LEAP YEAR, PG ( 1 hr & 37 min )

where: CENTURY 14 VALLEJO in Vallejo, CA
when: Monday, January 11th, 2010
show: 4:35 p.m.
costs: $7.25 Ticket + $3.75 small Diet/Zero ( w/ Barq's & Cherry flavors ) Coke = $11.00
auditorium: 1
seat: 4th row, 8ht column

synopsis: A young woman, Anna ( Amy Adams ), tired of waiting to be proposed to, goes to Dublin, Ireland, to propose to her boyfriend, Jeremy ( Adam Scott ), on February 29th when, according to local tradition, a woman can propose to a man. But fate has other plans.

noteworthy scenes: 1.) Surprise eyes; 2.) Leap Year proposal; 3.) Diverted flight; 4.) Sarcastic Gaelic Air representatives; 5.) Boat; 6.) Garagh's Bar; 7.) The overnight room; 8.) Superstitious folks; 9.) Tradition; 10.) The van; 11.) Bar brawl; 12.) Bar brawl; 13.) The castle; 14.) Bed and Breakfast; 15.) The kiss; 16.) Sunday; 17.) Wedding dance; 18.) Park bench; 19.) The proposal; 20.) The reunion; 21.) The house warming party; 22.) The 60-second test; 23.) The chicken's dry; 24.) The plan to unplan; 25.) The ring; and 26.) The trip.

audience reaction: The audience ( i.e. the women ) liked this movie and gave it a "Hands Clapper" ending.

recommendation: This is a light Rom-Com that couples might enjoy seeing.

spoiler alert! Who's the Hollywood Idiot who scheduled this movie's release for this year, which is NOT A LEAP YEAR? The last Leap Year was 2008 and the next one is 2012! And 2016 is when February 29th falls closest to a Sunday since it will be on the following day, Monday. That old car sure runs whisper-quiet, and with no road noise and no wind noise on top of that! ( 'Must be a Lexus. Ha, ha, ha. ) Why did Declan ( Matthew Goode ) sleep in the shower when there was plenty of room on the bedroom floor?

fyi: An hour before the movie, as I sat and ate at Selecta Filipino Buffet here on Springs Road and watched the Philippine news on TV, I found out that in the Philippines, where there is no divorce but where annulment of marriage ( same difference, if you ask me ) is allowed, some activists are trying to pass a law in which an expiration date of 10 years will be affixed to a marriage contract. Are they saying that I can have a new hot and sexy wife every 10 years? Wow! talk about "New Lease on Life"--married life, that is. If and when this law passes, I'll pack my bags and go prospecting for a 10-year marriage ( I'd better stock-up on Viagra now ).

When an Irish greets you with, "Top of the morning to you," the proper response is, "And the rest of the day to you, too."

Oh, how I envy those who were born on the 29th of February since I'm not the type to celebrate anniversaries and holidays.

word of advice: A regular customer of mine, Mr. Babcock, said, "If you marry a woman, marry her because you love her."

tidbits: At around 12:30 p.m. today, just when I had a lot of customers in line, I had a bad nosebleed! I had to get out of my checkstand right-quick to go head straight for the men's room to stop the bleeding. They had to get somebody else to step-in for me and take care of all those customers. Luckily, I was able to stop it in under five minutes and was able to return to my checkstand fresh and blood-free. I never had it this bad at work before. And to think I swabbed my nostrils with petroleum jelly before I left for work today to keep them from going dry. I must have missed a spot in my left nostril!

After the movie, I decided to go to the nearby CVS Drugstore to buy Cold Relief caplets and Nighttime Cold & Flu Relief liquid. On my way, I drove by the Goodwill Thrift Store which just opened in the shopping center. You know the economy is bad when you see a thrift store relocated to an upscale part of town!

On another note, the heel pain in my left foot is somewhat subsiding now.

YOUTH IN REVOLT, R ( 1 hr & 30 min )

where: CENTURY 14 VALLEJO in Vallejo, CA
when: Friday, January 8ht, 2010
show: 7:25 p.m.
costs: $10.00 Ticket + $4.50 Fuze Peach/Mango = $14.50
auditorium: 13
seat: 5th row, 8ht column

synopsis: A sexually-frustrated teen, Nick Twisp ( Michael Cera ), meets the girl of his dreams when his mom, Estelle ( Jean Smart ), and her boyfriend, Jerry ( Zach Galifianakis ), take him to a trailer park in Clearlake, Ukiah. But Sheeni Saunders ( Portia Doubleday ) is already seeing someone. In order to win her over, Nick creates an alter ego, Francois Dillinger, throwing caution to the wind. As a result, a comedic coming-of-age ensues.

