HELLO, LOVE, GOODBYE, NR ( 1 hr & 57 min )

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I went to see this movie on Monday, August 19th, 2019, here in Vallejo, CA, for the 10:30 a.m. show in auditorium 3, seat B-6. The price of admission was $6.25. And I bought a discount Popcorn w/ Butter ( $4.00 ) and a discount Medium Fountain Drink ( $4.00 ) at the concessions counter.

Quickie Review: Joy ( Kathryn Bernardo ), a Pilipina nursing school graduate, is forced to work as a DH ( domestic help ) in Hong Kong while she saves money for an immigrant visa so that she can go work in Canada as a nurse and petition for her family to join her there. Her plan is put into jeopardy as she crosses paths with a seeming lothario expat, Ethan ( Alden Richards ), who works as a bartender, as he waits for his Hong Kong residency to be approved.

I liked this movie. And so did the rest of the audience. But I couldn't help but wonder if Joy was going to pull a "woman's prerogative" stunt on Alden. After all, he had it coming .... Yeah, Karma is a Bitch.

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It's strange that I should come upon this name, Alden. To the best of my knowledge, I was the only one privy to this name since I made it up for the male protagonist of a Sword & Sorcery novel that I started back in 1980. And, YES! it's still in its 1st draft, even after all of these years ( 'just gathering dust ). Why ...? Because The Female Protagonist Dies At The End! And I cannot go back to reliving all of the bad emotions that I went through to force myself to kill-off her character since it was the only way for the story to have a denouement. Just thinking about it now is making me sad and it's also making my eyes well with tears.    😭 😭 😭 

It's no wonder then that many writers lead such depressing lives! If you can't handle the emotional roller coaster that's part and parcel of certain types of fiction writing, you have no business creating things that will just emotionally overwhelm you at the end. 'Sad but True.

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ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD / CLARITA

R, 2 h & 39 m

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I went to see the 8:40 p.m. advanced screening of this movie last night, July 25th, 2019, here in Vallejo, CA, at the Century 14 Vallejo, in auditorium 12, seat B-6. The price of admission was $9.00. And I bought a special discount Medium Drink for $4.00 and a medium Buttered Popcorn for $6.50 at the concessions counter.

Quickie Review: A former TV Western actor, Rick Dalton ( Leonardo DiCaprio ), and his best friend/stuntman, Cliff Booth ( Brad Pitt ), are having a hard time landing jobs in the late '60s Hollywood.

I, and the rest of the audience, liked this movie. My favorite scene was the Fight Scene between Cliff and Bruce Lee ( Mike Moh ).  👍

Heads Up: This movie, just like INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS, is set in an alternate reality with a feel-good ending.   😉

I don't know why only female stars were shown snoring while asleep.   🤷🏽‍♂️

The actress who played the role of Pussycat ( Margaret Qually ) sure has very thick & hairy armpits!   😲

And the would-be killer in the swimming pool could have easily gone under water for protection.   😕

There's a Cigarette Ad Scene during the Ending Credits that has a funny ending.   😊

I was truly disappointed that this movie didn't have a dedication to Burt Reynolds. Burt was the one originally chosen to play the role of George Spahn ( of the Spahn Movie Ranch ), played in the movie by Bruce Dern. But Burt passed away before any of his scenes could be shot. 

Also, I thought that Philip Ng, of BIRTH OF THE DRAGON fame, was picked by Quentin Tarantino to play the part of Bruce Lee.    

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NR, 1 h & 25 m

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I went to see the 12:55 p.m. showing of this movie today, July 26th, 2019, here in Vallejo, CA, at the Century 14 Vallejo, in auditorium 10, seat B-7. The price of admission was $6.25. And I bought a special discount Medium Drink for $4.00 and a Medium Cheddar Popcorn for $8.50 at the concessions counter.

Quickie Revview: A young woman, Clarita ( Jodi Sta. Maria ), believed to be demonically possessed, is confined to an institution. A photo journalist, Emilia Henson ( Alyssa Muhlach ), records the exorcism being performed by two priests.

