Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, The First Omen, Monkey Man, Tesla Cybertruck & Imo’s Pizza

Finally, I saw a Cybertruck out in the wild. It was at a Walmart earlier today, of all places. In person, it’s still ugly! I don’t care for Elon personally but Tesla vehicles (and most electric vehicles) are pretty cool… although still flawed and it will take a LONG time before it’s practical for a lot of people. Tesla seems to not be as well-built the more they have become popular-I see them in Florida constantly-as searching for Cybertruck just now revealed several different bad news stories of them stopping sales, software errors, and them breaking down.

So far, my April hasn’t been too eventful. I’ve mainly visited new locations of restaurants I’ve been to before (such as the new Pollo Campero that is on Orange Avenue right by Michigan Avenue), a Denny’s for the first time in a few years (even they have raised their prices) and two downtown Clermont bars for the first time in more than a year. That was nice, although the rest of the month should have more for me to discuss. Those not familiar with Imo’s Pizza, they are from St. Louis and offer their product with what they call Provel cheese-provolone, cheddar and Swiss. They now offer frozen pizza at Winn-Dixie, which I already had. It was… interesting but not bad.

In any event, I’ll close this out by mentioning a trio of movies I saw.as of late:

Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire was the same as the other movies in the MonsterVerse that began w/ Kong: Skull Island… meaning it was silly yet fun popcorn entertainment. Of course it’s drastically different from Godzilla Minus One but both can be enjoyed for what they are. The humor did not always land yet I still liked the film, especially on an IMAX screen.

Monkey Man: Oh boy—a lot of film fans went wild for the movie, but not me. It was a slow and ponderous drama for the most part (the trailers were misleading) and when there was action, it was mostly shot in an incoherent manner. The two hour movie felt like five; my crowd was not digging it, including several looking at their watches to see when it would end. Afterwards, as I disposed of my garbage, an older Black man told me and no one else (because I was the only one nearby) “Never in my whole life have I wanted a movie to end!” and I said I agreed. The conversation did not progress past that but my comment was just a tiny bit hyperbolic. I have viewed worse theatrically and films that felt like they would never end. However, it was quite disappointing so don’t listen to the hype.

The First Omen: What a shame that I had to leave the AMC at Disney Springs due to an awful audience full of brain-dead people constantly dead-eyed looking at their phones and also flapping their jowls. I was NOT happy, especially because the horror film wasn’t either one of those pretentious “elevated horror” pieces of twaddle that do little for me or the PG-13 movies that are just totally lame. The Exorcist: Believer was unbelievably bad so what a shock that this movie was actually pretty good. To clarify, once I left in a huff and got away from the disastrous screening, the movie was seen in full by me at my local cinema in Clermont, where the experience was much better.

But back to The First Omen. It tried to be a serious 70’s or 80’s horror, with homages that hardcore buffs will know. It had some legitimate scares, even. I refuse to believe that NELL TIGER FREE was born with that name as how preposterous would that be… in any case, she was great as the lead so no complaints there.

I should return in a few weeks’ time. By then I should have a few adventures to discuss.

Easter, Love Lies Bleeding, Mountain Dew Baja Point Break Punch, Potbelly Sandwich Works & Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire

On this Easter Sunday, I had the time to do one of these. Not too much to share during this update, but despite some ups and downs, nothing too negative to mention and I really shouldn't complain, all things considered. My Easter was & will be spent at home, relaxing. Some baseball has been watched since the full season began a few days ago. As for March, I visited some restaurants for the first time in awhile; new to the area was Potbelly Sandwich Works, a chain popular in the Midwest. They have decent sandwiches.

The one new to me location was The Legacy Restaurant at Nancy Lopez Country Club, up in The Villages. A relative was visiting so me and various people went to that relatively nice place for dinner. It was good food. Otherwise, March was a quiet month where not a lot happened. That is OK after how hectic February was at times. I did try the two new limited edition sodas from Mountain Dew (Point Break and Laguna Lemonade), which are both quite refreshing. Other than that... the rest will be me discussing some random movies I saw theatrically.

Love Lies Bleeding was that rather peculiar romantic movie featuring Kristen Stewart, the buff Katy O'Brian and a hilarious-looking Ed Harris. It was rather odd (and set in 1989) but despite some odd fetishistic moments and an ending out of nowhere which almost lost me until the final scene allowed me to rationalize what it meant... it was something I enjoyed.

