Tag Archives: movies

A Summer Of Movies (or Grateful For Union Membership)

Posted on May 27, 2015 | 1 comment

While TV is the medium that I dream of working in, I love going to see movies. A couple of years ago when I was out of work (before I started this blog), I would try to watch at least one movie a week. Most of the time it was something I got from Netflix since I didn’t have money coming in. But seeing a movie at home is still better than no movies at all.

For a while, I wasn’t seeing movies that often. Money is part of the reason, but I’m not really sure why I stopped. Movies make me happy and they should be a part of my life when I can go.

Since becoming a member of SAG-AFTRA, I have more opportunities to see movies for free. Most of the free movies are around the holidays and into the new year because they are screenings for the SAG Awards (I have to see movies to be able to vote on them). I’m also getting more opportunities to see movies through Women in Film.

But for the past few years I’ve paid to be a part of the SAG-AFTRA Film Society. Between the membership into the society and the parking pass I pay for, it costs me about $200 a year to be a part of the film society. And in the past, I’ve tried to see as many movies as I can. The more movies I see, the better value the membership each year is.

This past weekend was the opening weekend for Film Society (the season runs May-March/April). And I decided to go and see both movies.

The movies that screened last weekend were “Avengers: Age Of Ultron” and “Mad Max: Fury Road”. Both movies screened in 3D and for both movies I brought a guest (all movies through Film Society allow me to bring a plus one). So with just this first weekend, I’ve already gotten about $60 value out of my membership (based on the idea that a 3D movie ticket costs $15).

I really enjoyed both movies. Neither are movies that I probably would have picked on my own. But both movies came highly recommended by friends so I decided to give them a chance.

I found it really interesting that while they were both action filled movies, Avengers was CGI based and Mad Max had practical effects (very few effects were done with CGI). It’s fun to see how the actors are able to react to effects that are really happening versus effects that get added in after the actors complete their part. Neither was better than the other, it was just different.

Now that I’ve got my Film Society membership started up again, I’m going to limit how many movies I will pay to see. I was happy to pay to see “Pitch Perfect 2” since I was going with a group. But I am spoiled because I have a tough time justifying paying for movies when I might get to see a screening for free or when they will eventually be on Netflix. But with this summer having a ton of movies I want to see, I might have to spent a bit on movies over the next few months. I usually don’t know what I get to see through Film Society until a week or two in advance, so I’m going to have to wait to see how many movies on my wish list will be included.

I’m really excited to see all the amazing movies this summer and making sure that I continue to keep myself happy by going as often as I can.

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Posted in Acting, Fun Stuff

Tagged fun, movies, SAG-AFTRA, summer, union

Dinner And A Movie Night (or Another TIU Outing)

Posted on May 19, 2015 | Comments Off

I’ve been doing more and more stuff with my friends that I’ve met through the Tone It Up community. I love that they are all like-minded women who are about getting healthy and fit but also about having fun.

A few months ago someone suggested that we should all go out to see “Pitch Perfect 2” when it comes out. I was in right away! And since it opened this past weekend, we went on Saturday evening.

So after my Saturday workout (where I worked extra hard to make sure I burned off what would be my dinner calories), I got dressed in non-workout clothes and headed out to the valley.

We decided to see the movie at the ArcLight in Sherman Oaks because they have reserved seating and it was pretty central to where all of us were coming from. And we made plans to get dinner at Public School 818 which is right across the street from the theater.

There’s actually a Public School 310 very close to my house, but I haven’t had a chance to try it yet. So I was pretty excited to go to Public School 818. Everything on the menu looked so delicious.

Every time I found something that I thought I had settled on for dinner, something else caught my eye and looked delicious. Fortunately, our waiter came to get our order so I had to make a decision. I got the shrimp and grits and it was a wise choice.

The grits were pan seared or something so they were more like polenta, but still very yummy. It wasn’t the healthiest thing on the menu, but it was not the worst either. It was really filling and I didn’t have any wine or dessert so I’m happy about what I chose.

