THE FIGHTER, R ( 1 hr & 54 min )

where: CENTURY 14 VALLEJO in Vallejo, CA
when: Monday, December 20th, 2010
show: 10:35 p.m.
costs: $9.75 Ticket + $6.00 Snack Pack ( w/ a Dollar Upgrade for a Reese's Peanut Butter Cups ) = $15.75
auditorium: 2
seat: 4th row, 3rd seat

synopsis/overview: A fighter, Mickey Ward ( Mark Wahlberg ), who still has potential must step away from the shadow and bad influence of his older half brother, Dicky Eklund ( Christian Bale ), a has-been fighter, and his overbearing mother, Alice ( Melissa Leo ), for a shot at a title fight.

prediction: This movie is a strong contender for Oscars in the Best Actor and the Best Actress categories.

noteworthy scenes: 1.) TV documentary; 2.) Boxing gym; 3.) Crack-house; 4.) Bar; 5.) Visiting his daughter; 6.) Fetching Dicky at the crack-house; 7.) Alternate fight; 8.) Training proposal; 9.) Movie date; 10.) "The joke was on me"; 11.) Family discussion with Charlene ( Amy Adams ) present; 12.) Cambodian people; 13.) Movie about crack addiction; 14.) Police impersonation; 15.) Arrest; 16.) Courthouse; 17.) "Let her see who her uncle is"; 18.) The wake-up call; 19.) "No Dicky, no Alice"; 20.) The husband and wife fight; 21.) The girl fight; 22.) On the comeback trail; 23.) Prison visit; 24.) Sanchez vs. Ward; 25.) Locker room; 26.) Spar; 27.) Cake; 28.) "Let's make things right"; 29.) Ward vs. Neary; 30.) We; and 31.) Bonus scene during the Ending Credits.

favorite scenes: I liked the scene with the frying pan.

I also liked the girl-fight scene.

audience reaction: I really didn't hear anything from the others who were in the auditorium with me.

recommendation: I liked this movie. Go see it.

spoiler alert! I would have sued based on police brutality and excessive use of force. The bald spot on the back of Dicky's head looked very rectangular in the scene when he walked out of prison.

fyi: Dicky Eklund never reformed. He was in trouble with the law again just last year. And he had run-ins with the law in the years prior to that, too!

word of advice: Sometimes, it's your own family that's holding you back.

tidbits: The concessions clerk handed me the cup that goes with the snack pack so I could fill it with whatever drink I wanted to put in it. And I said to myself, Great, he gave me the cup so he could have all that room in the box to load me up good on popcorn. But when he handed me the pack and I looked in, I found out that he had left the cup holder area free of any popcorn! What a rip---! I mean ... it was late at night and they would be closing down the concessions area in about 30 minutes or less, and they couldn't give me extra popcorn?!?!?! WTF...? They would just be throwing the rest of the popcorn in the garbage anyway. What a cheapskate! Bad customer service, was what it was.

And as if that was not bad enough, they started the movie 15 to 20 minutes late! Geesh ....

YOGI BEAR 3-D, PG ( 1 hr & 25 min )

where: CENTURY 14 VALLEJO in Vallejo, CA
when: Friday, December 17th, 2010
show: 8:10 p.m.
costs: $13.75 Ticket + $6.00 Snack Pack ( upgraded with Reese's Peanut Butter Cups ) + $10.32 Carne Asada Nachos w/ small Pineapple drink ( @ Baldo's Restaurant on Redwood Street after the show ) = $30.07
auditorium: 8, with the 3-D screen
seat: 5th row, 9th column

synopsis/overview: Yogi Bear ( voiced by Dan Aykroyd ) and Ranger Smith ( Tom Cavanagh ) must cast their differences aside and work together to preserve Jellystone Park and keep it safe from a "Land-Grab Scheme."

