JIU JITSU, R ( 1 h 42 m )

I saw this movie today, Friday, October 27th, 2023, at home, lying down on my futon, via my TUBI streaming app. 

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This Nick Cage movie is a let-down for me, I'm sorry to say. And the "comic relief" soldier is a pointless addition to the cast of characters! It's mostly about fight dance choreographies between a "ninja predator"-type alien that comes to Earth every 6 years to get it on with 9 of our planet's best fighters who are prepared for the kill-or-be-killed battle by a dedicated lineage of monks who were originally taught to fight by the alien. 

6 & 9 reference Yin-Yang duality? 

In other words, the alien shows up periodically to kill the students of HIS Students and since only THE Best 9 are chosen every 6 years, the ones that are spared are the incompetent ones who then train the future generations of fighters! 🤦🏽‍♂️ Can you say, Law of Diminishing Returns, without actually saying it? 🤓  I don't know about you, but I think that Mr. Ninja Predator Alien  👽 guy initially stacked the Odds in his or its ( whichever pronoun is suitable and I'm not one to argue against him, her, it, they, them, whatever 🙄 ) favor .... Note: Martial Arts masters really don't teach their own students every trick up their sleeves! ( My own sensei accidentally discovered a pressure point when he sparred with someone but refused to tell me which pressure point it is! )  😕 This time around, the team is led by an Obi Wan Kenobi wannabe hippie ( according to Rotten Tomatoes 🍅 ). The reference to Jiu Jitsu, i.e. Leverage, only comes in past the 1 hour & 10 minute mark since the fights are mostly in other forms of both armed & unarmed styles. But, if I remember correctly, Leverage techniques were developed by the Judo specialists. "Ju Dotsu" for the title, perhaps? 🤷🏽‍♂️ And the fights, themselves, show "holes" in both defense and offense That Are Not Exploited ❗And Ninja Predator Alien 👽 guy sure has an unlimited amount of Shuriken Stars shooting out of his--or its--wrists. Lastly, that took more than "5 or 6 seconds." 🛎️

The opening scene showing a comet barreling down to Earth 🌍 doesn't make sense at all because the trailing vapors are just floating around everywhere instead of being concentrated into a tail formation; as if they're just floating around the stationary comet in an atmospheric space 😉  instead of out in the vacuum of space, especially considering the speeds at which a comet ☄️ travels! 🤦🏽‍♂️

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With all of that said, this movie truly bombed at the Box Office ❗

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Even if you take the COVID "pandemic" lockdown into consideration! But it might have a silver lining, after all. 🤞

https://www.looper.com/362126/the-nicolas-cage-martial-arts-flop-thats-crushing-it-on-netflix/

Nicolas Cage's recently released movies did well at the Box Office, though. I'm talking about THE UNBEARABLE WEIGHT OF MASSIVE TALENT, RENFIELD, THE RETIREMENT PLAN & BUTCHER'S CROSSING. I saw them all, except for the last one, on the Big Screen and enjoyed them enough to watch them 2X each! 🍿👌🙂👍🥤 But I missed seeing Butcher's Crossing on the Big Screen. ☹️ Nicolas Cage, if you're reading this, Sorry, Bro .... 😶‍🌫️

P. S. Nicolas Cage will be in next year's Spiderman movie. 🙂

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TIDBITS: The 168 Asian Grocery Store in my neighborhood just opened. 👌 Yesterday was their Grand Opening. They sure have a lot of Mexican-looking Chinese stockers working there!  😄 The store has 13 aisles, all in all. But They Left The 13th Aisle unnumbered! I guess that it's also a bad luck number for them, too!  😕 It's the aisle with a bakery, coffee bar & hot Chinese to-go food counter. Their Breakfast Aisle has Teas, Coffees & Cereals that I've never seen before. The Teas are worth trying; especially since they come in cute glass jars. Oops, they sell a # 113 coffee! 😬 How in heck did it get added to their shelf merchandise? And will it negate 168's Good Luck energy?

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The 168 Asian Grocery Store is in direct competition with Seafood City and Island Pacific since it carries a lot of stuff that are also sold at the 2 Pinoy stores. But it mostly caters to the Chinese. They have a Taiwanese sausage ( Longanisa style ) in the frozen section that I might try someday. 🤤 😋

I went to the Neighborhood Wal-Mart to see if it's affected by the new store in the same shopping area. It may just be .... There were just a few shoppers in there.