Then we all walked across the street to see the movie. I usually like the ArcLight, but there was some issues this time. I guess they had a technical glitch in their system and they double sold the seats in the row that I was sitting in. So my seat was gone and they didn’t know where they were going to put me. They finally got me a seat as the previews were starting and I was sitting next to the TIU friends in that row, so it all worked out. But it was still an inconvenience and made me a bit unhappy about how much I spent on the movie ticket (I’m really spoiled with all the free movies I see).

I really enjoyed “Pitch Perfect 2”. I loved the first movie and the second one was pretty great too. It was a little too gimmicky, but that didn’t ruin the movie for me. I have a feeling that I will be buying this movie on DVD or iTunes when it is available.

Of course, after the movie we had to get a group photo of us all.

Then we all headed back to the parking garage to get our cars. I had to be up early the next morning and several of the other girls did as well. So I headed out pretty quickly.

This hangout really made me think about how my social life has transitioned over the years. I remember when my college best friend and I ended our friendship and I was pretty socially isolated right after that. So much of my social life was with our mutual friends and my ex-friend was closer to those friends than I was. So I was left with very few friends in LA. But I’ve spent lots of time getting out of my comfort zone and meeting new people. And now I’ve got way more friends than I ever had and they all add so much to my life.

If my ex-friend and I were still friends, I don’t know if I would have had the guts to join the Tone It Up community and get as involved in it as I have. But I’m so glad that I have because I have so many wonderful women to hang out with and who support me in my journey.

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Posted in Food, Fun Stuff

Tagged dinner, friends, hangout, movies, Tone It Up

Going From So Much Excitement To Normal In A Few Hours (or Life As An Actor)

Posted on March 27, 2015 | 1 comment

My day on Tuesday was going to be pretty normal. I knew I had work from 10-3 as usual and then I had the afternoon free (my temp job is done now).

So as I went around doing my after-work errands (which included buying the digital version of “Into The Woods” for my AppleTV), I was pretty much in no-stress mode.

Then, as I’m sitting at home, I get a text from my agents. I had an audition for Wednesday evening! It was for a national commercial and I had lines to prepare.

So I quickly got into actor mode. First, I rescheduled my afternoon workout for Wednesday. I might have been able to both workout and make it to the audition, but I didn’t want to stress about it. So I rescheduled to a super early workout. Since the audition took place late, I didn’t have to worry about dealing with anything at my day job, so that was one less thing to take care of.

I really wanted to watch “Into The Woods”, so I had it up on my tv while I ran the lines for the audition on the Rehearsal 2 app on my iPad.

The script for the audition was more than I’m used to for commercial auditions. There were 4 potential parts that I could be auditioning for (the audition notice didn’t specify the part), so I decided that I would memorize all 4 parts.

So I spent a good chunk of my afternoon/evening working on the script and getting everything else ready for the audition the next day (plus planning on waking up early to get in a before-work workout).

Then, I got another text from my agents.

My audition was canceled.

My agents really didn’t get much information beyond the audition being canceled. So it could be for tons of different reasons. Maybe they didn’t want me to audition. Maybe they already cast the part. Maybe it’s not really canceled but it will be rescheduled and they don’t have a new reschedule date yet. Maybe the commercial isn’t going to happen anymore.

No matter the reason, there was no need for me to prep anymore.

So I did all my prep work in reverse. I put away my iPad and the script. I canceled my early morning workout and rebooked my afternoon workout. And I got to watch “Into The Woods” without having to focus on the script.

This is a way of life for me. I think this is only the first or second audition that was ever canceled on me. Usually, when I get a cancellation text my agents have been told that it will be rescheduled but the casting directors don’t know when. They can’t reschedule without a date through the online submission services so if the new date is unknown, the audition has to be canceled.

I can’t get down about this. I did nothing wrong. And for all I know, in a week or two this audition will come back and it will actually be a reschedule and not a cancellation.