What I think about this movie: If it came out in the early '70s before THE EXORCIST was shown, it would have been a scary movie! But so many horror movies involving demonic possessions and exorcisms have come and gone since then that horror movie fans are now jaded and no longer fall for the same ol', same ol' trope.   😕

Maybe, Hollywood needs me to breathe new life into this clichéd genre.  😊

To its credit, though, it cuts to the chase early on, with some flashbacks here and there.  👍

I've mentioned this before. But horror movies based on true stories about demonic possession center around catholics. I don't think that this is just mere coincidence!


http://strangecatholic.weebly.com/blog/the-clarita-villanueva-case-possession-or-hoax


P.S. Don't buy the Cheddar Popcorn! It's $2.00 more expensive AND it doesn't taste that good. Stick with Buttered Popcorn!

SHAFT, R ( 1 hr & 51 min ) / THE DEAD DON'T DIE, R ( 1 hr & 43 min )

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I went to see this on Bargain Tuesday, June 6th, 2019, in Napa, CA, at the Century Napa Valley & X-D, for the 7:40 p.m. showing in auditorium 6, D-11. The price of admission was $6.75. And I bought a discount medium popcorn ( $4.00 ) and a discount medium Mr. Pibb softdrink ( $4.00 - $1.00 coupon ) at the concessions counter.

Quickie Review: Jay Jay ( Jessie T. Usher ), an FBI analyst, enlists the aid of his father ( Samuel L. Jackson ), a private detective, to help solve the untimely death of his friend.

I honestly didn't think that I would like this movie. But I sorta did. So did a few others in the audience who gave this movie a "Hands Clapper" ending.

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I went to see this movie at 10:25 p.m., after I saw the 1st movie, in auditorium 9, C-7. The price of admission was the same. And I didn't buy anything at the concessions counter because I still had half a cup of soda left and I was still full from the popcorn.

Quickie Review: Because of polar shift  😕  , the dead turn into zombies and prey on the living.

Here Are The Things Wrong In This Movie: The character names for Tilda Swinton and Rosie Perez lacked creativity. One of the grave markers says that the interred died in 1907 (?)--shouldn't the corpse then be nothing but bones? The two people in the hardware store had plenty of time, before the zombies arrived, to climb on top of the roof or climb higher up into the trees where they wouldn't have been seen by the zombies.Why didn't the hermit help out? In the last stand, the chief of police could have gotten the samurai and used it. Both the machete and the samurai could have been used to cut-off a leg from each of the zombies; then, they could have had an easy time of decapitating each one of the zombies. Or ... they could just have strolled away from the one-legged zombies in a leisurely manner. Why did some of the victims turn into zombies right away but others took more than a day to turn?

Wait for this gosh-awful movie to become a DVD rental. Or, better yet, forget about this movie. It's a sure waste of time and money!  👎

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I had to go to BofA first to get some money at the ATM. When I was done, a stranger came up to me and asked to borrow my pen. I said, No. He got upset. Hey, I was just watching out for myself. There was no security guard present since the bank was already closed. And there was no way that I was gonna have a stranger get too close to me right after I had gotten some money from my account!

I don't know why people don't carry their own pens with them. I've been carrying a pen with me for over 30 years now--that, and a watch--in case of emergencies, to note down the time and location.

Then, I swung by the Arco Gas Station to buy some lottery tickets, and to get a $6.00 car wash as my 2002 Saturn SC-1 car was covered in bird poop and tree sap!

I wanted to catch the 30th Anniversary showing of, FIELD OF DREAMS. But I arrived at the theatre 28 minutes too late!


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JOHN WICK 3, PARABELLUM, R ( 2 hr & 11 min )

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I went to see this here in Vallejo, CA, on Wednesday, May 29th, 2019, at the Century 14 Vallejo, for the 4:25 p.m. show in auditorium 2, B-6. The price of admission was $6.25. And I bought a small Popcorn ( $8.50 ) and a discount medium Root Beer ( $4.00 ) at the concessions counter.

Quickie Review:John Wick ( Keanu Reeves ) is excommunicado for killing a bad guy in a neutral zone. With a 15 million dollar bounty on his head, he is in for the fight of his life!

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I think that the fight scene with the horses was the best.

Arguably, the best of the three John Wick movies! I don't know how--and if--they can top this in part 4. I didn't like part 2 that much.

Someone made a meme poster which says that John Wick has killed more people than Jason Voorhees and Michael Myers combined!

