MOVIE REVIEW: Rise of the Planet of the Apes

Guest blogger Liz Parker is here with a review of the new movie "Rise of the Planet of the Apes".  Read on to check it out...

There wasn't an advance screening in the Detroit area (or at least none that I knew of) for Rise of the Planet of the Apes, but I ended up getting to see it for free anyways, as I won tickets to the "Dinner and a Movie" at the Birmingham Palladium. I am very glad I did, as it might just be one of the best sci-fi movies of 2011 so far.

Will (James Franco, "Your Highness") works in a lab that has an Alzheimers cure in development, which they are currently testing on apes. The work is personal to Will, whose father, Charles (John Lithgow, "Leap Year"), has Alzheimers, and is getting worse by the day. The cure seems to not only allow the apes to repair their own brain cells, but also makes them smarter, and soon Will can't resist: he gives his dad a dose of the cure. Soon, his dad is his old self again, and Will keeps on giving him the cure so that he will be able to stay lucid and his Alzheimers will not come back.

Before all this, the first ape that showed remarkable development with the cure went crazy once they tried to show her to their investors, and Will's boss, Mr. Jacobs (David Oyelowo, "The Help"), orders him to put down the ape as well as the other eleven they have. One of the scientists, however, finds out that the reason the ape went crazy is that she was trying to protect her newborn, which they find hidden in her cage-like cell. The scientist refuses to kill the ape, and so Will takes it home, and names it Caesar. Caesar is super smart just like his mom, because the cure has seeped into his genes, and both Will and his father enjoy playing with him and watching him grow up. When Caesar ends up attacking a neighbor who was berating Will's father over an incident, however, Animal Control makes Will put him into an ape "sanctuary," and it is there that he meets the other apes that will soon be his cohorts in his quest to break free.

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Coming to DVD on Tuesday, August 9, 2011 - "Paul"

Don't waste money - Read FREEISMYLIFE Movie Reviews before you buy this week's new DVD's

The movie "Paul" is coming out on DVD this Tuesday, August 9, 2011. Before you buy, read the movie review on FREEISMYLIFE.

And if you are buying, please use my Amazon affiliate link to purchase your movies...


Paul Movie Review 
Paul on Amazon.com
DVD release date: 08/09/2011
Theatrical release: 03/18/2011
Language: English
Genre: Comedy/Sci-Fi
MPAA rating: R Director: Greg Mottola
Actors: Sigourney Weaver, Jane Lynch, Seth Rogen
Plot: Two friends cross the United States when they encounter an alien named Paul near Area 51 - the alien decides to join them and the trio plot a course back to his mothership.


Enjoy!

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MOVIE REVIEW: The Change-Up

Guest blogger Liz Parker is back from an advance screening of "The Change-Up" with Jason Bateman. Check out her review....

The tone of The Change-Up is introduced within the first five minutes of the film, when Jason Bateman's character is trying to change diapers on his twin babies at the same time, and unfortunately fails with his infant son; while un-diapered, the baby squirts poop and it ends up on Bateman's face and even, yes, in his mouth. I was prepared to hate this movie after that, but after the first third or so it does a complete 180 and turns into an almost-serious movie that actually wasn't awful, in sharp contrast to the crudeness in the first half.

Dave (Jason Bateman, "Horrible Bosses") and Mitch (Ryan Reynolds, "The Green Lantern") have been best friends since grade school but the two could not be more different. Dave is married to Jamie (Leslie Mann, "Funny People") and has three children, including newborn twins, and works as a lawyer; Mitch is a (mostly unemployed) actor who has sex with four or more different women in any given week. One night, after drinking a bit two much, Dave and Mitch go to relieve themselves in a fountain outside, and at the same time they each say the fateful words, "I wish I had your life." The next day, Dave wakes up in Mitch's body and vice versa, and they must learn to juggle and adapt to each other's lives, at least until they can find the fountain - which was dug up the next day by a construction crew - and return to their own bodies.

Living for the (FREE) Weekend in Metro Detroit - August 5th - 7th

Photo from Detroit News/Freepress

Here is a list of the FREE and low cost activities that you can do in Detroit and beyond this weekend....

