There is not much more than that, though there are some subtle hints that there might be more than meets the eye.  I expected more development of the storyline -- a bit of controversy or a surprising ending at least -- of the kind that often transforms what would be an ordinary short film into a masterpiece. Yet, none of my expectations were met. Instead, a weak opening began thirteen minutes of  weak character development,  stilted acting  and boredom.

I find it hard to believe that this movie won several awards in festivals for independent cinema and am curious to know what the juries found in such merit in it. I do not usually write negative reviews but, in this case,  you wouldn’t be missing much if you skip The Strange Ones altogether.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=K86nhhNV058

If you have seen the film -- and have a different take on it , don’t hesitate to let me know.

Taking  filmmaking to the next level

We are glad that we are once again able to fulfill our commitment of supporting aspiring young filmmakers by announcing a scholarship for the 2012 Film School Prodigy Film Camp.  The scholarship will cover the entirety of the tuition fee (valued at $2000) and the winner will only be expected to cover his/her own transportation expenses to and from the Prodigy Camp  in the San Juan Islands in Seattle, Washington (USA).  The camp dates are the last week in July (July 25-August 1, 2012).

In 2011,  the scholarship was won by the Canadian singing performer and showman Arden Reimer. For this year’s camp, we have been notified that other scholarships have been awarded to the young American actor Nathan Gamble (A Dolphin’s Tale) and to the German singer Thilo Berndt - and both have confirmed their attendance.

Sound like something you’d be interested in doing?

Eligibility: This opportunity is open to self-motivated, responsible learners from all backgrounds. If you are aged twelve to eighteen years old and have an interest in storytelling and film making, this is an excellent opportunity to further develop  your skills while having fun and being taught by top flight award-winning filmmakers, including Oscar and Emmy winners.

What’s more, if you decide to apply, mentioning TheSkyKid.com would also serve as a waver of the fifty dollar application fee.

Finally, by way of illustrating the quality of work developed at the camp, we invite you to view a short film about the camp shot in the Summer of 2011 by 14-year-old Prodigy Camper Rachael Sonnenberg:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=FEXLpQ8HyYk

Apply now at TheProdigyCamp web site

The film is based on real events and it tells the story of Sabine Kuegler’s unusual childhood; a Coming-of-Age story of a young girl (played by Stella Kunkat) who grew up deep in the jungles of Papua New Guinea.  Sabine’s father is a linguist and, when a new tribe is discovered, he decides to build a house in the jungle and learn the tribe’s language and culture.  His wife and children: Sabine,  just eight years old at the time, her older sister and their younger brother move into the house after the tribal chief promises that the family will be safe as long as they do not interfere with the customs and the daily lives of his people.  As it turns out, this simple condition is hard to follow when a culture clash is present.  And, when the family finds itself in the middle of a tribal war, choices have to be made that may jeopardize the family’s safety.

First encounters

As was mentioned earlier,  the film is based on the autobiographical novel of Sabine Kuegler.  The story is narrated by the now grown up Sabine, remembering her childhood experiences and adventures.  As the story unfolds, Sabine discovers not only the world of the Fayu tribe, but learns about herself as well.  She reflects on how what she saw, heard and learned in the jungle shaped her personality.

The movie was divided into chapters like in a book ( I haven’t read the book Dschungelkind/Jungle Child,  but I suspect that the chapter titles from it were used in the film). As each new chapter is about to begin, the title on screen played the role of a teaser or spoiler. Such an approach may have hindered the flow of the action in the movie but, in the case of Jungle Child -- which features the elements of both drama and documentary —  it actually made the story better by adding an extra layer of interaction with the viewer.

Friendship

The cinematography of the film is one of its best features: breathtaking vivid images of the jungle and ingenuous scenes revealing the life of an unknown culture. In that respect, the movie much reminded me of the 2005 film End of the Spear starring Chase Ellison.  Stella Kunkat’s portrayal of the young Sabine made a huge impression on me with her expressiveness and very believable performance.  Casting Stella and Tom Hoßbach in the movie (who played Sabina’s little brother) resulted in a bit of a stereotypical portrayal of German youth as far as appearance is concerned.  Yet, in their case, both talent and the cute factor contributed significantly to  the overall appeal of the film.

The Jungle

If you approach Jungle Child (2011)  with expectations of powerful emotional scenes or swift action scenes, you may be disappointed.  The main achievement of its director, Roland Suso Richter, was to tell a story that engages the audience without being overly manipulative, as when one reads a good book.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWx67ybanbQ

Jungle Child (2011) is nominated in the Best International Film of the 4th Annual Coming of Age movie awards.

