Star Trek: The Motion Picture, IT: Chapter Two & Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge Chapter Two

Thankfully the preceding week wasn't too bad. The first interesting moment was on Tuesday when I had the chance to see IT: Chapter Two. It being almost 3 hours long did give me pause and I still think it shouldn't have been that length. Overall, the movie is fine; the first one is better but I am glad the sequel wasn't bad, which very well could have happened. It was viewed at Disney Springs so while I was there I also had some food; the highlight there was getting a churro from a new stand... yep it was pretty tasty and it comes in like 10 different flavors to boot.

Thursday I had free time so I went and renewed my annual pass at Walt Disney World; I won't toot my horn too loudly about that so instead I'll mention what I did after I renewed it at Hollywood Studios... I went in Hollywood Studios and I knew from the official Disney World app that the preceding week wasn't too busy there. I never thought that 2 weeks after opening, Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge would only have an average attendance, to the point that the lines at the one ride in the land (Millennium Falcon: Smuggler's Run) would only be 35 to 45 minutes long and if you use the singer rider line the wait is a lot shorter. I mean, in a few hours I got to go on it three times and like the first time back in late August, it was tremendous being on an accurate mock-up of the ship that I have known for much of my life as I saw the original Star Wars films a decent amount of times since I was a kid. I understand not everyone loves the ride itself... I think it's neat and the interactive nature means that there's good reason to go on it multiple times. Turns out that fourth time was the charm in having me and five strangers do not terribly on the ride and get a score that was not poor. I went on a few other rides and it was good times.

Friday and Saturday I did nothing; as I had plans for Sunday this arrangement made sense for me. I went to the east side of Orlando to see Star Trek: The Motion Picture theatrically via Fathom Events. I know not many like it as it's weird and cerebral & tries to be like 2001; me, I never disliked the movie, and it was something I saw when I was a kid via VHS. It was neat experiencing it on the big screen because it has great visuals along with a tremendous soundtrack. After that I ate at a nearby Wahlburgers; I've never watched that phony “reality” TV show about the chain but I've eaten at the downtown Orlando location a few times, although the last occasion had to be several years ago. My time at their east Orlando restaurant went fine and they do make good food. Of course, the traffic on the 408 wasn't good and featured too many drivers driving too fast but unless it's late at night that is always the case. No, I did not watch the Chicago Bears game, even if they did beat the Denver Broncos. The Bears were real lucky to win the game and I discovered earlier today that they were aided by a horrible call. I am still totally “meh” on the National Football League and the whole Antonio Brown thing is yet another gigantic turn-off.

Anyhow, the upcoming week I do have a few plans in mind, including a movie I hope is a blast.

Mountain Dew VooDew, Mooyah, Root Beer Floats & Dorian Part II

Not that long ago I mentioned how I hoped to be more positive here in the future. Unfortunately, September hasn't gotten off to the best start; I'll avoid most of the reasons why, except that (as typical) it's too many little things happening in too short a timespan. I can say that the way this entire area in Florida reacted to Hurricane Dorian finally making its way to near the United States: just embarrassing. Talk about soiling themselves due to a dopey panic and way overreacting to nothing. Mail service was screwed up for two whole days, most places shut down (which did negatively impact me) and even Disney closed at 3PM. Ridiculous as the models made it clear by then that it was no threat at all to the area around Orlando. It briefly rained that afternoon and there was a small rainstorm late that night... the whole thing was so preposterous, this region soiling its diapers and freaking out over nothing, as if they have never dealt with any hurricanes before. I feel awful that Dorian destroyed The Bahamas but c'mon now.

What didn't help matters was that I ate at local restaurant Gator's Dockside-not my first choice, but it's a long story as to how I ended up there-and this was the first time I had an issue there. Some of the fellow customers were just gross people, the service wasn't too good and the food was more mediocre than usual. A shame, yet there is no shortage of places around here I can frequent again or try out for the first itme. Thursday was a very busy day... two airport runs! I dropped off someone in the wee hours of the morning, returned home for a bit then returned to pick up someone else from the same airport. Of course the traffic on both trips made me mad but at least on the way there I stopped at a Target to pick up a limited edition soda: Mountain Dew VooDew. It has the appropriate spooky labeling and has a mystery flavor gimmick. I will not reveal what the flavor is, BTW. Also, I had lunch at the Oviedo Mall, a place I rarely stop at due to distance and tolls. I had Mooyah, a burger joint. It was quite greasy yet tasted fine... although the greasiness may explain why it wasn't bad.

