Martian Child

A friend of mine recommended this movie to me though My Space. I am glad that he did so because it did turned out to be a good movie. Its tagline “The story of a man becoming a father…and a boy becoming a son” draw my instant attention. After seeing it I could only add that Marcian Child is a real coming of age movies – that somehow reminds us that there is no universal age – some of us are coming of age every single days of our lives and that`s so beautiful. We are creating new miracles , exploring new words – learning to be human. And may be all shall have the stamp on the box in which the Martian child was hiding from the sun – a big stamp “Fragile ! Handle with care” – loving the person who gets us out of that box and still does what`s this stamp says .

The plot of the movie is based on the real story of a single parent who decides to adopt a child. That child happen to be a six-year old orphan boy named Dennis who thinks that he came from Mars to fulfill a mission on the earth. From the moment they first meet a new mission lies ahead of both of them – that mission is pretty well described by the movies tagline I mentioned above.

The good plot is there. There is book with the same name and a short story .The movie is based on the short story – although there are people who argue that its actually based on the book – only the sexuality of the single parent was changed – to make sweeten the film for the general audience. I have not read the book yet – so can not really comment on that yet. The acting is average – but rather good than not – and the movie has a really good soundtrack too. Martian child seems to be a nice family movie – which you could enjoy some cloudy Sunday afternoon ( just like I did). Similar but a bit better movie would be About a Boy – just so you have an idea .

http://youtu.be/Fo–9mYFpVM

The Nature Of Nicholas

I used to think that The Nature Of Nicholas is a cute movie. That`s the impressions that the clips from it in the video sharing web sites left on me. More over the main characters looks alike one of my classmates in the German classes . But after seeing the movie I have to say that it really surprised me . I have never suspected that I would see horror elements and will feel that confused after watching it. Its very so paced – I set the speed in my video player to 140% and it still felt like I am watching on a regular pace. There seems to be so many metaphors in this movies – and yet none as clear as it should have been . If you don`t know much about it – the movie that is , but you want to see it – I urge you not to read other reviews online because they would reveal much and you would miss the twisted surprised feeling which is guaranteed to you by the kind of plot The Nature Of Nicholas has. This movie won`t make it in my favorite list – but it sure made it in the weirdest movies I have ever seen. Yes it is a coming of age movie – a coming out movie too I guess at least that I was able to make out. I guess if I have to compare it with another movie it will be the Reflecting Skin and yet may be I was able to understand it more than this one.The acting in The Nature Of Nicholas was not very good either – especially the one of the adult actors – the one of Jeff Sutton and David Turnbull as the two main characters ( Nicholas and Bobby ) was at least bearable . The best feature this movie has is indeed the superb photography – and its nature scenes – again another thing that makes it similar to Reflecting Skin.

“”I just hope people pay attention to it and come up with their own ideas,” the director says. “Movies like this are complicated. “

IMDB (link) 2012 Update : A review by Phoenixeast at TheSkyKid.com

Vox Angeli

The first album of Vox Angeli was released few days ago (February 4, 2008) and it seems that it has gained popularity judging from the the amount of visits to this blog only due to the fact that I have bookmarked their official site . I will admit that until recently I was not familiar with the group Vox Angeli but knew about one of the six soloist in it – the young and very talented Louis-Alexander Désiré. Louis sings the Schubert’s Ave Maria solo which is featured as the sixth song ( out of ten) in the album. I had the chance to listen to all songs and am really impressed – the music is really touching and one easily can see why the name that the name of the album and the group is a right tag for the angelic voices of the girls and boys in the group. Actually I guess the more appropriate term for Vox Angeli would

be choir rather then group. Finding information about them in English is not an easy task – even their official web site is French only – which is a pity as it somehow it sets some limits to people who want to learn more about them. Vox Angeli has 6 members – 3 girls – (Lola, Iris and Claire) and three boys (Mathis,Louis and Etienne) – I have created a small collage for this post so you can have an idea who is who ( of course they do have biographies on their official page ). I have read opinions which compared them with Angelis same formation and similar image and I could only wish them to become at least as popular as Angelis are- because they really deserve that.

http://youtu.be/WEl16U5nJms

The Devil’s Backbone

I did not quite get the whole movie , but have to admit that it had brilliant cinematography. It is a well made movie – may be the abstract plot – a ghost story with a twist combined with rather unusual story telling caused my confusion at times. But with Pedro Almodóvar as producer- its obvious that it was not going to be your average movie. The movie director – Guillermo del Toro did a great job in the The Devil’s Backbone, which he claims to be extremely autobiographical movie for him

The story is set during the Spanish Civil War – young boy named Carlos is left in an orphanage by his tutor . His father is dead – but Carlos doesn`t know that. Everything is new for him and he has to adapt, to win the respect and friendship of the other boys living the orphanage. And as if that is not a real challenge itself – he has to learn to deal with his own fears.

