Date Night: ACRONYM Style!

January 14th, 2010:
KFC and IMAX

He Said:

We’ve all heard the rule that if something sounds too good to be true, it generally is too good to be true. Common sense really. The old sniff test so to speak.

Same goes for business as in life, and you’d be telling porky pies if you said you hadn’t fallen at one time or another for the next big thing, next easier option. As a bit of an impressionable dreamer myself, I’ll be the first to admit that I’ve been stung by many a fanciful tale of something being the next revolutionary and great thing. Be it the guaranteed, game-changing sale at work, the ever-sharp miracle blade perfection series III through to the thought of Sarah Palin going away as soon as the election was over, this school boy gullibleness is something I’ve been working on eliminating.

With this in mind, Date Night this week involved two things that I categorically thought were too good to be true. Avatar 3D at the IMAX, and KFC’s Under 400 calories meal for $3.95 (Penned, "a penny a calorie meal"). I’ll begin with the KFC.

Firstly, I’m a big fan of the dirty bird. One of the greatest hangover cures in the Western world; nothing brings you back to life like a 2 piece feed on a foggy Sunday afternoon.

But as I’m now in the midst of preparing for an October beach wedding, Colonel Sanders and his mates have been black-listed for the remainder of the year.

Until of course, I heard about the new health meal. To be honest when I first heard of the Under 400 meal, I thought the old colonel had a few kangaroos loose in the top paddock. I mean how on earth can you get a whole meal at KFC under 400 calories?!

Having faith in Uncle Sam’s advertizing laws, I quickly concluded that either the meal tasted horrible and/or the portion size would be tiny. I was wrong with both.

The meal consists of 2 pieces of the new grilled chicken, potato and gravy, green beans and a diet coke. All of it bloody beautiful and big enough to fill me up. I was stoked and a little remorseful that I didn’t believe my old mate who has nursed me back to health numerous times over the years. And for only $3.95, it’s now on my weekly lunch list.

Regarding Avatar, well we’ve all seen the media hype about how good it really is. Be it the endless morning show interviews, news paper articles, online reviews and stream of Facebook posts, I thought to myself, can it really be that good?

THAT GOOD!

With it making enough money to single handedly end the world’s recession, you’ve all probably seen it and have reviewed it for yourselves so you don’t need to hear my waffle about the film details so in short it is amazing. Visually the best movie I’ve ever seen and for the 3 people that haven’t seen it, make sure you do in IMAX 3D.

I don’t know how I can go back to normal 2D, non-6-story-high screens from now on.

You’ll feel like you’re literally in the movie.

To round out this short review, I was a little disappointed in the story. It’s a great, feel good, rounded story but absolutely not original.

Also I was stoked to see an Aussie taking the lead role though for the 300 or so swillion they spent on the flick you would have thought they’d fork out a little cash on an accent coach. I could of sworn he said “G’day mate” in there somewhere.

None the less, Avatar is a winner. It is the kind of movie that personally I could watch over and over again.

Cheers,

Brett

She Said:

Brett summed our night up pretty well! I got lucky and scored some tickets to Avatar IMAX 3-D at Seattle Center's IMAX (literally across the street from us! Bonus!) the day before Date Night.

When i called, they only had 3 tickets left! I snagged 2 of them ($13 each plus $3 handling fee plus $2.50 processing fee plus the promise of your first born child) and was happy to pay it. This show has been sold out EVERY NIGHT since its opening on December 18th, so i recommend calling ahead to get your tickets. If you just show up expecting to see the show, you won't.

Another tip: GET. THERE. EARLY. It's a freakin' cattle call trying to get into the theater and getting a seat. Folks line up two hours in advance to get the prime seating. Don't get there THAT early, that's just crazy. But definitely plan on being there at LEAST a half hour before the show starts. They have fun activities and toys in the lobby you can play with, and also a great snack bar that sells DIBS for only $4. So you have time to eat about 3 boxes before the show starts. PERFECT!

Lastly: Don't sit close to the front! You do this (especially with 3D) and you will seriously puke from motion sickness.

ENJOY the show!

Seattle Center IMAX
www.pacsci.org
200 2nd Avenue North
Seattle, WA 98109
(206) 443-4629

Showtimes: 12.50, 4.10, 7.30, and 10.45
Running Time: 166 Minutes
Worth it? Yes. Every 166 minutes of it.