Quake – a short movie with Chase Ellison

Quake starring Chase Ellison

It is not every day that I blog about movies that I haven`t seen yet. However, the short movie Quake starring Chase Ellison has been on my list for a long time – and I have to mention its existence in my blog – so some of you may get it . The problem is that it’s available on iTunes for only 2 $ – yet Itunes requires a US billing address – which I don`t possess. The only impression of the movie I have at the moment is from its trailer – but as soon as I manage to find a way to get it I will be sure to update this post with a detailed review. It must be a good movie judging from its 8.10/10 rating on its IMDb page.

The movie is filmed in Los Angeles, California – Chase plays the part of Toby Fisher, a 13-year-old boy who has to learn to face his fear of earthquakes when scientists discover a new fault line running through his neighborhood.

The reason why the movie remained rather unknown for the wide public is its name – a search for Quake on the Internet would bring back a lot of results related to the famous game. In fact, there are some people who even think that Quake the movie is about the game – which of course is not the case.

Rate this movie and discover more at movies.theskykid.com

An update : I finally got a chance to watch the movie and am quite satisfied with it. Its a movie about senses – what a boy can sense – but nobody believed him. Chase acted quite well – in fact what I saw reminded me of a video clip I saw with him – in which he was applying for a role in the film. I guess at some later time I will share this video with you – if you are interested that is.

Jestem

Jestem is one of those movies which makes me feel sorry that I was not able to watch it on a big cinema screen. It is visually rich and the viewer will definitely remember many of its stunning scenes. The cinematography is remarkable – to the point that at times it almost feels like you are seeing and experiencing a visual poem. The use of warm sepia coloring gives an almost fairy-tale feeling to the story – a fairy-tale about adolescence and the cruelty of life. In addition to that, Jestem has a powerful story that is guaranteed to make you think deeper about life and its injustices.

A powerful coming of age drama – Jestem (also known as I Am) is a film about a young homeless boy who lives alone on an abandoned river barge because nobody in the world seems to care about his existence – not even his own mother. In fact, she is quite a negative character in the film – young and attractive but an irresponsible mother. One could not help it but condemn the way she treated her son.

As the movie focuses on the experiences of its young protagonist, the director relied largely on the performance of Piotr Jagielski. From the opening scene and throughout the film, the camera focuses on the boy and his face frequently appears and fills the screen. It must have been quite challenging to be the lead actor in Jestem and Piotr Jagielski seems like the perfect choice for that role. He is comfortable in front of the camera – and successfully conveys his emotions to the viewer.

Obviously, Director Dorota Kedzierzawska has some experience in directing young actors, as I can’t imagine how otherwise such flawless scenes could be recorded. She seems perfectly able to penetrate the child’s world and allow us a peek inside the soul of the movie protagonist. An article about her in Wikipedia confirms that observation:

“Kędzierzawska is the director of several acclaimed films, such as Devils, Devils, Crows, Nothing, and I Am. In her films, she concentrates on the experiences of disadvantaged children who contend with a difficult financial situation, rejection by adults, or both.“

The film’s soundtrack, composed by Michael Nyman, contributes to the atmosphere in Jestem with melodic, almost mystical vibes.

The film won several awards, including the Audience Award at the 30th POLISH FILM FESTIVAL in Gdynia (2005) as well as the awards for Best Cinematography (Artur Reinhart), Best Music (Michael Nyman), and Best Sound (Bartek Putkiewicz). It also received an award from the jury of the 29th Kinderfilmfest Berlinale 2006, and the Award of the President of the Italian Republic – second place in the “Free to Fly” section at the 36th Giffoni Film Festival in Italy.

Carlitos y el campo de los sueños

Are you a soccer fan? Do you like comedies?

If you answer yes to at least one of the questions above, you should definitely see the Spanish film Carlitos y el campo de Los sueños. It has been a while since the film was released, and it became quite popular in Spanish-speaking countries. Carlitos is a 12-year-old boy who loves soccer and is good at it. Unfortunately, he is an orphan and the director of the orphanage where he lives hates sports.

Everything changes when Carlitos sees an advertisement for a selection contest that will allow talented young players to join the National Football Federation sports team and play in the Junior European Championships. But there is a problem – Carlito is not allowed outside the orphanage. During a school trip, he manages to sneak out and attend the contest – and that’s when the adventure begins. He is approved – but now has to find a way to escape from the orphanage without being seen, train in secret while at the same time maintaining good grades at school.