Last night, at 7:50 pm, as I walked up the curb by the children's playground at Dan Foley Baseball ⚾/Soccer ⚽ Sports Field, my left foot couldn't clear the curb because of my Achilles Heel pain & tight Calf Muscles! As I was falling, I quickly moved forward to avoid face-planting myself on the sidewalk! I couldn't recover my balance and fell on the grass ( better grass than concrete )!! When I got home and removed my socks, I noticed that my left Ankle & Lower Leg were swollen!!! 

This evening, on my way to my car to do some shopping, I noticed that I was back to walking in a normal way, with no Ankle pain & with very little Calf Muscles tightness ❗ ❗ ❗😊 I guess that the jarring accident readjusted my Ankle & Calf Muscles. 😎👍

I think 🤔 that in order for me to fix my hearing and vision problems, I will need to get into a fight with some asshole here at the park and allow myself to get hit in the face a few times! 😁

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GHOSTBUSTERS 3-D ( 2016 ), PG-13 ( 1 hr & 47 min )

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I went to see this on Thursday, July 14th, 2016, here in Vallejo, CA, at the CENTURY 14 VALLEJO, for the 3-D Advanced Screening in auditorium 10, 4th row from the front, 6th column from the right. The price of admission was $11.50. And I bought a $1.00 medium Buttered Popcorn upgrade on a Free Small Popcorn ( free offer on my movie-watcher e-mail reward coupon ) and a $4.85 medium Powerade Mountain Berry Blast at the concessions counter.

Quickie Review:  Someone invents a device that creates a portal for ghosts and spirits to pass through and terrorize the people of New York City. It is up to a small group of female paranormal investigators to save the day.

The audience liked it, especially the little brats in the audience. I thought that it was okay. It certainly is not as funny and as appealing--to me--as the original.  Go see this if you liked the original 1984 Ghostbusters movie. And see how many cameo appearances of the original cast you can pick out.

There are Bonus Scenes during the Ending Credits, along with a "Michael Jackson's Thriller"--like group dance.


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I had to go to the Vallejo Main Post Office to pick-up my mail. I turned right on Virginia Street from Sonoma Boulevard. On the corner of Virginia and Sacramento Streets, I stopped at the 3-way stop T-intersection. Some bitch cut me off as I started to make a left turn at the intersection! I honked at her to let her know that she crossed the intersection in an unsafe manner. The Asian bitch just looked at me. She must be one of those reckless "Manila drivers" that I heard about. I should have written down her license plate number. Someday, I'll have a traffic camera installed in my car.

On my way to the post office, I noticed a police roadblock on Virginia and Marin Streets and on Georgia and Sacramento Streets. I reasoned that they were doing another film shoot for Selena Gomez's TV movie series for Netflix.

The postal clerk told me that I didn't have any mail because the mailman delivered all of my mail to my mail box because the mail box center at my condo was fixed. On my way back to my car, I decided to look around on Georgia Street to see if I could catch a glimpse of Selena Gomez.

I parked my car in the back lot and walked up on Marin Street. There was a movie props truck parked at the curb. And assorted movie-making stuff were on the sidewalk. There was a police car blocking-off Georgia and Marin Streets. I talked to a tall security personnel to find out what was going on. He told me that they were filming scenes for Selena Gomez's upcoming TV movie series.

Th1rteen R3asons Why TV movie series poster. I found this on the Internet.

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I asked if I could walk around and take pictures. He said that I could.

I took the following photos at approximately 3:30 p.m. Thursday, July 14th, 2016 on a hot and humid afternoon here in Vallejo. Yeah, it was hot and humid. So, I don't know why one of the crew guys, the one I talked to, was wearing a black leather jacket.

This is on Georgia Street between Marin and Sacramento Streets. I think that all of these photos' time-stamps ran late.

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I stood in front of the "theatre's" marquee and made the remark to a man standing there that I've lived in Vallejo since 1989 and never saw this "theatre", The Crestmont. It was just a false facade, as it turned out; a movie prop. The one that I talked to, a "black leather jacket" short and skinny white man ( shorter than I am ), told me that they will be here in Vallejo for quite a while to shoot the needed film scenes.

