Life by Cynthia

I was just invited to join Movie Inner Circle which is an exclusive online community of movie lovers. Thank you for the invite Fandango, Flixter, and Rotten Tomatoes! As a member, I will share my opinions through surveys, polls and chat forums. I'll also get chances to win prizes in a monthly sweepstakes just by participating. Sounds good to me. I'm IN! The call is out for more movies lovers. I've been asked if I would like to recommend up to 5 friends who, like me, loves movies. Let me know if you want me to forward your email to receive an invitation. You need to love movies, register (and be approved), and have an opinion (and be willing to share it). Once my referrals successfully complete the Movie Inner Circle registration process, I'll get an extra entry for the monthly sweepstakes. Let me know if you're in!

We have a little boy that loves dinosaurs. I have lost count on how many dinosaur toys and books that he owns. We have watched our fair share of dinosaur movies and television shows. I know so much dino trivia at this point! I was thrilled when a dinosaur show came to town and I am grateful for father and son time. That special time is great for the boys to bond and create memories. Not to mention the little bonus that I get with a bit of down time to myself. Sometimes I do get a little jealous of their fun but I encourage their special adventures. Father and son spending one on one is priceless. I hope to share more of their adventures on the blog. I really love the retelling of the day by son. His expressions are priceless and the happiness that just pours out of him makes me smile. I love that he is excited to tell me all about it. It doesn't hurt that his daddy is a videographer/photographer/editor, we get a highlight reel of all the fun times! One of their father and son t...

Illumination Entertainment, Universal Pictures and AMC Theatres announced a Thanksgiving weekend event for audiences of all ages: “ Sing Saturday ,” ‘Sing Saturday’ marks the biggest advance-screening program in the history of Universal Pictures.  Sing  officially arrives in theaters on December 21, 2016, but you will have the opportunity to see it this weekend! FREE nationwide screenings on Saturday, November 26th at 10am! Click  here   for a list of participating theaters. Important details: Admission is on a first-come, first-served basis At least 200 free tickets available at each theater location Free tickets available at the box office starting at 9:00 AM Doors will open at 9:00 AM Check out the official trailer! The film stars Academy Award ® winners Matthew McConaughey and Reese Witherspoon, alongside Seth MacFarlane, Scarlett Johansson, John C. Reilly, Taron Egerton and Grammy Award- nominated Tori Kelly. Who's in? Watch the trail...

I am still going strong with my daily blog posts. Thank you for the inspiration BlogHer! Sending virtual high fives and thank yous to my fellow NaBloPoMo post every day tribe! It is still not too late to join the party. You have until midnight PST tomorrow, Nov. 5 to join the blogroll using the form which can be found  HERE - this will enter you into the sweepstakes to win a free pass to #BlogHer17 in Orlando next June. Here is today's writing prompt: Which fall shows should totally be canceled already? First off, I am not following any new fall shows. I am, and have been, a Netflix kind of gal. I like to find a show that I like and binge watch. Get this - we don't even subscribe to cable TV. We cancelled that noise years ago. We watch network shows/news sometimes. We stream Netflix or Amazon other times. Fall Family Photo (a couple of years ago) Since I cannot really speak on what show should be canceled, I will blog about what I am looking forward to watching (...

The buzz is out about Garry Marshall's Mother's Day Movie. The movie is in theaters now. I saw the movie a bit early. I was invited to a media screening prior to the official movie release date. I was VERY excited about Mother's Day. This was a movie that I wanted to fall in love with. I had thoughts of taking my sister and my mom! I wanted celebrate the "mother of all holidays". That just didn't happen for me. I think that I will make other plans... The movie is packed with a star-studded ensemble. Jennifer Aniston, Kate Hudson, Julia Roberts and Jason Sudeikis. I'm a sucker for Pretty Little Liars so I was excited to see that Shay Miller was in this one! Let's not forget Hector Elizondo, Timothy Olyphant, Britt Robertson, and Jack Whitehall. The actors were great. The movie, to me, not so great. I don't want to give away too much because you really need to see for yourself. You may have plans to take your mom to see it. I don't w...

Go see The Jungle Book in theaters NOW. I was so impressed with Favreau and the entire cast and crew of The Jungle book. I have seen it twice now (YES, we liked it THAT much). You must go out and see this in the theater ASAP. We will be adding this to our movie collection once the DVD hits stores. My son and I attended an early media screening of The Jungle Book on Tuesday, April 12. Our viewing was in 3D and it was visually stunning! After seeing this once in 3D and once in standard format, I must say that 3D wins all the way! Also showing in RealD 3D and IMAX 3D. Check your theater listings. The movie was exciting, touching, funny, scary, sad, and so much more. You'll feel like a kid with the wonder and magic of this production! The movie debuted on Friday, April 15. On Saturday, April 16, we (in a pack of 8 adults and 9 kids) went to see it AGAIN. It was the first for the rest in our party. It was a hit with the 17 in our group and box office results are showing that the...

