| any title, years: 1890-2010 genre: Childrens |
19.Aziris Nuna (2006,Russia,90mins) rare+unlocated good:Probably - Childrens, Comedy, Fantasy/Sci-Fi, Foreign • two boys unleash a mummy and spaceship from museum storage: Brothers Kostik and Stas are the sons of an employee at a Moscow museum that has just gotten strange new artifacts in the Egyptian storage room. The boys sneak in at night to explore, and awaken a killer mummy. But then they discover a UFO hidden in a giant statue, and use it to escape into the past and outer space under the guidance of a sphinx who gives them a fantastic tour of the universe. • new generation of Russian fairytale has visionary appeal: Russia has a long hallowed history of mythological children's films made when more adult fare would have been censored. This new movie evokes some of that tradition while also competing with Hollywood gloss, a combination which may be considered dumb or thrilling depending on your point of view. Egyptian alien connections are nothing new, but one has to wonder how much the film was influenced by the "Stargate" (1994) franchise which has proven so lucrative with spin-off series "Stargate SG-1" (1997) and "Stargate:" Atlantis" (2004). Russia is not a country that aims to release most films with subtitles for the west, so hope of ever seeing "Aziris Nuna" may depend on both the perceived prestige of Russian children's films and the marketability of one of the original book's authors. Sergei Lukyanenko, who co-authored "Today, mama!" aka "Segodnya, mama!", also wrote the fabulously successful and internationally distributed series "Night Watch" (2004), "Day Watch" (2006), and the upcoming "Dusk Watch". Those are highly stylized adult horror films about vampires, recommendable for intelligent story twists and clever interactions between the physical and nonphysical planes, so many fans have been unpleasantly surprised by the tamer family friendly "Aziris Nuna". Dir./writer Oleg Kompasov, writers Ramil Farzutdinov, Yuli Burkin (novel), Sergei Lukyanenko (novel), stars Fillip Adeyev (Kostik), Roman Kirimov (Stas). For another recent crazy museum adventure comedy check out "Night at the Museum" (2006), but for a really weird Egyptian interstellar theme don't miss "Space Is the Place" (1974) - Themes: Contact, Evolution, Extraterrestrials, Higher Friends, Journeying, Space-travel 
44.Day of the Dead, The (2005,USA,Short 22mins) uncommon good:YesYES - Animation, Childrens, Fantasy/Sci-Fi • a boy sees the spirits of his grandfather and pet iguana reunited: A narrator named Max explains how the Mexican version of Halloween, known as the Day of the Dead, became his favorite holiday. As a little boy Max and his friends went trick or treating to his grandmother Lucia's house in Los Angeles, where she gave them traditional sugar skulls and told Aztec stories. The Aztecs believed that death and life were one, and the god of the dead would send you onward by a path of golden marigold petals, past the Aztec warriors who were reincarnated as humming birds around the sun, and the spirits of dead infants suckling at a milk tree. The year that Max's grandfather Dionisio died, Lucia made an altar called an ofrenda with his picture and favorite belongings. Unfortunately the only memory of Pancho, Dionisio's favorite pet iguana, was a photo of the cemetery in Mexico where Pancho was buried. But on this Day of the Dead, Pancho's skeletal ghost is resurrected by the god of the dead and sent through the spirit world toward Los Angeles. Pancho puts on his skin and sees the Aztec myths come alive. At the U.S. border, Pancho and other spirits are stopped by giant border guard skeletons. The Aztec humming birds distract the guards for Pancho to run past. Pancho gets lost in L.A. where punk skeletons try to run him over with a car, but angel skeletons carry Pancho to the ofrenda where Dionisio's spirit awaits. Max can see his grandfather and the iguana happy together. • very cool toon is a psychadelic cultural treasure: It's funny how the film starts out so soft-edged and fluffy, with the gentle narrator recalling when he was a baby seen with cherubic oval face like something out of the Sunday paper's Family Circus. But then grandma hands out the sugar skulls to the children with their names on them, she tells weird Aztec stories, and three mariachi band dolls on the offrenda come to life to segue into increasingly bizarre and electric colored visions of gods and skeletons and an iguana pulling his skin back on to run through some astral heaven in Mexico to brave some astral hell in the United States. Wow. The animation is crisp and bold, with styles turning to underground and anime influences, possibly at the point where work was farmed out to Korean studios. I expected a proud Mexican team was behind this, but no, it's a white guy named Jim Keeshan, professor of animation at Santa Monica College's Academy of Entertainment and Technology. Keeshan was involved (somehow, and credited less than he liked) in the creation of "Family Guy" (1999), that rude FOX cartoon that trumped "The Simpsons" (1989) for cruel humor. Keeshan has a commercial drive that some say has exploited students and faculty, and his works vary to suit audiences, so "Day of the Dead" apparently is not indicative of a great enlightened studio waiting to be discovered. But this sure is one groovy mind-bending short. Someone had the amazing idea to weave the story on top of a traditional song called "The Iguana" that now seems almost made for the film.
