Hello everyone! Hope y’all had a nice weekend. Yes I know it’s a bit late of a weekend roundup, but I spent the last five days in sunny California, which was a much-needed break.
Two of my best friends recently moved to San Diego and Tempe, Arizona respectively, so it was sort of a mini-reunion for my hubby and I as the four of us spent the entire Fourth of July weekend together. It’s quite a hectic trip as we ended up not only visiting San Diego and La Jolla but we also made it to Los Angeles, Long Beach and the picturesque Catalina Island. Suffice to say, there’s no time left for movie-going, which actually suits us just fine. It was awesome to watch the spectacular San Diego fireworks right from our hotel as it’s right on the Bay! Thankfully they didn’t have the snafu like last year when it all exploded at the same time.
As you might’ve guessed, my La Jolla visit wouldn’t be complete without a trip to the La Jolla Playhouse at the University of California San Diego. Classic Movie buffs would know the non-profit theater was founded by my crush Gregory Peck, along with Mel Ferrer and Dorothy McGuire.
Though I wasn’t at the movies, I did spend some time with some iconic movie characters in Hollywood 😉 We didn’t originally set out to go to L.A. but we sort of decided on a whim Friday afternoon and it turned out to be a blast! Here are some pics we took of the character impersonators on the famous landmark by the the TCL Chinese Theater (formerly Grauman Chinese Theater). Only on the streets of Hollywood that lifelong nemesis Batman and The Joker would be the best of friends 😀 Too bad the photo was blurred but it was a hoot seeing superhero rivals Superman & Spider-Man counting money together, ahah. I wonder how much these guys make in a day.
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My favorite is Wolverine as the guy’s looks just like Hugh Jackman it’s uncanny! There were actually two Wolverines in the same spot by Jackman’s Hollywood Walk of Fame’s star, but the bigger guy’s sideburns actually looks more like Elvis, ahah.
Oh, and of course I had to take a picture on Gregory Peck’s hand/footprint at the TCL Chinese Theater. Look at how tiny my hand is compared to Mr. Peck’s 😀
Now, as far as box office is concerned, even as I looked up to The Lone Ranger statues atop the Masonic Temple Building next to the El Capitan theater, somehow I knew the movie’s gonna be a big bomb for Disney. Sure enough, according to Terrence’s Movie News Monday and Tim’s Box Office Prediction, Despicable Me 2 left that ultra expensive ($200 mil) Western Comedy in the dust. Certainly the 25% rating on Rotten Tomatoes didn’t help matters, though some folks actually dug it, i.e. Fogs actually gave the movie an A-. I probably would end up renting The Lone Ranger as I missed the screening, but I might see a matinee showing of Despicable Me 2 as I adore those overalls-wearing yellow minions!!!
Well, as I said last week, it’s been a s-l-o-w return to blogging for me. I even missed Five for the Fifth this weekend which is a bummer, but ah well, it’ll definitely be back next month. In any case, I’ve got some post ideas in the works and of course reviews and guest posts from our *staff* Jack Deth and Ted S. I’ll be seeing a screening of Pacific Rim tomorrow, so hopefully I’ll be able to review it by this weekend.
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Now indulge me, how was YOUR weekend movie watching? Any new favorites?
FLIXCHATTER FILM BLOG 
Sound like you had a great weekend Ruth! Same here. Not a lot of movie watching but I did see World War Z again (and still stand firmly by my review). I also saw The Lone Ranger (review up tomorrow).
Wow, you really love WWZ! You made me curious now but I probably end up renting that one. Curious to hear what you think of The Lone Ranger Keith.
Sounds like a really lovely time. I’d love to visit those places too. Your photos reminded me about the documentary “Confessions Of A Superhero”, where the subject was those costumed-characters at the Chinese Theater. An interesting watch an according to the documentary, on a good day those guys can get quite a lot of money for only a few hours work.
Hi Asrap! I did hear about that doc, I’m gonna search it out now. I wish I had talked to one of those Cosplayers (esp the Wolverine one) and did a mini interview. He looked so much like Hugh Jackman (but a smaller version) that we all did a double take, ahah. I was curious how much they made on a given day, I mean some of those tourists are pretty gullible, ahah.