On Friday, make sure you take some lawn chairs and go on down to the Detroit Riverfront for the FREE Rockin' on the Riverfront Summer Concert with Leon Russell & Mitch Ryder, If you want to hear some hometown favorites up close and personal, make sure you don't miss this concert.

Friday through Sunday is the FREE 15th Annual RIBS-N-R&B Jazz Fest at Hart Plaza where you can hear music by Silk, Alexander O'Neal and Christopher Williams to name a few. This event is FREE on Friday and FREE until 2pm on Saturday and Sunday.  Otherwise it's $2 per person.

Friday through Sunday you can get FREE Admission to Sams Club for their Back to School Open House. If you want to see if Sam's Club is for you or you have been waiting to buy some items in bulk, then this may be the weekend to go on over.

Saturday, take your kids to the FREE Home Depot Kids Workshop from 9am-Noon.  Since the kids will be going back to school in few weeks, each child will make a cool a pencil box.

On Saturday and Sunday is the FREE 16th Annual Jazz on the River Festival in Trenton, MI. This event has to be the bargain of the year. Where else can you hear live jazz for Oleta Adams, Phil Perry, Dave Koz and Kim Walters all in one weekend??

Saturday take the kids to the FREE Lowes Build & Grow Workshop where they will build a school house photo holder so they can organize all their friends photos.  Make sure you RSVP for this FREE event.

Saturday is the FREE Henry Ford Health Symposium at Peace Baptist Church in Detroit. The event includes lectures, food and exercise demonstrations, health screenings provided by Henry Ford health care practitioners, and more.

Sunday, residents of Novi can get FREE Admission to DIA on August 7th as part of the Museum’s Inside Out Project. Residents who provide a driver’s license or state ID on the date specially designated for their city will receive four free general admissions.

... and remember that all active military personnel and their families get FREE Admission to the Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA) thru Labor Day. The DIA offers an array of great art and activities during the summer. The popular exhibition It’s a Zoo in Here! Prints and Drawings of Animals is on view and a new installation of puppets is also on display.


Have a wonderful and blessed weekend,

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COUPON: $1 off at Boston Market ENDS 8/30

Here's a Boston Market Coupon you will love....

Go to your nearest Boston Market with this coupon to get $1 off any individual meal, entree salad or whole sandwich.  This coupon expires August 30, 2011.

Enjoy!

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TECH: Uncommon iPhone Case Review + Enter the Uncommon $250 iTunes Giveaway ENDS 8/15

Laura using the Uncommon iPhone Case at BlogHer in San Diego

Laura Terbrack, tech goddess, is back with a iPhone case review from a company called Uncommon. Check it out...

When Jackie from Free Is My Life asked me to try out the Uncommon iPhone case she had received, I wasn’t jumping for joy at the idea. The problem had nothing to do with the case, but more to do with me. I’ve had the iPhone 3GS for just over 16 months and it’s never been in a case before. Not sure why, but I’m not a case type of person. Trying to keep an open mind, I decided to test it out anyway, just to see what it would be like.

Customize Your Heart Out!
The first thing that jumped out at me about the Uncommon case was the design. It’s not your typical solid color case. The Uncommon website has a tool where they let you customize your case. You can upload your own image or choose from Uncommon’s collection of artwork, which contains hundreds of different images. Jackie had picked a design called Day Owl, which looks similar to the picture shown below:

Day Owl

When I was browsing, the design that spoke most to me was one called Butterfly Blast Off. I wasn’t as enamored with the butterfly as I was the black/white coloring and the beautiful detail in the image. I could totally see something like this being on the back of my iPhone case:

Butterfly Blast Off

Something important to mention about the case design is that Uncommon is not merely putting stickers on the case and sending it out. They use a proprietary printing process to actually embed the image within the case, so that the image maintains its high-quality presentation while being durable.

Functional Details
A nice detail of the Uncommon case is the ease of putting the case on the phone (and also removing it). The case comes in two pieces, with the larger section covering about four-fifths of the iPhone, and the smaller bottom section covering the last one-fifth. Being able to remove that bottom piece really comes in handy when I want to put my iPhone on my iHome docking stand. Most continuous cases won’t give you this type of flexibility, which I appreciated.

