Bullet Train (2022)

If you were slow like me, then you needed to watch this movie with subtitles.  Everyone in the movie talked fast and low, slurred, and mumbled.  I couldn't quite understand some details.  Sure, I got the overall idea, but I bet if I understood more, this movie would be even more fun.

That being said, this movie was already fun!  The characters were interesting; the actions were stupid and good.  There were some twists that I did not see coming.

The most ridiculous thing was when the bullet train finally arrived at Kyoto Station, both Math Teacher and I looked at each other and thought, that was not Kyoto Station.  The movie depicted the station as a quaint little station in the countryside.  The real Kyoto Station was a stainless steel monstrosity.  Oh well~

⭐⭐⭐ and 1/2

Mortal Kombat (2021), Mortal Kombat II (2026)

Apparently Math Teacher tried to make me watch Mortal Kombat (2021), but neither of us remembered if I finished watching it.  That was how bad this movie was.

The acting in Mortal Kombat II was to be desired; the dialogues were stiff; the fights were very choreographed.  I know all fights in all movies were choreographed, but this one looked especially so. However, there was no thinking involved.  This was a great stupid movie for a lazy Saturday afternoon.  

This movie was definitely for the video game fans.  I was not one so I was lost at some points, but I could hear in the theater some fans really liked certain scenes.

Hiroyuki Sanada was back as the de facto Japanese gravitas actor (Bullet Train, John Wick 4).  He must stand around, look at cherry blossom, wield samurai sword, and said important lines.  I'm looking forward to Sanada-san in a Godzilla movie!

Happy Mother's Day 2026 & No Sugar Pancakes

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

Dry Ingredients:

• 1 cup flour, sifted
• 1 tspn baking powder
• 1/2 tspn salt

Wet Ingredients:

• ⅔ cup + 2 tbspn milk
• 1 egg
• 1 tbspn butter (melted)

Note 1:  Definitely sift the flour.  One time I did not sift the flour because I was lazy and did not want to wash another thing.  The pancakes did not get fluffy even though I used the same amount of baking powder.

Note 2:  Somehow I was out of any sweetener, sugar, honey, syrup.  The original recipe called for 1 tbspn of sugar.  I was like, forget it, I'd not add any.

Steps:

1. Combine all dry ingredients in a large bowl.  Definitely do this step first.  Then I'll have clean measuring cups and spoons for the wet ingredients.  
2. Combine all wet ingredients in another large bowl.
3. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients.  Fold the mixture and make sure no flour lumps.  I started out with ⅔ cup milk.  If it looked dry or thick batter (I preferred a thinner batter), then I added one more tablespoon of milk.  Today I added two tablespoons.
4. Fry the pancakes in a nonstick pan.  The butter in the batter was greasy enough that I didn't need to add more to the pan.
5. Wait for the bubbles to rise to the top of the pancakes.  Flip.  Cook a few seconds more on the other side.  Continue with the rest of the batter.
6. Serve with jam.

No Sugar pancakes!

The pancakes turned out completely fine without any sweetener in the batter.  From now on I would not add any sugar or honey or syrup.  The pancakes still needed jam and honey on top, but that meant I could cut down even more sugar in my diet!  Yay!

Spy Game (2001)

For a two-hour movie, Math Teacher couldn't sit through half of it.  We thought it was a thriller, but tt was men sitting around a conference table talking.

For context, we sat through the three-hour King Kong (2005).  That showed how bad we were with meetings.

After pausing the movie for one week, we finally got enough courage to watch the second half.  The second half picked up a little bit, even with a short car chase.   Robert Redford lied, forged documents, wasted government resources, put military lives at risk, killed innocent jail guards, just to rescue Brad Pitt that hated him.  We couldn't agree with the ending.

Robert Redford and Brad Pitt looked exactly the same, only forty years apart.

King Kong (2005)

Whoa, I've never heard of this movie, and it's been out for twenty years?! I never knew King Kong was this bad.  All I knew was Kong:  Skull Island (2017), which apparently fixed every problem in the original and the remake of the story.

The worst thing of this movie was the romance.  Why?  The main female protagonist was interchangeable without any personality.  When at the end they did the bait-and-switch on her, I had to ask Math Teacher, "Is that a different woman?"

I also didn't understand why all the monsters and T-Rex were fighting for the main female protagonist.  She was so tiny she barely fit between their teeth.  They probably couldn't even taste her.  There were plenty of other better food on the island; why would the bigger animals want to chew on a toothpick?

The racism was rampant.  The island villagers were all dark-skinned, spoke gibberish, in trance a lot, and performed human sacrifice.  The two minority characters on the expedition ship also got killed off.  All those remained were white people.

Finally it was the run time.  King Kong was three hours long, and 1.5 hours too long.

The best thing in this movie was Jack Black.  I didn't know he could be in a dramatic role.  He was still Jack Black, but without the comedy, but with neurotic I'll-do-anything-to-get-what-I-want personality.

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Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning (2025)

This movie was loooooong.  Too many characters; some only appeared for no more than five minutes.  However, every character that had spoken dialogues got a back story.  That was completely unnecessary.  Cutting all of these out would save the movie at least one hour.

The story was so convoluted that I gave up trying to understand.  The only thing made sense was when the President ordered to unplug the internet to stop the AI.  That was what I said in Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One (2023).  That was the only way that I knew how to fix any technology.

They brought back the poor CIA guy from Mission:  Impossible (1996) that got transferred to Alaska.  The actions were still remarkable, but basically this movie was to say goodbye to Tom Cruise as Ethan Hunt.  He was getting old.  Benji was getting old.  I didn't even remember Luther being sick from the previous movie.  Sigh.

⭐⭐⭐

Kong: Skull Island (2017)

Samuel Effing Jackson was so fun and crazy!  He was such a pleasure to watch on a big screen.

The movie knew what the audience wanted.  The actions kept happening; the story kept moving.  The pace was great.  We got to see Kong right away.  Did not disappoint.

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Thunderbolts* (2025)

The movie was not bad, but it felt bland.  The actions were cool to look at; the plot moved along; the whole thing happened in only a few days. Somehow, however, the movie just lacked connection to me.  Or was it because I did not watch any of the Marvel TV shows?  Or maybe every character was simply a copy of another more famous superhero?

The Red Guard was the funniest one.  Julia Louis-Dreyfus was the best.

Trader Joe’s Jambalaya

This was a good one.  Big chunks of sausages.  I think I bit down a piece of actual bell pepper.  A little spicy. The portion size was right. The only complaint was the rice wasn't the best.

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Microwaved 3 minutes

Microwaved 8 minutes