LETTERS TO JULIET, PG ( 1 hr & 44 min )

Quickie Review: A young American girl goes to Verona, Italy, home to Juliet Capulet of Shakespeare fame. Soon, she joins a group of volunteers who respond to letters left behind by the lovelorn. She chances upon an old letter written in the mid '50s and decides to send a response, setting-off a chain reaction that brings love to her and the letter-writer.

I liked this movie. And the audience did, as well.

Here are the things that I found wrong about this movie: The chef is supposed to be an Italian, but he said, "Si, bueno", and, realizing his mistake, he tried to correct it by saying, "Muy bueno"! I took a beginning Spanish class in high school and know well enough that these foreign words aren't Italian! The plot contrivance at the end was a groaner--I could have written a better one--and not how it would be in real life! These two things made the movie sloppy. So who's at fault here, the writer, the scene editor or the director, or all of the above? Hollywood should have consulted with me, Cine-Man about this particular script before they went into production!

ROBIN HOOD, R ( 2 hr & 20 min )

Saving prime mate Marion

Quickie Review: Disillusioned by the 10-year Crusade, an archer and his little band of fellow soldiers decide to sneak back into England after their King is killed in battle. They happen upon an ambushed advance party of knights sent ahead to bear the bad news. Robin promises a fallen knight that he will take his sword back to his father, the Baron of Nottingham. The Baron makes a deal with Robin: Pretend to be his son so the widow, Marion, will not lose the inheritance, and he can have the sword. Elsewhere, a plot to conquer England is being concocted by the French with the help of the new English King's confidant and trusted advisor, turned traitor. The ill-tempered, inept new king soon has his fellow Englishmen in uproar as the traitor imposes heavy taxation on the financially troubled barons, killing innocent civilians in the process. With a common enemy, namely the French, the barons soon join forces under the king and Robin to repel the attack.

I didn't particularly like this movie. The audience enjoyed it. And my friend ( a Robin Hood fan ) and his wife liked it.

Here are the things that I found wrong about this movie: Why did the poacher just stand there when the arrow was shot at him? I would never have taken such a chance! Only one horse was killed. I don't think that people back in those days liked to talk to each other up close and personal because of their lack of proper oral hygiene. The dying Knight, Sir Robert, identified himself as, Robin Loxley. Godfrey, the traitor, in a later scene, also mentioned the wrong name of Robin Loxley. If I were the Baron, I'd fire the maid in charge of sweeping the floor--straws were all over the damn mansion! I didn't know that they had landing barges back then. This movie reminded me of SAVING PRIVATE RYAN ( 1998 ).

FURRY VENGEANCE, PG ( 1 hr & 32 min )

Quickie Review: A real estate developer relocates his family to Oregon as he oversees the construction of homes in a wildlife preserve--unbeknown to him. Soon, the wild animals band together to put an end to the illegal human activity.

This movie is strictly for kids. I didn't find it that entertaining at all.

IRON MAN 2, PG-13 ( 2 hr & 4 min )

where: MOVIE2K.COM

when: Monday, May 3rd

show: Late, late night  via Stream2K

costs: $0.00 Download

auditorium: My living room

seat: My swivel chair

2nd time:

where: CINEARTS @ PLEASANT HILL in Pleasant Hill, CA

when: Friday, May 7th, 2010

show: 12:01 a.m.

costs: $10.00 Ticket + $5.25 small Popcorn ( w/ Butter ) + $4.00 small Diet Coke + $1.00 Nestle's Goobers Chocolate-covered Peanuts ( Smuggled in; bought at Dollar Tree Store ) + $4.00 Bridge Toll = $24.25

auditorium: 1, The Cine-Dome

seat: 6th row, 22nd column

3rd time:

where:  EDWARDS FAIRFIELD STADIUM 16 & I-MAX

when:  Monday, May 10th, 2010

show:  7:00 p.m.

costs:  $17.50 Ticket + $4.50 small Diet Coke = $22.50  ( plus dinner before the show at HomeTown Buffet, $9.99, plus Drink, $1.99, plus Tip, $1.00, plus Tax, ? = $12.98 plus Tax )

auditorium:   12

seat:  3rd row, 9th column

synopsis: As billionaire playboy Tony Stark ( Robert Downey, Jr. ) basks in the glory of his alter ego, Iron Man, forces are at work to steal his suit of armor's technology.