57.Fakir, The (2004,Denmark,87mins) rare+unlocated good:Probably - Childrens, Comedy, Fantasy/Sci-Fi, Mystery/Thriller • Teenage twins Emma and Tom have problems that go from bad to worse, when their father dies and their eccentric mother moves them into a creepy haunted mansion sold to them by the local undertaker. In the basement they find a fountain pen that, like a genie's lamp, is holding a Spanish fakir named Lombardo. The magician makes trouble as he tries to escape, but his friendship is proven when he helps the children defeat jewel thieves who have returned for a treasure they hid in the house years before. • At first the fountain pen seems just plain goofy, but I can respect attempts to update mythic symbolism, so if a lamp can house a spirit light, might not a writing tool contain a thoughtful mentalist? Adapted from the story by a best-selling Danish author, this dark-humored gothic family adventure is said to be as entertaining for all ages as another "Harry Potter", but with more sensitivity for children's feelings than American films which overly rely on threat and violence. So a scariest scene of a child in danger in a coffin was ensured by the director to be followed by adequate emotional processing. Hollywood should learn from such concern, though I still question the psychological benefits of these fantasies of adversity, as Roald Dahl, J. K. Rowling, and Daniel Handler have explored so profitably and imitably. Dir. Peter Flinth, writer Mette Heeno (screenplay), Bjarne Reuter (novel), stars Julie Zangenberg (Emma), Aksel Leth (Tom), aka "Fakiren fra Bilbao" - Themes: Growth/Healing, Higher Friends, Negativity, Powers of Spirit, Relationships 
61.Frankenweenie (1984,USA,Short 29mins) uncommon good:Yes - Camp/Cult, Childrens, Comedy, Fantasy/Sci-Fi • A suburban American boy named Victor Frankenstein makes backyard monster movies with his pet dog Sparky. When Sparky is hit and killed by a car, Victor mourns until he sees his science teacher make a dead frog's legs jump with electricity. Victor digs up Sparky and makes a lab in the attic to reanimate the dog in a lightning storm. His parents are horrified, and the neighbors chase them to a mini-golf windmill that catches on fire. Sparky is killed again after he rescues Victor, which makes the town appreciate the dog and help reanimate him again with all of their car batteries. • fun for kids and well-acted with the absurd child-centrism of an after-school literary restaging special. Fans of the monster movie can see the homages like the windmill from "Frankenstein" (1931). Maybe the short even perversely preserves the intent of the Frankenstein myth, invented in 1816 by Mary Shelley, which is to show the inhumanity of people who play god, since a dog is like a boy's ego and supposedly man's best friend. Plus god spelled backward is dog. Anyway, Disney financed but disliked the film, then Paul Reubens loved it and let Burton direct their first feature "Pee-wee's Big Adventure" (1985). Dir. Tim Burton, writer Leonard Ripps, stars Barret Oliver (Victor), Shelley Duvall (mother). Avail on "The Nightmare Before Christmas" DVD extras - Themes: Illness, Mind, Negativity, Powers of Spirit 
63.Girl from Mars, The (1991,Canada,91mins) uncommon good:Probably - Childrens, Drama, Fantasy/Sci-Fi • girl with telekinetic powers confuses her family by claiming to be from Mars: Dee Dee is a thirteen year old American girl who always was odd. Her best friend is an elderly eccentric scientist named Charles, and she likes to play with a remote-controlled flying saucer. Her father Dan is an environmentalist who tries to understand her, but when Dee Dee shaves her head, claims to be from Mars, and plans to return soon, he assumes that she is somehow grieving for the loss of her mother. The whole town gets involved when Dee Dee exhibits telekinetic powers, including smashing windows and starting fires. • complex story has good scenes but is awkward too: Family drama made for Canadian cable offers some mature intriguing ideas, but coming early in the career of a director who practically specialized in churning out TV sci-fi fantasy series episodes, it is a bit rough and uneven. That a troubled young teen girl could have psychic powers which are misunderstood by everyone including herself is thought to be behind many poltergeist phenomena, so in occult psychology the film is not far-fetched. Dir. Neill Fearnley, writer Brian Alan Lane, stars Sarah Sawatsky (Dee Dee), Eddie Albert (Charles), Edward Albert (Dan). Compare with "Martian Child" (2007) - Themes: Extraterrestrials, Growth/Healing, Innocence, Mind, Powers of Spirit, Relationships 