noteworthy scenes: 1.) Slow motion; 2.) Protect and preserve; 3.) On target; 4.) The land-grab scheme; 5.) Nature documentary filmmaker, Rachel ( Anna Faris ); 6.) Baked beans; 7.) Shoot you; 8.) Boo-Boo ( voiced by Justin Timberlake ) cam; 9.) Bad news; 10.) Basket Nabber 2000; 11.) Repercussions; 12.) Dinner date; 13.) Park donation box; 14.) "I don't care"; 15.) Jellystone 100th Anniversary; 16.) "I can't wait 12 years"; 17.) Doughnut; 18.) Razzle-dazzle; 19.) "The mic is on"; 20.) Water-skiing; 21.) Fireworks; 22.) "How smart are you now"; 23.) "You both deserve a better man than me"; 24.) Foraging for food; 25.) Evergreen park; 26.) Busy foraging; 27.) "Just getting started"; 28.) Shopping cart; 29.) "You don't want me to go gorilla on you"; 30.) Turtle; 31.) Basket snatch; 32.) Flotation device; 33.) Rapids and falls; 34.) Pressed for time; 35.) "I'm sorry, he was open"; 36.) Diversion; 37.) Evidence; 38.) Bear hug; 39.) Himalayan Snow Leopard; and 40.) The kiss.

favorite scenes: The Slow-Motion Scene.

Rachel trying to engage the bears in Brown Bear Speak.

The Boo-Boo-not-wanting-Yogi-to-jump-over-him Scene.

The Doughnut in Outer Space Scene.

audience reaction: The audience enjoyed the 3-D "sight gags."

recommendation: This movie is cute but is not as funny as I had hoped that it would be. I don't know which is to blame here: Bad directing, bad scripting and/or bad acting. Anyway, it's good for little brats who like movies with talking animals in it, especially if one such creature is cute, little Boo-Boo Boy.

spoiler alert! This 3-D movie does not feature Anna Faris' character in a skimpy "HOUSE BUNNY" bikini! ( For some reason, the Playboy Bunnies' stretching-exercises-on-the-lawn Scene comes to mind---Opps! I forget, this is a PG movie .... Excuse me. ) Two bipedal talking bears ... I don't know what would be more crowd-pulling/pleasing than that! The park is State-owned ( perhaps, even Federally-owned ) property. No city/town official has authority over it. Ranger Smith has bad comic timing and bad comic acting skills. Ranger Smith is the "Leaden Sandwich Surprise" in Yogi Bear's Pic-a-Nic basket. The TV cartoon show Ranger Smith has more facial expressions than this live actor Ranger Smith. The fireworks was planned for a daytime display? The transition to nighttime during the fireworks was too fast.

fyi: I live right outside a city park that is just across a small lake from the Marine World Amusement Park. Every July 4th and New Year's Eve, the amusement park would put on a fireworks display. People would crowd the city park just to see the fireworks. I went to it once, but that was it for me.

word of advice: After you've seen it once, you've seen it all.

tidbits: As I made my way up to the box office to buy my ticket, I could hear a couple of women having a screaming match at each other about 50 yards away.

After the movie, I decided to try Baldo's Carne Asada Nachos. I didn't like it that much. Ten years ago, I used to eat Carne Asada Nachos on my lunch break at a restaurant at the Northgate Shopping Center, a few doors down from the Terra Linda Safeway, in San Rafael, CA. Their nachos are much better than Baldo's.

THE TOURIST, PG-13 ( 1 hr & 43 min )

where: UA EMERY BAY STADIUM 10 in Emeryville, CA
when: Saturday, December 11th, 2010
show: 8:00 p.m.
costs: $10.75 Ticket + $7.00 medium Popcorn w/ Butter + $0.00 small Diet Coke ( Free Reward on my Movie Watcher Card ) + $5.00 Carquinez Bridge Toll = $22.75
auditorium: 7
seat: 4th row, 6th column

synopsis/overview: An American tourist, Frank Tupelo ( Johnny Depp ), in Italy meets a mysterious beautiful woman, Elise Clifton-Ward ( Angelina Jolie )--and not by accident.