A few nights ago I saw a little horror movie designed for a niche audience... which I happened to be a part of. Late Night with the Devil was a found footage thing where the gimmick was that the viewers saw a faux 70's late night talk show where a possessed teenage girl was a guest—of course she eventually caused havoc. It did look and feel the part, but most importantly for me, a key character was right up my alley: someone obviously modeled on the late magician turned renowned skeptic James Randi, who debunked pseudoscience. As I know that lore pretty well and so did the filmmakers, they greatly targeted my esoteric tastes. Unfortunately, some people online had a massive overreaction and got upset that the movie used THREE AI images which were interstitials on the program. Yes the filmmakers shouldn't have done it as otherwise the world that humans created was authentic. At the same time, the calls for boycotts or bootlegging the movie (no, really) was way overblown and even now is just preposterous that they freaked out over something so minor. The film is great, but I'm not the most objective here.

Finally, I went to a place I hadn't visited in years (the CMX Plaza Cinema Cafe in downtown Orlando) to check out Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire. Some were curious so I felt obliged to. Afterlife was fine, although too dependent on nostalgia for the first movie. Frozen Empire was at least different and not as nostalgic. Still, it was overstuffed w/ plot & characters and as I think too often w/ modern movies, the humor did not always land. Overall, though, the movie was fine. Plenty of lousy modern movies are out there, so I'm happy when a movie does enough well to just be fine. As for the Plaza Cinema Cafe... there's no reason for me to return. The service was only OK; that doesn't even include the giant pile of spilled popcorn in my auditorium from a previous screening that no one bothered to clean up. It wasn't a surprise that I was the only one at this screening.

I'll return sometime in April. The month will be busier, I am pretty confident in thinking that.

Dune: Part Two, Summer House on the Lake, Fatburger, Coca Cola Spiced & Daddy's Chicken Shack

My March may be relatively dull; at least February was quite eventful. First off, I was able to see Dune: Part Two last night. I've never read the novels but the David Lynch version from the 80's is fine and Part One from 2021 I really enjoyed. Well, Part Two is even better, a misgiving or two about the plot aside. Viewing it on a giant screen is preferable, if possible. The spectacle, the acting, the mature plot, the characters, the action, the destruction, the score... it's all great.

Several restaurants new to me were visited. Via reading an article concerning Jack in the Box coming to the area (one day), the people who will manage that also brought in a chain new to me: the memorably-named Daddy's Chicken Shack. It was a quick service place in Lake Mary which makes fine food. I won't be able to visit often but at least it was not a letdown. Way down on the southern tip of Celebration (visited on a night where I went to Old Town for a bit) was Fatburger; long ago they had one in Clearwater for a short amount of time before going away. Not my favorite burger yet overall the food was still fine & in the future I'll try one of their shakes. Speaking of beverages, the new limited edition Coca Cola Spiced is out; “spiced raspberry” is at least traditional compared to their outside the box flavors they've had in recent years, and is pretty decent.

Before I go-likely only to return late in the month-I'll mention the new restaurant at Disney Springs: Summer House on the Lake, right by the AMC. It has “California” food, meaning “pasta and a few other items.” It looked nice, has decent service, the price isn't too bad by Disney standards and I actually went there twice: once on my own and the other w/ some other people. Both times I liked the food; the portions are a tad small but otherwise I can't complain.

Salt Shack, Alien Swirling Saucers, Madame Web, Citrus Tower & My Birthday

I'll post a continuation of this the next day. Yes, plenty will have to be mentioned, mostly due to having both family and a family friend down here the latter half of February, the friend longer than the family. Fun was had, although it was for certain exhausting. One detail that was reinforced: too many restaurants have fallen off due to the pandemic. I'm referring to both the food and the service. Those places won't be mentioned by me out of the kindness of my heart.

Another detail that isn't a deal-breaker but is still unfortunate: the decision to have your restaurant play LOUD music for no good reason. This includes places like Raising Cane's (they opened a new location in the western half of Kissimmee) and Salt Shack, a new joint in Clermont which I knew nothing about as I'd never been to their original location in Tampa before. That is a shame as Cane's always has tasty chicken and Salt Shack had seafood that everyone enjoyed... that's where I chose to eat for my birthday. I'm now... well, let's just say “old!” Tomorrow, I'll mention several other restaurants which are worthy of compliments—or to use a phrase I understand is “popular” among “the youth”, deserve their flowers.

