We are so Hollywood

Tonight Carlie and I went to a screening of the movie Up by Pixar. I screwed up and invited a friend and her kids to go with us, only to realize that we needed to RSVP for how many people we were going to bring. I called to say we had extra people in our party, and was told that was a big fat NO because all seats had been reserved. Crap.

And they were not joking. The place was PACKED. The line was LONG, but the popcorn was FREE. And Carlie was beyond thrilled that she was chosen to be one of 20 (out of over 300) for a focus group to critique the movie. Very exciting.

The whole event was actually pretty exciting. While we were standing outside in the LONG line, two black Suburbans pulled up and unloaded a bunch of movie industry types who were scattered throughout the theatre during the screening, watching us watch the movie.

We were searched and wanded upon entry, to make sure we didn't have cell phones or cameras on us. There were a ton of people working the line, chatting up the kids, telling the kids what to watch for during the movie (Make sure you remember your favorite part, think about who your favorite character is, etc.). In the theatre during the screening there were six to eight people stationed along the walls with binoculars, scanning the crowd, I guess looking for recording devices.

The movie is not finished, so in some sections it was completely tricked out Pixar animation, in other spots it was animated but not fully colored in, and in some spots there were just sketched storyboards, kind of like panels in a comic book.

It was a really exciting night for Carlie, and she did a good job in the focus group afterwards, articulating what she did like (the adventure, the dogs) and didn't like (the gun, not enough girls) about the movie. Me? Personally? I didn't think it was all that great. But then again, I am the mom who brought a flashlight and book to "Finding Nemo" and "Madagascar," so who am I to judge.

Sometimes these little adventures just kind of fall into our laps. But I really wish I'd get chosen for something like the Twilight movie or Johnny Depp's first full frontal nude scene.