Some other reviewers wrote that the movie is rather slow paced – but I disagree with that opinion. I enjoyed the development of the story as it allowed me to get familiar with the characters – their positive and negative sides , even their thoughts may be. This became possible thanks to the remarkable performance of the young actors and the rest of the cast. The The Devil’s Backbone is labeled as horror movie , but to me it offered much more drama than horror – despite the fact that it gets creepy at times. The ghost in the story is seen mainly by the kids – most of the time anyway. Probably that is what the director meant when saying:

“In so many ways, the movie tries to deal with the ghost of something from the life of the kids, a ghost of something that you lost, something that haunts you, something that you never did.” It is a metaphor for the ghosts that haunt one’s life, a universal understanding of fear.”

I could only add – that the movie did deal with all this haunted visions in one`s life – even in mine – at the house when I go upstairs sometimes I hear whispers , steps – may be this is just my imagination – but my heart beats faster and I run through the big hallway to the nearest switch and am getting calm as soon as the lights are on. I never through of this – but now after seeing this movie and reading what the director had said about it – all these experiences start making sense.

http://youtu.be/703hNsc5Bvg

The Kite Runner

Beautiful movie full of wisdom and emotions. I admit that there are still tears in my eyes after seeing this brilliant masterpiece directed by Marc Forster ( Finding Neverland). After seeing the final credits I really feel that this movie enriched my life. The plot is brilliant and provides many surprising outcomes – some scenes are disturbing , other draw tears in my eyes , and some evoked anger in me – I have said it before – it a movie makes you feel than its succeeded in its mission – to tell a story and suck the viewer into it. It is not an easy task to decide what this movie is about – friendship , betrail, lost innocence, forgiveness ,devotion….I can go on like that for a long time.

The Kite Runner is based on a novel of the name name written by an Afghan American author Khaled Hosseini. I liked the movie so much that I already own a copy of the book and am going to start reading it soon . I have heard that the book provides much more insights to the story then the movie does – which is usually the case with books. The script of the movie can be downloaded for free. On the same time you could also listen to the soundtrack – which is quite remarkable ( I got a copy of it as well).

The acting in the movie is really good – once again first time actors such amazed me with their talent and convincing performance. Zekeria Ebrahimi and Ahmad Mahmidzada who are the child star in the movie moved to Saudi Arabia because their family fears that they could be kidnapped or even assaulted because of of a disturbing scene in the movie. Actually the movie was delayed – because the studio wanted to ensure that the boys are safe . More info and links you can find on the movie`s Wikipedia entry.

I am not going to reveal much details of the plot as you will be able to get an idea about it from the trailer of the movie which I have included below. I hope that the review will be useful for you anyway and I urge you to see the movie when it gets released to your country. I really have to make a top 10 of my all time favorites – and I am sure that The Kite Runner will find its well deserved place there.

Blauvogel (1979)

Blauvogel was in my collection from quite some time – but I have not seen it – mainly because I was not sure if I could follow along without subtitles. The movie is German – but I found dubbed Russian version which made the viewing easier ( I am currently taking German I – but it would take time until I can watch and understand movies in it). Despite the worries I had the movie turned out to be an easy one to watch .

While I am a big fan of stories about American Indians – Blauvogel did disappointed me a bit. It is released in 1979 and may be this is one of the reasons for which the filming was not that good, the scenes convincing enough or even the acting believable ( well Robin Jaeger did well )- but I have seen other movies released near that year which turned better.

The story develops around 1850 when an English farmer settles in America with his family. His oldest son George ( 10 y.o) is kidnapped by the Indians and later on accepted in their tribe under the name Blue Bird. He faces many challenges – coming of age in this new environment . And when he becomes a man and the circumstances make him return to his English family he has to find himself once again – will he succeed?

The movie was not perfect , but I liked it never the less. Somehow it just felt like I am out there in the field playing the role of George ( I did that many times – being an Indian was one of my favorite fantasies ) . The coming of age element is considerable – as George develops a lot as a character – even through right after his childhood , we see him as 20 years old man.

I have read other review stating that there was an excessive amount of violence in Blauvogel – but I did not found this to be true.

http://youtu.be/8boO_tUn0WY

IMDB page (link)

D.A.R.Y.L.

Just saw this science fiction movie and decided to add my 2 cents to the opinions about it online. It is a good movie – for its time anyway ( 1985 ) – and somehow it feels like watching a prototype of Artificial Intelligence with Haley Joel Osmond. The movie has been recommended to me by a friend of mine who is obsessed with aircraft and is found of Barret Spencer Oliver who played the leading role of an eleven years old boy with artificial brain. I myself am not very familiar with the actor – aside from his role of Bastian in The Neverending story.