noteworthy scenes: 1.) Nick's bedroom; 2.) Nick's mom; 3.) Nick's neighbor, Mr. Ferguson ( Fred Willard ); 4.) Nick's dad, George ( Steve Buscemi ); 5.) My Green Haven, the "cabin"; 6.) The girl next door; 7.) The beach; 8.) The hike; 9.) Mrs. Saunders ( Mary Kay Place ); 10.) Albert, the dog; 11.) Making out; 12.) Just a summer fling; 13.) Nova; 14.) Lefty's ( Erik Knudsen ) book; 15.) Alter ego; 16.) Mom's cop boyfriend. Lance ( Ray Liotta ); 17.) Hot shower; 18.) Berkeley "arsonist"; 19.) Whipped; 20.) Back to Ukiah; 21.) Bad influences; 22.) French prep school; 23.) Vijay ( Adhir Kalyan ); 24.) French letter; 25.) Campus; 26.) Girls' dorm; 27.) Solidarity; 28.) Paul Saunders ( Justin Long ); 29.) Letter to Bernice ( Jade Fusco ); 30.) Magic mushroom trip; 31.) Thanksgiving dinner; 32.) Trent ( Jonathan Bradford Wright ); 33.) The getaway; 34.) Hazel Park High School; 35. ) Carlota; 36.) The arrest; and 37.) Cartoon scenes during the ending credits.

audience reaction: The audience liked this Rom-Com.

recommendation: I liked this movie, too. Go see it.

spoiler alert! There's a reason why this Teen Movie is rated R: Too much drugs! The whole movie was filmed in Michigan. The multi-cultural flavor of Oakland, CA is conspicuously missing in the video store scene. Predominantly speaking, Downtown Oakland and North Oakland have whites, blacks, Hispanics and Asians; West Oakland has blacks and whites; and East Oakland has blacks, Hispanics and Asians. Jerry shouldn't have been allowed to drive if he threw his back out! You can't park a car at the curb on campus and leave it unattended overnight. I haven't seen any enclosed phone booths in over twenty years here in California. Why would Francois/Nick need money to call the cops on a payphone? All he had to do was dial 9-1-1. Why would Nick take off his clothes to fake his own death? Doesn't he watch CSI? The Ukiah doughnut-dunkin' cops waited for Nick to show up at Hazel Park High School, only problem is that this school is not in Ukiah but in Hazel Park, Michigan ( about 20 miles north of Detroit )! Why didn't anybody notice Nick conspicuously walking around town wearing nothing but his boxer shorts?

fyi: Michael Cera seems comfortable typecasting himself as a good geeky boy who gets the girl.

I used to write poetry years ago but a friend of mine told me that girls don't like nice, sensitive guys. Oh, well, it was just a creative phase anyway. Now, I don't even care what girls think of me. I am too engrossed in my meditation and spiritual cultivation to allow anyone "special" to just casually enter into my insular world to upend it.

word of advice: Maintain a modicum of self-dignity when courting a girl, i.e. don't make a fool of yourself.

tidbits: I wanted to see LEAP YEAR, too, after watching DAYBREAKERS and YOUTH IN REVOLT. But, then, I remembered that this is a "Chick Flick." And I usually hold-off on watching a "Chick Flick" 'til later on in the week. So, I just went home. Besides, I needed to go on the Internet to search and download Vera Icona portraits as future reference for a work I have in mind to do later on.

DAYBREAKERS, R ( 1 hr & 38 min )

where: CENTURY 14 VALLEJO in Vallejo, CA
when: Friday, January 8ht, 2010
show: 5:05 p.m.
costs: $7.25 Ticket + $3.75 small Diet/Zero ( w/ Barq's & Cherry flavors ) Coke = $11.00
auditorium: 14
seat: 4th row, 7th column

synopsis: Capitalism: A Blood Story

Ten years after a global vampire plague turned most of the human population into vampires, a human blood shortage forces enterprising vampires into capturing and "milking" humans in processing facilities while at the same time trying to perfect a synthetic blood substitute as the exploited remnant of the human population fast approaches extinction and as the prospect of turning into powerful, 'though mindless, winged cannibals ( the subsiders ) draws ever nearer.

