Movie Screening: Admission

Earlier in the month I was able to attend an advanced screening for "Admission". Once again I was able to attend as Press,  which meant that I received a complimentary pass to view the movie and give my thoughts on it all.

You can read about my first time Press experience with JAM here, but for this movie screening I went solo. It was kind of different since the last time since this screening was in the morning so the movie theater was basically empty. I, along with about 20 other critics, were escorted to the theater and it was definitely a different experience. This theater was smaller than the ones I'm used to. It was more like those home theaters you see in celebrity homes on TV with the plush seats. Well, before the movie started I was actually quite excited to see this movie since I'm already a fan of Tina Fey (20 Rock) and Paul Rudd (This is 40) movies. Their movies tend to be fairly comical and this was the first time they were on-screen together so I knew I'd be in for a belly of laughs.

Honestly, as a whole, the movie kind of dragged. I think that it was a little longer than necessary and although this movie is classified as the new comedy/drama, I feel that it was more drama than comedy. It still is a Tina Fey/Paul Rudd movie so there were definitely some funny parts thrown in there, but I think that Portia's (Tiny Fey) iconoclastic mother, Susannah (Lily Tomlin) took the cake. Lily Tomlin was hilarious in this movie and her character was perfect. I think that without Susannah, I'd probably drift off mid-movie. In my opinion, Admission wasn't Fey and Rudd's best movie to date but all in all it was decent. I'd give it 3 out of 5 stars.

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Admission is rated PG-13 and will open nationwide on Friday, March 22, 2013

What is your favorite Tina Fey or Paul Rudd movie?

Vegas Family Vacation: FREE Shows and Attractions

It's the first day of summer, which means that road trips/ family vacations have officially kicked off! Just because you may have people under 21 in your group doesn't mean you can't have a good time in Las Vegas! This city has so much to offer. You just have to know where to go!

Even if it's your first time in Vegas, I'm sure you've heard of the fancy shows and over the top clubs our city has to offer. However, there's a lot of other things it has too. One popular thing that tourists love to do here is see the FREE shows and attractions that some of the casinos on the Strip offer:
*Venetian:
      ~Carnevale Festival Parade (Until September 9th. 2012): starting at 8pm nightly
      ~Light of Venice light show: Nightly at 9:15pm, 10:15pm, 11:15pm, & 12:15am

My little cousin enjoying the Carnevale Festival

*Caesar's Palace - In the Forum Shops: Fall of Atlantis (Every hour on the hour Sunday - Thursday, 10 a.m. - 11 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 10 a.m. - midnight.)

*Circus Circus - Circus Acts (Starting at 11am Daily).

*Mirage: Volcano (Begins at 8:00 p.m. and runs every hour on the hour until 12:00 a.m. nightly)

*Treasure Island (TI) - Sirens of TI pirate show (5:30 p.m. (fall/winter only), 7:00 p.m., 8:30 p.m., 10:00 p.m., 11:30 p.m. (spring/summer only)) TIP: WEATHER PERMITTING!! If it's even a little windy out they will cancel the show.

*Bellagio:
      ~Fountains (Monday - Friday 3:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. show every 1/2 hour & 7:00 p.m. - 12:00 a.m. show every 15 minutes; Saturdays, Sundays and Holidays 12:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. show every 1/2 hour & 7:00 p.m. - 12:00 a.m. show every 15 minutes. On Sundays Fountain show times begin at 11 a.m. and run every 15 minutes)
      ~Conservatory (Open 24/7)

*Planet Hollywood (PH)
      ~Fountain Show (Sunday - Saturday Top of each hour 12pm-11pm)
      ~Rain Show (Monday - Thursday Top of each hour 10am - 11pm, Friday - Sunday Each half hour 10am - 11pm)

*Rio - EDIT: Their icon show closed its doors in March 2013. Show in the Sky (hourly from 6 pm until 11pm every Thursday through Saturday)
       ~VooDoo Zipline - Daily 11am - 11pm (Must be 21 years and older after 7:30pm) $27.49
       ~KISS Mini Golfing - Daily 10am - Midnight. $11.95 (18 Holes)

* Flamingo - Wildlife Habitat (Feeding times are daily at 8am & 3:30pm)

*Imperial Palace - Auto Collection (10am - 6pm Daily. Print out pass for free admission)

Past the Mandalay Bay Hotel you can find the famous Welcome to Las Vegas sign. It's free to take a picture in front of the sign. Sometimes there's impersonators there who charge to take a picture with them, but it's free to take a picture with just the sign so beware of people trying to trick you. Parking is limited and lines can get long, but everyone's in an out so just be patient.