Film title: Dschungelkind
Also known as: Jungle Child
Release year: 2011 -- UFA Cinema, ARD Degeto Film, Biscuit Films
Director: Roland Suso Richter
Cast: Stella Kunkat, Tom Hoßbach, Thomas Kretschmann, Nadja Uhl, Sven Gielnik, Emmanuel Simeon and others

However, if one looks at the film’s trailers, it’s clear the intended effect the film is supposed to have and the genre it’s supposed to occupy: it’s a crowd-pleasing action/drama that’s fun for the whole family. That’s not an easy feat to pull off, especially considering the fact that the trappings wherein those sentiments are to be felt can be dismissed as Rock ‘em Sock ‘em Robots: The Movie. After a few viewings of the trailer, I figured I’d think it was good but didn’t think I’d enjoy it as much as I did.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=T75j9CoBVzE

Real Steel is also essentially a star vehicle for Hugh Jackman, at least in its initial conception, and typically films which can be categorized as such aren’t very interesting. They’re usually rather uninspired, transposable and disposable and none of that applies to this film due to the commitment of all those involved in the finished project. This starts with Jackman who plays the gruff side of his persona to the nth degree, yet has a varied enough performance that his change of heart and softening, incited by his reunion with his estranged son, feels very natural.

The father-son plot is at the core of this film and the boxing, whether robot or reminiscing on the real thing, is only slightly more than a vessel. It is through the bouts that we see enacted the ebb and flow of their inner-conflict and also see personified their hopes and dreams. The contentiousness and disconnect between father and son, as well as the need to have a common interest to connect on a deeper level, is very true to life and well rendered in the film’s script and performances.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=AzrEJGdS98s

Which brings us to Dakota Goyo, who not only steals many scenes in this film but also has to carry a lot of the film himself, to the extent that he asserts himself as a co-lead alongside Jackman.  He not only uses a wide variety of inflection in his line readings, but has to play quite a wide range of emotions in his role. Furthermore, he is quite evocative in as much as he elicits desired emotional response from the audience due to his earnestness. Considering that most audiences first saw him in a brief appearance as Young Thor in Thor, this is quite the breakout role.

Dakota Goyo in Real Steel

As important as the characters and actors are in a film ostensibly about fighting robots, in a film that wants to be taken seriously the effects work is perhaps of equal importance. When deciding that the effects work in this film were the best I saw in 2011, the tie-breaker was that not only were they arguably the most realistic, but they were also the effects I least thought about in watching the film — meaning the blend is immaculate. The work and attention to detail in this area allows the story to feel more immediate and authentic than it really should.  This all works toward a thrilling, triumphant and compelling closing third of the film, when the film really gets going on all cylinders.

The score and edit are magnificent, the actors are either mostly reacting or talking above the crowd and are pushed and the story wraps up as neatly and succinctly as you could want. Also, for sports fans, it transcends the robot characters and gives you a fantastic boxing match that rivals any ever filmed.

Aside from the initial quibble about the compressed timeframe and not too distant future setting, the only other true concerns were related to minor characters and how they were drawn or interpreted.

Real Steel is everything its trailer promised it to be and a bit more: a story of reconciliation between father and son, a warm family comedy and a great boxing movie in a new guise.

Film title: Real Steel
Also known as: Real Steel: The IMAX Experience
Release year: 2011 -Touchstone Pictures, DreamWorks SKG, 21 Laps Entertainment
Director: Shawn Levy
Cast: Dakota Goyo, Hugh Jackman, Evangeline Lilly, Anthony Mackie, Kevin Durand, Hope Davis  and others

An article by Bernardo Villela,  a writer, director, editor and film enthusiast who seeks to expand your movie-watching options. You can find him at:  http://themovierat.com

The protagonists of The Armoire are two young  boys -- Aaron and Tony. They are classmates,  best friends and both are members of their school ‘s choir.

One day, Tony mysteriously disappears. While everyone is desperately trying to find the lost boy, Aaron slowly realizes that the key to the  mystery is buried in his own mind. Worried about their troubled son, Aaron’s parents put him under hypnosis and the story of Tony’s dissonance starts to unfold…

Some scenes from the film reminded me of Stephen King’s It  and of the 2004 drama Secret Window starring Johhny Depp. The soundtrack of the film, a mixture of chilling sounds one can expect to hear in horror flicks, beautiful piano music and a stunning treble performance by the two young protagonists, enhanced that impression. I was impressed with the film’s cinematography as well.  Skillfully edited scenes, reverse action shots,  full-frame shots of the young actors’ faces and creative lightning were combined with objects that have a symbolic meaning in the film (the armoire itself for example) to create a unique atmosphere.

Aaron (William Cuddy) in The Armoire

Some things that are not immediately clear are revealed through conversations, but just when you think you’ve solved a riddle, another one is sure to appear. The film pays tribute to the Coming-of-Age period all go through when discovering one’s sexuality.  It’s a time of life that is almost always associated with confusion and distress.

William Cuddy did an excellent job portraying the troubled Aaron — who’s ego seemed to shrink itself into a protective shell — a sense further emphasized in the scenes in which he closes himself in the framed box of the armoire.