noteworthy scenes: 1.) Bat; 2.) Little girl; 3.) Hobo assault; 4.) Subway; 5.) Charles Bromley ( Sam Neill ) and Edward Dalton ( Ethan Hawke ); 6.) The volunteer; 7.) The accident; 8.) At home; 9.) Subwalk; 10.) I find/you farm; 11.) Subsiders; 12.) Second security alert; 13.) Cater to all markets; 14.) Tree; 15.) Frankie Dalton ( Michael Dorman ); 16.) Accidental discovery; 17.) Have a cup; 18.) Villa; 19.) Coffee riot; 20.) Convoy; 21.) Self-experiment; 22.) Welcome back; 23.) Senator's cabin; 24.) Betrayal; 25.) Elvis Cormac's ( William Dafoe ) garage; 26.) Back to Bromley's building; 27.) Repeat business; 28.) Special delivery; 29.) Surrounded; and 30.) Blood orgy!

audience reaction: Not much positive feedback from the mostly teenage group.

recommendation: Although I liked the concept, the movie was not that entertaining to me. This movie might prove to be a downer for you, as well.

spoiler alert! About the only frightening scene in this movie is the one in which a bat appeared for the first time. If vampires cast no reflection in a mirror, how do the females put on their make-up and how do the males shave their faces? In the first scene with Charles and Edward, Edward's left contact lens is off-centered. Why didn't the chase scene involve a helicopter? How come they don't show the winged vampire cannibals flying around? One would think that they've already cloned human blood by then! When Alison Bromley ( Isabel Lucas ) tried to run away from her father, she got struck in the face by a rifle butt but it left no cut, bruise or swollen spot at all. Alison mutated fast, but Edward Dalton--who abstained from having human blood for many days ( Weeks? Months? Lord knows how long )--didn't mutate. If a vampire doesn't need to breathe and doesn't need to have a heartbeat, then the heart and the lungs would atrophy to the point where, even if the experiment were to work, long-time vampires would not survive the procedure! How did Edward and Audrey Bennett ( Claudia Karvan ) get past the Bromley Building's security staff and the security cameras to have access to the elevator with a bound and gagged Charles to drag along?

fyi: Winged humanoid creatures have been witnessed in parts of Asia like the Philippines and Vietnam. A Vietnamese co-worker of mine told me that coconut trees are a favored predatory perch for such creatures so villagers avoid being near such trees at night.

When I was a nine or ten year old boy in Matina, Davao City, Mindanao, Philippines, I saw one such creature in a vacant lot adjacent to our apartment building around 8 o'clock in the evening when I and a couple of my neighborhood friends chased after three huge rats that ran down the dirt road and into the lot. This creature flapped its wings furiously as it was stuck in a branch on top of a mango tree which was next to a coconut tree! I yelled, "Aswang!" ( Filipino word for, Vampire ) as I ran towards our apartment as fast as my fat little legs could run. Boy, talk about close encounter! Needless to say, I've had some nightmares of that creature a number of times.

Speaking of Filipino, if you're ever invited to a Filipino home for lunch or dinner and they serve you a "chocolate" meat dish called Dinuguan, you can be sure that there's no chocolate in it because it is actually Pig's Blood Stew--and they love trying to get unsuspecting Muslims and Jews to have a bite of it! I inform you of this as a friendly warning. Although I love eating this dish, I would never pull this kind of a prank on a Muslim, Jew, or Whatever.

word of advice: This world sucks!

tidbits: Before leaving my place to go see this movie, I had a heavy meal of half a Safeway's 5-Dollar Friday Rotisserie Chicken with half a pot of steamed rice and six big cloves of fresh, raw garlic ( pressed into a small bowl with rice vinegar, ketchup and black pepper ). Uhm, uhm, good and yummy! I'd pity the vampire fool who'd pounce on me 'cause nobody eats raw garlic like I do.

To any of you girls out there considering having me as a potential lover ... Love Me, Love My Garlic Breath! That's all I gotta say. Thank you ....

NINE, PG-13 ( 1 hr & 50 min )

where: CENTURY 14 VALLEJO in Vallejo, CA
when: Tuesday, January 5th, 2010
show: 4:10 p.m.
costs: $7.25 Ticket + $3.75 small Diet/Zero ( w/ Barq's & Cherry flavors ) Coke + $1.00 dark chocolate Cookie Dough ( bought at Dollar Tree & smuggled-in ) = $12.00
auditorium: 3
seat: 3rd row, 7th column

synopsis: A famous Italian director of movie musicals, Guido Contini ( Daniel Day-Lewis ), in the '60s is staging a big comeback, only to have demands placed upon him by his producer, the press, and the various women in his life. As his adoring public waits with 'bated breath, will his muse consent to inspire him?