Tempe?? How do you pronounce that? 😉
I saw Ted’s review last week about WWZ and decided to juat skip it, the review of that movie is everywhere and you know how I feel about Pitt.
Anyway, looks like you had wonderful holiday. That photo of you on Peck’s is envious, I want to have a picture like that but of course on Cillian’s hand print (Not sure he will ever have hand print there as he is so underrated)
Ahah, well it’s not pronounced the same way as our ‘tempe’ makanan Nov, but yeah interesting name for a city 😀
Yeah we feel the same way about Pitt though I have to admit he looks pretty good in WWZ, but I probably just rent it.
I think one day Cillian might have a star in Hollywood Walk of Fame Nov. But a lot of that stuff is really about self-promotion, so the stars *people* are the ones campaigning for their clients to be featured there. I doubt Cillian have those (more power to him!)
How do you pronounce it?
I wonder if the people there knew that their city has the same name as one of my fav food 😉
I will wait it in TV. Fariz wrote in his review how super perfect he is…I can’t handle that without ads once in a while 😉
Yeah…that’s why I doubt his name will be there…but we never know the future.
It’s pronounced ‘tem’ (as in ‘temen’) pi (as in ‘sapi’) 😀 Ha..ha.. I’m more of a tofu gal but I used to eat lots of tempe growing up.
Oh I think Cillian is just too modest to care about stuff like that Nov, he’s more about the work, which is what it should be anyway. More power to him!
Sounds like you guys had a blast out there in the west, I haven’t been out there in a long time. If not for the high cost of living, I’d prob would’ve moved out to CA years ago.
Well I saw The Lone Ranger, we went to see it last Friday night and there were only 5 people in the theater, including me and my girlfriend. So yeah it really tanked big time, western is such a hard sell these days, kids just aren’t into the genre anymore. Of course the bad reviews didn’t help either. Personally I thought it wasn’t that bad, just way too long and the tone was very uneven, it tried to be both a slapstick comedy and a serious action/adventure, just didn’t work.
I’m trying to win a couple of free passes to see Pacific Rim at the IMAX theater this Thursday. I don’t want to pay to see it since I don’t really have any expectations or the desire to see it that bad.
Hi Ted, how’s it going? Yeah I know, I’d LOVE to move to SD but everything’s so darn expensive!
I just sent you an email. I’d love to get your review of The Lone Ranger. I was quite looking forward to it but now I probably just rent it. Seems like the uneven tone is troubling, there’s nothing worse than a movie w/ an identity crisis!
I’ll let you know what I think of Pacific Rim, I’m quite surprised the reviews have been positive!
I’ve been busy with working extra over-time as well as other things lately so I’ve been ‘hit & run’ with even reading the posts but I just have to ask this. AP, this ‘new guy’ APOLOGIST PUNCHER RULES! posts under that ID. However, when you quoted him, you quoted him as TOMWELLING4SUPERMAN. If he is the latter, then how did you know? IP address or something? Another thing. This guy seems to support BJ. I thought TomWelling4Superman hated anyone even suggested for the role besides Tom Welling? As a matter of fact, as soon as Henry Cavill was announced, he bolted & went & formed his own blog:http://snyderssupermansucks.blogspot.com/2011/02/rant-1-henry-cavill-as-superman.htmlThe last time I checked there were NO members but now there are 5. The point though is that he was so pro-Welling & anti-anyone else that I find it hard to believe he’d be defending Blandon ‘BJ’ Routhman. But another thing. He was too pro-Welling! Sure, I think we all to some extent wanted Welling at one point or another but………………..as REALISTS I think we knew that really wasn’t gonna happen & if ANYTHING, we want the next SUPERMAN film to succeed! So even though I would’ve supported Welling if he’d gotten the gig, I’m also ‘open-minded’ enough to give Cavill ‘his day in court’. TomWelling4Superman was so ‘close-minded’ that he just turned against Snyder & Cavill on the spot!Also, now on his blog there a a number of Youtube videos bashing on Cavill but I haven’t had time to check them out. If anyone else here does, feel free to post them. I’m sure there are some real ‘nuggets’ in there!