I just have to keep thinking positive and know that eventually, an awesome part will be mine. But for now, I will just be grateful that I was considered for a great job and I got to practice my acting skill with a new script.

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Posted in Acting, Fun Stuff, Tough Stuff

Tagged acting, audition, commercials, movies

Learning From My Screeners (or Maybe My Pain Isn’t So Bad)

Posted on January 14, 2015 | 1 comment

I’ve been spending a bunch of time lately watching my screeners for the SAG Awards. A majority of them have been digital screeners so I’m watching them either on my Apple TV or on my iPad.

I’ve been lucky that my day job has a lot of downtime. There are a bunch of days where my work setup looks like this:

I’ve got my computer running all my work websites and my iPad next to it playing my screener. I have to pause the movie whenever a customer calls or starts a chat, but I’ve been watching a movie a day the last few days.

Obviously, all the movies are amazing otherwise they wouldn’t be nominated for the SAG Awards. And some of them are hitting me a little harder than others.

I watched “Cake” with Jennifer Aniston yesterday. Without getting too much into the story, it’s about a woman who is living with chronic pain.

I have always considered myself someone who deals with more pain than the average person. I don’t think I would ever say that I have chronic pain, but a majority of the time I have to take at least one painkiller to get through the day. Before my hip surgery, I was maxing out on two different types of painkillers every day and I was still in very intense pain.

Even though I know that the actors were pretending to have this sort of pain, it really made me realize how lucky I am that my pain isn’t worse. I hurt a lot, but I can still walk around pretty much every day (there are a few rare days where it’s difficult for me to get out of bed or off the couch). I’m able to work out even though on the treadmill I have to take breaks every so often to take a break from the pain.

Watching the movie has also motivated me to be a bit more proactive in seeing what other things I can do to put off the next few surgeries that I need. I’ve already done well by not doing activities that make my situation worse and have gone well past my surgeon’s guess that I would have needed my next surgery by 2009. I also haven’t shown signs of arthritis yet which my surgeon thought I would have by now.

I haven’t scheduled my appointments to meet with new surgeons yet, but I will be doing that in the next week or two. And when I spoke to my dad about this, he advised me to go in with an open mind. The original plan for me was created in 2006. A lot has changed medically in that time and while I will still most likely need a hip replacement on my right side one day (being bone on bone will cause that to be an issue eventually), maybe there are new things I can try to prevent me from needing the same surgeries on my left side.

Seriously, all this motivation and new perspective came from watching a movie.

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Posted in Fun Stuff, Health, Tough Stuff

Tagged awards, hip issues, movies, SAG-AFTRA

“Into The Woods” (or Christmas Came Early For Me This Year)

Posted on December 4, 2014 | Comments Off

On Monday evening, I got an email from Women In Film letting me know that people who are a part of the mentoring circles have been invited to an advanced screening of “Into The Woods”.

“Into The Woods” is one of my favorite musicals. I saw it for the first time at a small production in Santa Barbara and have owned a DVD of the musical for a long time (and watch it pretty frequently).

When I first heard that the musical was being turned into a film, I was pretty nervous. Historically, the movies haven’t been my favorites and they seem to miss a lot of what I feel makes the musicals special. But even though I was scared I would hate the movie, it was one that I had been looking forward to seeing. And since it was opening on Christmas, my plan was to see it that morning.

But when I got the invitation to see it this week, I jumped at the chance. I emailed my RSVP quickly and hoped that I would get it. And wouldn’t you know it, I did!

The screening was held at CAA. If you aren’t in the entertainment industry, you might not know about CAA. They are the biggest agency in town representing the biggest and most famous actors out there. Pretty much, they are the top of the top of the agency game.

The invitation said that there was valet parking provided (since there really isn’t any street parking near CAA), and since it was raining I tried to get there early. But even with being there on the very early side, the line to valet park was a little crazy.

Once I got out of my car, there was almost no line to check in. I grabbed a program and followed a CAA employee to the front desk to have my parking validated. Then she led me and 2 other ladies into the screening room.