noteworthy scenes: 1.) The women of his life; 2.) News conference; 3.) Bellavista Hotel; 4.) Open wide; 5.) Lovers' game; 6.) Production set; 7.) Folle brassiere; 8.) Imagination, God's garden; 9.) Flashback; 10.) Luisa Contini's ( Marion Cotillard ) song; 11.) Absurdity of being you; 12.) Cinema Italiano; 13.) Not bound by morality; 14.) Guido and Carla's husband; 15.) Costume shoot; 16.) The fountain; 17.) Screen test; 18.) Burlesque dance; 19.) No movie; 20.) Walk in the park; 21.) Nine; and 22.) Ending credits.

audience reaction: A couple of girls in the audience ( there were only about a half dozen of us in the auditorium ) laughed at some of the quips.

recommendation: This movie is strictly for those who are into musicals. It's also for those horndogs out there who are into watching scantily-clad beauties dance in a sexually provocative manner.

spoiler alert! This really is not a musical in its strictest sense. It is, rather, a behind-the-scenes look at the making of a musical, i.e. the conflict of interests, the clash of egos, the high expectations, the time constraints, the sundry pressures--and pleasures, etc. The ending was rather vague in the sense that the women returned into his life as if to let the audience know that it will be "the same old story" all over again, that he'll never make a big comeback. Guido didn't go around pinching girls' butts even though Italian men are famous for it!

fyi: I believe that the movie title, NINE, refers to the nine daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne, the muses named: Calliope, Clio, Erato, Euterpe, Melpomene, Polyhymnia, Terpsichore, Thalia and Urania.

I cringed at the scenes where Guido was driving around in a convertible which had no head rests and no roll bars because I'm deathly scared of riding in such things.

Carla's ( Penelope Cruz ) solo act is the stand-out best Song and Dance scene in this movie--horndog approved!

I wanted to make this the last movie that I saw in 2009. But I didn't go to the 10:00 p.m. show on December 31st because I was sick with a cold and fever.

word of advice: Don't lie/cheat your way into someone's heart.

Get everything down on paper, first.

tidbits: Before going to see this movie, I went to CSAA to pay on my membership. As I waited in line, a woman came in and stood directly behind another woman that was being served at the counter by the second of two clerks. I was next in line so I waited to see if she would cut in front of me because I was getting ready to rain down curses, swear words, and insults at her should she be foolish enough to think that I would just let her cut in front of me. After all, if they believe in equal rights then they had better put in their equal share of waiting in line. Luckily for her, another clerk--who probably noticed what was happening--took me to her counter. But, all that time that I was being served, I would on occasion cast glares at the woman from clear across the room in a way that you could have cut the air with a ( misogynistic ) knife.

After the movie, I went to 99 Cent Only Store to buy-up all of their stock ( 33 pieces at 3 for 99 cents ) on a health bar by MLO Products: chocolate mint flavored Xtreme Bar. Now I'm set for the next two or three months for my lunch break at work--sweet!

THE YOUNG VICTORIA, PG ( 1 hr & 44 min )

where: CINE ARTS @ PLEASANT HILL in Pleasant Hill, CA
when: Sunday, January 3rd, 2010
show: 4:50 p.m.
costs: $10.00 Ticket + $3.75 small Diet Coke + $13.37 lunch at China Wall Buffet ( + $2.63 Tip ) + $4.00 Bridge Toll = $33.75
auditorium: 5
seat: 5th row, 10th column

synopsis: A love story based on Victoria's ( secret ) diaries.

In the midst of court intrigues and political machinations, an 18-year old Victoria ( Emily Blunt ) ascends to the English throne when King William IV ( Jim Broadbent ) dies in 1837. And her long distance love affair with her first cousin, Prince Albert ( Rupert Friend ) of Belgium, leads to marriage which would witness the rise of the British Empire in an age of industrial revolution and social reforms that would come to be known as the Victorian Age.

noteworthy scenes: 1.) Preparing for courtship; 2.) Chaperoned "chess pieces"; 3.) King William's birthday reception; 4.) Long Live The Queen; 5.) Buckingham's first royal; 6.) Courting; 7.) Played the game and lost; 8.) "You may nots"; 9.) The Waltz; 10.) Uncle Leopold's (Thomas Kretschmann ) ideas; 11.) Lord Melbourne's ( Paul Bettany ) influence; 12.) Demonstration; 13.) Albert's counsel; 14.) Marriage; 15.) "Fine" weather; 16.) "For all three days"; 17.) Re-organization; 18.) General account of finances; 19.) Prince Albert and Lord Melbourne; 20.) Sir Robert Peel's ( Michael Maloney ) new government; 21.) Lovers' quarrel; 22.) First assassination attempt; and 23.) Melbourne's good advice.