Sounds like you had a great time out in California. I watched Fritz Lang’s Siegfried on Sunday and it was a pretty amazing movie.
Hi there! Yeah, CA was fun for a weekend, not sure I could afford living there though.
I’m not familiar w/ Fritz Lang’s Siegfried though I’ve heard of it, I have to look that up now.
Looks like you had a huge amount of fun Ruth and some great photos there. That guy really does look a heck of a lot like Hugh Jackman!
Hi Chris! Yeah it was nice to get a *real* vacation and spending time with old friends. That guy did look like Hugh Jackman in person too, it’s uncanny! Now I wish I had did a mini interview w/ him, even for a small tip I’d think it’d be fun to feature on the blog.
Hope you enjoy Pacific Rim….looks like you had a good time there in Cali. Love the pics!!!!!!!!
We had a huge storm in Toronto last night, 74mm fell in one hour. Everything was flooded and it was a pretty big disaster. Tons of people stuck downtown as the highways and trains were all under water.
Hi Chris, I hope so too but the reviews are encouraging 😀
Oh bummer! That’s a LOT of rain! Were you stuck downtown also? You poor thing, I hope all is well. I was watching the floods in Calgary when I was in Jakarta, oh my, we get a lot of floods there too in Indonesia’s Capital, but this looked VERY bad!
Nice to see your face, Ruth! Your smile says it all. What fun to place your hands in Gregory Peck’s hands! Awesome post and glad you had a great time 🙂
Hi Cindy! Thanks for the kind words. Yes it was fun to see GP’s birthplace and his hand/footprint, I had such a huge crush on him last year… still do. I don’t think any contemporary actor could match his beauty and talent.
Glad you had fun, Ruth! Hope we can meet up next time you’re in Cali. Didn’t see any movies this weekend. It was HECTIC, to say the least. Oh, now that I remember, I watched Hangover III on Friday!
Hi Fernando!! Sorry I didn’t end up DM-ing you as I barely spent any time in SD, only a day and a half, ahah. Yeah, hopefully we can meet up next time when I have more time.
Did you enjoy Hangover III? It’s not my cup of tea really, but you already knew that 😀
Don’t worry! We’ll meet next time 🙂
And I didn’t particularly enjoy it. It wasn’t as bad as Part II, though.
I really enjoyed San Diego! I’m so jealous you live so close to it.
🙂
It’s awesome. Although I don’t go there as often as I’d like because the lines to cross are just awful. If you do one hour, you’re lucky. Sometimes it’s 2 or 3.
OMG! That is nuts! I guess I should count my blessings that traffic is very good here where I live. I can get to downtown Minneapolis in about a half hour despite living about 18 miles away. But in Jakarta (my hometown), it’d take at least two hours for the same distance or less!!
It’s awful, so I pretty much only go when I aboslutely have to. Like when I go shopping for important stuff. Last year I made the terrible mistake of going on December 30, just one day before New Year’s Eve. CRAZY! 4 hours in line. I think I spent less time in the stores!
Oh I don’t blame you! I can’t stand traffic, it’s such a waste of time and energy. Oh my, around Christmas/NY must be the WORST!! Well, better planning next time, man, ha..ha.. Is it cheaper to shop in SD as opposed to Tijuana?? I’d think scenery-wise it’s pretty similar, no?
Yes, it’s cheaper to shop in SD. A lot cheaper. Plus, there’s stuff you just can’t get here.
And yeah, they’re somewhat similar but SD is so much prettier.
Ah I see, well then that makes total sense. For me it’s far more expensive than in MN as we don’t get sales tax here for clothing (not yet anyway).
So yeah, we definitely need to meet up next time (hopefully later this year, God willing) 😀
Nice to have you back, Flixy, sounds like a great trip. Glad to hear you made it to Catalina. I’ve just been catching up on some light-hearted and funny TV shows: Mike and Molly and Monk.