noteworthy scenes: 1.) "All I can give you is knowledge"; 2.) Blueprint; 3.) Stark Expo; 4.) Blood toxicity reading; 5.) Hi-tech prosthesis; 6.) "Test pilot survived"; 7.) Blood toxicity: 24%; 8.) Chairman & CEO; 9.) Passport; 10.) Notary Natalie Rushman ( Scarlett Johansson ); 11.) Monaco Grand Prix; 12.) Blood toxicity: 53%; 13.) Switch drivers; 14.) Whiplash vs. Iron Man; 15.) Interrogation room; 16.) "What have you been not telling me?" 17.) Body double; 18.) Private hangar; 19.) File on Vanko; 20.) "Hi-tech crossword puzzle on your neck"; 21.) Prototypes; 22.) Hypothetical question; 23.) Drunk party animal; 24.) War Machine ( Don Cheadle ); 25.) Edward's Air Force Base; 26.) Randy's Donuts; 27.) "Super-secret boy band"; 28.) Bird; 29.) "Drone better"; 30.) "Weaponize the suit"; 31.) "You can solve the riddle of your heart"; 32.) "The ex-wife"; 33.) Father's secret message; 34.) "I lost both of the kids in the divorce"; 35.) "The key to the future is here"; 36.) "Back in hardware mode"; 37.) "Perfectly level"; 38.) New power source; 39.) "We had a contract"; 40.) Blocked call; 41.) Hammer drones; 42.) "Locked-up"; 43.) "Watch the road"; 44.) Security breach; 45.) "I got him rebooting"; 46.) "Fending-off a Hammeroid attack"; 47.) "It's a one-off"; 48.) "Bust his bunker with the ex-wife"; 49.) "The side-kick"; 50.) "Rigged to blow"; 51.) "Get a roof"; 52.) Assessment; 53.) A small favor; 54.) "You deserve this"; and 55.) Bonus scene after the Ending Credits of Thor's hammer.

audience reaction: The audience enjoyed this sequel.

recommendation: I like the first one better since it has a better story line. This movie might prove disappointing to a lot of you out there, too.

spoiler alert! Anybody who wants to kill Tony Stark only has to hire a sniper. There are no guards at Tony Stark's place so the bad guys could easily break-in when he's not around. Why did Iron Man hitch a ride in a cargo plane for his dramatic entrance at his own expo when he could just have flown-in? That old, red Lada or Yugo in the background stayed parked in the same spot all that time for at least six months. Females have smaller hands than males, and since Happy Hogan ( Jon Favreau ) was also wearing gloves covered in sweat, there was no way that Natalie could have gotten a good grip on his gloved hand to execute a Jujitsu submission hold! When Ivan Vanko/Whiplash's ( Mickey Rourke ) jumpsuit burned-up, his long hair was not the least bit singed. The whips could easily cut through metal but they couldn't slice-up the asphalt, they just left melted trails. Why didn't the cops shoot at Whiplash? A suit of armor in a briefcase? It's all nice and dandy except that it would have to be very lightweight and flimsy for Pepper Potts ( Gwyneth Paltrow ) to carry it around and toss it like it was nothing. Whiplash is also a physicist and would know a lot about mass, inertia, momentum and velocity; meaning, when the formula one cars behind him crashed into another then flipped into the air, he should have ducked for cover! There is nothing about Whiplash's exoskeleton to suggest that he could survive being rammed by a car against a concrete barrier without suffering from broken bones and injuries to his abdominal organs, at the very least. Why can't Whiplash's whips cut through Iron Man's metal? When Iron Man was punching out Whiplash, it was metal against exposed flesh and bones so that severe injury/damage would have been inflicted. At the private hangar, you could see that Hammer's ( Sam Rockwell's ) hands are coated in "tan-in-a-bottle" but his face looked pail in comparison. Iron Man's suit has many vulnerable spots where one piece articulates with another--these have always been the Achilles Heel of body armors. Each of the battle suits, the Iron Man included, is not really aerodynamically sound and would need at least another pair of stabilizers. When War Machine landed at Edwards Air Force Base, he looked liked an "action figure" doll, what with that wide gap between his legs--the last time that I saw a crotch gap that wide was when Lynda Carter portrayed the role of Wonder Woman on TV! The modified War Machine has a very lopsided weight distribution that would create too much drag, so do certain of the flying drones. If I peed in my own armor like that, I'd change suits a.s.a.p! Let me see if I got this right:  Tony Stark is a billionaire who's into hi-tech gadgetry and precision instrumentations but he can not afford to have a  digital carpenter's level--huh?  'Doesn't make any sense at all!  The laser beam cut through concrete and metal as Tony worked on another source of energy and would have easily done harm and damage on distant objects and people.  When the beam sliced the metal cabinet in half, it did so at a right angle, not at a diagonal angle, so that the top half should not have slid-off forward.  How was old scientist Ivan able to overpower both young guards who were trained in both armed and unarmed combat--remember how in his prison escape two guards easily overpowered him? With a rogue War Machine and a bunch of drones chasing after him and shooting at him, there is no way in the world that he could have seen that little kid and swooped down to save him. Was that the same kid in an earlier scene before the subpoena? And why was there a lull in the shooting as he saved the kid? Most of War Machine's weaponry could shoot out hundreds of rounds a minute, so ... where was all that ammunition stored--up his butt? All that shooting and explosions on public and private property and within city limits and in the midst of crowds--Wow! Super Lawsuit will be the most dangerous opponent around--enough to make lawsuit lawyers have multiple orgasms for days on end! The drones had the high ground so they should just have stayed put and fired all their ammo at both Iron Man and War Machine instead of engaging them in metallic fisticuffs. I know that it was just done for comedic effect but, in reality, War Machine wouldn't take a chance and use the "ex-wife" at such close range ( based on its purported destructive capability ) and put his and Iron Man's lives at risk. Why didn't both Iron Man and War Machine get knocked-out the second time that they did the "Side-kick"? When the helmet came off, Tony still had perfectly-coiffed hair--whoever did the CGI on this probably never used a helmet in his/her whole damn life ( What a know-nothing nerd! ).