Thursday and Friday, I had to help someone with something... I won't get any less vague than that; I was happy to help them out but this did eat up some time. Thursday night I could have seen the opening of the NFL season with the Chicago Bears playing against their hated rivals the Green Bay Packers. I just decided not to pay too much attention and among other things, I was so tired that night that I dozed off for a bit. I've talked before about how due to dozens of reasons I don't really care about the NFL anymore compared to back in the day and this even applies now to the team I watched when I was a kid as I grew up in the northern part of Illinois. The game turned out to be an atrocious contest and in hindsight, I made the right decision in falling asleep and doing other things rather than focus on that nonsense.

The weekend, I was more than happy to stay in; thus, I will mention a recommendation for a frozen treat presumably many can find at their local grocery store. Barq's now has frozen root beer float pops and they are as good as they sound; at least I could end this on a positive note. The upcoming week, I do have some plans and the next time I write, the mood should hopefully be more cheery.

Dorian, The Matrix, Wayback Burgers & Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge

The preceding week had its ups and downs. As for Hurricane Dorian, how slow that darn storm is... that is the most frustrating aspect of the storm. I'll be happy when it finally slingshots around Florida and misses it-I hope there are no more surprises with its path. Anyhow,  the first day of note last week was Tuesday; on that day I went to Mount Dora to a Walmart to eat at a Wayback Burgers... yes, it was located in the store itself. The drive there wasn't great: among the “highlights” was someone driving erratic-not to mention slow-on a two lane road, so I passed them when I could. Suddenly, he lost his mind and started tailgaiting me. Finally he turned off so no bad incidents occurred. Besides going to more than one store in Mount Dora, Wayback Burgers (they have locations across the country) makes fine greasy fast food. 

Wednesday, I had more free time so I was gonna visit a Larry's Giant Subs that was located a little bit east of the Orlando International Airport... only to discover that location was out of business. Heck, if that place was closer to me I'd have been there more often. I instead went further south and returned to a place I went to once almost two years ago: a local restaurant known as Toasted, devoted to burgers and grilled cheese sandwiches. Thankfully this time it was not freezing cold in there; my food was fine so the trip was salvaged. Real early Thursday morning (like, the 4 AM hour!) I was on Walt Disney World grounds, for the opening of Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge at Hollywood Studios. Thankfully, due to the random blog I found via a Google search, I got correct info on not only when the parking lots would open, but that this would open even earlier than its 6 AM announced time; by 5 I was waiting in line for its one open ride so far: Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run. 

I won't give anything away except that it was actually worth the long wait I had in line. All the stores they had in that section required you to wait in line so I did not do that... in the fall I'll return to check those out and further appreciate the nice job they did in creating that world; it looked tremendous aesthetically and I dug it as someone who watched the original movies my fair share of times as a kid. While this was a LONG day, that was the best way for me to experience all that right away without having to deal with even worse crowds. After that, things were quiet the rest of the week aside from Saturday. If you have a Dolby Cinema at AMC located nearby you (as I do) then The Matrix can be viewed there. Not only had that not been seen in many years, this was my first time experiencing it theatrically. I now fully appreciate that movie for its story, the big concepts it discovers, and yes its unforgettable action scenes. 

When I return next Monday, hopefully there are no hurricane horror stories to share.

Ready or Not, Seattle Mariners, California Rolls & Reprehensible Reprobates

Unfortunately, there are some negative moments from the preceding week. Monday the 19^th I did nothing but Tuesday was quite eventful, sometimes for the wrong reasons. On Tuesday I went and saw the Tampa Bay Rays play against the Seattle Mariners; I figured the attendance for the game would be minimal, and I was right. Attendance was announced as only 7,000 and change, but there clearly were less than that there. Talk about depressing, as Tampa actually has a nice record and could make the playoffs. If the owners of the team decide that they can never get a stadium in Tampa itself (the bugaboo they always bring up) and just decide “the hell with this area!” and move to Montreal or somewhere else... I'd be disappointed but I wouldn't blame them.

Before arriving at Tropicana Field I stopped at Grindhouse Video in Tampa to purchase random movies. I had dinner at the stadium, which was fine-enough, I suppose. The section I was in would have been fine... except for some of the other people! A large party was close by me-too close, as it turned out. The first two innings there were some incredibly loud boneheads; I don't mean they were loudly cheering on the team as of course that'd be fine with me. Rather, they just talked way too loud and the drivel they were spitting out: insipid does not even begin to describe it. They suddenly left and did not return, so I thought I was in the clear and I did not have to move somewhere else. Well, near the very end of the game, I realized through their actions and incredibly rude behavior which showed how inconsiderate they were as they obviously only thought about themselves and no one else... I realized they were all awful people-reprehensible reprobates, to use some alliteration. It would take way too long to explain what exactly happened and plus, it wasn't something said or done to me.

