If you have been keeping up with the posts in my new series "Blogging & the City 2.0", then you know I had a wonderful time in New York during the BlogHer Conference. So far I have told you about dancing with Rockettes and exploring New York. But we also had some movie related fun in the Big Apple, courtesy of Disney.
For the third year in a row, Disney invited conference attendees to join them for a complementary advance movie screening. In previous years, we viewed "Secretatiat" and "The Help", which were both wonderful films. And this year, bloggers were invited to New York's Regal Theatre on 42nd Street for an advance screening of "The Odd Life of Timothy Green."
When we entered the theatre, we were all given some tissue - in case we started crying during the movie. Since I knew I would not cry over a movie, I put the tissue in my purse and went to get my complementary popcorn and soda. But as the movie progressed, guess what I had to dig out of my purse?
That night, they are so sad that Jim, on a spur of the moment, decides they should write down everything they would want in a perfect child - happy, thoughtful, truthful, artistic, musical, a green-thumb, athletic. They then put all the slips of paper into a box that they bury in the backyard garden.
That night a storm pops up, but the storm is only over their house. Then lightening strikes and Jim goes outside to see what happened. When he returns to the house, a dirt covered, naked, 10 year old boy is in the couple's bedroom - a boy that says his name is Timothy (the name they picked out if they ever had a son).
So what would do you do if your dreams unexpectedly came true? Why you clean up the child and tell everyone that you adopted a son, of course. Only thing is - Timothy (played by CJ Adams) is a little different - besides the fact that he sprang up out of the garden. You see, Timothy has leaves growing out of his ankles. Leaves, that his now happy parents try to hide (with a pair of green socks) from the rest of their small community, along with some other "quirks" of their son which people start to think are a tad strange.
Although the story is a little odd, the movie draws you in because, no matter how people become parents, we all seem to make some really bad mistakes in raising our kids. This movie shows that there are no perfect kids and there are no perfect parents. Although Cindy and Jim really, really wanted to be parents, they still end up making every bad decision in the book - from trying to make they son into something that he is not, to letting their siblings and parents influence how they raise their child.
This is one of those feel good movies that is beautiful to watch and will have you tearing up at the end. But although Disney made a good, clean family movie, I know my 12 year old son will not be able to sit through it because this is no action thriller. It's really a quirky slice of life movie - the kind which my son has zero interest. So I was happy that I saw it at BlogHer with a group of women - all who were tearing up like me.
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| Me at the Disney Party on the roof deck of the Yotel New York - BlogHer12 |
After the screening, Disney held a reception on the roof of the ultra modern Yotel New York on 10th Avenue. Bloggers were everywhere, mingling and wearing our gifts from Disney - Fairy Wings (to celebrate the up coming Disney release of Tinker Bell's new movie - Secret of the Wings) and Green Socks - a la Timothy Green.
It was a beautiful night for a party with a perfect view of New York. Everyone was happy and feeling good - I think the good vibes must have carried over from the movie.
So if you like your movies with an interesting (if not odd) plot, beautiful cinematography, and a story that is a tear jerker, check out "The Odd Life of Timothy Green" which opens in theaters everywhere today, Wednesday, August 15, 2012.
And watch for the next post in my Blogging in the City 2.0 series to follow more of my adventures in the Big Apple during BlogHer12.
UPDATE: Click here for Blogging & the City (Part4) The Glamorous Moms Luncheon - Detroit Glam in NYC
When Timothy Green unexpectedly shows up in Stanleyville, he changes the lives of the people he meets forever. Inspired by that, Disney has created an application (http://di.sn/MagicalMoments) that allows fans of the movie to upload and share photos of magical moments from their own lives. When a photo is submitted, it becomes a part of the Disney Magical Moments Photo Collage.
In addition, you can use the application to enter a sweepstakes to win the grand prize - a Frigidaire Affinity Washer and Dryer! Also, 25 first-place winners will receive a promo card for a FREE photo book from Shutterfly!
Click here if Timothy Green movie trailer is not shown
Enjoy!
Disclosure: Disney invited me to a complementary movie screening that included FREE food and also an after party. I also received complementary movie related items. All my trip photos were taken with the Samsung Galaxy S III smartphone loaned to me for my trip to BlogHer by Verizon Wireless. All opinions are my own.
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