The young Guillermo Campra delivers an outstanding performance in the role of Carlitos. He is rapidly gaining popularity in Spain – and is soon to appear in Águila Roja. His acting talent and adorable looks are guaranteed to win him many fans across the world. Raúl appears in the film as well – so some football fans will be delighted.

Carlitos is a nice comedy which kids will adore, as will the adults. As a film, it is not perfect, but it definitely fulfills its main goal: entertainment. It teaches us all that with hard work and devotion, dreams can become a reality.

Today I have a special guest author from Spain ( nicknamed Pajaro ) who would like to share his opinion on Carlitos with you :

Carlitos y el campo de los sueños

Una pelicula para todos los publicos entretenida y con un bonito argumento y un buen reparto de actores .Una pelicula para toda la familia para disfrutar y reir y emocionarse de la bida de un niño que su sueño y su pasion es el futbol.

La recomiendo para todo el publico

Official web site

Those of you who want to see another football-themed movie may check out Buitenspel

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMtHOZ9Wauw

Street Magic

I was wondering what title should I put on this article. Street Magic or Volshebniki Dvora as the Russian vocal group behind those names are quite popular with both of them. In addition I had doubts about doing an article on them as they are part of the mainstream those days and you probably already know much more about them than I do.

The group was established in 1989 and with over 20 years on stage gained wide popularity in Russia as well as abroad. Wider exposure was achieved through the media exposure they received while participating in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2005″ in Hasselt (Belgium). In additional one of their soloist, the talented Vlad Krutskih has become widely recognized as their front man and is now Russia’s best known boy singer…(Más). That being said I would note that all of the children in the group possess enormous talent and its obvious that the people who work with them are professionals. One of the things you will notice when watching videos of Street Magic is the their great choreography – of course those of you more familiar with the Russian scene would know that the performers there have always been known for that. But it often feels seems like Street Magic does the extra bit. Most of their songs are full of energy and entertain people of all ages.

Their official web site is the best resource for learning more about them ( it should be the same for all groups ). It is available in Russian, English and Spanish and is packed with resources such as audio, video clips and photos.

Read more at esckaz. /You can download the original photos and songs on the: Official web site

Listen at lastfm / BCSD profile / если вы говорите по-русски- Владислав Крутских

Brecha by Ivan Noel

Those of you who have seen my review of En Tu Ausencia by Ivan Noel know that at its very end I wrote, “Would I vote for another movie of the director – definitely!” True to my word I looked for another and discovered his new project – Brecha. The film is quite new – and it’s gaining popularity. I am guessing that as it was the case with his premiere movie until the time it got released, many people will be waiting impatiently to see it. Until then you can check the movie trailer below. Its seems every bit as visually stunning as was En Tu Ausencia, which is no surprise for me and if I am not mistaken the action has taken place in the same region. The big description of the film written by the director may be found on YouTube, I would just offer an excerpt of it :

“Brecha is a particularly vivid and realistic portrayal of the emotional rupture between a father recently released from jail and his 12 year old son, following a dark family tragedy that no one has strength enough to confront.”

As you see we are to expect another coming of age tale and I am really satisfied that Ivan Noel prefers producing movies in this genre. From the trailer one can see that Ivan utilizes a lot of his familiar techniques from his previous films. I only hope that when the DVD of Brecha gets released it will include his commentary, which I found of great interest as it really helped me to understand better En Tu Ausencia. This time he will be using more well known actors or at least that was what I saw in the blog of Maria Vera who also has an article on the film.

Gonzalo Sánchez Salas had the lead role in En Tu Ausencia and Brecha will introduce us to another promising youngster. The 11 year old Jose-Ramon Lafita. He is reffered to as “a truly extraordinary talent” by the movie director himself and from what I have seen from the short trailer, it confirms his opinion.

I will make sure to watch the movie / and of course review it as soon as I can. In the meantime here is the teaser for you :

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=he2zBhjnzjY

the movie has it`s own blog

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas

I was warned that the movie was not easy to watch. Yet I was looking forward to seeing it, as powerful dramas are the kind of movies I tend to really get into. A few minutes ago I saw the final credits with tears in my eyes. There were moments in which I knew what was going to happen and wanted to fast forward the film, as if this would have changed it. It was quite a temptation and I gave in … did it then returned to where I was, angry with myself for not being able to resist – but it was painfully overwhelming.