I received the Little Mermaid Legacy Collection CD as a member of the Entertainment New Media Network. No further compensation was received and all opinions are my own. Honoring the continuing legacy of the Disney music catalog, Walt Disney Records’ newly launched site, Disney Music Emporium (DME), is a destination for collectible Disney music products that also features monthly columns by guest writers, a News tab for fun Disney facts, plus videos that exclusively debut on DME including behind-the-scenes of beloved soundtracks, and more. I was thrilled to receive a copy of Walt Disney Records The Legacy Collection: The Little Mermaid. The movie was released during my senior year of high school and I have seen it countless times since then! The beautiful book-bound two disc collectible set is AWESOME! While listening to the music it really brings back such fond memories of viewing the movie with my niece! She is now in high school herself! I can remember watching it with her ...

Who's ready for a NEW Annie ? I certainly wasn't! But it's time to get ready! Annie is in theaters December 19. Like I said, I wasn't ready for this.  I was skeptical about a movie remake of the classic that knew and loved as a child. I just wasn't sure how the new and different ANNIE would stack up. Thanks to an advanced screening of the movie, this skeptic had a big change of heart!  I have to report that I really enjoyed it! I love the music, the characters, and enjoyed the entire production. New and different is a good thing. Now I have TWO Annie movies that I really love. Academy Award® nominee Quvenzhané Wallis (Beasts of the Southern Wild) stars as Annie, a young, happy foster kid who's also tough enough to make her way on the streets of New York in 2014. Originally left by her parents as a baby with the promise that they'd be back for her someday, it's been a hard knock life ever since with her mean foster mom Miss Hannigan (Cameron Diaz). B...

Looking for an action-packed weekend of fun for the whole family? Head to your local IMAX® Theater for the premiere of How to Train Your Dragon 2 ! Starting this Friday, June 13th, the second chapter of DreamWorks Animation's beloved How to Train Your Dragon franchise is soaring to all IMAX theatres domestically in select engagements. The IMAX 3D release will be digitally re-mastered into the image and sound quality of The IMAX Experience®, creating a unique environment that will make audiences feel as though they are flying alongside heroic Viking Hiccup and his faithful dragon, Toothless. Jay Baruchel, Gerard Butler, Craig Ferguson, America Ferrera, Jonah Hill, T.J. Miller, Christopher Mintz-Plasse and Kristen Wiig reprise their respective voice roles, joined this time by Academy Award® winner Cate Blanchett, Djimon Honsou and Kit Harington. For more information about How to Train Your Dragon 2, please visit DreamWorks Animation's official website . For IMAX T...

Last night I attended an early screening of Disney's Maleficent. I was very excited about the movie since attending the Disney Social Media Moms Celebration  earlier this year. During the conference, which was held at the Disneyland Resort, producer Don Hahn spent time with us to share information about the upcoming movie. We had a special sneak peek at an extended trailer.  We got such an early look at it that were were instructed not to share what we saw with our social networks. THAT was not an easy task! Hahn also introduced us to Elle Fanning who plays Princess Aurora.  She just had her 16th birthday and we got to celebrate by singing Happy Birthday to the young star. After she blew out her candles we all had cupcakes! A future post about that in in the works. Back to the movie... “Maleficent,” the untold story of Disney’s most iconic villain from the classic “Sleeping Beauty,” reveals the events that hardened Maleficent’s heart and drove her to curse ...

A few of my friends and I were invited to a VIP early screening of Moms' Night Out.  We enjoyed the movie and the chance to get together to reconnect. I, for one, am excited about the release of Moms' Night Out on Mother's Day weekend because I want to see it AGAIN! It is a fun movie. I honestly think that my husband would enjoy it too since there are some pretty hilarious scenes that he might relate to as a husband and a father. Perhaps a date night is in order... OR...we could easily make it into a family outing since it is a family friendly film. Or maybe, just maybe, make it another moms' night out! Angela ( Mira Mesa Mom ), Becky ( misspriss ), Raquel ( Stronghold Mom ), Brianne ( BriGeeski ), Myself, and Anna (Future Blogger?) I don't want to give away too much about the movie details but I will include the official movie trailer below! Casting was GREAT! The characters were fun to watch. Now the movie IS a comedy, but there were some scenes that...

On Monday night we were treated to an advanced screening of What to Expect When You're Expecting.  I should have a post up soon detailing the event.  I have a big mouth & don't really want to spoil the movie for you with too many details.  I really wanted to share this post as quickly as I could to suggest a fun movie that is coming out this Friday. When it comes to movies I generally wait for it to come out on DVD.  After seeing the trailers, I couldn't wait that long to see this! My husband & I had a great night with this one!  It had been a while since we have enjoyed a night out at the movies.  We became parents 23 months ago with our first. We have talked about setting aside time for "date night" but we don't really go out all that much.  This was THE PERFECT parent's date night movie. Your husbands will enjoy this movie as much as you do - if not MORE!  He will surely love "...