Sky KID`s SKYNET

The main characters of the movie - two little tigers

Do you love animals ? And what about tigers ?Are you fan of Freddie Highmore ? If you answer yes to any of these questions you are going to really love the movie Two Brothers. I see it as a coming of age movie as well - only this time we have several characters who came of age - two little tigers , a boy who cared about one of them and Guy Pearce who plays the role of an adventurous hunter and writer .

Raul ( Freddie Highmore ) and his parents

I picked the DVD in a video store - while looking for some new titles for my collection. Did not notice it at first until the friend I was with pointed the actor on the cover and asked me if I knew who he was. Naturally one glimpse was enough to recognize Freddie Highmore - which on it self meant that I had to get the movie. And I am glad that I did that - despite of the rareness of the scenes in which Freddie appeared . As my friend said to me back in that store ” His role is not major - the major one is of the two baby tigers - but it was this movie that made him known to the world”

The little tigers in the movie are adorable. They love to play in the river, bathe in the sun and get into trouble- much like their human equivalents. The movies directors worked with the best animal trainers - and this resulted in one of the greatest movies about animals ever to be made. The tigers - Kumal and Singha - were able to convey a full range of feelings: love, fear, sadness, loneliness, joy and even angerl.Add to that a breathtaking scenery and absolutely beautiful scenes and you will get an idea of what to expect .

The bottom line is that trough the movie does not provide any surprising twists in its plot - its well worth seeing and it goes on to my favorite list straight away. Some of the scenes are really touching and while watching the movie and after its final credits I felt sorry that those animals are almost gone - thanks to the actions of the Humans , who destroy their natural habitat and hunt them for pleasure .

Official movie site ( link ) Movie`s Kids page of this movie ( link)

Who is Freddie Highmore (link)

Eres mi héroe is a nice Spanish coming of age film in which the story is told trough the view point of the 13 year old Ramón. His dad changes frequently jobs and Ramón often have to face the situation of being the new kid in the school. Ramón has trouble fitting in which is probably why he tells us : ” I felt like a soldier pushed into a dead end ambush.”

One day he makes a life changing choice :

... to become invisible.
Then he defines his own three vital rules of survival and swears to himself to obey by them or die. His rules does not make his life easier , but come handy at times. As he comes of age and gains understanding of the life and his own self following these rules becomes a harsh if not an impossible task.

Rule number 1
Not to fight.
Everyone’s stronger than you.A punch hurts, but not as much as a kicking.
Rule number 2
Not to snitch.Snitching will not be forgiven.Snitching can have deadly consequences.
And rule number 3
Not to cry.They want you to cry,that’s why they hit you.

Not to fight, not to snitch,and not to cry.

Eres mi héroe feels like an autobiographical film and if you enjoy coming of age movies you are guaranteed to adore this one. The young Manuel Lozano does a respectable job in the role of Ramón and his acting is so good that many of you may re-experience their first kiss or wonder as a teenagers . The soundtrack is exceptionally good and if you are found of Spanish music ( like I am ) you would truly appreciate it.

IMDB page (link)

When I walked outside the cinema today I felt like I was leaving a magic world only to return to the reality around me. This on itself may hint you that I truly enjoyed the fantasy tale called The Spiderwick Chronicles and my review about it is going to be a positive one.

The Spiderwick Chronicles is based on books by American authors Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black.The plot follows the adventures of nine-year-old twins Jared and Simon and their 13-year-old sister Mallory, whohave moved to the rundown Spiderwick Estate with their mother. In a hidden room Jared discoverers a book and being curious about its contents he decides to open it regardless of of the warning note stuck to it:

Any boy would do that - as such notes or signs are usually stuck at the most interesting places.

Inside the books pages Jared discovers that complete guide to the magical invisible world or “Arthur Spiderwick’s Field Guide to the Fantastical World Around You”.

Freddie Highmore is the big star in the movie and oh my… he stares in two roles - the ones of the identical twins Jared and Simon . Once again I was amazed by his talent as he successfully crated a distinct personality for both characters. ( the movie makes made sure that the viewer was able to make a clear distinction between the twins - using different styles and haircuts …but in my opinion that was not really necessary as I am sure that many people won`t even notice that its the same actor - just as TheBachelorGirl wrote in her blog).

Fairies, griffins, goblins, ogres and trolls populate the magical word which according by Arthur Spiderwick exist in parallel with our own All those creatures are said to be invisible to the human eye - unless they want to be seen or are seen with the help of special round stone ( another method is getting spit upon by a friendly goblin ) . There are good and bad ones and to combat with the bad ones everyday items such as tomato sauce gets used. In fact at times the movie looks like a big Heinz Ketchup commercial ( o :

…the Freddies are always worth watching. They should be cloned - to serve as permanent role models for the inner child in all of us. {l}

Related posts :

Movies starring Freddie Highmore

August Rush , Finding Neverland , Arthur et les Minimoys

Fantasy flick go-to kid Freddie Highmore grows into mature roles (link)

Official movie site (link) IMDB page (link)

Note ( this review is not completed yet )

Few minutes ago I saw the Roman Polanski version of Oliver Twist. I did not like this version and my honest opinion is that the one made back in 1968 was way better - in terms of acting ,cast - cinematic realization in general. ( Read more about it in the blog of Ikarus ) . This being said I still enjoyed the movie ( at least one bit ) and so did my 11 year old cousin who saw the movie with me. I assume that most of you if not all are already familiar with the popular story written by Charles Dickens which is why I am not going to get in much details about its storyline. Instead I would like to outline the rather unique twist in the version of Roman Polanski - at the end of the movie one actually feels sorry for FAgin ( even my cousin get really sad watching the scene in which Oliver went to the prison to see him- asking me - “….but why he was a very good old man ?” I tried to explain that he was making the boys to steal for him - risking their own life - but I have to admit that my explanations were not that convincing as by the last scene I too felt sympathy for the old fella . After all he was providing food and shelter for the boys - who otherwise could just as well die from hunger in the streets !

