BoyActors - Reviews/Ratings by diogenes

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Reviews by diogenes

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350 reviews/ratings - 18 pages (20 reviews/ratings per page)

Pokhoronite menya za plintusom (2009)

Utterly superb film based on Pavel Sanaev's humorous novel. Sasha Drobitko is just STUNNING as the little boy having to cope with his completely unbalanced and controlling grandmother (who is also very well acted). He really is an outstandingly good actor. A modern classic of Russian cinema. Unmissable.

My Movie Rating:

10 / 10

Promis... juré! (1987)

Charming, unmissable comedy about the life of a French boy (wonderfully played by Michel Morin) and his interaction with his family and the other characters in his town during the Second World War and the Liberation.

My Movie Rating:

10 / 10

Respublika SHKID (1966)

This is a completely wonderful movie. I'm just in awe at how good it is. The story of the institute for juvenile offenders and homeless boys is told in a sequence of segments, with wonderful and believable characters, such as the one-eyed 'Mummy' (Aleksandr Kavalerov). It is an anti-authoritarian movie, as well (made at the tail end of 'The Thaw', roughly 1954-66), suggesting that the only way of making useful citizens out of people is to allow them to govern themselves. To give the movie anything less than 10 out of 10 would seem churlish. Also highly recommended, from the same period of Soviet cinema, "Welcome, or No Trespassing" (1964), with a similarly anti-authoritarian message.

My Movie Rating:

10 / 10

Samostoyatelnaya zhizn (1992)

As good in its own way as its predecessor ("Freeze, Die, Come to Life"). Pavel Nazarov is a great actor and a very beautiful youth (watch the uncensored version!).

My Movie Rating:

10 / 10

Sciuscià (1946)

A masterpiece on every level.

My Movie Rating:

10 / 10

Scrooge (1951)

Still the best film version of "A Christmas Carol" ever made. And if that doesn't deserve ten stars, then I don't know what does!

My Movie Rating:

10 / 10

Spelen of sterven (1990)

One of the most intense portrayals of introversion and social isolation ever committed to film. What a brilliant actor Geert Hunaerts was in this. An absolute classic.

My Movie Rating:

10 / 10

Sto dney do prikaza (1991)

Despite the pervasive bleakness, this is a kind of hymn to masculinity, showing camaraderie and tenderness between men and presenting the male body as an object of aesthetic appreciation. In any case, it's very beautiful.

My Movie Rating:

10 / 10

Svampe (1990)

A delightful Norwegian fantasy. Martin Bliksrud has an elfin charm, and is utterly wonderful in the title role of this extraordinary, dreamlike film. Recommended.

My Movie Rating:

10 / 10

Tango Argentino (1992)

Just stunning. Nikola (Nikola Zarkovic) has a father, mother and sister, all of whom seem self-absorbed and make little effort to relate to him. But he finds an emotional connection with the generation above his parents', and in return receives the love and affection he needs. The sheer beauty of this film is what really stands out. An emotionally truthful film about the ability of people to find meaning in their lives through tenderness and care for others, and the need to break down the barriers between people and between generations. The film also affirms the dignity of the elderly and the intrinsic worth of human life (in contrast to attitudes in the west, where society tends to view the elderly as a 'burden'). Nikola Zarkovic is just an extraordinarily wonderful and sensitive actor, an absolute joy to watch. Highly recommended.

My Movie Rating:

10 / 10

There Will Be Blood (2007)

I love this film. Daniel Plainview is a spiritual void, but of course he'll never realise that himself. Some have criticised the finale, but I rather like it - there had to be a final confrontation between Eli and Daniel - the former a little desperate, the latter completely unhinged - and naturally the more insane character ends up on top! Dillon Freasier is just wonderful - he's been rightly described as a "quiet, magnetic, intelligent presence" in the film - a boy one can't help but love and want to protect. To give this film anything less than 10 stars would seem churlish and quibbling.

My Movie Rating:

10 / 10

Threads (1984)

I actually watched this when it was originally transmitted in 1984. Since then, I've watched it two more times, and each time I've needed a couple of days simply to recover my equilibrium after viewing it - that's how good it is.

