snapper-1 Reviews

A Child Went Forth (1942)

A lovely documentary of 3 to 7 year old kids in a country haven during World War II

[10/10 · 27 July 2005]

A Child Went Forth is a pleasant bit of film that evidenced to frightened parents suffering the London bombings during World War II, that a safe haven existed in the English countryside where for a while they could place their youngest children out of harm's way.

The title is from a Walt Whitman poem about childhood...basically that every day a child lives, anything he touches becomes part of that child forevermore. A flower petal, a puppy, cool pond water, kind words from his adult caregiver, a loving hug, yummy food treats...anything at all. I'll provide a bit of the verse for reference:

"THERE was a child went forth every day; And the first object he look'd upon, that object he became; And that object became part of him for the day, or a certain part of the day, or for many years, or stretching cycles of years.

The early lilacs became part of this child, And grass, and white and red morning-glories, and white and red clover, and the song of the phoebe-bird..."

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Some nudity while the toddlers frolic about in the pond is naturally captured in this short film and is complimentary to the setting, inasmuch as that was how younger children normally played in swimming water at the time.

No source of this film for sale is currently available, but a successful search on the internet will find a British historical web site which offers downloads of this film in several different formats.

For those persons who are interested in Great Brittain war time history, this classic short film is important, as it addresses an area that has normally been completely ignored...the younger child of war.

The Second Jungle Book: Mowgli & Baloo (1997)

A very warm story, clean enough for the whole family, all ages.

[10/10 · 21 June 2005]

12yo Jamie Williams was the perfect actor choice for 9yo Mowgli, the Jungle Boy. Besides being a talented actor he is lovely appearing and looked the part of someone who may have been raised by wolves.

All supporting adult actors performed their associative roles well, without stealing the scenes and without resorting to ghetto-speak or being vulgar in any way. So I say this movie is a family-safe event that will allow a 'time-out' from day-to-day rituals for all ages of children and accompanying adults.

Each exotic animal had its own breathtaking scene where their individual grace and beauty could be observed. Close-ups of sweet Mowgli's face when he calls birds, monkeys, cats, wolves or bears were very clear and added some gentle depth to a little boy who was the product of animal care taking.

My family enjoyed this movie.

Clearly a story this simple is not meant for those persons who have left the bigger part of their childhood essence behind; however, it is highly recommended to anyone who still enjoys tender child fare: clean, wholesome, gentle and enjoyable.

Mermaid (2000 TV Movie)

One of the most endearing, beautiful true-life movies ever told about a child.

[10/10 · 16 June 2005]

My family and I have viewed this movie often over the years. It is clean, wholesome, heartbreaking and heartwarming. Showing us the compassion between two families of two countries thousands of miles apart and by the most uncanny of coincidences, it's almost as if the hand of God had to be intervening.

5 yo Jodelle Micah Ferland who plays Desi the heart stricken little girl, does a magnificent job of acting her part, and for me she was the Priam choice for the lead role.

All in all, a 10 out of 10. There are no downsides to this sweet human story. Children of all ages will tearfully, then joyfully watch this and it will bring the viewing family together with smiles and good feelings.

The Bad Seed (1956)

The most beautiful little blonde girl...such angelic perfection...such cold-blooded heartlessness.

[9/10 · 8 May 2005]

First as a father of 2 girls and a boy, it was fascinating to me to see a beautiful little girl interacting so warmly with her daddy. Patricia McCormack, who played 8 year old Rhoda Penmark, was simply as perfect a vision as God has ever put on this earth, complete with long blonde hair, a beautiful face, ever-sweet ever-ready smile and a lovely winsome demeanor that would cause the heart of any dad anywhere to skip a beat with moments of blustery pride and joy.

The underlying and pervasive theme of this tragic movie is death...stalking the family from place to place, ever present. Nancy Kelly playing Christine Penmark the mother of Rhoda, becomes consumed by her own birth misfortune and subsequently that of her daughter's. Christine discovers her own origin was of a woman diagnosed as a "bad (genetic)seed", who was an unapologetic mass murderer who killed for specious reasons without a grain of remorse. As if being stuck in the realms of a nightmare, Christine assembles an evidentiary puzzle leading her to believe that precious, angelic Rhoda is actually genetically predisposed to be a 'bad seed' and as well, a mass murderer who will wield her motus-fatale without the restraints of conscience.