Now I am sitting in front of my pc, listening to Libera’s, “Do Not Stand at My Grave” – which is probably the most suitable in continuation of the movies theme and music. The soundtrack in itself was primary piano music that was effectively making the atmosphere even more dramatic than it was if that is even possible.

And the movie started quite ok – meaning I saw children playing – and even if on the background soldiers were pushing up “Jews ” everything seemed as normal as it could have been for that time period. My general opinion of that period is quite confused. I mean its the violence and the killing I don’t approve of but then who does? I guess I would only say that the fact that the movie was a fictional story did not make watching it easier. Especially knowing that reality was quite similar to what the movie showed. ( memories from my history books ) I was reading a review of the movie in Time Out of London and was quite surprised to read the following line in it “…adaptation of John Boyne’s 2006 children’s novel…” I would call such book anything but a children’s novel. In Wikipedia says that the book was a bestseller in Spain , UK and various countries and this is not something that surprises me. But I would not really recommend the book or the movie itself for someone younger than 11. In the Wikipedia’s article there is a small note on that – which you may check and are more then welcome to express your view on in the comments below. You see I envision that younger kids will identify with and be moved by the story of “The Boy in the Striped Pajamas” But I would only consider it only appropriate for who have had upper grade history before viewing.

Getting back to the movie itself, I could not say that it is a coming of age story and when you see it you will know why. Or maybe it is not a coming of age film for Jewish believers but it may become so for you regardless of your age or beliefs. The Boy in the Striped Pajamas is a movie about friendship, about innocence and man’s capacity for inhumanity to man. Its also very wrought with irony, and is a stark portrayal of contrasts. The problem with this movie is that it is hard to discuss without revealing the ending. So I will avoid falling into this trap and let you experience the movie for yourself.

the-boy-in-the-striped-pajamas1
Scanlan’s performance in the center of the story and specifically Asa Butterfield, made quite an impression on me and I expect to see him soon in another movie. The adult actors did not fall short and overall I don’t have a single negative remark towards their acting.

I would recommend this movie to anyone and know that the majority of you will like it. Its a powerful one and is well worth seeing.

http://youtu.be/9ypMp0s5Hiw

The official site of the movie offers some very interesting resources I encourage you to check them after seeing the film.

Similarly themed movies I have reviewed – “I Am David” ( which I should review in the near future )

Similar films I highly recommend : Venice (2010), Look to the Sky (1993) and The Island on Bird Street (1997)

En Tu Ausencia (In Your Absence) (2007)

En Tu Ausencia (In Your Absence) is a movie I have heard a lot about before getting a chance to get a hold of the DVD to watch it for myself. I have heard all kinds of rumors about it: being the ultimate Coming-of-Age movie, a powerful tale, provocative scenes…etc. In the end, when I saw it I was mostly impressed with the nature shots and felt a bit disappointed. The whole movie feels more like a reportage than a film in itself – either that or a documentary. Add the surrealism and beautiful visuals and you have a perfect arty festival film which, however, won’t be understood by everyone and doesn’t really have a chance to be a commercial success.

As I am writing this review, I am pausing and watching the director’s commentary. It’s quite comprehensive in fact – over 1 hour and 40 minutes — meaning that virtually the whole movie is commented on by Director Ivan Noel. Some of the interesting things he mentions are that the movie was shot with “No budget, no production help – nothing”. It had only two professional actors in the cast and that no make up was used in any moment of filming.

A film which has a main idea of “Covering the grounds of that transition between a childhood and adolescence”. As a rite of passage movie, En Tu Ausensia did pretty well – even though I admit that I started to believe that more after watching it once again with the director’s comments. In fact, the DVD is worth having just for them. My impression is that Ivan Noel would do a wonderful job directing short movies on the topic and does seem to have pretty intriguing and truthful views. I’ve also checked some other things written by him online in addition to the film itself.

The movie has several scenes (nudity mostly – nothing that weird for a Spanish movie anyway) that made my mom, who was watching it with me, shrug her arms. I guess she was thinking that the plot was going in a certain direction while, in fact, the story evolved in quite an interesting manner. Yes, there were a few seduction scenes (if I may call them that), but nothing that goes overboard or is very different than what happens in real life anyway. I myself felt quite as Pablo did kissing my first girlfriend, and I am sure many of you share similar experiences.