My Movie Rating:

10 / 10

To the Lighthouse (1983)

A beautiful production with great acting and some fascinating themes.

My Movie Rating:

10 / 10

Tom's Midnight Garden (1989)

Complete perfection. This really could never be bettered. Jeremy Rampling is unutterably wonderful as Tom. Forget the kitschy 1999 film which was produced with both eyes firmly on the Yank market - this is the real deal.

My Movie Rating:

10 / 10

The Tree of Life (2011)

It is difficult to 'review' this film, since, for me, this is an astonishing artistic masterpiece. The basic premise can be easily stated: haunted by his ongoing grief at the death of his brother, the adult Jack (Sean Penn) recalls his boyhood in the 1950s, but from a vast cosmic perspective stretching over thousands of millions of years. In its scope and imaginative vision, and its broader philosophical and spiritual themes, this movie invites comparison with Kubrick's "2001: A Space Odyssey" (1968). But whereas "2001" is dominated by its awe-inspiring science fiction ideas and hardly ever descends to the human scale, "The Tree of Life" is dominated by a human drama set within its wider context. Does this cosmic perspective diminish man? To me, it has rather the opposite effect. The splendour of the stage on which man enacts his little drama somehow makes this drama seem all the more significant - lends it some of its own splendour. The voiceover is characterised by a series of questions without answers. The universe is presented as ultimately mysterious. Humans are condemned to having mere fragments, confusing pieces of a jigsaw, but with no ability to see the complete picture. In the sandbar sequence at the end, there is the hope that nevertheless the human story makes some kind of overall sense, even if we, in our lives, are unable to comprehend it. Although the family portrayed in the film attends a Christian church, there is no mention in the voiceover, and no suggestion in the sequence of images, of the specifically Christian God, the God who revealed himself in the person of Jesus of Nazareth (though there is nothing specifically to contradict this either). Instead, the God to whom questions are addressed in this film is remote, inscrutible, in some sense ultimately unknowable, making the quote from Job at the start of the movie particularly apposite. There is so much to think about in this film, that it would take a considerable volume, I think, to unravel the various strands. Suffice to say that all the actors are wonderful, and the boy actors who play the three brothers (Hunter McCracken, Laramie Eppler, Tye Sheridan) are unutterably superb. An essential film to watch and to re-watch.

My Movie Rating:

10 / 10

La tutora (2016)

This film is visually very beautiful, with some lovely cinematography. And all the performers are superb: Romina Pinto has a great, slightly unbalanced look - which suits her character! The kids were just wonderful, particularly Valentino Vinco. And I particularly liked Cristina Maresca as Clara. Clara's intense and truthful speech to the drugged and helpless Mona at the end of the film was magnificent.

My Movie Rating:

10 / 10

Uncle Tom's Uncle (1926)

My Movie Rating:

10 / 10

Verdensvevde kropper (2015)

Probably the best short film I've ever seen. The ideologies that undergird sexual shame may change, from religious to modern, secular, feminist ideologies, but the result is the same. Shame is the puritan state's best weapon. The refusal of shame is the most revolutionary act.

My Movie Rating:

10 / 10

Voor een verloren soldaat (1992)

My actual favourite film of all time, so no words can adequately express what it means to me. Maarten Smit is just amazing - as is Andrew Kelley.

My Movie Rating:

10 / 10

Was soll bloß aus dir werden (1984)

A wonderful film about a boy (Boris, superbly played by Michael Karnowsky) who would probably end up in prison but for the interest shown in him by a male teacher who takes the trouble to really try to help him, but without doing so in a patronising or overly interventionist way - respecting the boy's autonomy. The teacher faces some difficulty from an educational establishment which insists on rules and discipline, even though the teacher's own more informal approach is clearly working better with the kids he teaches. The ending of the film leaves the outcome a little uncertain, but we know that the boy has finally come to see the man as his helper and protector. A male teacher who evinces such an interest in a boy's welfare would hardly be tolerated now, as a result of which kids like Boris end up on the streets. An incredibly important film, and a testament to a more genuinely liberal and civilised era.

My Movie Rating:

10 / 10

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