That in a nutshell is the framework of this marvelous movie. Now for the verdicts...

The Bad Seed's theme is awesome and I dearly hope someone with the skills of Stephen King will produce a remake, circa the modern era.

Nancy Kelly was allowed too much reign to overact. Her part was a run-on that never quite let the audience have an area of safety...a calm time. As Christine she seemed to too quickly jump to the conclusion that Rhoda was a murderer. It didn't quite seem that she struggled with the unbelievability of it enough, though she did visually struggle on and on and on. Her acting is good in much smaller doses. I can't really see this movie as being so much about the mother, rather than the daughter Rhoda, who I found to be infinitely more fascinating. Kelly's role was so omnipresent I actually began to avoid looking at her during those excessive monologues.

I think it was unfortunate that in the end of filming, Kelly's name was first on the marque, when that notable position should have been reserved in Patricia McCormack's honor.

Eileen Heckart as Hortense Daigle, the mother of the deceased little boy played her role with consummate artistry. She was convincing as someone wanting to derive every essence of her precious son's death. So successful at suffering her soulful pain was she, that I found it very uncomfortable viewing any scene in which she appeared. Like Kelly, Heckart's performance was a bit over-dramatic and prolonged for a movie audience and would have been more fitting for a live theatre audience, where every syllable of every utterance must be LOUD enough for all to hear. The nuances that usually add ambiance to a movie, were gone completely from her character.

Henry Jones as Leroy Jessup, the retarded gardener played his part in a more timely fashion. His dialogue was much shorter and more to the point and in some sense that left me wanting to hear more from him. Repartee's between he and Rhoda were the essential elements that brought my interest to rapt attention. He was the second most interesting character in this play/movie for me, personally, and was the one I feel most viewers would have wanted to see interacting more often with the angel child from hell. A nice touch would have been for Leroy to have successfully bribed Rhoda to an extent that we viewers would have wanted very much to see her do away with him.

William Hopper as Col. Kenneth Penmark was a perfect choice for the part of Rhoda's daddy: handsome, gorgeously blond like his blonde daughter, loving, strong and seemingly influential in his daughter's life. When the movie started I felt he would have been more involved in the discoveries regarding his daughter...yet to the very end of the movie, he was oblivious to Rhoda's satanic side. In a reality by any other name I think daddy Penmark appears to have been too much out of the loop.

In the Stephen King remake Village of the Damned (1995), where children who were conceived by unknown origins virtually take over a town, both mothers and fathers become aware of all those precious children's inner indifference to humanity very quickly. That was realistic even in a short piece of fiction.

Here in The Bad Seed, I think daddy Penmark was a bit too oblivious, though as they say nowadays I could still suspend my disbelief long enough to enjoy the movie.

Patricia McCormack was the perfect casting for Rhoda. She was immaculately beautiful with her long blonde pigtails, her beguiling femininity and her perfect face and handsome stature. As if all that weren't enough she was suave, articulate, willfully unrepentant and incorrigible. I found that unconflicted combination to be incredibly interesting.

This movie was about Rhoda. The director and writers should have lessened the 'ham-time' spent 'on-stage' by Nancy Kelly and Eileen Heckart, and then perhaps Patricia McCormack's own nomination would have led to the actual Oscar prize.

Patricia was the only '10' in this fascinating movie. Except for the minor matter of serial killing and fatal cunning, I'd love to have a daughter just like her.

Cutting Edge: Boys Alone (2002) Season Unknown, Episode Unknown

This is a hoot! ... a must-see for any prospective parent of boys.

[10/10 · 7 May 2005]

A group of ten 11 and 12 year old boys are placed in a beautiful brick home in Hartfordshire, England for one week, virtually unsupervised. The goal is to explore exactly what the just-prepubescent natural instincts for boys will do when left alone, devoid completely of 24/7 parental control and other adult guidance.

I must say that when my two children were growing up I was a very harried single parent (a dad) who more enjoyed my daughter's Girl Scout meetings than my son's Boy Scout meetings, as the former was always pleasant, self-controlled, neat and relatively quiet...but the latter was always...ALWAYS cacophonous, boisterous, with things being broken, chairs put upon tables to then stand on, everything made to be messy and basically nutty.