noteworthy scenes: 1.) The letter; 2.) Train; 3.) Exact match; 4.) Mole; 5.) "Gracias"; 6.) "Ravenous"; 7.) Roman god, Janus; 8.) "Did he not like my choice"; 9.) Invitation; 10.) Rooftop; 11.) "Probably American"; 12.) "De nada"; 13.) "Wait here for a moment"; 14.) Boat chase; 15.) 2.3 billion; 16.) Custom-tailored jacket; 17.) "Because I kissed you"; 18.) The bag; 19.) I. D. clearance; 20.) "I wish I could understand your choice in men"; 21.) Cigarette; 22.) The dance; 23.) "Por favor"; 24.) 744 million; 25.) "We're live"; 26.) "She went dark"; 27.) Medallion; 28.) "He does look a little like you"; 29.) "Let me handle this"; 30.) "Permission granted"; 31.) Texts; 32.) The cheque; and 33.) The 20 million dollar question.

audience reaction: The audience enjoyed this "playful romp" of a "cat and mouse" Thriller movie and gave it a "Hands Clapper" ending.

recommendation: I liked it, too.

spoiler alert! It's all about glitz and glamor for Angelina Jolie's character, as the movie painstakingly puts in the effort to highlight these. And in-between action sequences, there is a lot of "goo-goo eyes" filler; too much of it for a Thriller, if I may say so myself. I don't think that it's that easy to guesstimate the height and built of someone who's seated at a table. The bad guy had already started to slice the rope; so when the other boat tugged on it, it should have snapped. The bad guy should have sensed what was about to happen and would then have been able to keep himself from being strangled to death--that strangle-hold was an easy one to get out of. Of course, there were other bad guys in the room, too, who would have been ordered to shoot at him should he manage to break free of the hold. I guess, either way, he was "dead-meat"! Had they dug deeper into his records, they would have come up empty-handed and finally gotten their man.

fyi: My sister in Michigan received a package from me three days ago. In it, I included Angelina Jolie's novelty driver's license card. So, next time my sister gets pulled over by a cop for over-speeding, she can have an easier time of it by convincing the officer that she is actually Angelina in disguise. Ha, ha, ha.

word of advice: When in Rome, do as the Romans do.

tidbits: As I crossed the bridge at just before 7:30 p.m. on my way to Emeryville, an ambulance was at a toll booth lane in the opposite direction. Maybe a driver lost control and hit a barrier or something ....

I snuck one-and-a-half pizza sticks into the theatre with me, my left-over lunch at work. And I had in mind to only buy a drink at the concession counter. But, I hadn't had dinner yet. And since I got the drink for free, I figured that I might as well buy some popcorn to satisfy my hunger. But I should just have gotten a small bag of popcorn since eating it kept me from taking better notes of the scenes.

After the movie, I swung by my former place of employment in North Oakland just to say, "Hi!" to everybody. And when I got back to Vallejo, I went to a 24-hour store first to do a bit of shopping.

THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: THE VOYAGE OF THE DAWN TREADER, 3-D PG ( 1 hr & 52 min )

where: CENTURY 14 VALLEJO in Vallejo, CA
when: Friday, December 10th, 2010
show: 11:00 a.m. ( Extra Dollar Off First Show Matinee )
costs: $9.75 Ticket + $4.50 Pretzel Bites + $4.00 small Diet/Zero ( w/ Barq's & Cherry flavors ) Coke = $18.25
auditorium: 8, with the 3-D screen
seat: 6th row, 9th column

synopsis/overview: Lucy ( Georgie Henley ) and Edmund ( Skandar Keynes ), along with their unsuspecting bratty cousin, Eustace ( Will Poulter ), are drawn back to Narnia and join Prince Caspian ( Ben Barnes ) on the royal vessel, The Dawn Treader, on a journey in search of the seven missing lords with magic swords.