fyi: I always wanted to watch a midnight show at this theatre's cine-dome since it was really designed for big blockbusters. And I finally got my wish! Yay!

I went to see this in Fairfield because I wanted to know how it looks like on I-Max.  The movie was sharp enough that I could see the whips melt the asphalt, and how bad the tan-job on Hammer's hands was.

word of advice: If you dissolve a partnership, first make sure that both parties are on amicable terms.

tidbits: The beautiful blonde concessions clerk at the Cine-Dome, Brittany, yawned as I walked up to the counter to buy popcorn from her. Either it was past her bedtime or I'm just a very boring person to her.

A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET, R ( 1 hr & 35 min )

where: CENTURY 14 VALLEJO in Vallejo, CA

when: Saturday, May 1st, 2010

show: 9:00 p.m.

costs: $10.00 Ticket + $4.25 small Popcorn ( w/ Butter ) + $4.00 small Diet/Zero ( w/ Barq's & Cherry flavors ) Coke = $18.25

auditorium: 11

seat: 4th row, 10th column

synopsis: A disfigured dead sex offender, Freddy Krueger ( Jackie Earle Haley ), is out for revenge as he stalks his victims in their sleep.

noteworthy scenes: 1.) Springwood Diner; 2.) Funeral; 3.) Picture; 4.) Attic; 5.) Classroom; 6.) Same dream; 7.) Preschool; 8.) Wake up! 9.) Nancy's room; 10.) Cops; 11.) Jail cell; 12.) Powell's book store; 13.) Boiler room; 14.) Cell mate; 15.) Pied piper; 16.) Connection; 17.) Bath tub; 18.) Snow; 19.) My number one; 20.) Badham Preschool class picture; 21.) Fred Krueger; 22.) Memories don't kill you; 23.) Swimming pool; 24.) Angry mob; 25.) Video blog; 26.) "I know what happened to Freddy"; 27.) Confrontation with dad; 28.) Body bag; 29.) Drug store; 30.) Cigarette lighter; 31.) Emergency room; 32.) Epinephrine; 33.) Back to preschool; 34.) Special place; 35.) Polaroid pictures; 36.) Wet dream; 37.) "You're in my world now, bitch"; 38.) Fire; and 39.) Mirror.

audience reaction: The audience enjoyed this movie.

recommendation: It's good enough for a "scary movie" thrill, but just barely.

spoiler alert! Why did Freddy wait until all the kids were teens before he started attacking them? He could have easily disposed of them had he attacked them sooner. When Freddy ran the blade across the wall, the wrong Sound Effect was used. Since Nancy ( Rooney Mara ) got Freddy back into the physical world, why didn't she torch the body? The mirror attack didn't make sense at all!

fyi: I had a crush on the original Nancy, Heather Langenkamp. I wrote her a fan letter and she responded. But only once. I never heard from her again. She probably put a restraining order on me.

Jackie Earle Haley's latest film projects in which he has more screen time, i.e. LITTLE CHILDREN ( 2006 ), WATCHMEN ( 2009 ) and, now, this movie all have to do with pedophiles. Is he type-casting himself? I hope not 'cause he's a really good actor.

This Freddy Krueger has a more authentic-looking burn victim face than the original one.

word of advice: Don't wake someone up who's having a nightmare unless you want a peaceful night's sleep.

tidbits: When Kris ( Katie Cassidy ) became bloody, a little girl in the audience said, "Eyew!" And everybody laughed when they should have been frightened.

Thomas Dekker looks like a Zac Efron clone.