Thanks Becky, good to be back though I REALLY love San Diego, I certainly wouldn’t mind moving there if I could afford it! Catalina is gorgeous too, we spent the entire day there from 10 – 7:30, but we could easily go back for more!
Never been to California myself, but plan on going. I love to see personal touches on blogs. Thank you for sharing. I really need a vacation. hahaha
Hi Shane!! Ha..ha.. thanks for indulging me in some of these personal posts, I figure it’s good to see the person behind the blog once in a while 😀 I do try to make it movie-related as much as I can though. Vacation is essential, so yeah do take one. Where do you live btw, if you don’t mind me asking.
You’re welcome. Florida… So, it’s sunny and very hot. Just haven’t made it out to the West Coast yet.
Ah I see. It’s definitely too humid for me. CA is a bit more comfortable temp-wise, esp. San Diego, I mean 70s in Summer is just downright perfect!
That’s it. I’m moving there. haha
It looks like you had a blast, Ruth. 🙂 I’ve never been to California, but I’d love to visit some time.
I had a solid weekend of films, but my favorite ones I watched were Funny Games (the original version) and A Simple Plan.
Hope you get to visit CA one day Josh, there are just so much to see. It’s been ages since I visited Hollywood but it certainly was amusing.
Sounds like you had a awesome time. Your bit about seeing comic book rivals together reminded me of my trip to Comic-con…and that i haven’t been able to cosplay in a while 😦
Anyways for me i visited cousins Saturday in New Jersey,which was fun. Movie wise, i saw Fast and Furious 6(which was fun) and Passion which while well directed in the end came off like another pointless remake of a perfectly good foreign film(Also its ending was random as hell. Had no idea what was going on)
Hi Julian! I think you’d definitely have fun watching these guys as you’re into Cosplay. I think next time I’m there I definitely need to do a mini interview w/ one of them (I wish I had done so w/ the Wolverine guy).
New Jersey, cool! I’ve actually never been there before. Glad you enjoyed Fast 6, I did too despite not really into those films. Not interested in Passion though 😀
woah, that Wolverine lookalike is pretty convincing 🙂
Me? I doubt I’ll go and see The Lone Ranger. I’ve actually been watching other westerns recently, the best were The Wild Bunch (1969) and Django (1966), although not for everyone, as they’re both quite violent.
Hi Chris, he certainly was! He looks pretty darn good, Jackman would’ve been proud 🙂
I’m still curious to see The Wild Bunch, though being a Peckinpah movie I knew it’d be violent, ahah.
Very cool, Ruth! Looks like you had an awesome time. There’s actually a pretty good documentary about those Hollywood performers called Confessions of a Superhero. Last I saw, it was available for streaming. Worth a look!
I’ll definitely check that out Eric. I wonder if he interviewed his fellow Cosplayers as well for the doc. Thanks for the recommendation.
Sounds like you had blast 😀
Sounds like you’re having a good time 🙂 Must’ve been a good break! How big was Gregory Peck’s hands?? He must’ve been so tall. I wonder if Henry Cavill standing there in Superman costume, girls (and boys) should be all over him.
Mr. Peck was 6’3″ so yeah, he’s a big guy! Oh man, if Henry Cavill had been standing there as Superman, I don’t think HE would survive, ahahaha.
I have to agree with you- I adore those yellow minions in overalls and chipmunk voices. 🙂 Also, did you hear that Cavill is dating a lady now…boo 😦
Looks like an awesome trip Ruth!
My weekend was nice and relaxed. Actually found time to go out to the cinema with my wife. Went to see Now You See Me which was quite entertaining (even though the ending made no sense at all).
It was a well-needed respite Nostra. That’s cool that you got to have a date night to the movies w/ your wife. I didn’t care for Now You See Me, it’s only mildly amusing but mostly ridiculous and somewhat boring.
Dammit you know, this was one that I actually did comment on, cause I loved how that guy rocked the Wolverine impersonation! You must excuse me, this internet connection is not always the best thing ever. Looks like you really had a lot of fun, I would love to check something like this out!