Snow in the City and Harry Potter

Harry Potter @ The IMAX

She Said:

This Date Night post is less about the fabulous time we had, and more about Date Night perseverance.

Monday the 22nd of December, Seattle was hit with an unusual amount of snow for mid-November. As most of you who live in the Northwest know, Seattleites + Snow = the biggest disaster known to man. This video should give you a good idea of just how we handle the icy and snowy conditions (this was 5 blocks from my office):



That said... Brett and I had planned on a Monday night Date Night to go see Harry Potter at the IMAX, and have a nice dinner on Queen Anne to start it off right. I even had a little Hermione Granger costume i was going to wear to get into the spirit of things (costumes on date nights are ALWAYS a good idea).

Unfortunately, things did not go quite as planned. Our tickets were for 7.30 pm. Since I work up on Capitol Hill, we knew it’d be a risk trying to get home in the dark, so I had Brett come and pick me up. He left the house (1.3 miles from my office) at 4.30pm.

He didn’t arrive until 6.30. That’s right. TWO HOURS in traffic to get me.

“Mandy, you idiot, why didn’t you just walk?!” you ask???

GREAT question. That morning I had gotten a cortisone injection in my ankle due to a past injury, so I was in worlds of pain and was barely able to stand, let alone walk.

So, Brett battled the traffic and finally rescued me. And it took the entire hour to get back to Seattle Center, where we snagged drive through McDonalds on the way to the movie. Romantic.

We did make it to the film, though, just in time for previews.

The movie was fabulous (the best one since the first one!), and if you get a chance to see it in IMAX, do it.

But the REAL moral of this story is, whatever obstacles – whether it’s the winter Snowmageddon of 2010, a bum ankle you can’t walk on, or any other crazy natural disaster thrown in your path ...

Make sure you power through and keep your Date Nights. We had an adventure out there, but in the end was totally worth it.

Plus, who doesn’t love a city covered in snow??




Happy Dating!

Sushi in Wonderland

March 25th, 2010
Genki Sushi and Alice in Wonderland, IMAX

She Said:

One of Brett's FAVORITE childhood films was Alice in Wonderland. So when we saw a preview for it during our Avatar Date Night at the IMAX, i just knew we had a future Date Night on our hands!

With the film showing at 8pm, we knew we'd have to get a quick bite to eat beforehand.

Quick + Bite + Queen Anne = GENKI SUSHI!

Brett and I ventured to Genki, a small and modern sushi train restaurant located in the LUMEN apartment complex on 5th and Roy, last year when it first opened.

We were bitterly disappointed.

The food was overpriced (for a sushi train), it was over-mayo'ed, and over-rated. Lucky for us, we never put off a restaurant without trying it at least twice, so we ventured back a few weeks ago...

THANK GOD WE DID, it is now one of our favorite stops.

They've revamped their menu to include only 3 price options - $1, $1.50, and $2 -- which means we get out of there almost every time -- fat bellies and fat wallets in tact -- for less than $20!

HOLY SUSHI AWESOMENESS!

And this venture was no exception. In and out in 20 minutes, for $15. Be sure to order the Seattle Roll, Rainbow Roll, Tuna and Avacado, and of course, the MISO soup which is to DIE FOR!

After dinner, we headed to the Pacific Science Center where the IMAX is located -- literally a 5 minute walk from Sushi.

The line to get in was short, but it still took us 20 minutes (in the rain) because there was just one teller in the booth ... and she was selling an annual pass for the Science Center to the couple at the front of the line.

The fact that she was providing excellent customer service to her patrons -- explaining all the benefits of the annual pass, describing each IMAX show that was coming up, and explaining the entire layout of the PAC Science Center, just meant that those of us standing in the line waiting in the rain were getting more and more annoyed and soaked anxious for the film. My only request would be to have more than one person in the booth when a blockbuster film is playing here! :)

I digress.

We headed in and grabbed our go-to IMAX snack, DIBS. Holy ice-cream goodness. And for only $3, it's a perfect IMAX snack. (We of course finished them while in line for the film... don't judge.)

Upon entering the theater, we donned our 3D glasses, sat back and relaxed, ready for an enjoyable film experience! The IMAX is literally the coolest theater you'll ever see a movie at, especially a 3D film. The screen is ginormous, every sound, big or small, that derives from the film surrounds you, so you literally feel as though you are part of the action.

And feeling as though you are part of the action in a film as whimsical and magical as Alice in Wonderland, well, let's just say i had goose-bumps throughout the 108 minutes of this film.

Brett wasn't as big of a fan, as he was expecting it to be more similar to his beloved childhood tale, when actually, it's a sequal to the Disney cartoon... Alice is RETURNING to Wonderland as an adult... and thinks her previous journey there was just a dream.

I for one enjoyed the film immeasurably. I loved that it celebrated oddity (of course i did!) and applauds non-conformity. The colors of the characters were as whimsical as the story, and of course, Johnny Depp blew my expectations out of the water with his portrayal of the Mad Hatter.

There is no better way to see a film as "big" as Alice and Wonderland than at the IMAX, and even though Brett wasn't as overwhelmed by the film as i was, we both had an amazing time, as we always do here. Highly recommend Genki and IMAX as an ideal quick and easy Seattle Date Night!

**BIG Thank You to Philip Cosand for being an excellent host! Your intro to the film was the best we've seen yet! **

RATINGS:

Genki Sushi
www.genkisushiusa.com
511 Mercer Street
Seattle, WA 98109
(206) 453-3881

Romance: 2 -- not really 'romantic', but certainly funky, modern, cheap, and fun!

Cool Ambiance/Interior: Scale from 4: very cool interior!

All Around Service: 4: always quick and simple!

Cost: $ = entrees from $0 - $7

Would we recommend it? 5: Yes! And can we come with you?

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.