FAST & FURIOUS 6, PG-13 ( 2 hr & 10 min )

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where:  CENTURY 14 VALLEJO in Vallejo, CA
when:  Memorial Day, Monday, May 27th, 2013
show:  12:30 p.m.
costs:  $7.75 Ticket = $7.75
auditorium:  7
seat:  6th row ( counting from the front ), 7th column ( counting from the left )

synopsis/overview:  Dom ( Vin Diesel ), Brian ( Paul Walker ) and team have retired from street racing and have gone on their separate ways leaving as expatriates on the run from the Law. But a highly-coordinated team of bad guys forces Agent Hobbs ( Dwayne Johnson ) to find Dom, Brian and their team and offers them all full pardons since the team is the only thing that has the best chance of catching the bad guys before they steal the latest in top-secret military weaponry, the "Night Shade" device.

noteworthy scenes: 1.) You're gonna be a great father; 2.) Moscow bridge; 3.) Interrogation; 4.) The picture; 5.) 'Phone calls; 6.) "Vouchers to the buffet"; 7.) "I brought you something"; 8.) "Nope"; 9.) "It's on the house"; 10.) "We're getting paid, right"; 11.) Set-up; 12.) Chase; 13.) Chips; 14.) Tunnel; 15.) Gunshot; 16.) "Shaggy to Scooby-Doo"; 17.) "Ring any bells"; 18.) Evil twins; 19.) Data base; 20.) "This should be interesting"; 21.) Car auction; 22.) "He's a man"; 23.) Big rock; 24.) Shirt and pants; 25.) 'Phone; 26.) Pawn shop; 27.) Subway; 28.) "It's a great eulogy"; 29.) Cartel boss; 30.) CCTV headquarters; 31.) Prison; 32.) "It's not dummy-proof"; 33.) Info; 34.) Scars; 35.) Codes; 36.) Blind spots; 37.) Paint; 38.) Convoy; 39.) Battle tank; 40.) Jump; 41.) "Nobody makes me do anything I don't want to"; 42.) Bad news; 43.) Double cross; 44.) Airport runway chase; 45.) Cargo plane; 46.) "1327"; 47.) Baby oil/forehead; 48.) "That has got to be awkward"; 49.) "My family"; 50.) House rules and 51.) Bonus Scene during the Ending Credits.

favorite scenes:  I liked the London Streets Car Chase scene.

I liked the Subway Fight scene.

I liked the Battle Tank Chase scene.

I liked the Cargo Plane Chase/Fight scene.

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

recommendation: I liked this movie. Go see it if you're a fan of the franchise.

spoiler alert! Why was the bad guy in the interrogation room not handcuffed? Why did the female agent pull out a gun on someone on the same side of the law as she was? Why didn't they shoot at the bad guy's tires? You can't keep a car door open when it's travelling at freeway speeds the way that Hobbs did. That's not how you do a headbutt. Why did she get shot at by someone who was working for the same boss that she was working for? How did she get rid of the handcuffs? If you know Aikido or Jiu jitsu, it's easy to get your hand free from a vice-grip handshake like that. He had a gunshot wound in his chest, yet he was still able to drive unencumbered. You cannot open a car door easily when it is travelling at freeway speeds like Dom did and keep it open long enough for you to jump out of it--the car door would just slam back against you! The fastest modern-day battle tank can only travel up to a maximum of 45 mph; so, I don't know why it took them a long time to catch-up to it. When the car entered the cargo plane, a bad guy was hit by it yet was still able to fight like an able-bodied person. In the cargo plane, Brian was fighting a big bad guy who was beating the crap out of him. But how did he manage to get away from the big, bad guy ( who had longer arms ) so easily? Okay, they were on a military airbase runway. So, why was neither a fighter jet nor an attack helicopter allowed to give chase to the taxiing cargo plane? That military cargo plane ( possibly an Antonov AN-124 ) could easily transport a 60-ton main battle tank, and the combined weight of all of those vehicles in its cargo hold wouldn't even add-up to half the weight of a 60-ton battle tank! So, why did the pilot say that the plane had taken on too much weight ( before it was harpooned a number of times ) and had to taxi longer? Just exactly how long was that runway--did they go around and around just to film the runway scene? Even if the cargo plane got off the ground, there was nowhere it could go safely because of the threat posed by what it carried on board. It would either be forced by fighter jets to land or get itself shot out of the sky!