Still I think that he did well – and his acting in D.A.R.Y.L deserves a high five. The plot of the movie must have been very innovative for its time – and the movie succeeded to preserve some special appearance even nowadays ( the good movies have no age as we all know). I have to admit that I have seen better movies with similar thematic – but at the same time I am not really familiar with the movies released in the 80`s. ( then I have a favorite released then – ET). If I am to compare this movie with the most recent released Artificial Intelligence I would pick the second one as it somehow succeed to evoke more emotions in me.

D.A.R.Y.L on its own is a fun movie to watch – but I doubt I will remember much of it ( aside from the acting of Barret). The movie did rises some moral issues – like the one shall anyone destroy a machine if the difference between a man and it can not be seen or sensed ? I think that this would be barbaric – especially when this would involve hurting a youth ( as Daryl in the movie).

See this movie if you can – the enjoyment is guaranteed ! In the meantime check out its trailer below :

Buitenspel (2005)

Another movie that made it in my all-time favourites list – Buitenspel, is a great coming of age story that I highly recommend to you. I just finished watching the movie – and I am still hooked on the DVD extras – all the interviews and scenes, and the music – the music is one of a kind. The movie’s main character is 12 years old Gilles – who plays football and dreams of becoming invited to the “Red Devils” teams ( the Belgium nationals).

His father supports him a lot, and there is a strong bond between them. Buitenspel is one of these movies which focuses on the father-son relationship amongst other things and does that in such a unique manner that will make you want to watch it over and over

again.

In general, I am not fond of watching soccer games ( but love playing it when I have an opportunity ). Still, the scenes in Buitenspel, which focused on that game, went good that I felt all the excitement related to watching a final of your favourite team. If you like soccer, you will fall in love with this movie. A few years ago, I wish it was available when I was trying to get my best friend from the USA ( who happens to be the same age as Gilles) hooked into Soccer – as I would have succeeded insure in that task.

Ilya Van Malderghem plays Gilles’s role – and I have to say that he did an incredible job in the movie. The other actors – especially Filip Peeters, who played the father did a great job as well. Getting sucked into the story -is a major indicator that the actors surpassed my own expectations. Gilles learns about himself – how to deal with disaster, misfortunes – the importance of believing in himself. His path to coming of age is not an easy one – but one which every fan of the genre would truly appreciate seeing.

Finally, I would like to mention the excellent ending, not a typical one indeed – but allow me to quote the pal who gave me that movie first place :

“…. it makes the story rather real this waythe sad ending, like…. down to earth story… more like stressing on the real life…. it would have been a bit of cliche if it was pink happy ending but it wasn’tand it’s stronger story this way “

http://youtu.be/W51FdvXAkiA

IMDB page (link)

If you enjoy sport-themed films, you may also like Believe (2013) Teufelskicker (2010), Kicking and Screaming, Carlitos y el campo de Los sueños.

Joe the King (1999)

Saw this movie about an hour ago. It is not an ordinary movie – or at least not one you would commonly expect to find as a blockbuster . But never the less Joe the Kind is the kind of movie I like – showing what can really happen in the real life.A festival type of film which provides a real challenge for the mind of the viewer.

The flaw of this movie was that the action was developing slowly – but when you think about it – may be the slow pace is on purpose -so the viewer can be really sucked in the story and the life of Joe. The main character Joe – himself is a 13 years old boy who is trying to come out of age in an suburban working town. With an indifferent mother and abusive father – the life is not easy for Joe. From what I saw may be a little bit of affection from either of his parents could have turn the page – and the whole story would have been different . Instead he has to work at the nearby restaurant – there you go – you have young boy who is responsible enough to support his family , tries his best to be a good student and really cares for his mother ( which can not be said for her). Joe cares for his father as well – so does his brother – but as result Joe gets spanked at school and five years later his brother get beaten.

The acting in the movie is very good – Noah Fleiss plays in the role of Joe and really succeeds to show the desperation in life of Joe. Val Kilmers plays in the role of Joe`s dad and I think that he did good , even through I read some comments elsewhere which stated the opposite because of the ” cool dude ” image of the actor.

