Sep
06
2012

Five Movie Releases to Get Your Date Nights Revving

And Why You Need a Scene Card

Five Movie Releases to Get Your Date Nights Revving

I love sitting back in a comfy movie-theater seat and watching the trailers for soon-to-be-released movies.

Watching them gets me thinking about all the movies I have yet to see (and all the popcorn I’m going to eat) and all the new ones I know I'll see. So, while summer is sadly winding down, it doesn’t mean the blockbusters are going to stop altogether. To get you guys excited about the cooling weather, here are some upcoming movies I’m dying to see:

September 28—Looper

Looper is a weird sci-fi-action-drama starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt as a young Bruce Willis (I didn’t realize he was wearing prosthetics in the trailer and said, “Why have I never noticed how much JGL looks like Bruce Willis?”). The plot centres on time-travelling hit men (called ‘Loopers’) who go back in time to kill people in the past so they don’t cause trouble in the future. Neat premise and the movie looks super slick.

October 12—Argo

Ben Affleck directs and stars in this based-on-a-true-story drama about the Iran hostage crisis. Need I say more?

November 9—Skyfall

DANIEL CRAIG. DANIEL CRAIG. JAMES BOND IS BACK. If the trailer is any indication, this movie is going to bring Bond back in a big, bad way. There’s a new Q (Ben Whitshaw) so there are new toys. Bond’s loyalty is tested when M (Dame Judy)’s past comes back to haunt her. This looks epic.

November 21—Breaking Dawn Part 2

While I’m personally not a Twihard, I think this is just the ticket for you mamas and your GFs to have a date night, too. Say farewell to Robsten. This is probably the last time you’ll see them together on screen.

December 25—Django Unchained

A slave joins forces with a hit man to destroy the plantation owner still controlling his wife. Quentin Tarantino is at it again with Leo DiCaprio, Christoph Waltz and Jamie Foxx, this movie looks slick, fun and twisted…just like Tarantino does.

Are you excited about these too? You should be! Because before before you say, “But going to the movies is so expensive!” (Which I totally agree with), I'm going to share my insider secret to making your dates reasonably priced (even with that giant popcorn!).

When planning our most recent date to see The Expendables 2 (which is AWESOME, especially if you are into action movies), I signed up for a SCENE card, and I’m absolutely kicking myself for not doing it sooner. Matt and I see between 2-4 movies a month and we have often talked about getting a card but never have. My SCENE membership, a partnership between Scotiabank and Cineplex Entertainment, may just be my ticket to free movies for life.

When I signed up online, I got 250 points. Just for signing up, for FREE. So, that means that even if we only saw two movies a month, that would be (without snacks) 400 points collected per month doing the bare minimum effort. But, we always get snacks. Sometimes we get combos. You know what happens when you get snacks with your SCENE card? 10% off. PLUS points. Double kick.

Just by signing up, you're on your way to a free movie ticket to any Cineplex theatre across Canada. If you go to a Tuesday movie, you get 10% off your ticket price PLUS your points. Triple kick.

Want to bank points faster with your SCENE membership? Simply sign up for the SCENE VISA card or SCENE debit card. They get you free movies faster because you earn points for using them towards your everyday purchases. You may never pay for another movie again with the SCENE VISA card (you'll get 1 SCENE point for every $1 you spend) or with the SCENE debit card (1 SCENE point for every $5 you spend), which can add up fast when you use debit or credit on everyday purchases like gas, groceries, and bills. Quad kick.

So, while I’m over here kicking myself, and imagining all the movies I’m going to go see (some for free!), I’m going to tell you that you should sign up for a SCENE card right now (if you don’t have one already). You know why? Because YMC and SCENE want to give you 2,000 SCENE points so that you can go on your date and not worry about your movie tickets!

Think of me when your ticket receipt says zero.

kat-zero-receipt

ZERO!

psst...Until September 10th, sign up for your own SCENE debit card and receive up to 4,000 SCENE points - that's 4 FREE movies!

And, here's your chance to see your favourite fall movie. We're giving away 2,000 SCENE points to one lucky YMC member! All you have to do is leave a comment below and tell me what movie you'd love to see!

You have until October 5, 2012 to enter. You must be a YMC member and please be sure you've registered your email address in our commenting system so we can contact you if you win.

 

Yummy Rules and Regs: You must be a YummyMummyClub.ca member to win. Click to sign up! It's free and filled with perks. One comment per member. Entries accepted until October 5, 2012. Contest open to Canadian residents (excluding Quebec). Winners will be picked using www.random.org. Full contest rules & regulations

 

Sep
05
2012

Must-See Fall TV

From returning gems, to new shows—this is what I'm excited to watch

Must-See Fall TV

Ah, autumn. Back to school. The turning of leaves. And all the new episodes of television you can handle! There's a lot of shifting, new shows and returning favourites every year, but I've got my eye on a few that I think you should check out (if you weren't already planning on it). 