After seeing this adaptation of Oliver Twist - I feel a bit angry to myself for letting my cousin watch it and get a first impression about Oliver Twist from it ( he is yet to read the book ).This version has a PG rating - and its plot is seriously sugar coated . At times even I had problems associating the scenes with what I have read , watched ( including several times on the stage ) …etc. ( some subplots are missing as well). And I don`t even want to start discussing the acting - considering that the main character Oliver ( played by Barney Clark ) was not convincing at all.

May be my opinion is a bit biased as I am huge fan of the Musical - but my advice for all of you is to stay away from this movie . Do yourself a favor and look for a copy of the BBC’s 1985 version instead .

Accurate adaptation : 1985 BBC mini-series version

Official movie site ( link) IMDB page (link) Title image source ( link)

Related : Oliver the musical ( link) I`d do anything BBC talent search ( link) Review (link)

The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things is a disturbing movie. In fact it just it can`t get more disturbing than it . This suggest that the movie is hard to watch - but worth watching. My opinion may be a bit biased as I tend to like serious and powerful dramas just as The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things.

The opens with a scene on which a 7 years old boy - Jeremiah (Jimmy Bennett) is taken away from his foster parents because his biological mother claimed her rights upon him. She turns out to be an irresponsible abusive drug obsessed hooker - totally unsuitable for the role of a caring patent - and yet the boy was given to her. A short scene shows his room while he live with his foster parents and this is compared with the new environment in which he is to grow up.

The story is told from the Jeremiah’s perspective - most scenes are scenes are shot from his eye level ( and mental one ) .

His “real ” mother gives him some pills ( an XTC probably ) while presenting them as a medicine . At such a tender age - one can only imagine the damage drugs can do. But 23 year old junkie not only allows her son to consume beer and pills, but actively encourages him to do so. At one point when they were at the car and he went crazy she asked him what was he doing and he replayed : ” I am digging myself out“

Then the movie gets even harder to watch - the boy got beaten by one of the random boyfriends of his mom - in front of her and actually because of her - with her approval and even suggesting they put a sock in his month so he can`t scream loud. But that on itself is nothing compared to what the other boyfriend did to the boy …

The director mercifully and did not show us the disturbing scenes in details and it was not necessary as one was still able to get an idea of what was happening.

After the disappearance of his mother Jeremiah is taken by his grandfather - only he turned out to be a fanatical religious Cristian ( I have heard that there are such people in the states , but thankfully never met them while I was there ) - and one starts wondering what is worse - when the kids faces a complete brainwash by the fanatic people who live in his granddad`s mention. Those scenes reminded me of the movie Jesus Camp I saw few months ago.

Surrealistic animated scenes show the fantasy world of Jeremiah f, populated by a pair of red crows. He dips into this world when he experiences extreme pain and extreme trauma and only show that even his fantasies lead him to an unpleasant place.

The acting in the movie is first class starting with Jeremiah, excellently played by Bennett at age six and twins Dylan and Cole Spouse at eleven and continuing with a whole selection of star actors amongst them : Peter Fonda, Winona Ryder and Marilyn Mason.

The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things is a coming of age drama and as such it shows the toughest coming of age of a young boy who disparately tries to make the best out of everything that happens to him. Highly recommended movie - if you think your can bear it…

IMDB ( link) Fan site (link) DVD review (link) English Trailer (link)

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On a side note the movie is said to be based on the book of the same name by J T LeRoy - a teenaged young man who wrote books about his disturbing childhood…only it turns out that J T Leroy never actually existed as reported by Film Threat and Saloon but rather a 40 year old woman. NY mag has interesting 9 page article about the character of J.T. Leroy for those of you who are interested in the story.

Warden of the Dead is one of the excellent coming of age drama that recently draw my attention .

A 13 years old unusually serious boy lives at the capital`s cemetery . He is known as the Kid and after the death of his parents undertooks their responsibilities - managing the daily routine at the cemetery - organize crews of gravediggers, taking care of the florists, service women…etc.He doesn`t go to school and learns about the real world from the world of the people who are not anymore amongst us. In one scene when a woman asked him why he does not goes to school he states that one shall make a living and adds :

” l learn from the dead people. In the cemetery everything is written - like in a textbook”

The kid had only few friends : the cemetery`s make up artist ( who dreams to draw nude body as Rubens) and an old man whose dream is to die - because the only meaning of his life - to see his biggest enemy dead is already fullfiled . The interaction of the boy with these two characters is wisely used for the his character development. The end result is a moving personality that reminds us of Oskar Matzerath in classic The Tin drum and Time of Gypsies`s Perhan.

Warden of the Dead is unusual and very original film . The story has several unexpected twists which ensure that even when you have seen half of the movie - you will still wonder what is going to happen …I guess one could find similarities to the masterpiece Sixths Sense , only the scenes in the Warden of the Dead seem to be more believable.

A DVD is soon to be released . Now the movie can be seen at various cinema festivals across the world.

IMDB (link) Variety review (link) Your opinion about the review (link)

Without a doubt, one of the most moving videos I have ever seen. A beautiful romance between the most unlikely pair. A Mormon missionary and a flaming queen. Not normally my kind of flick but the writing on this was so superb that you can not help but be brought to tears at least twice.Such circumference writing is seldom, if ever done so well that even the straight audience is rooting for the totally gay guy. This was masterfully done and I recommend it to everyone. If nothing else, it will foster tolerance in even the most hardened of hearts.

The acting was superb.

Cheers,

b

Imdb page (link)