Test Track, Clermont Brewing Company, Webber International University Football, & Deathstalker

Finally, I am caught up on the activities I have done since the beginning of August. The main highlight to mention this time: one day I went to the Animal Kingdom, the other EPCOT. It’s always nice seeing the critters at the Animal Kingdom but the day at EPCOT was the more interesting of the two to discuss here. Besides it being nice to walk around during their annual Food & Wine Festival, the Test Track ride was refurbished. It looks different and there is an increased focus on electric vehicles; otherwise, it’s still a fun attraction once the ride vehicles go over 60 MPH outside.

I went to a pair of lower-level college football games. The first was last month; the Southeastern Fire football team in Lakeland defeated Reinhardt 41-20. Last year, I saw Southeastern play against… Reinhardt. That game last year was called in the third quarter due to lightning-the Fire won that one 28-10. I was glad to see them play a full game this time. That was a fun time.

The second game was just yesterday; it was Southeastern again, this time at Webber International University, in a town (Babson Park) that is sort of in the middle of nowhere. I shouldn’t carp-I saw a game at their campus a few years ago and not only are they situated right by a lake, they have an outdoor swimming pool for their students. Unlike last time, they actually had bleachers for the crowd-no lie. While I wish there wouldn’t have been so whiny sports fans around-an epidemic, I say-otherwise it was another fine game. Southeastern won 24-7; the result wasn’t too surprising although perhaps I expected something a little closer. They had two food trucks there for concessions so that was a nice change from the norm.

Still, I visited various restaurants for the first time in awhile. This includes a Potbelly Sandwich Works (although that was in Davenport and not Orlando) and my returning to downtown Clermont to eat at Clermont Brewing Company for the first time in awhile. The last thing I’ll mention is a wacky movie I just saw theatrically. In the 80’s were a cheesy set of sword-and-sandal movies called Deathstalker, one of many that were “inspired” by Conan the Barbarian. Only the first was seen by me-last year after hearing that it’d be remade and star Daniel Bernhardt, a martial artist who’s been in the likes of John Wick, Nobody (and its sequel, playing different characters in each) & Ballerina. Only afterwards did I hear this new movie was more in tone to Deathstalker 2, but alas…

This new Deathstalker was styled after 80’s movies in general; most importantly, most of the effects were practical. That includes graphic gory moments, numerous creative creatures, and general carnage. The tone is silly on purpose yet it’s also a lot of fun as they aren’t insufferable or winking at the camera. The only other name of note is Patton Oswalt; he voiced an elf-like wizard. The only thing in common w/ the first film is the hero’s name and how he meets various people he teams up with on his quest. I recommend it for those that have viewed those cheesy 80’s ripoffs of Conan the Barbarian. Note that Slash (yes, THAT Slash) is one of the many executive producers.

I’ll return sometime in November, promise.

TRON: Ares, Deer, Nine Inch Nails & Ace Frehley

It wasn’t the plan to do a FOURTH one of these (to be posted either Sunday or Monday) so I can finally be caught up. Truth be told, I’m exhausted right now, don’t feel 100% and as I promised to post something tonight… At least this afternoon I was able to visit the rural James A. Van Fleet State Trail for the first time in years. In the past such wild animals as gators, tortoises, turtles, and snakes were seen on the trail. Today, it was… a pair of deer. They were too far away to take photographic evidence of but they were pleasant surprises nonetheless.

I finally saw TRON: Ares. In what’s not a popular opinion, the original movie from 1982 was a weird, quirky thing I dig because it uses legit computer terms & the aesthetics are still awesome. TRON: Legacy looked & sounded great yet the story and characters were lame. Unfortunately, while Ares looked and sounded even better (especially at a Dolby Cinema in 3D like how I saw it), the story and characters were even worse!

The plot was nonsense-it’s a basic story not told that well and they only paid lip service to such topics as AI-the villain, pathetic, the other characters, forgettable… and oh boy is there an awful odious “comic” relief character that didn’t make me crack a smile even once. I’m glad the visuals at least looked nice and the Nine Inch Nails score was awesome. Jared Leto I don’t love as a human being—his presence isn’t why my opinion of Ares (character & film) isn’t high.

Just a little earlier I heard of Ace Frehley passing away. Now, I did once see KISS perform live in Orlando for the grand sum of… $4.80! Someone I knew mentioned on Twitter that August afternoon in 2013 that there were “free” tickets on Ticketmaster for a KISS concert—that was the night before the Arena Football League championship game in the same arena. The band would sponsor a team in the league the next season, as Gene Simmons will never turn down ANY opportunity to market his band’s likeness. While that version of the band did NOT have Ace nor Peter Criss in it, that was a lot of fun as someone who almost never attends any concerts.

For a long time now I’ve enjoyed the band and their music-Frehley played a key role in that as lead guitar. There have been other unfortunate deaths these past few months (such as Diane Keaton) but as Ace dying was just announced… hopefully when I return in a few days there won’t be any further deaths to mention.

