Jennifer Garner has hit the jackpot here in Las Vegas. She’s showing off a clip to those gathered at CinemaCon of her latest film, The Odd Life of Timothy Green. Garner’s talking with Movie Fanatic exclusively just prior to the footage presentation to talk about the magic that is her new film.

The film is a heartfelt story with a lot of magical elements. It follows a couple, Cindy and Jim Green (Garner and Joel Edgerton), who cannot wait for the day when they welcome their first child. Suddenly, Timothy Green shows up on their doorstep after a storm. The new parents and their entire community learn a lesson through Timothy, that the unplanned often results in life’s rarest of gifts.
The fact that the finished product is something that someone eight or eighty could enjoy, completely surprised the mother of three.

“I was surprised by how universal it is. When I watched it, there was a little kid next to me. I thought maybe this wasn’t for them. I see it through my own lens. The kid loved it more than anyone in the theater,” Garner said and laughed. “They see the other kids in the movie. Kids are totally in love with this film. That is such a bonus for me that it is such a family film that everyone can go to and enjoy.”

The actress was so moved when she initially read the script, she had to make The Odd Life of Timothy Green her next project. “The writing resonated with me. I fell for it myself. The way that parenthood is presented, it’s very true,” she added.

CJ Adams could not have been a better choice of an actor to play the title character. Just from what we’ve seen from the footage here in Vegas, this is a star-making turn for the young actor. The production looked at legions of actors, but when Adams walked in, he was their Timothy Green — the boy who mysteriously arrives in Garner and her onscreen husband’s lives.

“CJ is Timothy. I cannot imagine anyone else playing the role. He kind of does seem like a kid from another land who’s made up by as much magic as he is flesh and blood. He’s something really special. I fell pretty hard for him.”

Source: http://www.moviefanatic.com/

Globetrotting grandparents Bill and Pat Garner were in Ecuador when they learned their middle daughter, television and movie star Jennifer, had given birth to their latest grandchild.

Jennifer, who grew up in Charleston, gave birth on Monday to her third child with husband Ben Affleck.

The couple named their first son Samuel Garner Affleck, after Affleck’s grandfather, Bill said.

“We’re just tremendously excited about it. We weren’t sure we were going to have any more grandkids,” Bill said. “The baby’s healthy, Jennifer’s healthy, the family’s all excited.”

Bill is also excited the couple used “Garner” as the lad’s middle name.

“It’s the only chance we have of extending the family name,” he said. (more…)

Having a baby boy may be new territory for Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck – but they’re overjoyed to be parents for the third time.

“Jen is feeling good,” a source tells PEOPLE. “She’s so thrilled to have a little boy, and the girls already love him so much.”

Their son Samuel joins big sisters Seraphina, 3, and Violet, 6.

While the actress told Ellen DeGeneres that “it would be so weird to have a boy,” Garner seems to be taking it all in stride.

“Jen is such a natural mother,” says a source close to the couple.

The proud parents, both 39, have always put family first.

“He couldn’t be happier,” Affleck’s friend tells PEOPLE. “He loves his wife. He loves his family and he’s proud – he’s legitimately proud – you can just see it.”

As for Affleck, who has been acting less to focus on directing lately, his most important role is being a father.

“He’s gets to spend a lot of time with his family and the idea that they have three kids right now is something that makes them both feel really good,” the source adds.

The couple, who wed in June 2005, announced they were expecting their third child in August.

Source: http://www.people.com/

My mother, Pat, grew up during the dustbowl depression and to say her family was poor would be an understatement. Still, you wouldn’t know it hearing her talk about it. Her family played games, sang songs, recited poetry and my mom had an exceptional teacher who lit her up when it came to learning.

My mom was the only one in her family to graduate from college and she put herself through school working in the cafeteria. She went on to lead a very adventurous and she would say exceptional life.

Growing up in West Virginia, I witnessed a different kind of poverty — a more difficult kind of poverty. It was a more dyed-in-the-wool, resigned-to-helplessness that permeated the forgotten communities in the mountains.

It was thinking about this gap between my mother’s hopeful, forward-looking childhood and the quiet acceptance I saw in kids a town or two away from mine that led me to my work with Save The Children’s U.S. Programs. (more…)

Older siblings often want to help with baby names, but their choices sometimes aren’t the most desirable.

Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck are learning this as they prepare for their third child — and are getting an avalanche of suggestions for names from daughters Violet, 6, and Seraphina, 3.

“Our girls are working on names. At first they were definitely Disney. It was like, Donald Duck, Minnie Mouse Affleck,” the Butter star, 39, said Wednesday on The Tonight Show.

“And then they’ve moved on. Then it was Peter Pan, Captain Hook, Smee.”

With those character names not really cutting it, the girls moved on to other strategies.

“They’re coming up with lists, and coming in and saying, ‘Let’s have a baby-naming contest! Let’s have a baby-naming poll!’” says Garner. “They ask everyone, cause they just want to know. But we’re not telling.”

Garner knows the sex of the baby, but declined to reveal it on the show. Asked if her husband wants a boy, Garner — who has said she wants a third girl — said she actually didn’t know.

“I would have thought so. At first I think I really thought so,” she said. “And then he kind of said, ‘Well, we have girls. We know how to do girls. My girls love me. I’m the big guy in the house.’ So, now I’m not sure.”

Source: http://celebritybabies.people.com/

I recently sat down with Jennifer Garner to talk about holiday traditions, as well as her favorite cause, Save the Children. Her passionate support for this organization is fueled by her deep concern for children. Jennifer talked about how much she feels for the mothers that Save the Children supports, aware of how overwhelmed they are with so few resources for addressing their children’s basic needs, but the universal longing to ensure their children are happy and well.