It was nice having that sister (the one who still lives in Illinois) down here with her beau and two young children. My niece is two so all she can call me is “Baa!” but it is adorable. With them, one morning in Clermont was visiting the Citrus Tower (my first time there since shortly after I moved down here) which offers nice views but little else, especially for the price it is at now and a breakfast restaurant known as Cheeser's Palace, which wasn't as good as most people proclaim it to be. An even more fun day was at Hollywood Studios; of course the kids loved such rides as the Alien Swirling Saucers and Mickey & Minnie's Runaway Railway. No one loved the now too-common issue of various attractions breaking down at Walt Disney World—alas. The Genie+ app and the general cost of Disney has rankled everyone, including at least one popular video on YouTube I saw several weeks ago.

Yes, last weekend I used my AMC A-List app to see the “masterpiece” that was Madame Web. It wasn't because I care about comic book movies-I don't-but rather plenty was already consumed by me concerning how bad the movie was. Turns out, it WAS quite bad, although amusingly so. What I plan on seeing soon should be MUCH better than that, although it is likely that will be discussed late March.

Jeni's Ice Cream, Out of Darkness, Taglilino Pasta & Level Up Lemonade

In the few hours before the Super Bowl begins, I have the time to mention a few things; might as well do it now as the back half of February will be full of activities. The game itself I could not possibly care less about (and I say this as someone who knows fans of both the 49'ers and Chiefs) but I'll make a prediction anyhow: San Francisco 22, Kansas City 21. Feel free to chuckle if this was way off the mark.

One moment I should have mentioned last time was that when I was in Winter Park several weeks ago, I had dessert at a place new to me: Jeni's Ice Cream. In fact, it was very good so a repeat visit will happen one day. Last Friday the food trucks were in downtown Clermont as that's the monthly first Friday in the month tradition & I was able to attend. Dinner was Taglilino Pasta, which was good. Level Up Lemonade provided the beverage; in fact, the gimmick was Super Mario Bros. That extended to the costumes that the young couple working there were wearing. It wasn't cheap but at least the concoction was in a huge container... and it was quite good. Downtown Clermont now has a large selection of eateries in brick and mortar buildings which need to be sampled by me... that'll come later in 2024. Restaurants I used to like back in the day have fallen off-perhaps I'll explain another time-so it'd be nice to find a good spot close to home.

Otherwise, not too much else to write about. On Saturday the 27^th I picked up someone from the airport in Sanford. Before then I was in Daytona Beach, which yes meant a quick stop at Buc'ees after I picked up a sandwich at a favorite of mine (Larry's Giant Subs) so it could be eaten the following day. My annual pass at Disney was renewed (heh heh heh); it was done at Hollywood Studios and it was nice to walk around, not to mention eat at the Muppets-themed Pizzarizzo restaurant. I'll be back at Disney soon.

One last thing: yesterday I saw a “new” release, which was a 2022 British movie that was picked up for release only because last year's strike has resulted in a rather barren 2024 at cineplexes across the United States. Out of Darkness was a survival thriller about a small tribe of nomads looking for a new residence 45,000 years ago, only to be hunted by a mysterious entity. I thought it was awful! Them inventing a new language (it was subtitled) was interesting linguistically but the film was full of characters I couldn't stand, the story was incredibly basic, it wasn't scary or thrilling, was quite dull, and the movie (which looked drab anyhow) was lit poorly so it was difficult to see not a lot happening. Hard pass. The actual highlight of yesterday was picking up a polo shirt and a new belt (the ones I had were all ragged) from a store at the nearby Altamonte Mall.

Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind, Soul, I.S.S. & Fisker Ocean

Now I am fully caught up to the events of January that I wish to share. There isn't much news in the way of restaurants new to me, instead, more than one spot was revisited. Some interesting places are scheduled to open in my county throughout 2024 so I have that to look forward to. The most interesting experience will be discussed first: after almost two full years, I was finally able to ride the indoor roller coaster Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind at Epcot on Wednesday.