64.Girl from Tomorrow, The (1991,Australia,300mins) rare good:Yes - Childrens, Fantasy/Sci-Fi • In the year 3000, a teen girl Alana is studying the psychic arts of telekinesis and healing using a thought focusing headband called a transducer. Alana's teacher Tulista is going on the first time-traveling experiment to research the year 2500, which worries Alana because that was a time of world war, pollution, and near total destruction of the planet. Alana watches as Tulista vanishes in the time capsule, then reappears but now as the hostage of a warrior named Silverthorn who fires a laser and demands worship. The scientists easily stop the laser bolts with their transducers, so Silverthorn kidnaps Alana and goes into the past for better luck in dominating. They materialize in a dump in the year 1990, where Alana escapes and is befriended by a punky teen girl named Jenny. Silverthorn steals the time capsule and uses the onboard computers to predict horse races and become rich to buy a mansion. Jenny and her family, consisting of little sci-fi obsessed brother Petey, single mother Irene, and her mother's boyfriend the science teacher James, all become convinced that Alana is from the future when they see the powers of the transducer and holograms projected by Alana's wrist computer named PJ. The time capsule is preprogrammed to return in 28 days, so Alana hopes to break into Silverthorn's mansion just in time to return with it. When they discover that Silverthorn is hatching plans to defeat the automatic return with force fields, and use the computer to rig elections with corrupt politicians, they try exposing the plot on the evening news. The skeptical reporters are convinced by the powers of Alana's transducer, but when Silverthorn sees them on television he takes Alana and the transducer to heal himself of a brain tumor he got in his future. Alana heals him, then works with the family defeat Silverthorn. They win in a big showdown, but Jenny is injured so badly that Alana must take her to the future for healing, along with the unconscious Silverthorn as prisoner. • Ostensibly for children, this mini-series was made with uncanny intelligence so adults can find much to enjoy, at least until the jury-rigged gadget-filled showdowns that strain credulity like some Disney or Spielberg ride. Even at their silliest moments, characters are never stupid or simple. The bad guy is a believable and reserved schemer who makes all the right moves, he just doesn't have Alana's powers of mind and heart. But the real test of any futuristic tale is in the portrayal of highly evolved beings, who must be simultaneously distant and near to ourselves. Alana is mind-bending, convincing as both spiritually advanced and socially naive. Dishonesty and violence are suitably alien to Alana, whose empathy as healer compels her to save Silverthorn when others would let him suffer. Alana must strain to tell non-truths in a dangerous world, and she makes plenty of telling mistakes, such as over-answering biology questions at school, and expecting that machines are aware. When Alana steps in front of a runaway truck she is surprised that it doesn't know to stop. In this way, the story relies on revelations of relationship more than psychic tricks for its charm. Such details remind us of the soul, incomprehensible in being both vastly superior and humbly serving. This comforting alien-ness may explain the show's fanatical cult following. Hollywood repeatedly substitutes advanced technology for evolution, but people know deep in their hearts that so long as violence reigns the clock has not moved. It is the changed human, separable from their machines, who will make the future a place to long for and dream. Dir. Kathy Mueller, writers Mark Shirrefs, John J. Thomson, stars Katharine Cullen (Alana), Melissa Marshall (Jenny), John Howard (Silverthorn). See also the sequel "The Girl from Tomorrow Part Two: Tomorrow's End" (1993), and for more evolved kids adventures try "The Tomorrow People" (1973) and (1992) - Themes: Altered States, Contact, Evolution, Innocence, Journeying, Negativity, Relationships, Powers of Spirit, Time-travel 