Speaking of 4, this is the 4th time that I saw this movie. It's worth the price of a Popcorn & a Soda!

The last scene of The Adjudicator ( Asia Kate Dillon ), in close-up, shows that she has whiskers on her upper lip and 2 or 3 hair strands sticking out of her left cheek!    😲   The make-up artist forgot to shave her! Initially, I was thinking to myself that if the adjudicator had longer hair, had make-up on, and had those 2 growths on the right side of her face taken care of, she'd be one hot babe! But, then, reality set in and I went back to her glaring last scene.    ☹️    Hmm ... she probably has hairy armpits, too!     🤔

I went and bought a ticket for Thursday's advanced screening of, GODZILLA: KING OF THE MONSTERS ( $12.75 ).     😊


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CHANDIGARH, AMRITSAR, CHANDIGARH/MUKLAWA/ALADDIN

NR ( 1 hr & 47 min ) 1:30 p.m. show. Auditorium 12, seat C-7 

A girl from Chandigarh ( Sargun Mehta ) goes to Amritsar to call-off a wedding to an unknown groom. She ends up spending a complicated day with Rajveer ( Gippy Gerwal ), an Amritsar boy.

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NR ( 2 hr & 5 min ) 4:20 p.m. show. Auditorium 15, seat C-7 

It was a tradition back in the day for the bride to stay with her family for up to a year after her marriage. And the groom was not allowed to even be in his bride's village for the whole duration, let alone get a glimpse of her face. But Shinda ( Ammy Virk ) is determined to be with his new wife, Taaro ( Sonam Bajwa ).

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PG ( 2 hr & 8 min ) 7:30 p.m. show. Auditorium  7, seat B-9

Aladdin ( Mena Massoud ), a street-wise thief, joins forces with a wise-cracking Genie ( Will Smith ) to save Princess Jasmine's ( Naomi Scott ) kingdom from the evil Jafar ( Marwan Kenzari ).

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I went to see these 3 movies in Richmond, CA, on Tuesday, May 28th, 2019, at the Century 16 Hilltop. The price of admission for each show was $5.75. And I bought a 20.0 oz bottle of Dasani Water ( $4.35 ) for the 1st two shows and a discount soda ( $4:00 ) & a discount popcorn ( $4.50 ) for the 3rd show.

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I had lunch first at the Yome Garden Buffet Restaurant, a few blocks away. This is the only chinese restaurant that I know of that doesn't give anyone a fortune cookie! What's up with that?!?!?!    😠

There were only 3 people, I and a white couple, that came to watch this Chandigarh, Amritsar movie.

But the Muklawa movie was almost packed! Only the front row was unoccupied.  The audience liked this movie.

The Aladdin movie was even more packed, with some front row seats taken! The audience gave this movie a "Hands Clapper" ending.

In between the 2 Bollywood ( Pollywood? ) movies, I lay down on a hallway bench to stretch and lengthen my spine because of my lower back problem. After I was done, I started to sit up and, right away, I pulled a muscle! I've been on disability for 5 months now. I will have to have another month added to my disability leave. On the bright side, I am within 6 to 5 inches from touching the floor with my fingertips. Back in January & February, I couldn't even get closer than 12 inches to touching the floor!

There was a really long line at the concessions counter when I stood in the queue for my discount popcorn and discount soda before the start of the Aladdin movie. There were about 40 people ahead in line of me. When I got my popcorn, the line had gotten much longer. I think that there were about 80 people standing patiently in line. I asked the movie patron behind me if this was normal for a Discount Tuesday evening. He said that it was! Note To Myself: Bring snacks with you if you go see movies at the Century 16 Hilltop on Bargain Tuesdays! I swear, it doesn't get anywhere this bad on a Bargain Tuesday at the Century 14 Vallejo.

While watching the Aladdin movie, I couldn't help but wonder why Jasmine kept calling her pet tiger, "Roger."   😕    Over an hour later, I realized that I was hearing it wrong ( perhaps? ). Raja was the name, as it turned out!    😀    I need to do a better job of cleaning-out my 👂 ears 👂!     🤣 🤣 🤣

I guess that you can call today my "Turban Tuesday Movies" day.    😉



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