In recent years, how Disney has done lines and queues for its most popular new rides is not “customer-friendly.” Until recently, there were only two times a day where you had to rush to the Disney World app on your phone and hope you are blessed by the gods & were able to join a virtual queue, and you have to arrive at the ride within a certain window of time. See what I mean about “customer-friendly”? Recently, with this there was a new option but that required paying for Lightning Lane (their new and vastly inferior version of FastPass) and then ANOTHER fee to ensure I'd be able to get on. While I waited to get on, I used Lightning Lane on one of the few attractions that were operative and hadn't run out of virtual passes for the day: getting to ride on Soarin' Over California one more time was neat but boy is Disney just not the same when it comes to treating their customers right.

That is a crying shame especially in this case, as Cosmic Rewind is a great attraction. I'll be vague and there's always YouTube & Wikipedia for those that do want details... it's like Space Mountain, only more modern and quite wild. Expect to hear a popular song from the past on the ride; it rotates between a half-dozen songs you expect on Star Lord's mixtape. This whole rigmarole will have to be done again at the Magic Kingdom for the purpose of riding the new TRON attraction... one where opinion is sharply divided on its quality or lack thereof. It may be one that disappoints, which would sting.

The rest of my time at Epcot was spent walking around, admiring the new garden they have where the old Fountain of Nations used to be, and looking at the art available during The Festival of the Arts that is now a yearly tradition at the start of the year. Also, as I walked back to the car to head home, what a surprise it was to see a Fisker Ocean electric SUV in the parking lot; it was so new that temporary paper tags were on it instead of license plates. It was smaller than expected yet still was appealing to my eye. That's the company which in a previous iteration a decade ago had the great-looking but questionable-in operation Fisker Karma, which was a plug-in hybrid and totally flopped. At least I was lucky to see one in person at a Publix grocery store parking lot, of all places.

Otherwise, not too much else to say, except that there were two theatrical releases seen this month. I'll mention the second first: I.S.S. The reviews were mixed yet the premise of a thriller on the International Space Station still intrigued. Sadly, the movie was totally “meh” & forgettable so while not terrible, it could never even be called good. In contrast, Disney released 2020's Soul to cinemas as they weren't able to at the time due to COVID. That's a great film between the animation, the story, the characters, the music... while it should have been seen by me on Disney+ before, the first time experience being at a cinema was grand.

Who knows when I will return next. Like last February was, next month should be rather eventful.

Francisco Ciatso, 7UP Tropical, Hangry Bison, & Manta Mirage

On Friday I'll post another update where I'll mention the other activities I've done so far in January 2024, but the main reason to write now is to mention an unexpected death in a world I used to be a part of: local independent pro wrestling in Florida. This past Friday night, one of its competitors died in his sleep at only the age of 48. I'd seen Francisco Ciatso (sometimes known as Frankie Capone) wrestle many times through the years; he was not someone I'd ever really talked to but that is irrelevant. A lot of people are upset by the news; I feel awful for all the people “in the business” he was pals with along with all the fans who knew him better than I did. 48 is far too young, to state the obvious.

To be more upbeat the rest of the way, one detail I should have mentioned last month was that when I was in Kansas, a soda only sold at Kroger was 7UP Tropical, which I was able to have. As Kroger only has that grocery delivery service and no actual stores, it was a brew unable to be sampled before. One late Sunday afternoon, I returned to the Hangry Bison in Winter Park for dinner. The only other time was almost 4 years ago; someone there claimed to recognize me, and that's probably true. There's no one out there who looks quite like me!

The other activity I'll mention in this installment: as customary, one day was spent at the Mecum Auctions in Kissimmee. Unlike typical, the day before there was heavy rainfall. That resulted in some rather muddy areas although thankfully the grass parking lot did not suffer that same fate. The variety was as expected; plenty of muscle cars from the 60's, supercars of all ages from Ferrari, Lamborghini, Porsche & the like, various oddities, etc. As wild as it is for car geeks to see a Ferrari F40 parked right next to a Ferrari Enzo (both are literally worth millions now), I can be amused by seeing a few Chrysler Crossfires-remember those?-and a 70's kit car w/ avant-garde styling (many may say “ugly”) based on a 60's race car known as the Manta Mirage. It apparently has performance like a race car so I couldn't imagine driving one.

Driving home from Mecum, I was able to stop at a place mentioned a few months ago: Colbie's Southern Kissed Chicken. It was even less busy there than the first time, making me wonder if I'll have the opportunity for a third visit. That'd be unfortunate, as they have decent food. It's not quite at PDQ level-which is an issue-but on that happy note... like I said, the next time will be four days from now.