84.Last Mimzy, The (2007,USA,90mins) common good:YesYES - Childrens, Fantasy/Sci-Fi • two kids find strange toys that grow their minds until a genetic sample is taken to save a polluted future: Two young children named Noah and Emma are taken by their parents Jo and David Wilder to a beach house near Seattle for vacation. The kids find a multifaceted metal box on the beach that opens itself and disgorges strange items, like levitating rocks, two large luminescent slugs, a seashell that gives Noah the power to talk to insects, a stuffed rabbit that tells Emma secrets, and a continuously refracting crystal tablet that shows Noah how to see earth energy lines and teleport items along the intersections. Of course they hide such weird things to play with secretly, but bigger effects soon become noticed by grownups. Emma makes the mistake of showing a baby sitter how the spinning rocks create a ball of energy that Emma can stick her hand into and become temporarily molecularly scattered, Noah makes the mistake of doing a science project that takes him from being a failing student to national science award candidate by teaching spiders how to weave new high-tension web configurations, and worst of all, the crystal tablet gets eaten by a slug that turns into a power generator with a boom that causes a city wide blackout. At school, Noah's funky science teacher Larry, who's very concerned about the effects of pollution on our genetics, catches Noah doodling complex Tibetan mandalas. Larry's been dreaming of such mandalas ever since he toured India, which excites Larry's girlfriend Noami who's been wishing that Larry would dream lottery numbers. Larry and Naomi visit Mr. and Mrs. Wilder, saying that Noah may be a tulku, the Tibetan term for a reincarnated boddhisatva, until Noami's palm reading of Emma shows that she's the tulku. This freaks out the parents until the kids start levitating and they become willing to entertain theories. But then under the Patriot Act the FBI rounds up everyone in search of the terrorists who can cause blackouts, and when they scan the bunny they see that it's super advanced electronics with a subatomic Intel logo. Intel denies making it, and Emma says the bunny is the last mimzy, sent from the future to save the world from a time when people are dying from pollution. The FBI scoffs, so and Emma and Noah escape with Larry and Noami's help, to go back to the beach house and create a space-time anomaly shaped like a Tibetan mandala so mimzy can return. Fortunately, Emma cried a tear onto the last mimzy while saying good bye, and the tear carries the genetic material that the future needs to repair humanity's allergies to nature. Now people can levitate around happily and thank Emma for saving the Earth as the new mother of all people. • charming children's eco fable is no substitute for the original story: This film is a cute visionary spectacle, a New Age E.T. for the environmental conscience of the 21st century, worth seeing and enjoying if you don’t mind Disney style cliches (wide-eyed misunderstood kids, magic friends to protect, bumbling adults, escape from bad guys through plot holes big enough to drive a truck, literally). The child actors are fine, the hippy trippy science teacher and his girlfriend are hilarious (he wears a Pink Floyd t-shirt in exchange for Roger Waters licensing a spacey best-of style song for the film), and the visuals are terrific even if they sometimes substitute for coherency. I just wonder how the filmmakers got to claim to be adapting a classic story. Did the estate sell them rights, and if so because something greater was hoped for, or because someone was just glad for any interest and money? Hollywood commonly steals ideas outright from unknown authors, but here the work was too famous, so someone must be accountable. It was probably the producer Michael Pillips who's been working on this film through many rewrites for over a decade.