An excellent coming of age story , Joe the king is a must see for the fans of this genre. I was able to make many personal references – mainly due to the fact that sometimes the good people get what they do not deserve – and I have felt that on my own back few years ago.

http://youtu.be/5TlvmSOeNbs

IMDB (link) Review (link) RT page (link) COA list (link)

Children Underground

Children Underground is one of the most astonishing and disturbing documentary movies I have seen. Its director Edet Belzberg succeeded to present a real picture of the horror in which thousands of Romanian kids are forced to live at. It is not easy to describe what was happening inside of me while watching Children Underground – seeing this kids living in the subway station,sniffing paint to get high and forget for a moment of their misery is a heart breaking experience. Every time I see a movie like this a documentary so harsh ( similar to the works of Wiktor Grodecki) – I wonder what is like to film a movie like this . You can`t just stay and let the camera run while the kids get beaten and abused – and yet if you interfere the reality would change as soon or later you will finish making your movie and leave…While trying to find an answer to these questions I saw an interview of Edet Belzberg (link). I found an answer to my question in the words of Belzberg :

[quote_box_center]Basically, I tell them what is shown in the film is a fraction of what actually takes place. That what you see in the film doesn’t even compare to what the children endure on a daily basis. A child could be beaten as many as four or five times a day by a passerby, a shopkeeper, another street kid, and so I really felt that it was my responsibility to show the reality of the situation and to really focus on long term goals rather than short term solutions. Had I intervened once, twice, ten times, even a hundred times every day while I was there, it wouldn’t have changed the situation at all, and it wouldn’t have been an accurate representation of the children’s lives. People who had seen rough cuts often said to me, you can’t show this, you can’t do this. People will not be able to handle it. [/quote_box_center]People often suggested I dilute it and take out the violent scenes, and that was something I was extremely opposed to.

While for most parts I agree with the director I guess one has to be very professional to be able to shoot a documentary like that without interfering in the reality. The kid I felt really bad for while watching the movie was the young Mihai – who seemed to be intelligent and polite boy. In the scene in which he started cutting himself I felt to desperate – and wonder what is like to film such a scene without stopping him – I could have never done that. There are discussions in the movie IMDB page about this scene too.

Children Underground is a documentary that I recommend to you – why – because it is real – whatever that means. I have seen children like that on the streets – they are there , and we can`t just close our eyes pretending that they are not existing.

The movie at IMDB (link)

The Cure (1995)

I have heard that this movie is really great. Times and times, it was recommended to me by almost everyone who has seen it – and the only reason which prevented seeing me earlier was that I was unable to get a decent copy of it. Yesterday I finally watched it – up until 4 am actually and now I can say that I would join the people who regard this movie as one of the best made. The Cure tells the story of 2 friends – 11-year-old Dexter, diagnosed with AIDS from a blood transfusion, and his best friend, Erik. Joseph Mazzello plays the leading roles ( I last saw him in the movie Radio Flyer ) and Brad Renfro ( he played in movies such as Skipped Parts, Sleepers, and the Client ). Both actors did an incredible job in The Cure. I am having a hard time thinking of another movie in which real and close friends are better portrayed. The soundtrack is excellent, and the music fits nicely into the scenes contributing to their impact on the viewer. See and hear for yourself -a scene from the movie with the song The Great Escape performed by Marc Cohn playing :

I highly recommend this movie. If you can`t find it – see a clip created by scenes from it and set to the song Imagine performed by Declan Galbraith -here – but beware the clip reveals a bit too much of the movie`s plot.

I didn’t take too many notes during this movie; I was too busy crying. Not because of the easy target one becomes when confronted by a brave, bright little boy with an incurable illness. But because the acting is so persuasive that the characters feel like family.(1)

Similarly themed movie is the French Oscar et la Dame Rose (2009) – and collectively it and the cure are one of the most emotional dramas the coming of age genre is proud with.

La Teta Y La Luna

Beautiful film – beautiful music , brilliant acting. La Teta Y la Luna tells the story of the nine year old Tete who feels not loved enough when his baby brother is born and strives to attract the attention of his mother. Seeing how his mother breastfeed his brother he wished he was able to be at his place and because his mother is taking care of the baby he asks the moon to send him a girl just for him ( breasts just for him to be more precise ). The fate sends him Estrella – a French cabaret performer who travel across the country with her husband. Tete falls in love with her -he brings her a present and she gives him what he wanted – everything seems perfect. But he is not the only one in love – a local teenager falls in love with Estrella as well . This teenagers is called Miquel and he tries to attract the attention of Estrella by singing a beautiful flamenco.

The narrative of the movie made the most impression – everything is seen and narrated by the young Biel Duran who plays the role of Tete. He does that so well, acting so naturally – that you can`t stop remembering what your life was at his age . La Teta Y La Luna is a movie full of symbolism. At the same time it remains fun, cute and very entertaining . Its a shame that I had this movie in my collection for such a long time and had not seen it until this evening ( actually morning ). Once again a prime example of the movie which can be made only in Europe as I have not seen anything coming from Hollywood that comes close to such brilliant cinematography . The movie has its share of sexy moments – some of which too kinky for one`s taste – but they are making it just more different and interesting then the rest.

A coming of age story with a difference

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0111403/combined

TheSkyKid.com

TheSKyKid.com

A coming of age story with a difference