Well, Boys Alone takes my experiences with groups of growing boys to another level. Besides virtually destroying the inner sides of that handsome home, kitchen, family, dining, bed and bathrooms, they run amok and damage the outside and the yard as well. With all the sublime maliciousness seemingly exuding from within their very genetic structure, these preteen human-terminators (ala Arnold Schwarzenneger) tend to firmly establish what nature has been trying to tell humanity all along...males are designed to be hunter-gatherers and just because he is confined within the artificial turf of 'civilization' doesn't belie his true underpinnings.

So if you are into horror movies, sci-fi with lots of destruction, gory phantasms, creatures from the black lagoon or Night of the Living Dead type situations...then by all means, you'll thoroughly enjoy this psychological thriller. It was made for you.

But if you are the type to avoid human interaction where thievery, personal property annihilation and violence is the norm...may I suggest a good Shirley Temple movie, like 'Heidi'.

My overall feelings were best exhibited to my children as I first viewed this docudrama...I laughed until I had tears in my eyes and found it hard to take in the next breath of air. And I prayed to God my thanks that beautiful brick two-story wasn't my home.

Meet the Hollowheads (1989)

A Fabulous Sci Fi Movie...fun family viewing, great escapism.

[10/10 · 26 April 2005]

I must say I was laughing a lot and frightened a bit...but in a good-natured way...and most of all I was simply mesmerized by the brilliantly amusing storyline and wonderful special effects that used real full-sized movie sets and none of the cheap, too-obvious digital graphics used by all Sci Fi movie-makers of today.

This is a must-have Sci Fi movie for those who enjoy the eclectic, the bizarre and the esoteric worlds of anywhere else but earth. My best guess is that the Hollowheads live in a society on a distant planet that exists totally underground in a large population, a very large "city" with miles of tunnels, single-family homes, ultra modern conveniences using pipes that bring in food and every ingredient needed for life's daily needs.

Why does an entire civilization live beneath their planet's surface? Who knows? It is never explained; but then an explanation is never necessary either. The Hollowhead underground world is very well conceived and becomes as reasonable to the movie watcher, as does our own reality here on the surface of the earth appear normal to us.

Meet the Hollowheads with sexy Juliette Lewis as daughter Cindy Hollowhead, and John Glover and Nancy Mette as Mr. and Mrs. Hollowhead...as normal as any U.S. television family out of the 1950's...help to bring off this caricature of life as we thought we knew it, with good-natured humor, a zesty cast of fascinating characters and an alien lifestyle as crazy and fun as any which has ever been brought to film.

My suggestion: This is a must-have video for you and your family.

Enjoy!

The Wonderful World of Disney: Annie (1999) Season 3, Episode 5

Annie 1999 unfaithful the era

[25 April 2004]

On few counts did this movie version stay honest to the author's intent. The best Annie version ever produced was the 1982 version, where Aileen Quinn added the perfect combination of voice and kid spunk that has been the trademark of Annie ever since its inception.

In this version, Alicia Morton was superb in her own right and deserves maximum honors for her vocal performance and her delightful acting. She carried the film despite an abhorable liberal agenda within Hollywood to darken all formerly distinguised caucasion roles with people of darker color. Audra McDonald is within her own skills a very beautiful and highly talented young woman, but the author would be rolling over in his grave to know that an early 1900's musical would have a voyeuristic liaison between a 'colored woman' and a 'white man'. It just would NOT happen. The movie was lovely in many places, save the use of Kathy Bates who for any role in a light-hearted musical is an unwise choice. Ms. Bates is a loud political activist and is too dislikable off-stage and thus ill-suited for gentle scipts.

Victor Garber as Daddy Warbucks also lacked identifiable charisma. He is physically awkwardly with an unpleasantly shaped head, and simply does not realistically portray the part of an America Billionaire of the highest success. Mr. Garber's voice is marvelous however, but all-in-all he comes across as a mis-cast schmo.

All in all I gave this movie a 10 for Alicia Morton's participation, but a 3 over all, due to its negligance of historical perspective and bad casting outside of Alicia.