103.Momo (1986,Germany,101mins) rare good:YesYES - Childrens, Fantasy/Sci-Fi, Mystery/Thriller • magical girl defeats time stealing spectres: In a small Italian town, a sweet mop-haired orphan girl named Momo is found hiding in the ruins of the small local amphitheatre. The kind townspeople agree to not turn her over to police, so they fix her a little home in a cave. Momo has great gifts of compassion and listening, so people consult her often for help with their lives. In addition to all the children, Momo's best friends are Beppo the streetsweeper who first found her, and Gigi the idealistic street musician. One day, sinister bald men in grey suits begin appearing to adults. They smoke cigars and intimidate with calculations for how people should not waste time on relationships, but rather save time in their Timesaving Bank. These grey men can disappear at will and erase memories, so no one knows why suddenly the town becomes coldly efficient. When Momo tries to help the people remember love and laughter, a grey man visits to bribe her with endless consumer dolls as substitutes for friends. Momo rejects the dolls which cannot be loved and feels compassion for the grey man, which confuses him so he confesses their plan to steal all time and suck humanity dry. Momo is horrified and leads the children to stage a play of truth about the grey men, but all adults are working too hard to attend. After a long shift cleaning the junk yard, Beppo sees the grey men gathering to destroy Momo. Beppo runs to save her but she is gone, her home destroyed, and Beppo is put in the insane asylum when he protests. But Momo has been saved, by a turtle named Cassiopeia sent by Master Hours from the time dimension where he grants human lifetimes in the form of the red Hour Flowers in our hearts. The turtle has the power to know the future 30 minutes ahead, so he leads Momo slowly around town, always one-step ahead of the grey men, before taking her to Master Hour's white palace in Neverwhere. Master Hour keeps Momo safe for one year before returning her to the town, which is now a soulless concrete grey city of endless consumer stores and rigid institutions where children are kept in line. Her friend Gigi is a mega star who has sold his soul to the grey men for fame. The grey men chase Momo back to Neverwhere, hoping to steal more Hour Flowers which they dry and smoke in their cigars to stay alive. Master Hours helps by stopping time and giving Momo one flower hour to rescue flowers from the grey men's headquarters. Momo and the turtle find the Timesaving Bank and get the grey men to fight each other over the time stoppage, until they turn to vapor without their cigar supply. Momo releases all the stolen hour flowers, causing humanity to reawaken to love and joy, so she can return to live with her friends again. • amazing metaphorical fairy tale for all ages: This classic of German children's cinema is surreal and deep, with plenty of dark archetypal weirdness for adults to chew on and smoke. The source is Michael Ende, the creative genius of modern fairy tales who wrote "The NeverEnding Story", which was adapted into a trilogy of increasingly flawed but nonetheless fascinating films which did fabulously in the U.S., and even spun off a Canadian series. Why then Ende's Momo and other tales remain untapped by Hollywood is a mystery; perhaps in the future we'll see much more of his fecund imagination, or perhaps the stretch will always be too much, and Germans could go further with Momo because the satire on punctuality and consumerism struck philosophic chords. In any case, Momo is absolutely mind-bending, set up like a Disney orphan Annie happy film, only to become a bodysnatchers invasion nightmare with soulless hi-tech aliens reminiscent of the greys from pop UFO culture, defeatable only by journeying into the timeless inner space of the Dr. Who like Master Hours, who admits that he is essentially Death. There are numerous gems of wisdom throughout that hint at the author's fascination with occult spirituality, most notably Rudolph Steiner's anthroposophy, which advocates a scientifically methodical path of deep inner contemplation to slow thoughts, observe life processes, and transcend ego for the meeting of our spirit guides. It also helps that Ende's father was a successful German surrealist painter, and the two even collaborated at times, with Michael writing stories to accompany the elder Edgar's paintings (highly collectible editions hard to come by), and bizarre visuals informing Michael's place descriptions. Neverwhere is approached by slowing down as the world speeds up; this the turtle teaches Momo, in a nod to meditation. With slowness we center, we find our right place, and we paradoxically stay ahead of problems that chase us faster. Neverwhere's white Greek columns and stairs are like the eternal Platonic ideals, the astral aura which patterned the ruined amphitheatre in which the physical Momo lives and guides plays for children, in her clearly oracular shamanic role. It's worth noting that anthroposophy has extensive theatre applications called Eurythmy (hence the pop group Eurythmics). Momo is more everyman than superhuman, but, in more agreement with Steiner, she is capable of super healing by wise attention to the feelings of all living things; I loved it when she cures a silent songbird by telling the owner you must listen to it not only when it is singing. The busy outer world begins with the quiet time-slowed inner world, which is why the frenetic parasitic grey men and