Of course Ivan Noel talked a lot in his comments about the music used in the film – written and performed by himself and Gonzalo Sánchez Salas (Pablo in the film). He mentioned that Gonzalo expressed interest in the guitar in the filming process and learned it incredibly fast, so he accompanies Ivan in recording some of the vibes. While I am on the sound, I should mention that I had a bit of trouble following the dialogue in the film. I think most of it is pretty quiet and, while I am not a native speaker of Spanish, I watched the film with someone who is a native and he had troubles with that too. If the idea was to make it sound like an overheard conversation, that definitely that was achieved as I had to really pay attention to get some of the dialogue.

Overall is the movie worth seeing? My answer is yes. I doubt it will it appeal to everyone, but then many movies don’t. Will I look forward to another movie from this director? Definitely!

Go figure …

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWKaWV4zE0Q

Official movie site

Ivan Noel is currently working on another feature movie called Brecha – more info

Italianetz

Russian cinema never ceased to amaze me with powerful dramas . Movies like My Name is Ivan , The Return , Koktebel are just few examples. After tonight I have yet another title to add do my collection – the film Italianetz ( also known as The Italian ).

6-year-old Vanya lives in an orphanage and gets hope for a new life when an Italian couple contracts to adopt him. Vanya, however, learns that his real mother may be somewhere out there and desperately wants to find her. To do that he needs to get familiar with the content of his file which is locked in the directors cabinet. He soon discovers that this won`t be an easy task as first he has to learn how to read and get along with people around him- which is not an easy task for any 6 years old .

Although my opinion on orphanages is mainly based on documentary movies and stories on the news – I found that they were portrayed quite realistically in the film. Also I know a family who adopted their children in quite a similar manner as the one portrayed in the film – only not in Russia but in a neighbor country. Most of the time children end up happy living with their new families who care about them – but I dislike the fact that money have to be involved to such extend and that the people who request that seem more interested in them than the well being of the orphans .

Kolya Spiridonov in the role of Vannia made a big impression on me. His acting on that age was far better than the one of actors with many years spend in front of the camera. His determination to find his mother – a woman that abandoned him was admirable , yet left me worried trough the movie as it was quite unclear what or who he will find at the end. All I could do is hope that Vanya journey would reach a happy end – a thing that in movie filled with a sense of hope is the natural thing to do. With such a lead actor and compelling story it should not be a surprise for anyone that the movie is a prime example of a well directed and acted trough coming of age story from which not the the characters but we as well can learn a lot about life and the chalenges and choices people have to face.

I saw parallels with movies such as Oliver Twist and Pinocchio – even trough I am not really sure if it is entirely appropriate to mention the second one in the review.

In another review the author mentioned that he thinks of Italianetz as what you might call a “festival film that would take some prior knowledge or particular interest for someone to find it and screen it” . Sadly I have to agree with him as the movie hasn`t gained the wide popularity it truly deserves . Similarly with movies such as Torzok one has to be either lucky or interested in the coming of age genre of the Russian cinema in order to discover the film.

Now that you are here – you already know that such a moving and sincere drama is a must see and I rush you to recommend it to your friends .

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5X4nNb92As

Savrseni Krug

Lately I have been watching movies about the war. Generally this type of movies are hard enough to watch on its own and when you combine the genre with a coming of age tale – the end result is usually a touching war drama that becomes over sentimental at times yet portrays realistically the horrors of war.

Savrseni krug also known by its English title The Perfect Circle is a prime example for a well made war movie that focuses on the effects of the military action on the ordinary people. The whole movie feels like a dark poem about the war – and probably that was the intention of the film makers as the protagonist in the film is the poet Hamza who often has suicidal troughs reflecting his poems. He manages to get his life and daughter in the final group for refugees who leave Sarajevo , but decides to remain in the city himself.

Somewhere near Sarajevo two boys manage to escape an ethic clearance. Their family is killed for no reason and the boys decide to head to the city and try to find their aunt. Once in Sarajevo the boys sneak out in the flat of Hamza – where they are discovered by him. Initially he doesn`t know what to do with them – but soon after he decides to protect them and help in the search for their aunt.

Hamza, a Bosnian poet tries to cope in war torn Sarajevo when he sends his wife and daughter to safety. He drinks and imagines his own death by hanging. Two young brothers find refuge in his apartment after they flee from the fighting. Can Hamza protect the two young boys?

This is a poignant tale of a recent war tearing families apart. The natural and credible actors elicit strong emotions. There cannot be a happy ending.