noteworthy scenes: 1.) Recruitment center; 2.) The painting; 3.) The Dawn Treader; 4.) The seven lords of Lone Islands; 5.) "I don't think he has a cute of anything"; 6.) Slave traders; 7.) One of the seven; 8.) Green mist; 9.) Rescue; 10.) Encrusted sword; 11.) Diary; 12.) Extra crew member; 13.) The invisible Dufflepuds; 14.) House of the Oppressor; 15.) Book of Incantations; 16.) Big Foot; 17.) Coriakin ( Bille Brown ), the Magician; 18.) "Wish yourself away"; 19.) Bad dreams; 20.) "I heard that"; 21.) Lake of Gold; 22.) Treasure hoard; 23.) The Dragon; 24.) "Extraordinary things happen to extraordinary people"; 25.) The Blue Star; 26.) The merfolk warning; 27.) Tow; 28.) Dining table; 29.) Liliandil ( Laura Brent ); 30.) Dark Island; 31.) Peter's sword; 32.) Sea serpent: 33.) Reepicheep's ( Simon Pegg ) pep talk; 34.) The Dragon and Aslan ( Liam Neeson ); 35.) The seven swords; 36.) The boats; 37.) Sea of white lilies; 38.) The wall of waves; 39.) "I promise to be a better king"; 40.) Tearful Goodbyes; and 41.) Back in the bedroom.

favorite scenes: I liked the scene where they were in a rowboat in a sea of lilies.

I liked the wall of waves, too.

And I liked the transformation from "soaking wet" to "completely dry" in the bedroom.

audience reaction: The audience liked this.

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

spoiler alert! The slave trader could have easily hit Prince Caspian with his sword as the prince swung toward him on a rope. Lucy's footsteps in "The House of the Oppressor" were loud enough to have been easily heard by the magician. The sea serpent, for its immense size, could have easily destroyed The Dawn Treader. When Edmund thrust the sword in the roof of the sea serpent's mouth, the action/reaction movement didn't look real enough. In one particular shot, Aslan's face didn't look "liony" enough. This movie is not a faithful translation of the novel that it's based on.

fyi: Many years ago, when my family still lived in Oakland, CA, I experienced a strange occurrence. It was a little after 1:00 p.m. I was taking a nap on the couch, by the front window, in the living room. On our porch was the next door neighbor's five-year old granddaughter playing with our kittens. It was the noise that she was making, and the sound of traffic on Fruitvale Avenue, which awakened me.

Through half-opened eyes, I noticed in the far corner of the ceiling in the adjoining dining room a bright spot of light. The spot of light moved down diagonally toward the doorway between the two rooms. And as it did, it grew bigger and bigger and metamorphosed into a young woman wearing a Victorian dress and with her hair up in a bun. In her right hand was a candlestick with a lit candle on it. And as she stood there, she looked from side to side at the floor as if in search of something.

I was scared of it and just laid there pretending to be fast asleep! Meanwhile, the little girl was still on our porch playing with the kittens. What was so strange about this apparition was that it bore a striking resemblance to my eldest sister. Perhaps, the facial similarity lessened my fear of it.

Then, it slowly dematerialized back into a ball of light which got smaller and smaller as it floated back up to the far corner of the ceiling which is partitioned-off from the kitchen ceiling. There, the small, bright spot of light vanished.

Feeling worried, I wrote ( this was before e-mail ) to my sister to tell her about the supernatural event and to ask her if everything was okay with her. She was fine, she said in her return letter.

Maybe if I get enough money someday, I'll buy that old house and tear-up the floor to see if anything is hidden down there.

word of advice: "Be just vhat you is, not vhat you is not. Folks vhat do zis are ze happiest lot." ( Mr. Wizard, the Lizard's, oft-repeated advice to the "deaf-eared" Tooter Turtle )

"Some have greatness thrust upon them." ( Shakespeare )

tidbits: I decided to go to Ihaw-Ihaw Filipino Buffet, on Springs Road here in Vallejo, after the show because I haven't been to that eatery in over a year.

As I was eating, someone came in talking on his cellphone. The busboy asked him if it was an I-Phone. To which the man said, "No, I would never want to have an Apple anywhere on my body." The busboy asked, "Why?" And he answered, "You don't want to know. Believe me."

He should just have come out and said it, whatever it was, because his statement just made everybody in that room all the more curious about his experience with a "rotten" Apple!

A while later, another male patron and the two busboys talked about last week's rape of a little girl in Union City, CA, inside the Dollar Tree Store, in one of the aisles during business hours! That serial rapist needs to have his penis and testicles cut-off--forget all that psychotherapy B.S.!