fyi: Back when I was a first year high school student at Ateneo De Davao, Matina, Davao City, Mindanao, Philippines, in the early '70s, I decided to do a head butt against the chalkboard in my class's homeroom during lunch period, one day, just to show-off to my fellow classmates who were in the room with me. I headbutted the chalkboard hard and exactly like the way Vin Diesel's character headbutted a bad guy in this movie. I almost knocked myself out! I staggered back and almost lost my balance. Had I lost my balance, I would probably have cracked my skull against the cold cement floor.

The headbutt is a good move to use in close-quarters fighting---BUT ONLY IF YOU KNOW HOW TO DO IT PROPERLY!!!

The jet plane used to transport Brian back into the US had bent-tip wings. The bent-tip design is supposed to make the plane more aerodynamic. But ... wouldn't the plane be more aerodynamic if they just sawed-off the bent-tip in the first place to reduce drag? ( 'Just askin' a common-sense question is all .... )

This Fast and Furious franchise is supposed to have two ( 2 ) more installments, with one of them possibly being filmed in the Philippines. Vin Diesel was in the Philippines recently to promote this movie. And Vin Diesel, whose brother is married to a Pilipina, is urging Pilipinos to try and talk Hollywood into doing a location shoot there.

About that Bonus Scene during the Ending Credits, I wondered when they would finally get around to doing it! And I had wondered about it ever since Fast and Furious 2 or 3 came out ( as have some others done so, I'm pretty sure of it ).

word of advice: Take care of family.

tidbits: As I watched this movie, I was occasionally distracted by an asshole down in the 3rd row who would look at his cellphone every now and then. How I wished I had a BB gun with me because I had a clear shot of that inconsiderate asshole lowlife from my 6th row seat.

After the movie, I went to Selecta Pilipino Buffet on Springs Road, here in Vallejo, to have lunch and to buy some lottery tickets. I spent a total of $17.58 at the place. And the meal that I ate was my first meal of the day---Actually, the amount of food that I ate qualified the meal as a Breakfast, Brunch, Lunch and Merienda ( afternoon snack ) combo! Ha, ha, ha.

update: The manuscript that I am writing for a children's book is very well under way: I'm on the 14th chapter now.  Four more chapters plus an epilogue and it will be finished---'Almost there!

*

OUR FAMILY WEDDING, PG-13 ( 1 hr & 30 min )

where: CENTURY 14 VALLEJO in Vallejo, CA
when: Monday, March 22nd, 2010
show: 11:50 a.m. Extra Dollar Off First Show Matinee
costs: $6.25 Ticket + $5.75 Kid's Pack ( w/ Dollar Upgrade ) + $6.49 Lunch @ Wendy's Restaurant ( Bacon & Blue Cheese Burger Combo with Side Salad substitute [ w/ Ranch Dressing ] and small Lemonade ) = $18.49
auditorium: 3
seat: 3rd row, 7th column

synopsis: Our families' meddling ....

A young couple, Lucia and Marcus ( America Ferrera and Lance Gross ), very much in love, plan on getting married. But will their families' inter-racial differences ruin it all for them or will their love survive the "... slings and arrows of outrageous ..." situations?

