Each week this summer, until this Wednesday, which is the last, the folks at Cinema Circus show a series of short films at the Chilmark Community Center. The films begin at 6 p.m. but at 5 p.m. the circus, complete with jugglers, face painters, stilt walkers, food and music, gets underway.
An advanced screening of the films is arranged with a young Island cineaste, plucked from the age bracket of the target audience. In a world with few certainties, the kid critic is the critic to trust.
Unfettered by economics, societal pressure, perhaps even good taste, the kid critics have no agenda. They have no filters nor is there any chance of hyperbolic windblowing designed to get everyone to see the movie. In fact, fewer people showing up might mean more popcorn for these young reviewers.
This week’s review is from Lucy Anderson.
Pups of Liberty
This short is about a dog named Anne who lives in Boston in 1772. She lives with her Papa, who writes and prints the town newspaper that Anne delivers to all the dogs in her neighborhood including Mrs. Dalmatian Spot and Mr. Pug Wilson. But when the cruel King, the Royal Tom Cat, raises the taxes of the newspapers and food, everyone is too poor to pay for it. So the next day when Anne doesn’t sell any newspapers, she decides something must be done! So with the help of Spaniel Adams, Paul Ruffere and the dogs in the neighborhood, they form a so-called The Pups of Liberty! Using the newspaper, they print “NO LAWS WITHOUT PAWS;” the cats are not very happy about this. And this is the beginning of the Americanine Revolution! On a scale of 1 to 10 (10 being the best) I would give this a 10! This is probably the best dogs-rebelling-against-cats movie ever!
The Tiger’s Gift
The Tiger’s Gift is about a tiger who wants to give the best present to a newborn baby in the jungle. When all the other animals see the tiger’s gift and laugh at it, the tiger starts to get an uneasy feeling that the baby won’t like his gift. Should he trust everyone that the baby won’t like it, or will he give it to the baby anyway? I would give this a four because nothing really happened.
Mobile
Mobile is about a lonely cow on one side of a mobile that sits all day and watches the other animals play. One day when the little mouse on the other side of the mobile waves and smiles at him, the cow decides he needs to get over to the other side to make friends. But when all of the animals get tangled up, it looks like they might never get straightened out! This is a 9 because it is really funny.
The Yellow Balloon
Though The Yellow Balloon was not my favorite, it had a cool way of animation. He was drawing the pictures as he was narrating. The Yellow Balloon is about a girl on the New York subway who has a yellow balloon that gets caught in the doors. The little girl starts to get upset at the sight of the balloon string caught. Everybody says the balloon won’t make it but she still hopes
This was my least favorite short because I thought it wasn’t very exciting.
The Lost Thing
The Lost Thing is about a boy who finds a big red creature that is very odd. He finds it while working on his bottle cap collection. When he discovers it is friendly and fun, he also finds out it is lost. When he brings it home with him, his parents don’t approve. And so he starts wondering if he’ll ever find a home for the Lost Thing. I really liked this, two thumbs up!
Patrick
When Patrick buys a violin at the flea market, he discovers that whenever he plays his violin, the music makes everything magical. The birds and the cows are all dancing around him and Jell-O grows on the trees! A very fun imaginative movie, 9.
Book Girl and Cabinet Girl
The short Book Girl and Cabinet Girl is about Book Girl who meets Cabinet Girl one day. They instantly become best friends. But when Book Girl meets Scissor Boy she then doesn’t pay any attention to Cabinet Girl. Cabinet Girl realizes that Scissor Boy is evil, but does Book Girl trust her? Come to the Chilmark C.C. on Wednesday to find out!
After the children’s films, there will be a screening at 8 p.m. of My Afternoons with Marguerite, directed by Jean Becker, starring Gerard Depardieu in this testament to the joy of life’s random encounters.
Tickets are available at tmvff.org or 508-645-9599 or at the Chilmark Community Center starting at 4:30 p.m. on the day of the show. Admission is $14, or $7 for members of the festival (you can join at the door).
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