She told us that we could sit anywhere that it said reserved, and I chose to stick with the 2 ladies who walked in with me. The 3 of us found seats pretty much in the exact center of the room.

The screening room was amazing and very nice! I had previously seen the screening room at UTA (another agency) when I had one of my mentoring meetings. But this might have been a little nicer.

I started to talk with the ladies I sat next to and found out that one of them is a member of the Academy (as in the Academy Awards). This screening was an Academy screening so the members could view the film and decide if they would like to nominate it for any Oscars!

I believe a majority of the audience was Academy members and I felt very lucky and honored to be invited to such a cool event.

Jane Lynch (from “Glee”) was one of the people responsible for the screening, so prior to the movie starting she said a few words about how much she was looking forward to the movie.

Then, it was time for the movie to start.

For those of you who know the musical, you will not be disappointed. It stays very true to the original material and in some cases, I think the format of it being in a movie actually improves it. I was smiling pretty much the entire time that I was watching it. The performances were incredible and I think that the costumes and makeup were impeccable. I would be shocked if this didn’t get a ton of nominations for various awards.

The highlight of the movie for me was the song “Agony”. I think this is the funniest I’ve ever seen it done. And Chris Pine did a great job singing (I didn’t realize he was a singer).

Overall, this was so much fun to watch and I highly recommend it for everyone! I can’t wait until it comes out (or I get a screener for it) so I can watch it over and over again!

After the screening, there was a reception upstairs. I followed my seat mates (and new friends) to check out the reception (I wasn’t planning on staying, but how many times will I get this chance?).

The reception was held on the top floor of the building, and I just couldn’t get over how beautiful the building was!

I didn’t eat or drink anything at the reception (the lines were long), but I got to chat with some very nice people and even had the chance to thank Jane Lynch for putting on this event. She was very gracious and when I was saying goodbye I said my usual thing I say to industry people (pretty much along the lines of “I’m sure we will see each other again in the future”) and she said something that rally made my day. She said that she was sure that we would see each other again because our careers are following the same path. That meant so much to me.

I left the reception on cloud 9 after that!

Sometimes, I really have to stop and pinch myself because I never could have imagined that this would be my life. I have so many amazing opportunities and I really do see my career taking steps forward. If I couldn’t imagine this a few years ago, I can’t wait to see what my life will have in store for me in the next few years!

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Posted in Acting, Celebrations, Fun Stuff

Tagged Academy Awards, acting, christmas, movies, musical

A Family-Filled Thanksgiving (or 4 Generations In One Place)

Posted on December 3, 2014 | 1 comment

Thanksgiving Day was a family day pretty much from start to finish. The day began with my dad, brother, aunt, and I going to Orangetheory for our workout. It turns out that while we were working out, my mom took Tucker for a walk to Orangetheory and watched us sweat our butts off. None of us saw her or the dog because we were so focused on the workout, but we did see them walking back up the hill as we were coming home (Tucker was tired of the hill so he jumped in the car to catch a ride up).

My mom did a lot of prep work for Thanksgiving in the days and weeks leading up to it, so on the day it wasn’t as much prep time needed as cooking time. The turkey got into the oven quickly and then Tucker discovered the best place to take a nap in the entire house.

While the turkey and various sides were cooking in the oven, a bunch of us decided to take advantage of the gorgeous day we were having in San Diego.

I enjoyed lots of reading time in the shade with my dad while my cousin’s kids hung out in the pool.

After some time in the sunshine, we headed inside for appetizers. We had a couple of different things out, included the feta dip I made. My mom thinks that I did a better job that she does, and while I don’t agree with that I’m happy that everyone enjoyed the dip!

We enjoyed eating some chips and dips and spending time catching up with one another while dinner was finishing up.

I love this photo of my grandma and my cousin’s daughter Annabelle.

We had another incredible sunset that evening and I got a nice family photo of my parents, my brother, and I in the backyard of the rental house.