noteworthy scenes: 1.) Daddy 'phone calls; 2.) No parking zone; 3.) Restaurant; 4.) When things calm down; 5.) Guy talk; 6.) Abuela ( grandmother ); 7.) Police department; 8.) Life doesn't always make sense; 9.) Smudge; 10.) Bathroom; 11.) Our marriage, their wedding; 12.) Seating arrangements; 13.) Dinner jacket; 14.) Bridal gown; 15.) Make-out point; 16.) The garage; 17.) Traditional Mexican wedding; 18.) Baseball game; 19.) We speak every Sunday; 20.) Front porch; 21.) Cake tasting; 22.) Couch; 23.) Radio call-in; 24.) Night club; 25.) Parking lot; 26.) I'm a wife, I'm a mother; 27.) Stand-up for me; 28.) I love what I do; 29.) Best friend; 30.) Even when I'm mad at you, I still love you; 31.) Dominate their brain; 32.) Never laughed at my jokes; 33.) Serenade; 34.) Graduation photo; 35.) You two were meant for each other; 36.) Wedding cake; 37.) The goat; 38.) You're her choice; 39.) Mariachi; 40.) Dance; and 41.) Photo montage during the Ending Credits.

audience reaction: The audience enjoyed this Rom-Com movie.

recommendation: I liked it as it was funny, informative, and revealing about what takes place leading up to a wedding--OMG! I'm sounding like I'm entertaining the thought of a married life. LOL.

spoiler alert! Both bathroom scenes were hard to swallow, especially the one with the wet Viagra tablets ( Brad [ Forest Whitaker ] didn't notice it at all? ) and the goat overdosing on said tablets ( it would have died of a massive heart attack brought on by a massive hard-on! ). The two scenes with the broken vases were also hard to believe. Likewise, the cake-fight and what followed after a wedding cake was smashed were ridiculous. Does a DJ of a LOCAL radio show actually make enough money to afford an expensive home, fancy cars, parties, one-night-stands with desperate groupies, the services of a lawyer, wedding costs, and college tuition for his son on top of all these? I don't think so!

fyi: I was invited to a wedding once where someone actually went to all the trouble of baking an home-made three-tiered wedding cake. It was leaning almost precariously to one side. I made fun of it, calling it The Leaning Tower of "Cake-sa", not knowing that the lady who made it was standing next to me--awkward!

Back at the apartment complex where my family lived in Matina, Davao City, Mindanao, Philippines, the Ilocano family next door decided to cook a goat for a party. So they took a goat to the empty lot next to the apartment and forced it to drink a litre of sugar cane vinegar. It bleated and gurgled all the while until it died of vinegar intoxication. Although I partook of the dishes that they cooked with it, what I witnessed gradually made me lose interest in goat meat.

word of advice: Love is blind.

tidbits: At 2:15 p.m., when I was eating my lunch at Wendy's, I noticed a fake Great Horned Owl on the roof of the IHOP across the lot. Then I saw a pigeon land next to it. Yup! it didn't fool the pigeon at all. Maybe I'll get a BB gun and knock down the fake owl one of these nights.

And when I went up to the counter at 2:22 p.m. to get a refill on my lemonade, I noticed a sign saying that they are skimping on tomatoes and will add a ( paper-thin ) tomato slice to a customer's order only if the customer specifically asks for it because the tomato freeze in Florida supposedly made tomatoes a scarce commodity. Come on! Hot-house Tomatoes ( a.k.a. Steak Tomatoes ), the kind used in burgers, is on sale right now at Safeway for $1.99 a pound. Why couldn't Wendy's just send one of its employees to the Safeway grocery store just a mile down the road and buy-up a bunch of tomatoes? Otherwise, its patrons are just being charged the same price for less. What a scam! Come to think of it, their new burger, The Bacon & Blue Cheese Burger, doesn't show a tomato slice in the poster!

Here's a new jingle for Wendy's: Yes, we have no tomatoes. We have no tomatoes today!

The next time that I eat at a burger joint, I'll be sure to bring my own tomato! And should I decide to go to MacDonald's, I'll be sure to bring an onion, as well! Have you noticed the onions on a MacDonald's burger ...? They probably use a magnifying glass and tweezers to put onions on their burger buns!

One night years ago, I went to a Nation's Restaurant in Napa, CA. I ordered extra onions on my burger. When I took a bite out of it, tears rolled down my eyes! Yup! you get what you ask for if you eat at Nation's. Now, that was what I call "A real burger for a real man"!