audience reaction: Although quite a number of patrons turned up for this particular show, I didn't hear any positive feedback after the movie ended. But they did laugh at some of the scenes--the funny ones, that is.

recommendation: I like this movie. It's a good love story. This is definitely a couple's flick.

spoiler alert! Queen Victoria gained the title of "Queen Dowager" after the love of her life, Prince Albert, died of typhoid at the age of 42. From which point on, the "Widow of Windsor" took to wearing only black clothing to symbolize her loss as she spent the next nineteen years of her reign in almost total seclusion. But since she was the reigning sovereign monarch and Prince Albert never became king, then the proper title for her should have been, "Queen Regnant."

It's true that the setting for this movie was well before the electric light bulb was invented, but did they have to make a lot of the scenes look so dim and out of focus?

I was disappointed in the King's banquet scene because I was denied even a fleeting glimpse of a British "Spotted Dick"--why? was it too small ...? I don't think I'd want to swallow whole something with spots all over it in the first place so I guess that I'll just pass on this one.

fyi: Prime Minister Lord Melbourne, a widower who also had lost his only child, became an overly-protective surrogate father to the young and naive Queen Victoria, almost to the detriment of her early rule.

Queen Victoria was buried beside her beloved Prince Albert in the Frogmore Royal Mausoleum at Windsor ( built to her specifications--a British Taj Mahal, if I may be so bold as to draw upon the similarity in concept ). The inscription above the door are the words of Queen Victoria herself: "farewell best beloved, here at last I shall rest with thee, with thee in Christ I shall rise again." But ... ( here's the big BUT ) ... in her coffin were placed a lock of hair of, a picture of, and a wedding ring of John Brown, the queen's manservant at Balmoral---shouldn't this be Bad Moral---Castle in Scotland. At the Resurrection, I, Cine-Man, want to have a front-row seat when Queen Victoria and John Brown rise up and The Lord Christ lets Prince Albert out of the can! Ha, ha, ha. Popcorn, anyone ...?

word of advice: Judge for yourself.

Beware of Cine-man for he drives around with a pen and paper handy all the time!

tidbits: I think that there is a gastronomic conspiracy afoot that's preventing me from having an Indian Buffet meal! For the third time in a row, I was denied such a pleasure because the Indian buffet restaurant, Namaste, was closed until 5:00 p.m. for that's when their weekend dinner buffet starts. And to think, I wanted to have an Indian buffet meal in honor of Queen Victoria, Empress of India and Lordess of Bombay Sapphire Gin! Oh, well .... Next time, maybe.

Hungry, I just went into the China Wall Buffet next door. As I was loading-up my plate with dessert, an Hispanic little brat was repeatedly sticking his right index finger into the frozen yogurt spout and licking it. I could see the sushi chef, holding his ginzu knife, staring at the brat and probably wishing to sushi-fy him right there and then! Where are the f--king parents? If not for the comic possibilities, I would never set foot at this place ever again!

I missed the first few minutes of the movie because I had to perform my usual before-seeing-a-movie ritual: empty my bladder first so that I don't go on a trip in the middle of the movie and miss an important scene--I already miss some good scenes each and every time because of my note-taking in the dark, as it is!

I wanted, at first, to sit in the sixth row but a lady in the seventh row had her feet up on the back of a seat and I didn't want to sit in such proximity to where scrutinizing eyes may cast a disapproving glance at my ungrateful and ungracious repugnance at the lady's seemingly permeative malodorous bipedal display! My courteousness has its sensory limits after all. ( Did I just channel British English? Well, I'll be darned! )

After the movie, I went to the Dollar Tree Store adjacent to the cinema. I purchased six glass tankards, as a gift ( Yup, I'm Mr. Cheapskate ) for my friend, Hector , and two bags of two-pound long grain rice.

On my way out of the shopping center at 7:25 p.m., I stopped at a stop sign in front of Kohl's and motioned for a young lady to cross. That bitch didn't even acknowledge my courtesy with a simple "thank you" gesture. I wasn't even checking her out! That plain-looking, pock-marked face bitch who's only beautiful in her own delusional imagination! Sheesh, wake up and give me a break!

And when I got to the corner of Monument Boulevard, this white Ford ( I think ) pick-up truck, with Texas license: AB8 6638, which I followed from the shopping center, motioned to make a right turn but occupied both the right lane AND my lane, too! What's with rednecks who drive big pick-up trucks and can't park right and can't drive within a lane? Are they overcompensating for a deficiency in their manhood or what ...?