Before we knew it, the turkey was done and it looked amazing!

My cousin Adam was in charge of carving it because he always does a great job. And while he was carving it, Tucker realized that being next to the turkey was the place to be. And while he was hoping for some scraps to fall, I realized that Dante did the exact same thing at the last Thanksgiving I got to spend with him.

I think the turkey looked like something out of a magazine after Adam carved it.

All the food was set out in the kitchen for us to take and we got started on making our plates.

The rental house had a large enough dining room that we could all sit in the same room together. We pushed 2 tables together to create one long table and it was perfect.

The food was delicious and getting to spend time like that with my family was perfect.

After dinner, we all went into the living room to take a family photo. We were missing my cousin John and my sister-in-law, but to have this many members of my family together in one place is rare and we had to get a picture.

That’s 4 generations of the Fry family in that photo. I love how even Tucker is smiling!

After the family photo, my cousin Stephie, her husband Clay, and I went out to go see the new Hunger Games movie. This has become a tradition for the 3 of us to do and it’s something that I look forward to a lot. When we got to the theater, we had a while to wait before the movie. But there was some Christmas stuff up already so Stephie and I decided to do a little photo shoot.

When we got into the theater, the set up was similar to the theater I saw “The Theory Of Everything” in. They didn’t have waiters to bring you food or drinks, but we all got recliners!

The recliners might have been a bad thing for my cousin, though. She kept falling asleep in the beginning of the movie. But she went out and got some popcorn and that perked her up right away!

We all loved the movie and we have next year’s movie to look forward to.

Overall, this might have been the best Thanksgiving ever. There was no craziness and all the food was amazing. And I got to pretty much spend the entire day with my whole family. We all agreed that this year was pretty perfect. And we are looking at getting the same rental house for next year since it fit our family so well.

I know that I’m so lucky that I get the chance like this to be with my extended family and that we are all so close to one another. We don’t get to see each other too often so we try to take advantage of the time we have together each year at Thanksgiving.

I hope that all of you got to spend your Thanksgiving exactly the way you wanted to.

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Posted in Celebrations, Family, Food, Fun Stuff, Travel

Tagged family, movies, Orangetheory, San Diego, Thanksgiving

“The Theory Of Everything” (or The Fanciest Movie Theater I’ve Ever Been To)

Posted on October 30, 2014 | 1 comment

Last week was full of movie screenings! First I saw “What The F@#- Is Cancer And Why Does Everyone Have It?”. Then I got invited to check out “The Theory Of Everything” in an advanced screening!

“The Theory Of Everything” is the story of Stephen Hawking and his wife Jane. The movie was based on a book that Jane wrote about their relationship. I was super excited to see it, and I invited my friend Robert to be my plus one.

The screening was put on by Women In Film and held at iPic Theaters in Westwood. I knew that it was a fancy movie theater, but I had no idea how luxurious it would be!

I’ve been to some fancy movie theaters before, and I’m well aware that I am spoiled by that. But seriously, this was more than I could image! When Robert and I walked in, we realized that basically every seat in the theater was a leather recliner.

We got there pretty early, so we were able to get 2 recliners pretty much right in the middle of the seating area. A few minutes after we sat down, a waitress came over to us. She explained that Women In Film was treating us to 2 drinks and whatever food we would like to order (up to a certain amount).

I was totally not expecting that!

So Robert and I checked out the menu on the iPad that was at the little table between our seats.

I got a water (since I didn’t feel like having a cocktail in the middle of the afternoon) and some truffle fries. But there were so many food options available including entrees. I have no idea what the fries normally cost, but I’m sure they weren’t cheap. While we waited for the movie to start, we googled the theater and realized that the seats we were in usually cost $25 each for movie! Definitely not something that I could afford normally.

The movie started and soon after our food was served. And after that, complimentary popcorn was served too (I turned that down since I was happy with my truffle fries). We were definitely treated well at the theater! And I thought having waiters going around the theater during the movie would be distracting, but it really wasn’t. The way that the seating is arranged, the waiters are never really blocking the screen as they help other patrons.