Oh yeah, I never talked about the game itself. It had some excitement but Tampa Bay lost 7-4 to an inferior team. Eh, it happens; don't tell that to those aforementioned reprobates, though. Between that and the long drive on this day, no wonder I am more content just staying in and not having to deal with other people! At least Wednesday and Thursday were uneventful, except for a trip to the local Carrabba's as I found a coupon for the place that gave a nice discount for me and the person I was with. Friday, I went and saw Ready or Not on the big screen; I did not even know about it until like two months ago when I started seeing unedited trailers for it before some movies I viewed theatrically. This has gotten a lot of high praise so that's why I saw it. It was more a “like” than “love” from me (as the movie has some dumb moments and things I wish would have done differently) yet at least it was fine and too many movies I saw on the big screen in 2019 were mediocre to bad.

The only thing I did this weekend was an airport trip... yes, again. I dropped someone off at the Sanford Airport and on the way back I stopped at the Denny's in Altamonte Springs. Not only did I hear a bunch of songs from the 70's to 90's, but a young lady was talking to what I presume was a boyfriend and what a conversation it was, mainly on her part. Aside from telling this guy about her past sexual conquests (no, really!) she mentioned that she was a sushi snob and complained about people who love California Rolls as she thinks it's disgusting so those that love them are n00bs, pretty much. What an amazing time there.

When I return on Labor Day, I know I will have some other experiences that will hopefully be amazing.

Cinebros, Walk-On's, Woodstock, Earth Fare & Apocalypse Now: Final Cut

I will start this off on a positive note by telling of my adventures one night. I went on a bit of a journey to see a random Chinese movie that was playing on the big screen; it was The Bravest, about firefighters dealing with a blaze at an oil refinery plant. It was about as silly and melodramatic as I expected, but I can say that China can make goofy blockbusters almost as well as Hollywood can these days. At least there were plenty of explosions/stuff blowing up, heroic sacrifices, and all the rest. Before that I went to two nearby places that are new to me. Dinner was at a joint known as Walk-On's Bistreaux & Bar. The name is accurate: it's a sports bar originally founded in Louisiana. Only some of the food is Cajun-flavored and I had the chicken tenders; a wise decision on my part as they were great. Pretty soon a location will open on I-Drive and that is a place I plan on frequenting. After that it was Earth Fare, a store that can be compared to a Whole Foods or Lucky's Market. Several items were purchased.

On another evening I went to a Bob Evans with someone; that was not out of the ordinary. Onto the big events of the preceding week. Thursday night I went to the Cinemark in Orlando (not at Universal Studios but the one by Bass Pro Shops) to see an old movie on the big screen. It was 1970's Woodstock, a documentary about the seminal event where many performances are seen and various people at the festival are interviewed. It was the Director's Cut, meaning it was 224 minutes long! It was something I've seen before and it is great as I love the music and it was tremendous seeing it in a big way. To be honest, a big reason why I chose that place to see it-it was on in a few other locations-was that this Cinemark had reclining leather seats and those are great for something so lengthy. Thank goodness for that and there being an intermission, which some modern movies should bring back.

Sunday was the last day of excitement, and it was another lengthy motion picture. This time it was Apocalypse Now: Final Cut. In my life I've seen the original version of that and the very long Apocalypse Now: Redux (202 minutes); this Final Cut was basically done to advertise that the films will later this month be released on 4K UHD, which also explains why it's being shown two days only on select IMAX screens. I thus was at the IMAX at Pointe Orlando, notable as a “real” old-school giant IMAX screen that is far bigger than what IMAX has meant in the past decade with the giant cash grab they made... not that I can really fault them for taking the money. I hadn't seen anything on that screen in a long while so seeing that it now has leather seats was a relief as The Final Cut was 183 minutes long.

Apocalypse Now is great, and that version is great. What a surreal nightmare of a journey the characters experience. Of course not everyone in the audience appreciated this opportunity... two young men I'll call “cinebros” left early to get drinks at a bar in the lobby (that was also new to me) and they did return... only to leave shortly thereafter, never to return. Not only was that dumb because I am sure those drinks were cheap and I know the tickets to the screening were at a typical not cheap IMAX pricing, but of course they left all their trash there for the poor staff to pick up afterwards. Figures.

When I return a week from today, I should have another interesting week while doing entirely different things.

Tourists, Floridian Traffic & Other Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark

I make that claim not just in general but because of some specific moments that happened in the past week, especially when I was at Disney Springs one night to walk around and purchase some candy, to be honest. I couldn't believe how long it took one incredibly dumb woman to make a simple order at Wetzel's Pretzels... you wouldn't believe the line that formed waiting for her brainless self when all I wanted specifically was a lemonade. As always there were poor drivers on the road-at least no incident was as frightening as some lunatic following me or someone obviously impaired opening their car door while driving to yell at me, as happened earlier in the summer.