THE WARRIOR'S WAY, R ( 1 hr & 40 min )

where: CENTURY 14 VALLEJO in Vallejo, CA
when: Friday, December 3rd, 2010
show: 4:50 p.m.
costs: $7.50 Ticket + $4.50 medium Diet/Zero ( w/ Barq's & Cherry flavors ) Coke = $12.00
auditorium: 13
seat: 7th row, 9th column

synopsis/overview: An assassin (Jang Dong-gun ) has a change of heart and becomes the number one target of his own clan. He flees to the American Wild West to start a new life. But he is pursued by his fellow assassins as he helps a rag-tag community fight-off the henchmen of an evil Colonel ( Danny Huston ).

noteworthy scenes: 1.) The reflection in the water; 2.) Baby; 3.) Roadside eatery; 4.) Wild west town of Lode; 5.) Laundry house punks; 6.) Circus; 7.) Learning time; 8.) Scars; 9.) Execution; 10.) Blindfolded; 11.) The frowning baby; 12.) Sad flute; 13.) Sailboat; 14.) Sword training; 15.) Soap bubbles; 16.) Christmas party; 17.) "Did that stop your heart"; 18.) Party crashers; 19.) Bound and gagged; 20.) Dental inspection; 21.) Blown cover; 22.) The sound of the sword; 23.) To the rescue; 24.) Wrong target; 25.) The stash; 26.) Drunk man's ( Geoffrey Rush ) secret; 27.) "Places to kill your enemy"; 28.) Dynamites; 29.) Ferris Wheel; 30.) Swordsmen vs. gunslingers; 31.) Revenge; 32.) "Wear something naughty"; 33.) Master vs. protege; 34.) "They have to listen for this to cry, not her"; and 35.) "It's free."

favorite scenes: The frowning baby.

The one in which the drunk examined the sniper rifle. I've never seen that kind of old sniper rifle before. It looked simple but in a good way.

I liked how when the drunk interrupted the target shooting just so he could have a free drink.

audience reaction: There were some laughs here and there. So, I guess that the audience found this entertaining.

recommendation: Last year's NINJA ASSASSIN was a little better. Wait for this to come out as a rental.

spoiler alert! The "fly-by-wire" from under the water is visually stunning but, nonetheless, is just plain ol' bull. Some of the sword fights were just hokey. Heck, I wouldn't trust someone who's blindfolded like that! What was with all that dental inspection? It was not clearly explained. That knife that she ( Kate Bosworth ) threw at someone didn't look like a Throwing Knife at all--it didn't look like it was balanced for throwing use. When the Ferris Wheel exploded, they didn't dive for cover even though they were still near it. Two things will happen if you have a Gatling Gun propped on your shoulder while it's being fired: You'll go deaf and your shoulder will get burned; also, the spent cartridge shells falling out of the ejection port will burn your lower leg and, probably, your backside, too. Why would you train someone to become the deadliest assassin after you've killed his father before his very own eyes? When he moved to the new place ( Alaska? ), how were they able to track him down when they could only do so if he unsheathed his sword? Remember, in that new place, he had no occasion to use his sword for killing. He walked away from the wild west town with nothing but his sword. So, how did he end-up with a phonograph when he didn't take anybody with him to the new place? I'd like to know how long they were submerged in that ice water. ( Brrr ... fre-fre-freezing co-co-cold! )

fyi: In my Cultural Anthropology class, years ago, we watched a movie about Eskimos and their ingenious use of their limited resources. One of which was fish. They arrange fish, overlapping tail to head, in a straight line and wrap it up in leather. Then, they cut a hole in the ice and put the wrapped fish in the water until the whole thing freezes solid. Once solid, they unwrap the fish and use them as skis for their sleds. They work quite well; and they also serve as a reserve food supply, too!

word of advice: Question authority.

People slow down with age.

tidbits: After the movie, as I walked out of the men's room, a girl posed with the Justin Bieber cut-out poster as her girl friend took a picture. Sheesh!

Then, I went to Hancock Fabrics and to the Dollar Tree Store, both located at the Target Shopping Center, to buy some stuff.

And since I was low on gas, I swung by the Redwood Street Chevron Gas Station to buy $7.00 ( 2.21 gallons ) worth of gas.