And the movie was incredible! I didn’t know that much about Stephen Hawking before seeing the movie. Just some of the basics like he has a disease similar to ALS and that he is a scientist, mathematician, and a writer. But this movie covered his life pretty much from college until about his later 40’s. And his wife Jane was pretty amazing too! I actually downloaded the book that this movie was based on onto my Kindle as soon as I got home.

I have no doubts that this movie will be getting a lot of awards during awards season. I think it could totally win Best Picture at the Oscars. The performances were so amazing that at times I forgot that I was watching an actor play Stephen Hawking and not the man himself. It’s just so mind-blowing!

After the movie, Robert and I were in agreement that this was one of the most amazing movies that either of us has seen in a while, and easily the best movie of the year! The movie officially comes out in a week and I highly encourage you all to go see this movie!

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Posted in Acting, Food, Fun Stuff

Tagged movies, Oscars, screening, Women in Film

LA Adventure (or How To Enjoy A Day Without Your Own Car)

Posted on July 30, 2014 | Comments Off

On Sunday, I was car-less. It’s not the end of the world, but I already had a bunch of plans for the day and I wanted to make sure that they could all still happen.

Fortunately, it all worked out for me.

My plans were with my friend (and neighbor) Amber. We were going to go see “Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes” at the DGA followed by burgers at The Counter (which is conveniently across the street from the DGA). I originally was going to drive, but since I didn’t have a car, Amber volunteered to drive us around for our adventures for the day.

The only issue in our plan was on Saturday evening after I got my car towed back to my house, Amber let me know that her car was overheating as well! But since her car seemed to be able to cool down easily, we figured we could be ok driving around.

First stop was the DGA. I’ve been there plenty, but this was Amber’s first time seeing a movie there. It’s pretty amazing and I love seeing my friends’ reactions when they go for the first time. It so pretty inside and all the audience members are so respectful (I’m spoiled now and find it hard to see movies at regular movie theaters without getting annoyed by audience members talking or texting during the movie).

My quick review of “Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes” was that it was pretty great! I really enjoyed the first movie and I got really excited to see the next movie after seeing the 3 short films that were created that are supposed to take place in the 10 years between the films.

My only issue with the movie was how the female characters were used. Both ape and human female characters seemed to be filler and didn’t have much of anything to do. That’s just sad.

After the movie we headed across the street to get our burgers. I love The Counter. I pretty much get the same thing every time.

And I did figure out how to make this burger part of my day without going over my calories for the day. So even though I consider this a cheat meal, it still fit nicely into my day. And yes, it was super delicious.

After eating, Amber and I headed on a little LA adventure. Or at least, we attempted one.

We were going to head up to the Griffith Observatory because Amber has never been there. We headed up the road at Griffith Park when Amber’s car started to overheat again. Since the entire way up to the observatory is uphill, we agreed that it wasn’t worth trying to get her car up there (she found out afterward that the issue with her car was it was low on coolant, so it wasn’t a hard fix).

After our failed attempt to go to the observatory, we headed back. Amber was going to be in a music video that evening and she needed time to get ready. And I was going to spend the rest of my day cleaning my house and doing laundry (what else do you do when you can’t get around town?).

Considering how tough my Saturday was, this was the perfect Sunday. I got my car to the shop (and found out that the fix wouldn’t be too expensive), saw and awesome movie, and went out for a fun lunch. It really helped get me back into a positive mindset.

And I really needed that because Monday would be another day that would challenge me in practicing gratitude. But that post will have to wait until tomorrow.

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Posted in Food, Fun Stuff

Tagged car, friends, Los Angeles, movies

A Concert, Film Premiere, And A Fire Pit (or The Best Saturday Evening Ever!)

Posted on May 14, 2014 | Comments Off

After taking my spin class on Saturday, I rushed home to shower and change so I could head over to my friends Chris and Marie‘s house. They were having a party at their house, and I knew it was one not to be missed.

