It’s one thing to make a movie. It’s another to do something completely new with the medium.

From the promotional material for BOYHOOD:

Filmed over 12 years with the same cast, Richard Linklater’s BOYHOOD is a groundbreaking story of growing up as seen through the eyes of a child named Mason (a breakthrough performance by Ellar Coltrane), who literally grows up on screen before our eyes. Starring Ethan Hawke and Patricia Arquette as Mason’s parents and newcomer Lorelei Linklater as his sister Samantha, BOYHOOD charts the rocky terrain of childhood like no other film has before. Snapshots of adolescence from road trips and family dinners to birthdays and graduations and all the moments in between become transcendent, set to a soundtrack spanning the years from Coldplay’s Yellow to Arcade Fire’s Deep Blue. BOYHOOD is both a nostalgic time capsule of the recent past and an ode to growing up and parenting. It’s impossible not to watch Mason and his family without thinking about our own journey.

I can’t comment on the movie as I haven’t seen it yet, but the NY Times review is fascinating and Rebecca’s review at Girl’s Gone Child blows me away. Watch the trailer and tell me you don’t feel a major tug.

(Update: I just found out that for a few of you the trailer’s not appearing on this page. Click here to watch it on YouTube.)

As the mother of a teenage boy the concept hits me right in the gut. I’m feeling it even more so now because my son is away at his first sleepaway camp. He’s been gone for three weeks so far with another to go, and it has been a hugely eye-opening time of growth for all of us.

The PR folks for BOYHOOD have offered me 20 screening invitations to give away to 10 readers + their guests. Which means we could have a movie date together! Rael and I will be at the screening, and it would be so fun to see you there.

Here are the details:

1. The screening is on Monday, July 21 at 7pm in the Portland, OR area.

2. Therefore, only Portland-area readers are eligible to enter. Please only enter if you can commit to attending the screening! (It would be sad if the giveaway winners ended up not coming.) The movie is rated R, so your guest needs to be old enough to watch it. Teen-to-adult is my guess.

3. If more than 10 people enter the giveaway, winners will be chosen randomly.

4. The PR company is running the giveaway via email. They will notify the winners via email on Thursday, July 17. 

I hope to see you there!

To enter, send email to [email protected] with the subject line ‘BOYHOOD – PARENT HACKS’ and your name in the body of the message.