The Uncommon case feels like it was built to withstand damage. The plastic shell, with the raised edges near the front glass, seems like it would do a decent job of protecting the iPhone if you happened to drop it. I can only say that the case seems like it would do a decent job because I wasn’t willing to test out my theory with my own iPhone. If anyone wants to send me his or her iPhone 3GS to test out, I’ll be more than happy to put my theory to the test!

The only problem I’ve encountered the entire time I’ve been using the case is the covered buttons built into the case to help protect the power button/volume buttons. The volume buttons worked fine, but I had difficulty getting my iPhone to turn off using the covered power button. I had to push very hard to get the iPhone to react, which slightly annoyed me. When I visited the Uncommon site, I was happy to see that this same model of case (the Capsule) had been modified for the iPhone 4 and gives direct access to the phone buttons – a smart move by Uncommon.

So…Should You Buy It?
If you are looking for a case for your iPhone that stands out from the rest, Uncommon is a great place to start. They offer customizable style and functionality - a combo that is not readily available for other iPhone cases sold in the marketplace today. The only thing stopping me from ordering a case of my own (available on the Uncommon web site starting at $34.95) is my hope that the iPhone 5 is right around the corner. When it does hit the marketplace, rest assured that I’ll be visiting Uncommon to design a cool case for my rad new phone!

Uncommon Facebook Giveaway
Uncommon is doing a giveaway on their Facebook page right now for a $240 iTunes Gift Card - YEAH! Click here to like them on Facebook and enter!  The contest ends on August 15th.

Disclosure: Uncommon sent FREEISMYLIFE a complimentary iPhone Case in order to try out the product and write this review.  This was not a compensated review.

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Laura Terbrack is a wife, mother of two and a self-professed tech goddess. In addition to her busy job as an IT professional, Laura is has her own blog called "Laura in the Motor City". Follow her on Twitter at @lauramotorcity.

FREE Hudsonville Ice Cream at Ford Art, Beats & Eats Volunteer Recruitment Event 8/13 3pm

EAT FREE ICE CREAM AS YOU GET INFO ON VOLUNTEERING

Art Van Furniture will be hosting a volunteer recruitment event for Ford Arts, Beats & Eats volunteers from noon to 3:00 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 13, at its Royal Oak store, 32301 Woodward Ave. near 14 Mile Road that features FREE ice cream from Hudsonville Creamery & Ice Cream Company for all who attend. Organizers of Ford Arts, Beats & Eats presented by Citizens Bank are seeking 500 individuals to volunteer at the annual Labor Day weekend extravaganza, which returns to downtown Royal Oak for the second consecutive year.

In addition to Hudsonville Ice Cream, Art Van will provide snacks, refreshments and music. Twenty-minute presentations about volunteering for Ford Arts, Beats & Eats will be hourly at 12:15, 1:15 and 2:15 p.m. with sign-up opportunities following.

Volunteers can register to help man the gates and information booths, greet the festival crowds, provide booth coverage for artists when they want to take a break, help children with craft projects, assist with environmental efforts and undertake countless other duties. Organizers are looking for people who are outgoing, friendly and flexible, and like to meet people.

Enjoy!

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FREE Sample of Fiber Choice

Get Your FREE Sample Today...

We all need a little help every now and then with our digestive system. So I was just watching TV and saw that Fiber Choice is offering FREE samples on their website.

CLICK HERE FOR A FREE SAMPLE OF FIBER CHOICE

Enjoy!

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FREE Admission to Sams Club for Back to School Open House 8/5-8/7

Sam’s Club ® Opens Doors to Everyone for Back to College Savings

When moms of today’s college students went off to college, they sought spiral notebooks, calculators and typewriters. Times and technology have changed; today’s college students are shopping for tablets and smartphones. Even planning the back to college shopping list has evolved - and is no longer written in that spiral notebook - one thing remains the same, moms are focused on finding great values and Sam’s Clubdelivers on the right products all in one place.

