Expend4bles, Stop Making Sense, The Exorcist: Believer, The Creator, Smoke & Donuts, & Spirit Halloween

Before I discuss what films I've watched theatrically as of late, my activities on Friday the 13^th will be mentioned. Dinner was had at Smoke & Donuts, a low-frills establishment in Orlando which combines BBQ and donuts... that is one heck of an idea. Both were good; I then was going to stop somewhere else before heading home but plans changed so instead I went to the Oviedo Mall for the first time in ages. They have some unique stores yet it's still not a place I'll visit often due to the distance & tolls. 

That said, one of those places is a used media store which is going out of business so I picked up some CD's for only a buck each. That includes Jim Croce, The Doobie Brothers and a 2 disc best-of from Jimmy Buffett; the latter I was surprised was still available. Also, for the first time ever I went into a Spirit Halloween store. It amused me; in case anyone knew & wondered, yes I did see last year's Spirit Halloween: The Movie because it co-starred Rachael Leigh Cook! It was average but if you have tween kids like those who were the leads in the movie, it should be a fine gateway horror film until they can watch the more visceral genre efforts in the future.

Speaking of tweens, while at the mall (which has a Regal Cinemas) I chuckled when I saw a quartet of young girls obviously excited, dressed in a particular way, about to enter the Regal; it was obvious what they were going to see. I imagine they had a grand old time but I knew beforehand that was going to do such boffo business, I saw all my movies before that came out. To do this in chronological order:

Stop Making Sense: This was the 1984 Talking Heads concert film from Jonathan Demme. It got re-released this year after getting restored. I knew various songs from the band yet had never seen it before; now, I understood why this was such a blast, between seeing it on an IMAX screen, the presentation, the songs, and the stage show where David Byrne especially was sweaty w/ all the gesticulating he did.

Expend4bles: Talk about going from the penthouse to the outhouse! The first two films were a lot of fun while the third was lame. However, number 4 was just putrid. The story was embarrassing, although not as much as the “special effects” that looked atrocious. Megan Fox I've never understood the appeal of; she has had so much plastic surgery, she barely looks human now, which ironically also described her “performance.” I couldn't believe how bad that was. The same goes for...

The Exorcist: Believer: The original will forever be a classic, the second is at least a hilarious, bizarre sort of bad while the third is flawed yet has some great moments. Believer, though... what a mess the plot was. Worst of all, an Exorcist film wasn't even scary. It even made Ellen Burstyn look terrible.

The Creator: At least this was far more enjoyable. The plot is technically original, even if its ideas are familiar and there are more than a few cliches. It avoided many of the modern movie tropes I'm not a fan of and looked great for its relative low budget. I enjoyed the film more than many, to be honest; I'm happy to be in the minority here.

The rest of the month there isn't too much on the agenda. I'll return sometime between real late October and early November.

Local Pro Wrestling, Lingo's Fish & Loaves, The Knot, Dick Butkus & Mountain Dew Vibe

During the weekend I will post another entry where chiefly the theatrical films I've witnessed in the past few weeks will be discussed. For now, I will spend some time discussing professional wrestling. Way back when I was a big fan, watching it often & attending plenty of local independent wrestling events all around the area. Then, I suddenly stopped. It's a long story: among other things, the scene changed, some deranged people were involved w/ the local scene (still are, sadly) and it was best to just stay away from those mentally ill individuals, my life had some stressors at the time & by the time that was settled, I was happy to not attend as many shows.

I hadn't gone to an independent show in years but someone gave me an invitation to attend one that was literally down the road for me so I went. It was in an open-air (but covered) building at the new Showcase of Citrus attraction. Besides citrus groves and a store that sells a variety of items, other activities are available. That includes a petting zoo and other animals in an enclosed space. Even for me & some of the strange venues I've seen wrestling at, it was a first to pass by geese and llamas on the way to the show, and kangaroos & an emu on the way back to the car!

As for the show itself, it was almost all area talent with the one name being... the former WWE wrestler known then as Enzo Amore. He was fired due to allegations made by his ex, which he denied so who knows for certain. He was a fan favorite, at least. While I only knew some of the talent, the action was decidedly more retro than what you see on TV from either AEW or WWE. The bad guys worked the crowd so they would boo them, for example. I haven't watched modern wrestling aside from a match or two in ages; it's still followed by me online & in podcasts so I know what's going on. The WWE's product is stale, everyone wrestles the same and the presentation is just off-putting. AEW is chaos & “choreographed dance routines”... no, I'm not Jim Cornette (I don't hate short people or automatically reject most women's wrestling) but it does not appeal to me whatsoever. Thus, I was happy that this local pro wrestling show (literally called “Local Pro Wrestling”) wasn't that and instead was simpler and best of all, wasn't a marathon; another problem w/ modern wrestling is that all shows go on for way too long so it becomes an endurance test. This in contrast started on time and was only 2 hours & 15 minutes long.

I did not stick around for long after the show (that's on me and my “great social skills”) but it was still a fun time. Who knows when I'll go to another show period; however, eventually I'll go attend another & it won't be years until that happens. Otherwise, the past few weeks haven't been too eventful. I did get a haircut recently; yes, it was much-needed. I was saddened by the Dick Butkus news even if his playing days were long before I was born. I have hardly watched the Chicago Bears even when given the opportunity to as they've been atrocious for almost the entire past year. Before unexpectedly winning last Thursday, the team had a 14 game losing streak, after all.

As for food, no new places were visited & people probably don't want to hear about how w/ family we went to a Golden Corral one evening. I did attend my town's tradition of having food trucks downtown the first Friday evening of each month. I hadn't gone to one of those since Mom was still alive—it's been years. At Lingo's Fish & Loaves I ordered... the chicken tenders and fries, because I am me. Those were good, although the giant cheesy garlic knots I got at The Knot were pretty darn tasty. Finally, recently I made my way to a Which Wich; the last time was ages ago. None are that close to me anymore but I passed by one on the way back from something so the stop was made. Besides a sandwich that was fine, for the first time was their exclusive flavor Mountain Dew Vibe. It's lemonade-flavored; yeah, it isn't too different from regular Mountain Dew yet was still tasty.

To reiterate, in a few days I'll post something new and at that point I will be caught up with everything worth sharing in public.