Just before a scene was about to be filmed, a caterer walked around with a tray of snacks. All eyes were on me as I was about to pounce on it like a hungry cat! I couldn't make a move on it though because of all the people there.

At one point, just before the "walk-in" rehearsal, a crew chief came up to me and told me to keep my voice down because they were about to shoot a scene. I guess that they didn't want any of their microphones to pick-up my voice because it sounds too "Filipino" and the scene is set in some fictitious little town where everyone is white! Ha, ha, ha.

Side view of the "theatre's" marquee.

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As I stood there talking to the "black leather jacket" man, a beautiful brunette in a jeans mini-skirt came out to the "theatre's" main lobby. I don't know if it was Selena Gomez or a "double", I couldn't be sure. I guess she came out to see who the handsome gentleman ( ahem! ) was that talked in a Filipino-sounding voice--guilty as charged! LOL

This is on Sacramento Street. I wanted to take a picture of the Paramount Pictures truck. But, for some reason, I ended-up with a picture of the sidewalk, instead!

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So, remember this particular scene when this TV movie series airs on Netflix. If you hear a background voice in the Movie "Theatre" Scene that sounds like it was made by a Filipino with a raspy voice, that voice will most likely be mine. Then, do let me know so that I can sue Netflix and Paramount Pictures for using my voice without my permission! Easy money. Ha, ha, ha.

This is the "porta-potty" trailer for the cast & crew. To the right is the Paramount Pictures truck that I failed to take a photo of. To the left is Selena Gomez's wardrobe trailer--I don't know why I didn't take a picture of that!

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You know, nobody was there to guard Selena Gomez's wardrobe trailer. I could've broken-in and snatched some "souvenirs". Why do excellent ideas come to me so late? Why, oh, why ...?

This photo shows a movie props truck and some props on the Marin Street sidewalk.

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I walked across Marin Street to take the above photo.

And here's another side view of the "Crestmont Movie Theatre's" marquee, taken from the corner of Marin and Georgia Streets..

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In the above photo, the main storefront is a Psychic Reading Center ( I wonder if the resident psychic "saw" this TV movie coming ). Between this center and the movie "theatre" is an unoccupied storefront that the cast & crew used for in-between takes.

Below is the old-style real movie theatre, The Empress, just a block over on Virginia Street:

I don't know why they didn't use this real movie theatre, instead! I found this on the Internet.

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I saw a black-and-white movie once at The Empress a few years ago. This theatre is a throwback to how movie theatres were during Hollywood's Golden Age. Back then, the seats didn't come with cupholders. You had to put your drink and/or your popcorn/hotdog on the floor between your feet because that was what the floor was there for! But you knew best where to stick your used chewing gum.

Nowadays, they rarely show movies at The Empress. Instead, it's now a venue for other entertainment events.


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When I got home, I went to the hall lobby to fetch my mail at the mailbox center. The right side of the mailbox was, once again, tampered with!

If you notice the opened mailbox at the very top, the one diagonally right below it is my mailbox.

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Presently, one of my neighbors walked by. I asked him when the mailbox center was tampered with. He said that it happened recently. I said, Since the HOA got rid of the on-site property manager, this place has been going downhill. This neighbor, who lives just a few doors from me on the 2nd floor, told me that he and his girlfriend were moving out after 5 years of living here because someone kicked-open his unit's door and stole a bunch of his, and his girlfriend's, personal items. I asked him if his door frame had a metal anti-theft plate in place. He said that it didn't, that the door frame split open when the door was kicked-in. I felt sorry for him and his girlfriend. He was always nice to me. But I don't know why his pit bull, Poppa, was not able to prevent the break-in. I suspect that whoever broke into his place was someone his friendly pit bull knew. I wish him and his girlfriend better luck in wherever they move into.

And I couldn't help but notice that this particular neighbor was sporting a black eye. His right eye was bruised.


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I was saddened to learn that, once again, France fell victim to a senseless and cowardly terrorist attack.

I found this on the Internet.

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I send my condolence to the families of those killed in the senseless act of violence in France during its Bastille Day celebration. I pray for you all.


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