their technologies have no life of their own. When Master Hours shows Momo the origin of the Hour Flowers, she thinks she is entering a chamber of astrological signs to see herself in a beautiful red blossom, but then she awakens from his guided meditation, because it was all inside herself. The cold grey men are thus good metaphors for the negative ego, the world-chasing vampiric self which lies and steals and uses fear to freeze out love and hoard insatiably. If only people knew what Death really was they would not fear it, laments Master Hours, but they prefer to listen to fears and lies. So like "The Never Ending Story", Momo is much more than a story; it is a complete cosmology for spiritual lessons and higher growth. Because it deals with archetypes and the altered states of consciousness required to anthropomorphize and befriend those archetypes, Momo is more intense, more frightening, and more transcendent than most children's tales would dare to aspire, a fact which may ultimately explain its enduring obscurity at the fringes of American esoteric culture. Cognoscenti souls will rejoice in finding the rare copy with subtitles, which will look all the more strange because the Italian production, including aging English star John Huston, was clearly dubbed to German. Dir./writer Johannes Schaaf, writers Michael Ende (novel "Momo", aka "The Grey Gentlemen"), Marcello Coscia, Rosemarie Fendel, stars Radost Bokel (Momo), John Huston (Master Hours), Armin Mueller-Stahl (chief grey man), Leopoldo Trieste (Beppo). Keep on the lookout also for an animated "Momo" (2001,Germany), a 1992 French TV version, and possibly a German series in 2007, although quality may be on the decline as it was with North America's love affair with "The NeverEnding Story" (1984,1990,1994,1996,2001). Compare also with the soul-testing grey men of "Dark City" (1998) - Themes: Altered States, Evolution, Extraterrestrials, Higher Friends, Illness, Journeying, Mind, Negativity, Reality, Relationships, Synchronicities, Time-travel 
122.Princes and Princesses (2000,France,70mins) rare good:Yes - Animation, Childrens, Fantasy/Sci-Fi • six magical fairy tales, uniquely animated: All seen in silhouette, three modern animators discuss ideas for a collection of stories that their computers will help them stage. The six tales they design are based on different cultures and eras, but all share the theme of royalty, most with fairy tale love. In "The Princess of the Diamonds" a princess whose diamond necklace broke has been cursed to be a statue guarded by a gargoyle beneath the meadow where the diamonds lay scattered. Princes come to rescue her, but the curse gives them only one turn of an hourglass to restore the whole necklace or become another ant in the grass. One kind prince is careful to not step on any ants, so when his time runs out the insects help him win the princess' hand in marriage. In "The Fig Boy", the Egyptian queen Hapshetsut is delighted with gifts of ripe out-of-season figs by a local boy. When a jealous court minister tries to have the boy arrested, the plan backfires and the boy becomes the new minister. In "The Sorceress", a medieval king promises his daughter's hand in marriage to anyone who can enter the enchanted castle of the local sorceress. After seeing every one else's methods of violent attack defeated, one young man decides to simply knock, whereupon he is given a tour by the sorceress who turns out to be his true love. In "The Old Lady's Coat" an elderly Japanese woman is mugged for her fine coat, but she reveals supernatural strength to make the thief serve her until he begs for release. In "The Cruel Queen and the Fabulo Trainer" a futuristic queen on another planet is delighted with the singing of a rare fabulo bird. Its unlikely owner is a poor boy who offers her the bird in exchange for letting him try her test for marriage, which is to hide until sundown from the seeking of her death ray. He succeeds by hiding with the bird, and the queen is contrite for all the suitors she has killed. In "Princes and Princesses" an engaged royal couple kiss for the first time, only to discover that they have been cursed so that with each kiss they become yet another enchanted animal. Finally they become each other and face life in reversed social roles. • enchanting moments of spectacular art make this worth seeking out: This shadow puppet technique film is strikingly artful and lovely, with intricate cutouts that seem to predate computer effects (the film was begun in 1989 and took 10 years to release), all layered on vibrantly colored backgrounds. The narrative imagination is commensurate with the visual creativity for appeal to all ages, and there is a family friendly educational component as the bridge scenes show the animated animators researching historical periods and costumes, discussing favorite artistic styles before diving into each story. The film has been reasonably feted by festivals and word of mouth, but it remains much less distributed than the director's daringly non-cutesy animation "Kirikou and the Sorceress" (1998), a full line-drawn feature about a magical African boy who faces a village sorcerer's need for healing. I think a problem with "Princes and Princesses" is that silhouettes inherently limit even when masterfully handled, and fatigue after evoking too many vibrant sunset/sunrise contrasts. Yes there is healthy old-fashioned appeal to imagination, but sometimes you just want to see within the outlines. Plus the tales are not all equally magical, so you can expect