benicia to pick-up my paycheck. And, wouldn't you know it. I was shorted. I had asked for an extra day-off for my anniversary date of employment. But I wasn't paid for it. I will have to request this paid day-off again.
At work, I met Cheyenne, a former co-worker, who was rehired. We hugged each other. I asked her how her brother was doing. He's doing fine, it seems, having been hired to replace their dad at work when their dad retired. He makes more money than I do, and he's just starting-off. He sure was lucky to land such a job at Berkeley Cement, Inc. I asked Cheyenne why she didn't have her dad help her to apply for a job position. She said that they passed on her because of the hard manual labor involved in such a job. I told her that she should sue for discrimination.
After checking my work schedule for next week, I drove to the Benicia Southampton Shopping Center to buy lottery tickets at the liquor store and to deposit money at the Chase Bank directly across the parking lot.
And I walked a few doors down to buy stuff at the health food store and at the Dollar Tree Store. I had to pass by Petco along the way. I couldn't help but look through the storefront window to admire the kittens and cats that were awaiting to be adopted into their "forever homes". If only I lived in a house instead of in a condo, I would have happily adopted a few of them. Why do I need to have a house just to adopt cats? Simple, I can just let them loose in the yard to do their "business" so that I don't have to spend so much money on cat litter. And they can fertilize the yard while they're at it. Ha, ha, ha.
At the health food store, Earthly Nutrition, I inquired about my special order, Natural Sources Raw Multiple Glandular.
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| I found this on the Internet. |
It still had not arrived. I will just have to order this on-line and save on $$$. In the meantime, I bought a bottle of Natural Sources Raw Male:
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| I found this on the Internet. |
Raw Male is made with prostate and orchic glands derived from bovine sources. Maybe it will help improve my libido. ;-)
I also bought some Solgar Olive Leaf Extract as I was running low. This is supposed to be good for the cardiovascular system, and it also kills viruses--supposedly.
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| I found this on the Internet. |
At the Dollar Tree Store, I bought some cough drops and some take-to-work snacks.
Speaking of cough drops, I've been having coughing episodes for the past week. I don't know if it's because of an allergy or if I am coming down with a cold. I say that I don't know because my coughing doesn't come with most of the symptoms of either one.
But, last night, I read an on-line article that says eating lots of nuts can trigger a histamine attack. And I've been eating lots of nuts and seeds, and peanut/almond butters, for over two years now. I mentioned this to Michelle, a co-worker, who said that airlines have banned peanuts on flights because of such a possible reaction. She said that coughing in an enclosed cabin that has lots of people in it can help to spread germs and infect other passengers--'makes sense.
And I'd been coughing so much and so hard that it had given my lower torso such a good workout. My abdominal six-pack is well on its way to becoming more defined, as a result. Ha, ha, ha.
Back to my conversation with Michelle. I told her that walking through a pine forest has an anti-histamine effect because pine trees release such an agent into the air whenever they "exhale".
2nd tidbits: It amuses me whenever I see this pendant:
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| I found this on the Internet. |
Why does it amuse me? Simple, a small cross inside of a Mogen David translates to ... A bunch of Jews crucified a Christian! If you're a Jewish-Christian sporting this, you're showing the world your culpability---And it's bad enough that the whole world blames the Jews for anything and everything! It should be the other way around: A big Cross and a small Mogen David where the cross pieces intersect to denote that Pagan Law allowed for the crucifixion of a Jew. Yeah, as Jesus Christ would say, "Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's". ( Matthew 22:21 )
Peace Out ....
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