Dramas

Hannibal - NBC Thursdays starting September 13. Mads Mikkelsen stars as Dr. Lecter in this strange sounding, possibly awesome but probably terrible cop drama which centres around a detective who's working with Dr. Lecter to solve crimes (that unbeknownst to the detective, are being committed by the mad doctor himself). 

Mads-Mikkelsen-Hannibal-NBC

Mads Mikkelsen as Hannibal

Elementary - CBS Thursdays starting September 27. This show is in direct competition with Hannibal and stars Johnny Lee Miller as Sherlock and Lucy Lui as Joan Watson. I'm more interested in watching this for the fact that I expect it to be an utter train wreck. 

Mad Men - AMC Sundays starting Spring 2013. What can I say about MM that hasn't been said already? Many are saying that this season will be the show's last so I'm expecting a doozy and can't wait to see how it all plays out. 

Breaking BadAMC Sundays starting Summer, 2013. I know, I know. It just ended last week....but I can barely wait to see what happens to everyone. 

Comedy

Community - NBC Thursdays starting October 19. It took me a while to warm up to Community but now I'm following along with the chants of "6 seasons and a movie!" The show was close to being canceled before it got saved by fans, so I'm most curious to see how they will try and live up to the hype this year. 

NBC-Community-cast

The cast of Community

The Mindy Project - FOX Thursdays starting September 25. I have high high hopes for this show. Mindy Kaling (head writer and one of the stars of The Office—Kelly Kapur) writes and created this show about the messy love life of a young, single physician navigating life. High hopes. 

Mr. DCBC January 2013. This is one of those little gems on Canadian TV. Gerry Dee based this show on his 10 years as a teacher before he quit to become a stand up comic. 

The New Normal - NBC Tuesdays starting September 11. This show has already been banned in Utah because the show revolves around a (gasp!) gay couple who enlist a woman to be their surrogate to complete their family. This is one of two gay-centric shows coming out this year, but this one, I think, will succeed. 

Reality TV

American Idol - FOX January 2013. Mariah Carey. MARIAH CAREY. Mariah on TV week to week is enough to watch (remember when she was running on a treadmill in stilettos on MTV Cribs?) but the goss is that either Nicki Minaj or Kanye West will join her at the table. This will be some fine reality programming. 

The Voice - NBC Mondays and Tuesdays starting September 10. This show brought so much more to the musical landscape than Idol has in recent years. Between the excellent judges and the more live results, the show seems to have it all. Even this year's mentors have what it takes: Mary J. Blige, Michael Buble, Rob Thomas and Billie Joe Armstrong have joined. 

Teen Mom 2 - MTV Tuesdays starting October 2. I recently interviewed one of Teen Mom 2's moms, Chelsea Houska, and I was impressed with how together she seems to be after all the drama that's gone on between her and her ex Adam. Now that he's out of her life, I'm curious to see how her life plays out. 

Over the Rainbow - CBC Sundays and Mondays starting September 15. I'm very excited for this one. Toronto's Mirvish Productions is doing a run of The Wizard of Oz, and based on the success of CBC's How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?, they put out a call to find their new Dorothy. This is definitely going to be worth watching—these ladies have to be a triple threat, which already puts them head and shoulders above the competetors in other competitions.  

Vancouver-Contestant-Chelsea-Rose-Tucker-CBC-Over-the-Rainbow

Contestant Cheslea Rose Tucker

Sci-Fi

Revolution  - NBC Mondays starting September 17. This show could go either way, but I'm really hoping that with JJ Abrams and Jon Favreau on the case, this show will rock. The show takes place in a post-apocalypitc future where 15 years previous, every inch of electricity on the planet just stopped working. A bit Lost and a bit X Files this show may be just what the doctor ordered to tide me over until you-know-what-time (see below).

Revolution-NBC-Fall

The cast of Revolution

Arrow - CW Wednesdays starting October 10. The CW did such a good job with Smallville that this Green Arrow adaptation will be good, right? I hope. 

The Walking Dead - AMC Sundays starting October 25. I hem and haw about this show because it's not nearly as good as the comics and I barely paid attention last year, but I'll watch this season in the hopes that with the introduction of characters Michonne and The Governor, things may actually pick up. I hope. 

Game of Thrones - HBO Sundays starting Spring 2013. Game of effing Thrones! Effing thrones. 

 

There will also be two X-Files style shows starting this fall (which won't last) and a lot of mid-season stuff that looks just as awful as the shows that they will be replacing, however, two shows really stick out at me as being the worst of the worst: NBC's 1600 Penn a show about a wife trying to make her husband's kids like her even after the elder son moves back home....and home is the white house (wah wah). The other is The CW's The Carrie Diaries based on Carrie Bradshaw's teen life. Yep. I think it'll be beyond crappy. 

So, spill it! What shows are you most excited for this fall?