to have favorites. I adored the first story about the ants, where the diamonds glittered all the more on the black backgrounds, and the unexpected reward for compassion was of such spiritual dimension that I recalled monks who take great care to never step on bugs, and who relocate worms when building temples. Harvard entomologist E.O. Wilson speaks of having "respect for little lives". The universe is alive down to its tiniest details, but it calls for equally detailed love to unleash the miraculous powers of that life. My second favorite story was the Sorceress because, after stereotyped armies and a bit too much silhouetting, it too evoked the wonder for unexplored worlds of esoteric love that are enterable only by great vulnerability and tenderness. The rest of the stories featured more cruel caprice than seemed necessary, although one can argue that is the nature of most fairy tales. Dir./writer Michel Ocelot, voice stars Arlette Mirapeu, Philippe Cheytion, Francois Voisin, aka "Princes et Princesses". For more shadow puppet tales check out the classic Arabian flavored "The Adventures of Prince Achmed" (1926) - Themes: Contact, Creativity, Myth/Religion, Powers of Spirit, Relationships, Soulmates, Transformations 
148.Sophie's World (1999,Norway,113mins) rare good:YesYES - Biographical, Childrens, Drama, Experimental, Fantasy/Sci-Fi • guided by a time-travelling philosopher, girl discovers her destiny as an immortal character: Sophie appears to be an ordinary teen girl with school friends, until one day her interest in rituals and the occult leads to being approached by a mysterious philosopher named Alberto Knox. Alberto first leaves Sophie notes in the mailbox which ask her the fundamental questions of reality, like where did the universe come from, and who are you? Sophie ponders these riddles with her sweet but shallower mother, as Alberto displays magical powers by increasingly impinging on Sophie's reality. When Sophie fails to turn in a history paper, Alberto substitutes his own which she must read, on humanity's uses of myth. Alberto leaves Sophie a video tape that only she can see truly, in which Alberto introduces her to Socrates and Plato's metaphor of the cave. Sometimes shape-shifted into the form of a dog, Alberto leads Sophie through the woods and into episodes of the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, the French Revolution, and the Russian Revolution, introducing her to the existential concepts of the greatest thinkers, including Hildegaard von Bingen, Thomas Aquinas, and Bishop Berkeley. Interdimensional encounters through a mirror between Sophie and a girl named Hilde convince Alberto that they are but characters in a pedagogical story being written by the god-like Major to his daughter Hilde for her 15th birthday. At Sophie's own 15th birthday party, Alberto explains to the guests that Major's story is almost done, so soon they will all cease to exist. Sophie has her school friend create a distraction while she and Alberto escape into the mirror. They arrive invisible in Hilde's reality only to helplessly watch the girl and her father contemplate the reality of Alberto and Sophie. But having not disappeared, Sophie considers that she and her world have entered the realm of Plato's ideals, immortal constructs of the mind. To test this theory she and Alberto return through the looking glass, to find that the greatest storybook characters of all time are throwing a party in their honor. • transcendent and glorious teaching story touches upper realms: Sophie's World is a revelation - and the book is supposed to be even better!? Based on a Norwegian bestseller that has become an international classic, it was the most expensive Norwegian film made in its time, yet it remains barely seen outside of Norway, and for years was released only in German. The film transcends genre with fine gentle acting and appropriate special effects, reaching a high level of eerie and enlightening meta-fiction that is thrilling for minds of all ages. The complexity bears repeated viewing, taking the audience on a mind bending journey that culminates in absolute joy on the upper mental plane with the eternal archetypes of human imagination. Surveying and visiting the great outsider thinkers of history is pedagogical yet exhilarating, providing more connection to higher levels where dwell the collective unconscious, akashic records, and eternal worldviews. One could argue a secular bias to not imagine Jesus, Buddha, or the like, although the film doesn't shy from Berkeley's existential language in which only the power of the Lord is real (quickly relating this to the power of consciousness to sense its realities). Feminism is served to show not all great minds were male, and Olympe de Gouges, bourgeois author executed in the French Revolution, is credited as the first woman to demand equal rights. I know of no other film that covers so much territory so effectively, for such broad and positive appeal; it's instantly one of my all time favorites, giving me chills every time I see it. It's a must-see for creative thinkers, because it assembles into one narrative many of the experiences that will haunt any honest writer - namely, who is more real, me or my creation? For truly, I just give my characters space to come alive, and I am fulfilled in telling their story. How often they surprise me, and how I will mourn when the tale is done, perhaps more for myself than for them, since they will live on in the pure ideas, and I am the imperfect and mortal chaser of dreams.