Monday the 5^th I actually was out and about; I had free time so I went to a few places. The highlights were me stopping at an Ollie's Bargain Outlet to look for something-which I did not find but I purchased some other items instead-walking around the Mall at Millenia for a bit and unexpectedly having dinner at a Huey Magoo's. I went there once before and talked about it; as it's a local establishment which has several locations around Orlando and make good food, I really should go there more often than once in a blue moon. While at Millenia, I went into a Lenscrafters to have the screws on my glasses tightened, as I sometimes do. I really appreciated the lady seriously doubting my claims at first before realizing that of course I was correct as one screw was loose... thanx, lady.

Tuesday through Thursday I did nothing of note, which worked for me; Friday was different. In the evening I went to Mount Dora to the Epic Theatres up there to see Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark; like many I read those books as a kid and yet I haven't looked at them since I was a kid so until a few days ago I actually did not remember any of the titular stories. Thankfully, a few years ago I purchased a bundle of the three books in the series for real cheap... and because I am me I did not look at them until the weekend. Going through it as an adult, the illustrations are still creepy as heck and I did not remember the back of the book having notes and sources which explained where the stories came from... most are folklore and they were from a wide variety of different places.

As for the movie, I'll say it's fine overall. They found a way to adapt some of the stories without making this an anthology film... the leads are all decent-enough as actors and characters, and the creatures do look quite creepy. It's gotten a mixed reception among critics and fans, but overall I have a positive opinion, even if it's more a like than a love, and I can admit there are a few too many cliches. That was actually it for the past week, as I mainly wanted to be low-key; the upcoming week there will be more to discuss, that is a guarantee.

Once Upon A Time In Hollywood, Double Rainbows, Taking An L & New Phone, Who Dis?

There are reasons why I am using some new and old phrases, which I'll explain in a bit. Monday and Tuesday I did nothing of note but Wednesday was the opportunity where I finally got to see Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. I don't love all of QT's movies and with more than one of them, my opinion changes with each watch. It's unrealistic to expect another masterpiece like Pulp Fiction but something very good like Jackie Brown would have been nice. Unfortunately... the movie just seemed pointless to me. I have no idea what the point of it was, aside from “bringing 1969 Hollywood to life”, “Tarantino getting the chance to reference many things from the time period”, and “Tarantino getting to show a bunch of bare feet”. Sharon Tate and even the Manson Family were hardly a factor until the last 15 or so minutes, which I have a number of problems with. I don't hate the movie as it has some great moments and the leads do well with what they are given... it's just disappointing considering the director and all.

As nothing happened on Friday, let me mention Friday's adventures. First, I have a new phone; it is an upgrade of the one I was using the past two years. It's not a Galaxy S10 or anything else top of the line... it still works for me. After that, I went with both my parents to the local Hurricane Grill & Wings restaurant as one of my parents wanted to go there. They have good food so I did not mind going along. Regrettably, later that night I had to help out the other parent with a tech issue and it should have been easy to do... it was not. After too much time, I gave up so the next day a “professional” did it-at least it was at no charge. I was still unhappy about it and after Saturday I had another reason to not feel so good. I've been “taking too many L's” this year, to talk like how the kids so. Maybe the other five months of 2019 will be better... it'd be great if they were.

Saturday I ended up at a Best Buy to purchase some miscellaneous items. On the way was a Duffy's Sports Grill; the one time I was there before there were no issues. This time... while my food did not taste bad, having to ask another person to get me my beer after at least 10 minutes of waiting really soured the mood. I did at least tip appropriately; not even getting the beverage for free made it any better. Then again, nearby me was a couple who got served food that was apparently so inedible they had to send it back; honestly, never go to the Duffy's Sports Grill by the Mall at Millenia, as I will not be back there again.

I don't want to leave this on a negative note and I don't want to be so negative in general, so let me mention some happy things. A few evenings ago I saw a double rainbow, but I did not freak out about it like that probably high guy did almost a decade ago in a video that went viral. There was also an amusing Friday episode of LivePD and an astounding Saturday episode that had multiple hit and run cases, multiple stolen vehicles, a “home invasion” that was actually a movie shoot, a whole lot of insanity, and a segment involving a naked guy high on acid who was tased and then dropkicked by a cop! It did make me feel better, for certain. Considering what went on in the world during the weekend, there is another good reason for me appreciating the laughs I got.

As I wisely stayed in on Sunday and thus there is nothing to report there, I will hope for a better upcoming week.