BoyActors - Reviews/Ratings by Cinefan

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Reviews by Cinefan

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285 reviews/ratings - 15 pages (20 reviews/ratings per page)

Bad Santa (2003)

You just had to laugh at this film. Billy Bob Thornton was wonderful as the foul mouthed Santa and Brett Kelly as the plump kid who didn't seem to bat an eyelid when all the expletives were flying around. I wonder how they managed to film it so that young Brett Kelly would be spared the worst of it?

My Movie Rating:

8 / 10

The Beastmaster (1982)

One of those sword and sandal films where BOYS get to put on the swords and sandals. A pity the film didn't concentrate more on the lives of the two boy characters and less of Marc Singer showing his muscles. Josh Milrad was great though it seems this was his only film unlike Billy Jacoby who has appeared in several. The film should've been called 'Young Beastmaster' then Jacoby would have had a bigger part. No DVD extras - boo.

My Movie Rating:

6 / 10

Believe (2013)

A typically British boy film similar to 'Billy Elliot' of a boy (Jack Smith), mad on football, who gets himself into trouble and is rescued by no other than Sir Matt Busby (Brian Cox). This film had some charming moments and wonderful acting from first time Jack.

My Movie Rating:

6 / 10

Billy & Chuck (2011)

Good acting from John Donnelly although James Killeen would've looked much better in the part.

My Movie Rating:

6 / 10

Billy Elliot (2000)

How come I missed reviewing this great film shot only a few miles from where I live? Jamie Bell is fantastic in a part requiring plenty of emotional acting and dancing. Bell said he liked tap dancing and it is apparent in Billy Elliot although he does his best with the ballet scenes. All the grit and desperation of the miner's strike and its effects on Billy's family are well drawn out. Jamie looks great in his boxing gear and his relationship with his dance teacher, Julie Walters, is both funny and moving. The film also deals with a gay friendship ably portrayed by Stuart Wells as Michael, Billy's friend. The cross dressing scene is hilarious and also when Michael warms Billy's hands against his body is so moving. A great film well acted by everyone in it.

My Movie Rating:

8 / 10

The Black Phone (2021)

This film was a good idea but any horror was rather diluted. I got the feeling 'The Black Phone' was meant for a teenage audience munching on their popcorn. Mason Thames looks good but his acting was flat considering the circumstances he was in after being grabbed by the 'Grabber'. Kidnapped off a street and ending up in a bleak basement prison would've had the average teen screaming his socks off but not from 13 year old Finney. Why the Grabber was kidnapping only teenage boys and the purpose of that was never explained. Then the Grabber has a brother who lives in the house with him and two houses to further complicate the plot. Then the supernatural was brought in which can add or detract from a plot and this detracted. The Grabber for all his menacing psycho nut character and evil mask was fairly easily disposed of in the end.

The intention of the film was good and, properly handled, could have had the audience biting their knuckles but from a horror point of view it was a damp squib.

My Movie Rating:

5 / 10

The Black Stallion (1979)

This is a beautiful film mainly due to the combined acting of Kelly Reno and the wonderful cinema photography of Caleb Deschanel. Kelly's acting is so laid back and not forceful in any way. This is all the more outstanding as it was the boy's first film. Kelly's father owned a ranch and so his son would've been brought up with horses which could be one of the reasons he got the part of Alec. The first half of 'The Black Stallion' is almost poetic where the boy is on a desert island with the horse and there is very little dialogue. Kelly's performance here is wonderful and Deschanel's photography make the rugged, natural scenes appear almost magical. It is obvious that Kelly himself is doing some of the bareback riding scenes and I guess the director, Carroll Ballard's heart must have been in his mouth while filming that as I guess no insurance firm would touch such actions!

The second half lapses into your standard boy and animal film even though Kelly is supported by the great Mickey Rooney. One could say the horse race was exciting and I did like Alec's masked jockey costume ...

There are no extras with the DVD of this film which is a shame as I would like to have known how the director coped with the filming on that island. Kelly Reno went on to make a sequel four years later 'The Black Stallion Returns' but it had none of the magic of the original. I don't think Kelly made a lot of money out of these two films. In fact, his acting career was cut short when he had a road accident that put him in hospital for a long time.

