January 19, 2010 10:00AM EST

TC Kids Club: Birthday Boy

Fred had his 10th birthday party at the Tribeca Cinemas Kids Club in December, and he gives the experience two thumbs up!

 

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My experience at Tribeca Cinemas Kids Club was amazing. I was looking for an idea for my 10th birthday party when I found the Tribeca Cinemas Kids Club. I wanted to go to a movie with all of my friends, but I also wanted a movie that they would all love and a nice environment to see it in. We found out that they were showing The General, a hilarious Buster Keaton movie. It was perfect! Before my party I had been a #1 fan of classic slapstick movies, including comedy gods like Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin, Harold Lloyd, Laurel and Hardy and The Three Stooges, but I hadn't yet seen The General. But having seen other Buster Keaton movies, I knew he was one of the funniest people ever. So before I could even blink, I decided to have my birthday there. And before I knew it, it was the Saturday of my birthday.

On the ride there, like any child, I was thinking: Are my friends going to have fun? Will everyone show up? Will they like the movie? My parents tried to calm me down by telling me, "Who doesn't like Buster Keaton?" and, sure enough, they were right. The minute the movie started, they were cracking their heads off with laughter. My friend Leo, five minutes into the movie, said, "This is the funniest movie ever!"

Not only was the movie a complete success, the environment was, too. First of all, before the movie started, when they were showing little trivia questions and other stuff on the screen, to my surprise they showed in big letters on the screen "HAPPY BIRTHDAY, FRED!" So all my friends started clapping, making everyone else in the audience clap too, which was a great surprise. Second of all, they had an amazing professional piano player for silent movies, Ben Model, talk about the music and history of silent film, and at the end everyone who wanted to got to ask questions. As my friends and I "oohed and aahed" him we all learned so many interesting facts about silent film. And last but not least of all, I got to have a birthday everyone would die for, by introducing my friends to my wonderful, hilarious love for slapstick comedy. My birthday at the Tribeca Cinemas Kids Club was by far the best birthday I've ever had.

 

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The next Tribeca Cinemas Kids Club screening will be on Saturday, January 23. For our Magical Friends day, we'll be showing episodes from the Shari Lewis and Lamb Chop show and E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial. The post-screening activity for the first show will be a puppeteer who will talk about the magic of ventriloquism; after E.T., we'll discuss what a film critic is, and everyone will get a chance to review the film!

Read more about the films.

for the 10:30 am screening of Lamb Chop (ages 3+)

for the 1:30 pm screening of E.T. (ages 7+) 

for a double feature (10:30 am and 1:30 pm)