This party was first of all a birthday party for Darci, who I met through Marie and Chris many years ago (if you ever need a vocal coach, Darci is amazing!!). There was also going to be a concert in the backyard featuring Mark Aaron James. And finally, Chris was going to premiere the show film he shot recently.

When I got to the house, there was a little bit of time before the concert was going to start, so I got to catch up with my friends who were there. Then I took a seat and got ready to hear the show.

And the show was amazing! Mark was so good and his songs were awesome. The music was very fun to listen to and he has really clever lyrics (if you want to buy one of his CDs, you can do so at this link). Darci got up and sang backup for one of the songs as well, and that was really fun to watch.

After the concert, we all headed inside the house to check out the film that Chris did.

It was a cute little short and I encouraged Chris to submit it to the film festival I run. Hopefully it will make it in (I have nothing to do with programming so I can’t help him out that way).

And of course, since we were all there to celebrate Darci’s birthday, there was birthday cake.

After the cake and short film, some of us headed outside to hang out by the fire pit.

There were some hot dogs that you could cook over the fire as well as marshmallows. I cooked a hot dog, but since there were not graham crackers for the marshmallows, I ate one uncooked (they are just as delicious raw).

Eventually, I had to head out since it’s like a 30-45 minute drive home and I was still pretty tired from that spin class. It was an awesome night getting to hang out with friends and I’m already looking forward to the next Marie and Chris party!

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Posted in Celebrations, Food, Fun Stuff

Tagged birthday, concert, movies, premiere

3 Movies In 4 Days (or I’m Grateful For Free Screenings)

Posted on December 3, 2013 | Comments Off

Since I had a couple of days off for Thanksgiving from work, I wanted to make sure that I kept my days busy. And since there are a lot of movies coming out that I want to see, I watched my email for screening notifications from SAG Foundation and the SAG-AFTRA Film Society.

And I lucked out! I found a screening and Q&A for “American Hustle” on Saturday and a screening of “The Wolf Of Wall Street” on Sunday. So my weekend was pretty planned out before going to San Diego for Thanksgiving

On Thanksgiving in the past, some of us go to a movie after dinner. It doesn’t happen every year, but it’s always fun when it does (the first time we did it we went to see “Jackass The Movie” after dinner, which was a pretty weird choice). This year, my cousin Stephie and her husband Clay wanted to go see “Hunger Games: Catching Fire”. Even though I had already seen it, I was more than happy to go again!

The best part about watching with my cousin and her husband was that neither of them have read the Hunger Games books. They didn’t know the plot of the movie or what to expect. I, on the other hand, re-read the book in preparation for the movie. So whenever something crazy happened on screening, it was fun to see my cousin’s reaction. We’ve already made tentative plans to see the next 2 movies together after Thanksgiving the years that those movies come out (the last book is being turned into 2 movies).

The screening for “American Hustle” was ok. I didn’t really enjoy the movie (the plot wasn’t very interesting for me). And the Q&A was cool because Bradley Cooper was sitting about 20 feet away from me! But the Q&A seemed a bit short.

But I loved the screening for “The Wolf Of Wall Street”. The movie was almost 3 hours long, but it flew by! The movie was very exciting and the fact that it’s based on a true story made it even better. I’m going to get the book it was based on soon so I can read it. I highly recommend seeing this movie.

I know I’m incredibly lucky that I have the opportunity to see free screenings through my union. I wouldn’t see nearly as many movies if I had to pay for each one (when I saw “Hunger Games: Catching Fire” in IMAX it was almost $20!). And with the SAG Award nominations coming out soon, I know there will be more screenings as well as screeners being sent to me for me to view before voting.

Overall, it’s a pretty good movie season right now and hopefully you all can go out and enjoy a couple of them!

Comments Off on 3 Movies In 4 Days (or I’m Grateful For Free Screenings)

Posted in Acting, Fun Stuff

Tagged movies, screening

Tag Archives: movies

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