To make back to college shopping easier with great deals on top items, Sam’s Club will also be hosting an Open House August 5-7 for members and non-members alike.

A recent survey targeting approximately 15,000 moms*, found that saving time and money were the two most important factors when shopping with their child for back to college. Nine percent of moms surveyed named purchasing the latest technology as the next most important factor for items on the back-to-college shopping list today. Of the moms who responded to the survey, 44 percent listed a spiral notebook as the most important item to have when they started college. A calculator was the second most important item with 23 percent of moms naming this the most popular item during their collegiate years.

When asked about the most essential back to college items for today’s college students, 80 percent of moms surveyed listed laptops as the top item, followed by tablets, smartphones and netbooks. Sam’s Club back-to-college offerings are aligned with these survey findings. It also offers significant value over traditional retailers with full solutions, from organizational supplies to high-tech gear; the retailer has everything college students need to succeed, while saving money with every purchase.

CE Selection for the Dorm, Class and on the Go: Sam’s Club is the back to college headquarters, offering quality brands and products moms can trust. Back to college electronic must-haves include:

• HP Tablet– $578
• Samsung Tablet – $499
• HP Pavilion 15.6" Notebook– $448

Back to College Dorm Essentials: From towels and sheets to coffee makers, Sam’s Club has everything mom needs to stock the dorm rooms of her college bound kids at a great value, including:  

• Keurig Signature Single Serve Beverage System– $129.98
• Oster MyBlend Personal Blender – $27.98
• Waring Pro Professional 2-Slice Toaster(stainless) – $19.98
• GE 1.1 cf Microwave– $64.98
• Izod 4PC Sheet Set– $49.98
• iHome- Alarm Clock/iPod Dock– $49.87

Organize Your Life (and Dorm Room) for College: In many cases, this may be the first time college bound kids will live anywhere else beyond their parent’s home. Sam’s Club can help students stay on track and make the most of dorm room space with organizational items such as:

• 8pc Cereal Dispenser Set – $9.98
• Rubbermaid 50 pc Easy Find Lids– $19.98
• Fit & Fresh Insulated Designer Lunch Set – $19.98
• Collapsible Carry All Tote– $9.97
• 3 Tier Shoe Rack/Utility Rack– $19.46
• 4-Tier Shelf– $37.76
• Expandable Closet Organizer– $128.72
• 10 Drawer Cart– $29.98
• Storage Cube– $24.87

Sam’s Club makes it easy to compare product offerings and prices with other retailers using its app, available for iPhone, Blackberry and Android platforms. The retailer recently launched a website, SamsClub.com/CollegeSavings, to help moms and students find the best values on the top items for back to college.

College Savings 101 Facebook Sweepstakes

It’s no secret that when it comes to money-saving advice, moms are the best resource. Sam’s Club is asking moms and students to share tips for saving money in college. To share a money-saving tip, visit Sam’s Club on Facebook.

Keep the Dorm Stocked all Year

Sam’s Club offers a Collegiate Membership to students with valid university IDs to help them keep the dorm room stocked all year long. College students also receive a $15 gift card with the purchase of a Collegiate Membership and each membership comes with a second membership card to share with a roommate.

For additional back to college information including shopping lists and tips for first time college students, visit SamsClub.com/CollegeSavings.  

Enjoy!

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FREE Cottonelle "Respect the Roll" Bathroom Tissue Cover

Fashionable Cover for Your Bathroom Tissue

I was watching TV last night and saw an ad for Cottonelle Bathroom Tissue which said they are giving away a FREE Cover as part of their "Respect The Roll" marketing campaign.  You will need a UPC code for a 12 pack of Cottonelle Bathroom Tissue for this deal.

CLICK HERE FOR YOUR FREE COTTONELLE RESPECT THE ROLL COVER

Enjoy!

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COUPON: $8 a day parking at Airlines Parking at Detroit Metro Airport ENDS 12/31

$8 a day Parking at Detroit Metro Airport (taxes included)

If you are traveling this month, use this coupon to get $8 a day parking at Airlines Parking near Detroit Metro Airport.

This is the lot that I like to use when I am traveling and I like that this coupon includes all taxes so you know exactly what you will pay per day.