No Oscar for Kelly, unfortunately, as he was assisted by Rooney but an unforgettable piece of cinema nonetheless.

My Movie Rating:

8 / 10

The Blue Lagoon (1980)

'Blue Lagoon' should have continued solely with the two children which would've made a far more realistic film. It would seem that Glenn Kohan had enlightened parents who obviously wouldn't mind their son swimming in the nude. The older actors lived in a too idyllic situation with Brooke Shields looking as though she had a beauty parlour at hand somewhere on that island. A typical Hollywood effort at trying to depict, with total unrealism, two young people surviving under such circumstances.

My Movie Rating:

5 / 10

The Boondi War (2011)

This was only a short which needed to be longer so that the boys could've got started in some real battle epics. Get down to their shorts, get their bodies nicely tanned by the Aussie sun and no ridiculous time limit on their war antics.

My Movie Rating:

5 / 10

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas (2008)

Asa Butterfield looks so innocent in this film playing Bruno you can hardly believe his dad is a high ranking SS officer and commandant of a concentration camp. Bruno doesn't even wear a Hitler Youth uniform. Both he and Jack Scanlon, as the boy of the title, play their parts very well.

In the scene where Shmuel cleans the glasses in the commandant's house, apparently Scanlon was genuinely scared on set of the young Nazi officer telling him off !

Nicely crafted film with a shock ending.

My Movie Rating:

8 / 10

The Boy Who Saved Christmas (1998)

Nice boy actor but directed at a slow, plodding pace.

My Movie Rating:

5 / 10

The Boys Are Back (2009)

A good film depicting the ups and downs of parenting. Good acting from both boys.

My Movie Rating:

6 / 10

Boys Diving, Honolulu (1901)

What can you say other than the title suggests? A remarkable short from the infancy of film.

Having previously been a meanie and only given this rare historical film 5 I shall upgrade that immediately to 9 in consideration of its antiquity.

My Movie Rating:

9 / 10

The Boys from Brazil (1978)

One of those films you either like or hate but hardly scraping in as a boy movie I would've thought. Usually I give a poor boy film 5 for the fact there's a boy actor in it but Jeremy Black hardly appears at all except for the ending. However, he can always say he appeared on set with Gregory Peck and Laurence Olivier.

My Movie Rating:

4 / 10

Brestskaya krepost (2010)

A war movie called 'Fortress of War' here in the UK and told with typical Russian suffering. Aloysha Kopashov is outstanding as the young boy soldier. The aircraft special effects are fairly basic and the characterisation the usual goody Russians and baddy Germans.

My Movie Rating:

7 / 10

The Browning Version (1994)

A pleasant movie about the quintessential English public school and the relationship between masters and pupils. Albert Finney is excellent as the austere teacher and Ben Silverstone equally good and perfectly cast as the intelligent but vulnerable Taplow, whose other name we never get to know. An all round splendid film with quite a number of cute boys in it.

My Movie Rating:

7 / 10

The Bus Stop (2015)

Quite good short film of boyhood friendship developing despite the prejudices of their parents. Good acting from Max and Bryce.

My Movie Rating:

7 / 10

By This River (2013)

A slow moving but sensitive film of two boys who lose their mother and build a raft to float on the river to, presumably, the land of the dead.

My Movie Rating:

6 / 10

The Canterville Ghost (1996)

One of those boy films not well known but okay nevertheless. I give this film an extra point because Raymond Pickard was in it!

My Movie Rating:

6 / 10

Captains Courageous (1937)

A classic film and a rare example of outstanding acting by a boy actor in the 1930s, Freddie Bartholomew. He deserved the Oscar and not Spencer Tracy! Freddie acted his heart out in this film and even his oh so British accent could not deter from that. The tender scene where Spencer calls the boy his 'little fish' brings tears to the eyes. (Wouldn't be allowed today, of course, unless his fisherman pal was police checked!) Absurd! Definitely up there among the ranks of Classic Boy Films.

My Movie Rating:

9 / 10

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