First Blood (1982)

I watched this movie when I was little, and I did not remember a thing at all.  I thought it was a brainless shoot-em-up movie.  Boy was I wrong.

The movie was about a veteran with PTSD.  He snapped because people didn't understand.  I did not expect to watch about a deep question on a Sunday night.  So how did our collective societal memory only remember Rambo as a badass and killed a bunch of villains?

Sylvester Stallone's acting was great.  Again, I only remembered him as an action star, but he actually played "panic" very well.

20+ years had passed.  I had a deeper understanding of it.  I appreciated the movie more.

Werewolves Within (2021)

This is my niece's favorite movie.  For me it was only ok.  I thought it was not about a real werewolf; it was about the ugly wolf within each character, and their viciousness showed up when shit hit the fan.  Math Teacher said I gave too much credit to the movie.  Obviously he didn't understand the movie recommendation from a teenage girl.

Ant-man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023)

It was an entertaining movie.  Special effects were good; some funny parts.  Overall, I quite enjoyed it.

SPOILERS!

Ant-man's daughter was annoying.  Enough with the genius 16-year-old teenage girl designing super cool technology.  The trope has been over-used.  She redeemed herself a little bit at the end by being a normal teenage girl that had no idea what to do and had no plans.

The mom was annoying too by not explaining anything about Kang.  Sure, they were trying to set Kang up as the villain that she was so afraid of that she didn't want to talk about him.  But they were already in the quantum realm.  Maybe it was time to talk about Kang.

Because Marvel had to introduce Kang as the villain baddie for this phase, no more fun sidekicks in this movie.  I was disappointed.  The sidekicks were the best part in Ant-man 2.  They were funny and smart.

SPOILERS SPOILERS!

The problem with multi-verse was that nobody needed to die.  Kang died at the end, but multiple versions of him were alive.

Oh, and how did he die, the almighty Kang that was so powerful?  He was killed by very smart ants that somehow developed super technology.  Deus ex machina much?

Real Steel (2011)

Wow, 12 years gave me a new perspective on this movie.  I thought it wasn't bad.  Not great, but good enough to recommend to Math Teacher.  He had not seen it before, so we made it a movie night.

Let me start by saying all were great actors in the movie.  Hugh Jackman's character was so unlikable that it was believable.

Then let's move onto the moral of the story.  Hugh Jackman abandoned his son, gambled, lied, and cheated his way through life.  And we were supposed to cheer for this underdog?

The son was cute, but egotistical.  He won one fight in a big league, and he immediately challenged the number 1.  And the number 1 was supposed to accept?  How many people challenged number 1 on a daily basis?  The number 1 had no time to accept them all.  There was a reason for a league.  Everyone played level after level.  It was called fairness.

And let me just say that all the villains in the movie actually played fair.  No one lied and cheated.  They all followed the business rule.  I don't understand why they were villains.

Can't believe as I grow older, I'm beginning to stand on the side of the villains.

Hugh Jackman (Wolverine), Anthony Mackie (Falcon), and Evangeline Lilly (Wasp) were all in this movie, as if it were a prequel to a Marvel reunion movie.  Also, everyone aged appropriately forward, except Evangeline Lilly.  How did she look older in this movie than in Ant-man?

Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979)

This movie was for the fans, and I was not one.  I was also from MTV generation that had no patience for the slow-moving space and stars.  Half way through the movie I told Math Teacher that I was bored; when was it going to end, etc.  I hung in there, but I still didn't understand the ending.

There was an image of space that looked like a vagina.  I told Math Teacher that was foreshadowing something.  Then at the end, two characters melt into the computer, to be together, forever.  Dr. McCoy commented he had not delivered a baby in a while.  So this movie was basically two people trying to pork and finally got their wish.  Math Teacher was not happy that I ruined the movie for him.

Sapporo 6-Days 5-Nights

It wasn't six days.  Day 1 and day 6 were travel days (trains + flights).  So it was really four days only.

Sapporo Snow Festival:  the only reason non-athletic tourists came to Sapporo in winter.  The festival was cancelled for three years due to covid.  This year it finally started back up.  The scale was much smaller with only four giant sculptures.  Some of the smaller snow sculptures looked like the teachers told the students to create one as homework, and the students dumped the snow in a pile and called it a day.

Sapporo Tower

Ice sculptures:  these were much better because they at least looked like they were created by professionals.  They were also in Susukino section of the city, the entertainment section.  We got to see pretty boys and girls billboards everywhere, and a video of a geisha trying to undress.

Suntory Whisky

Dragon God

Wrath of the Ocean

Asahi Beer

Sapporo Beer

Otaru canal candlelight walk:  another must-see for tourists after the snow festival.  It was a very romantic walk because the canal was slippery due to icy snow, and we must hold hands to help each other balance.

Otaru Canal

Sushi & grilled corn

Candlellight

Thriller Karaoke

• Yabuhan Soba:  very popular with foreigners probably because it has detailed English menu.  Good soba noodles, but not good enough for 50-minute wait.

Yabuhan Soba

Hokkaido University Museum:  so what was one to do if one didn't do snow activities?  Museum for us because we wanted to avoid the cold.  It was not a real museum.  It was a school building with each department/major curating their own exhibits.  Some looked like they just stuffed anything on the shelves.  The building was cold; lighting wasn't too good, but at least they had several real and fake prehistoric animal bones.

Hitsujigaoka park: finally we decided it would be a waste if we came to Hokkaido and didn't do any snow activities.  This park was perfect for a beginner like me because it catered to children.  The skiing slope was easier than bunny slope.  Lots of tube sliding opportunities.  I had so much fun.  I didn't trip and fall; a great personal improvement.

Hitsujigaoka Park:  ¥530/person

Food and drink: we were surprised to find specialty coffee shops everywhere.  We had ramen, soba, udon, sushi, bento, Indian, Italian.  Desserts were plenty.  Everything was delicious.

• Organic+:  The grilled avocado & daikon with balsamic vinegar dressing.  So simple yet so good.

Organic+:  grilled avocado & daikon

• 茶語:  a wonderful Chinese tea place on the fourth floor of Daimaru Sapporo Department Store.  The desserts were delicious, but the tea was great.  It was how tea was supposed to be, hot water through roasted tea leaves.  We smelled and tasted simple fragrance of the tea.

This was my third time in Sapporo, all during winter.  Hopefully I'll come back some time to see the city's actual ground not covered by snow.