The last time I parked there it was winter and a snow hit Detroit while I was gone with 4 inches of snow.  The van driver cleaned all the snow off my car and made sure my car started before he drove off - that is some excellent customer service!

Coupon expires December 31, 2011.

Enjoy!

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FREE Rockin' on the Riverfront Summer Concert with Leon Russell & Mitch Ryder 8/5 7:30pm

Leon Russell and Mitch Ryder take on the Riverfront
Rock’s best double bill draws the crowds to Chevy Rockin’ on Riverfront concert series Aug. 5

The Chevy Rockin’ on the Riverfront concert series just kicked into high gear. On Aug. 5, the GM Riverfront Stage will host not one, but two legendary performers.

In the 1960s, as a member of the elite Wrecking Crew, Leon Russell played on hundreds of hit records. In the ‘70s he founded the legendary Shelter Records. He toured with Edgar Winter in the 80s, teamed up with Bruce Hornsby in the 90s and, by 2006; he earned a Lifetime Achievement Award. In his 50 year career, Russell has played on, arranged, written and/or produced some of the best records in popular music including Tight Rope and Hotel Heartbreak.

Hamtramck-born Motor City rocker Mitch Ryder is credited for giving Detroit its gritty heart and blue-eyed soul. Backed by his Detroit Wheels, Ryder hit the Top Ten charts in the 60s with the hits Jenny Take a Ride and Little Latin Lupe Lu before breaking through with the smash Devil with a Blue Dress On/Good Golly Miss Molly. Ryder pursued a successful solo career throughout the 80s and 90s and continues touring.

Catch Leon Russell and Mitch Ryder performing a phenomenal double bill Aug. 5 on the GM Riverfront stage for the fifth show of the 2011 Chevy Rockin’ on the Riverfront concert series, presented in partnership with Detroit’s Classic Rock Station 94.7 WCSX-FM.

Rockin’ on the Riverfront features classic rock headliners on select Fridays during the summer making Riverfront Plaza a great destination for food, fun and free concerts. Don’t miss the final show of the series next week - Bachman-Turner with opener The Eddie Leighton Project on Aug. 12.

Admission to the concerts is free and no advance tickets are necessary. Viewing space will be on a first-come, first-served basis and people are encouraged to bring their own lawn chairs and blankets. In addition, boaters on the Detroit River are invited to anchor near the riverfront and enjoy the view of the stage from the water.

Andiamo Detroit Riverfront will provide refreshment and food concessions at several locations on the plaza. Outside food, beverages or coolers will not be permitted. Andiamo Detroit Riverfront will accept dinner reservations before and after the concert and invite guests to take advantage of its outdoor patio overlooking the Detroit River. 

Convenient parking is available for $5 per vehicle at the GM surface lot at the intersection of St. Antoine and Atwater, adjacent to the GM Renaissance Center.

A viewing package is available at the Detroit Marriott Renaissance Center including a BBQ dinner and overnight accommodations. For reservations, call 1-800-352-0831 or visit detroitmarriott.com. Use promotional code L9Z for the viewing package.

Enjoy!

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FREE Henry Ford Health Symposium at Peace Baptist Church 8/6 Detroit

Henry Ford Presents FREE Health Symposium on 8/6

The second annual Dr. Karen Thompson-Cardwell Health Symposium will be held 10 a.m. – 1:30 p.m., Saturday Aug. 6, at the Peace Baptist Church, 13450 Goddard in Detroit.

The Symposium honors Dr. Thompson-Cardwell, who was a Henry Ford Health System physician, humanitarian, and community activist.

The FREE event includes lectures, food and exercise demonstrations, health screenings provided by Henry Ford health care practitioners, and much more.

Dr. Kimberlydawn Wisdom, senior vice president, Community Health and Equity, and chief wellness officer, Henry Ford Health System, is the keynote speaker.

In honor of Dr. Karen Thompson-Cardwell, the inaugural “KTC Woman of Distinction” Award will be presented to a woman who has demonstrated citizenship and volunteerism.

For more information, please call 313-543-6308 .

Enjoy!

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