My lovely cousins and I

On the other end of the Strip past the Stratosphere, you can take Las Vegas Blvd. down to downtown Las Vegas AKA "Old Las Vegas". Head down to Fremont Street to see the great light show under the canopy! The show is about six minutes long and runs every hour on the hour from dusk to midnight.

There is so much to see and parking and driving from hotel to hotel can get pretty hectic. If you're not in a hurry and don't mind taking public transportation I HIGHLY suggest buying a pass for the Deuce Bus. There's a bus stop at almost every casino and it goes all the way downtown to visit Fremont Street! Some buses are double deckers so it's a fun experience for the whole family! Kids 5 years and younger ride FREE. You have a variety of bus pass options: a 2 - hour pass for $5, a 24 - hour pass for $7, or a 3 - day pass for $20. The great thing about these passes is the timing is based on the first time you use the pass. For example, it's 24 hours from the first time you use the pass not just for that day you bought the pass (IE. buy the pass at 9pm, it's good until 9pm the following day).

Summer is in full swing! This is definitely a list you'll want to print out because it'll definitely come in handy every time you come into town or every time family and friends come into town to visit locals. Stay tuned for more Vegas Family Vacation tips!

Movie Screenings

With movie tickets being so expensive at the movie theater, I try to find more frugal ways to watch movies. One very common thing that I love to do is attend movie screenings! This is definitely a match made in heaven for me. Not only do I live walking distance to the hotel that hosts most of the movie screenings, it's also FREE to participate! The only catch is that it's first come first serve so to guarantee me a seat (and a great seat in the theater) I have to arrive about 2 hours early and wait in line. For those of you who don't know how it works, two sites that I love to use to attend these screenings are Gofobo's website and 43Kix Las Vegas facebook page. You can check periodically on Gofobo's website for open screening, and on average you get a maximum 2 passes per movie and usually 4 passes for family/kids movies. You need these passes to attend, but it DOES NOT guarantee you a seat since it's first come first serve, hence, the two hour line waiting I mentioned. A little trick that I do is if all the passes are taken on Gofobo's website is that I can go on 43KIX Las Vegas' facebook page, and sometimes they post a link for the same screening. Through their link you can get passes that are available exclusively for them even though Gofobo's site says there are no more available! All you do is type in your zip code to find your nearest movie screening on Gofobo, and for 43Kix, just search your city to see if they have a facebook page. I know they have one for Chicago!

With that said, JAM was really excited to see the new Madagascar 3 movie, but I wasn't too excited to spend $30 on just movie tickets. Not to mention probably another $20 on the concession products he's gonna whine to get. Thankfully, 43KIX released passes to see it this past weekend! The downside: the movie theater that was hosting it didn't think their line arrangements through thoroughly. They made us form a line in the 100 degree weather that already peaked at 9am.

It was HOT! Luckily people around me had umbrellas for shade and we had water. JAM found some lovely shade at a nearby restaurant, which also had misters while I burned in the sun to hold our place in line (the things I do for my son). Regardless, Madagascar 3 was great! Tons of funny jokes for the whole family, and if you loved the first two movies, you'll definitely love this one. Another plus, it was in 3D! Some people don't like it, but my kid loves it. After the movie, the promoters asked 5 kids to dance to the "I like to move it move it" song that's popular with this movie for a prize. My son was too shy of course, but they ended up giving all 5 kids prize packs to the upcoming Ringling Bros. Circus! BUMMER! At the very least, we saw another fun movie for free and they had these fun paper wigs and temporary tattoos for the kids after the movies.

All in all another successful movie screening. I'll probably stick to movie screenings that are hosted at the hotel that is walking distance to my place from now on though since this theater lets you wait inside instead of in the heat.

P.S. I didn't receive any form of compensation for speaking about these sites or movie. I just wanted to share another frugal tip of mine and some family fun ideas for the weekend.