Friday the 13th Part 3D, Nobody 2, The Conjuring: Last Rites, One Battle After Another, and Several Other Films

It’s time to catch up on the theatrical experiences I’ve had since early August. I’ll post again on Thursday to mention some random events during that time not mentioned yet.

First was Strange Harvest, a horror mockumentary which was an interesting yarn that was spun. It’s a convoluted tale concerning a serial killer which has some wacky details. Several people walked out-it could be because corpses were shown and that was graphically gruesome. Me, the movie was fine, even with some nitpicks.

Shin Godzilla: Randomly, this 2016 film from Japan (which I saw theatrically that year) was brought back to cinemas to plug an upcoming 4K disc release. I love the movie as much now as back then—while totally different from Godzilla Minus One, both are awesome.

Nobody 2: It wasn’t awesome-and not as good as the first film-but was still fine. There was enough entertaining action and boomer needle drops for me. Sharon Stone’s bizarre character, though…

War 2: This is a sequel to a typically wacky Indian film; the first one was released in ’19 and was a lot of fun. The sequel… I wasn’t a fan. The story was total nonsense and was so out there, it played like a parody of modern Indian cinema.

Relay: This was a modestly-budgeted thriller starring Riz Ahmed and Lily James concerning a fixer who protects whistleblowers from retaliation. It was a lot of fun and the sort of R-rated film I wish was on the big screen more often.

The Conjuring: Last Rites: Not as good as the first two, although better than the third one. Most of the movies in The Conjuring Universe are at least “fine,” this included. Of course, I know that Ed & Lorraine Warren in real life were frauds, total charlatans—but the movie versions are a nice couple.

All the President’s Men: Yes, the classic 1976 movie starring Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman. I’d seen it before, but this was at some AMC Theatres for a week to pay tribute to the late Redford. It’s still a great motion picture.

Friday the 13^th: Part 3D. I use the 3D moniker as Regal Cinemas played the movie for one night in 3D. Of course, I’ve watched the movie in 2D and 3D at home (the latter w/ those plastic 3D glasses) and always liked the silly thing but never thought there’d be the chance to see it in true 3D. It was a blast and everyone laughed at the most gratuitous usage of the third dimension, especially one of the characters randomly using a yo-yo. Thankfully, when the film became serious, the laughter stopped and the crowd wasn’t mocking it although they could have.

One Battle After Another: It’s contrarian time for me-something I never wish for. I love some of Paul Thomas Anderson’s films (Boogie Nights, There Will Be Blood) but this was just bad. I hated every character, its apparent message of “both the far-right and the far-left are imbecilic idiots” is delivered in a heavy-handed fashion, and I hate to say that I loathed the lead Black woman (Leo’s gal) but when she’s portrayed as the worst Black woman stereotypes (constantly vulgar, constantly sexual), that’s on the movie for being prejudiced, not me! As Leo’s character was a drunk druggie loser… this was just bad-and a bad satire to boot. Sean Penn’s Colonel character is named STEVEN J. LOCKJAW! That sounds like a Colonel character he would play in an MCU film.

Like I said, the next one of these will be posted sometime on Thursday.

Lotte Plaza Market, Superfresh Market, A&W Ice Cream Sundae Root Beer & Places I'll Never Visit Again

My sincere apologies for not doing one of these in two months. Late this week I'll post two more of these (one solely devoted to the theatrical experiences I've had) but I'm fired up now. Today was full of dealing with dumb, ignorant people. I'll spare most of those details... a journey was made into Orlando to look at H Mart, a just-opened Asian grocery store part of a chain.

I knew it's constantly been busy since opening; what wasn't expecting: my walking in the building and discovering a giant confusing clusterfrick where I had no idea what was going on, there was a long line for something, and I couldn't just grab a cart and walk inside. An employee was also a giant A-hole; that's why I left, never to return to a baffling place that's so unfriendly to the customer... where apparently you're just supposed to know what's going on. The heck with them. The fact that recently I went to the similar Lotte Plaza Market for the first time & experienced no issues... even if it's in not the best part of Orlando, I'll just go to Lotte or try one of the other Asian grocery stores around.

After leaving Hell Mart, I went to a new place that was passed by: Superfresh Market. It's a small grocery store & like I suspected, it's serving a Hispanic crowd. Several items were picked up (including a 40 pack of water that's hilariously from Member's Mark, i.e. a Sam's Club label) then I walked to the nearby Ollie's Bargain Outlet where several more items were purchased.

As I'll mention sometime within the upcoming week, it's not all been doom & gloom since early August. Some restaurants were revisited for the first time in awhile... everything from a Bahama Breeze to a White Castle, this one located in my city of Clermont. The food there is still “eh” so it won't be a regular stop by any means. In terms of drink, I purchased a 12-pack of A&W Ice Cream Sundae Root Beer. While not something I'd like to consume for the rest of time, as a novelty it was fine.

To reiterate, I'll be back sometime in the upcoming week.