Our conversation about the demands of motherhood moved into one about preparing for the holidays. Jennifer still carries the poise of a dancer — she was a ballerina for many years, before shifting into acting and it’s easy to imagine her having the picture-perfect holiday table. But as the mother of two (with a third baby on the way) she confessed to having loosened her approach to the holidays by recognizing her limits.

Like all working moms, it’s easy to push to get things just right for family gatherings, but Jennifer acknowledged that she now lets people contribute to the big holiday meal rather than trying to do it all herself. (more…)

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Jennifer Garner treated her newest role with a great deal of “respect”.

Jennifer portrays Midwestern housewife Laura Picker in upcoming satire Butter. The film follows Laura as she goes on a campaign to reclaim her husband’s title as the Iowa town’s butter-carving champion.

Jennifer was intent on poking fun at the situation in good spirits, without disrespecting anyone’s standpoints.

“I don’t know if I would want to watch [Butter] with a politician, but I would like to watch it in Iowa and see if they are still friends with me after because we made it with such respect,” Jennifer told Pop Tarts. “And I come from a small town, so I just want to make sure that they enjoy it and have as much fun with it as we intend for them to have.”

Jennifer relished the butter-carving experience she gained while filming this movie. She now has a new appreciation for the dairy product.

“I love movies where you’re immersed in a world you know nothing about and you see that they’re universal. I was all for butter-carving,” she said. “I used butter in the icing for a cake today so no [not sick of it yet!] I go through a lot of butter.”

Butter will be released in US cinemas on March 16 2012.

Source: http://www.film-news.co.uk

Jennifer Garner is avoiding maternity clothes for her red carpet appearances, though not exactly by choice. “[My stylist] Rachel Zoe is so determined to not put me in maternity clothes,” the actress told InStyle.com the AFI Fest’s screening of Butter in Los Angeles this weekend. “I think because she was so little when she was pregnant, she didn’t wear them.” So, while Garner wore an off-the-runway Lanvin dress to the event, she also sees maternity wear in her future. “I have four months to go. Sooner or later, she is going to have to put me in a maternity dress. Eventually that is going to happen, but so far she has gotten her way.”

Source: http://news.instyle.com/

The entertainment industry turned out in full-force tonight in support of the Motion Picture & Television Fund’s (MPTF) “Reel Stories, Real Lives,” a unique evening of powerful readings which told the stories of industry members and their families who have benefitted from MPTF’s services over the years. The event, held at Milk Studios, was hosted by Robert Downey Jr. and featured performances put together by renowned Hollywood actors, actresses, writers and directors who have been touched by the generosity the MPTF has been able to inspire within the industry. Hollywood’s best and brightest were asked to support the organization’s commitment to the entertainment industry and get involved.

The event honored The Hollywood Reporter’s Next Generation Class of 2011: Top 35 Under 35, a select group of up-and-comers in the business. MPTF will partner with this group to continue the tradition of giving back to ‘take care of our own.’ The Next Generation recipients are chosen based on their proven success in developing and initiating projects, their reputation among their peers and the potential others see in them to rise to the top. The list has included Stacey Snider, Mike De Luca, Ari Emanuel, Amy Baer, Ben Silverman, Sue Naegle, Donna Langley and Kevin Huvane — the very people who are now running the industry. Among those included on this year’s list are: Armie Hammer, actor in “J. Edgar”; Adepero Oduye, actress in “Pariah”; Elizabeth Olsen, actress in “Martha Marcy May Marlene”; Dee Rees, writer-director of “Pariah”; Lauren Abrahams, director of production at Columbia Pictures; and Dana Archer, EVP at DDA PR. (more…)

Austin Film Festival (AFF) kicked off the week-long film appreciation festival this year with “Butter,” written by Jason Micalleff and starring Jennifer Garner and Ty Burrell. A fantastic pick for opening night, the laugh-out-loud comedy also acts as a political satire, making subtle comments and jabs at our country’s current political figures.

The film centers around a very strange hobby: butter carving. Bob Pickler (Burrell) is Iowa’s reigning butter carving champion, and he has been for the past 15 years. But when it comes time for him to pass on the butter carving torch, his stepford wife, Laura Pickler (Garner), steps up to keep the crown in the family.

Laura, who has been studying her husband’s butter carving skills for years, thinks she’s got this competition in the bag. Then out of the blue, Destiny, a shy, young black foster girl with no last name, steps into the ring.

The competition soon transforms into a circus, with the uptight, status-obsessed Laura; Brooke Swinkowski (Olivia Wilde), a vengeful, money-hungry stripper, who has it out for Laura; and Carol-Ann Stevenson, a crazy cat lady who’s oblivious to the world and yet drops some of the funniest lines in the film.

The only sane competitor is the 10-year-old Destiny, who has never carved a block butter in her life yet has an untapped skill for it.

At first Micalleff, who wrote “Butter” during the 2008 presidential election, jokingly denied any sort of political satire in the film.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said during the Q&A after the screening of “Butter” at AFF. “It’s just a movie about butter carving.”

After a bit of prying though from the audience, Micalleff admitted that Laura Pickler may parody a certain former Alaskan governor and Destiny may parody a 2008 Democratic presidential candidate. However, Micalleff said the movie is less about parodying particular people and more about how our country’s political figures have become a form of entertainment rather than the serious leaders they should be.

With its star-studded cast and solid-gold humor, “Butter” is perfect for political enthusiasts or just the everyday person looking for a good laugh.

Source: http://www.hilltopviewsonline.com/