In the words of Hamaz:

Nothing more can happen to me,
nothing good or bad.
Like a good soldier,
counting the days
that follow each other,
dull, meaningless.
Let’s accept it
and say it quietly.

Death will take everything from me:
my flesh and bones,
the pencil on the table,
my knowledge, my soul,
the painting on the wall,
the music
that lights up the room,
the tears, the fears,
the air laden with pollen.
And after that: darkness,
darkness, darkness…

http://youtu.be/7UP9ERrX2JY

Welcome to theSkyKid.com

Welcome to the new, improved version of skykid.wordpress.com.

Only it is now theSKYKID.com. I apologize for not letting you know earlier about the change. It was quite a spontaneous move. All links from the previous blog version are working – redirecting to the individual posts in theSKYKID.com. I am still playing around with the design and features – and it would take me a while – as of the moment, I am considering two methods – a simple cleaner one or a bit more cluttered but with more functionality. I would be grateful if you express your opinion on this issue.

Also, I would like to ask the people who have linked to my blog via skykid.wordpress.com to change the link with the new blog URL https://theskykid.com/ as this will be more valuable and valid in the long term.

Probably in the next few weeks, the blog’s design will change, and addons will appear and disappear until I can fix some stable version that we can all enjoy.

Yours,

SkyKid

PS: As about skykid.org – I still own the domain, but I am unsure if this will be the case in 5-6 months. If I keep it, I will find good use of it. ( :

Mon Oncle (My Uncle) – Criterion Collection

Mon Oncle is a nice French comedy I saw the the other day. There were several fun scenes – but overall I don`t think that it was quite enough to make it a good comedy . Most jokes in it are hidden in the details rather than in the story itself and I guess one has to have an affinity to the french cinema or humor to fully appreciate this film. The opening scene featuring some homeless dogs nosing around a street made me wonder what kind of movie that would be.

The main protagonist in Mon Oncle is Monsieur Hulot who has a rather unique appearance completed by his pipe and trenchcoat. He lives alone – doesn`t work and is very succesful trouble maker even if all troubles caused by him are rather incidential than on purpose. To me he just had an easygoing attitude – much like myself – but this eventually is considered as a good personal characteristic by all the ” serious and grown up ” people out there such as the his sister`s husband .He is obssesed with is work and sees the behaviour of his relative as quite irresponsible and unacceptable .

Gerard is a young boy who lives with his father who is director of a plastic factory and his mother who is obsessed with the housekeeping of their modernistic home. The boy seemed deprived from any real affection and attention from his parents and found his escape and chance for being mishivious in the walks with his uncle. In fact despite the fact that most people may think that with the the oddness of Monsieur Hulot was the funniest thing in the movie , I enjoyed more watching the tricks pulled out on strangers by Gearard a group of boys playing in the streets. ( They did not get enough screen time by my opinion which is a shame for such a long movie ).

Despite his odd appearance , or most likely because of it the uncle is a role model for his young nephew Gerard .

The dialogue in the film is brought to minim, so you will have no problems following the story in French even without the english subtitles you will find on the DVD. I did not quite like the soundtrack of the movie either- at first it was OK – but after the first 30 minutes I found the music to be quite annoying.

The movie director Jacques Tati seems to be famous , or at least well known in the cinema circles , yet Mon Uncle is the only film I have seen on his and its not like I feel an urge to look for the others .The movie was quite long – a bit over 2 hours and failed to keep me interested in it for that time.The movie won a Oscar in 1958 for Best Foreign Language Film.

http://youtu.be/DsL_yria6Ew

IMDB

Cafe com leite

Cafe com leite is a short movie from Brazil. The film was shot entirely in the city of Sao Paulo by a young Brazilian crew. It tells a story of a homosexual couple, Danilo and Marcos, that has to change their plans for the future when the former has to take care of his younger brother after the death of their parents.

In a sense the movie is quite similar to the Spanish movie Cachorro – only its shorter and would appeal to a different audience may be . I must say that I remained disappointed by the film – something in the story seemed missing and incomplete , yet the excellent acting of the cast compensated a bit for that. The camera work was quite good and the movie is full with vivid colors . Fans of short movie genre would enjoy it.

Official movie site

The movie has been screened at variety of festivals across the world and even won Crystal Bear for best short film at the 2008 Berlin Film Festival.

TheSkyKid.com

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