The film is directed by Jamie Travis and formed part of his Saddest Children in the World trilogy. It won the  Best Live-Action Short at the 2010 Nashville Film Festival and Best Short Film at the 53rd San Francisco International Film Festival. (source)

The Armoire is a surrealistic film —  it’s both mystery and drama — and while I found the story both challenging and intriguing at the same time, I would urge you to see it and draw your own conclusions.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDfCr2WLdDY

The movie is available in the Wholphin DVD magazine Issue 12

Tonight, January 10, 2012 will seem strange if one happens to be passing by the Imperial Theatre in New York City. The theatre will be dark on what has been a show night for the past three plus years for the show Billy Elliot the Musical (BETM).  For the first time in over three years, the lights will not come up at 7:00pm on a Tuesday evening as a Small Boy climbs up onto the stage to begin what critics have called “the show of the decade” and “the best show you’ll ever see”.  For at 3:00 pm on Sunday, January 8th, Billy took his final bow on Broadway in grand style, the 1344th time the show was presented on that Imperial Theatre stage (including previews).

The creative minds that brought this great show to the stage, first in London (where it continues for a 7th year) and then in other places around the world — including Broadway in 2008 — put together a very memorable final show.  The four boys who normally rotate the role of Billy from show to show (Peter Mazurowski, Joseph Harrington, Tade Biesinger and Julian Elia), were all featured on this day, transitioning from scene to scene and splitting the  major production numbers.  The two boys who rotated the role of Michael (Billy’s best friend played by Cameron Clifford and Jack Broderick), and the show’s two youngest actors who alternated as “Small Boy” (Alex Drier and Zachary Maitlin) each split an act of the show, and so got to showcase their terrific talents for one last time.

Credit: Photo by Walter McBride (Broadway World)

This unique spectacle produced standing ovation after standing ovation by a very appreciative and emotional audience. As one person stated (someone who has seen the show many times in various venues), this would not have been a good show for someone viewing BETM for the first time.  All the switching of roles would have been very confusing to them.  But there were very few of that type theatre-goer in attendance on this day.  It was a “veteran” audience, consisting mainly of many so-called “Superfans” of the show (people who have seen it multiple times), family and friends of the cast, and an impressive array of alumni from the Broadway cast of the show.  The latter list included Director Stephen Daldry and writer Lee Hall. Among former cast members there was Haydn Gwynne (who originated the role of Mrs. Wilkinson, Billy’s ballet teacher, on both the London and Broadway stages), Kate Hennig (Mrs. W), Gregory Jbara (Tony Award winner for the role of Dad), Carole Shelley (Tony nominee for the role of Grandma), former Michaels: David Bologna (Tony nominee for originating the role of Michael), Keean Johnson, Neil McCaffrey, Jake Schwencke, Trevor Braun, and Gabriel Rush, former Tall Boy Ben Cook (currently playing Michael on the US Tour), two former Billys from other productions of the show, Josh Denyer (Australia) and Hogan Fulton (London) and many others.

And then, after three hours of cheers and clapping, the show came to an end with what would be some of the most memorable moments of the afternoon.  As Billy (played at that point by Senior Broadway Billy Peter Mazurowski)  leaves the stage and walks up the aisle of the theater (and on to his bright future), Michael calls to him “Oi, Dancing Boy!”.  I quote audience member Chris McCormack concerning what happened next:  But then, not just one Billy, but “all four Billys emerged together running back down the aisle. Each kissed Cameron (Michael) on the cheek. The applause was deafening!  Then all four walked back to the aisle. Peter (Billy) called out “Cya Cameron”.  Cameron (Michael) called “Cya Peter. Cya Tade. Cya Julian. Cya Joseph.”  This, of course, was a variation to the scripted  ”Cya Billy”, “Cya Michael” lines normally uttered at this point in the show.

That wonderful final performance of the show on Broadway was then capped by what was, for many, one of the most poignant moments of the day –  the traditional “Company Celebration” that serves as the show’s curtain call.  Except, on this special day, there was nothing traditional about how this final uplifting finale of the show would be presented.  Yes, the final cast of the show all participated in it as usual — but it included all four of the show’s final Billys, and both of the Michaels and Small Boys.

The three original, Tony Award winning actors who began it all in 2008 (Kiril Kulish, David Alvarez and Trent Kowalik) were given their solo moment in the spotlight one last time to tumultuous applause…

Credit: Photo by Walter McBride (Broadway World)

The original three Billys and the role’s final four were joined by five additional young men who have played the role of Billy on Broadway — including Tommy Batchelor, Jacob Clemente, Alex Ko, Liam Redhead and Giuseppe Bausilio…

Credit: Photo by Tristan Fuge (Theatermania)

And then by the entire final cast of Billy Elliot Broadway who took the stage for one final bow.

Credit: Photo by Tristan Fuge (Theatermania)

And thus the Imperial Theatre curtain dropped for the final time on what, for many, has been their favorite musical of all time.

But as one positive thinking fan of the show has tweeted on his public Twitter…

As noted earlier, the show continues to play to adoring crowds at the Victoria Palace Theatre in London and is on tour across the United States (currently enjoying a four week stay in Washington, DC).  Future international versions of the show are planned as well.