149.Spirit Child, The (2006,UK,Short 8mins) rare good:YesYES - Animation, Childrens, Fantasy/Sci-Fi, ViewOnline • animated tale of how the angels gave lost spirit children an astral playground: "When Earthly children lay down to sleep, and they've prayed the Lord their souls to keep, the angels watch them through the night, until they wake in morning light." Unfortunately not all children are being taught about angels and souls, and many just play all day without understanding what it is that people fear. Down at the cemetery, the ghosts of the little girl Orli and her friends were too afraid to move to higher realms, so they come out at night to play around the graves. Until one time when playing hide and seek, Orli runs deep into a tomb and encounters a darkness and fear of death which engulfs her. Helpless and lost in the dark, she closes her eyes in hope, then opens to see a newborn spirit moving toward a greater light. She follows and comes into a heavenly realm, where towering angels watch over all the spirit planes. An angel apologizes to Orli for not finding her when she stayed behind on Earth. She is now invited to stay and play in heaven with all the other spirit children, but Orli wants to return to Earth for her graveyard friends. So the angels conference to come up with a solution. They bring Orli back to the cemetery, and create an astral fairground on the site, with rides and safe places for spirit parents to come visit their lost children until all are ready to move to higher planes. Orli is reunited with her parents, and meets her spirit guide who teaches her to become a guide to the other children. Orli instructs confused child spirits about the fears of death so that they, like she, can now transcend to heaven whenever they desire. • astounding, initiatory, totally enlightened and enlightening, let it take you to the next level: "The Spirit Child" is, quite simply, the most beautiful and clear spiritual short film that I’ve ever seen. Imagine what Dr. Seuss might have done if he’d been raised on theosophy and spiritualism. This is a new non-denominational classic for the next enlightenment of humanity that has already begun, and if I had my way every school would show it to every child on the planet. I’m serious, this is a rite of passage, don’t miss this film. Let it work its magic on your present growth track as it has mine, because this is coming straight from the source. Oh certainly there is context and precedence for the imagery – I wonder if the filmmaker saw the pilot of "Dead Like Me" (2003) with its astral fairground for the little ghost girl for example – but nothing can prepare you for such intelligent purity of vision and message. Except to have an open heart of course, which will, if you’re like me, leave you weeping your own soul’s tears of joy and relief. Hallelujah, here’s a taste of tomorrow’s entertainment today, ideal for young and old alike.
152.Stardust (1998,USA,105mins) uncommon good:Probably - Childrens, Fantasy/Sci-Fi • vaccuum cleaner becomes sentient from special computer chip and helps boy find father: Mr. Wasacz is a scientist who has invented a bio-chip that makes inanimate objects come to life. When his employer wants it for evil purposes, the chip is implanted in a vaccuum cleaner. Now the scientist's son Charlie must work with the vaccuum to save his father who has been arrested, and stop the bad people. • derivative family film has some predictable charm: A low budget effort with actors from the Detroit area, not to be confused with the Neil Gaiman film "Stardust" (2007). Compare with "Short Circuit" (1986) for plot. Don't expect profundities from the point of view of talking appliances, anymore than the curious industrial film "Ellis in Freedomland" (1955). "Stardust" is dir./writer Charles F. Cirgenski, stars Olek Krupa (Mr. Wasacz), Jared Robbins (Charlie), Amanda Donohoe (Christine Wasacz) - Themes: Evolution, Mind 
178.Winter of the Witch (1969,USA,Short 24mins) rare good:YesYES - Childrens, Fantasy/Sci-Fi • friendly witch cooks magic pancakes for family: A little boy named Nicky and his mother move to a small town and buy a run down old house very inexpensively. But the reason why it was cheap is because it is haunted by a 300 year old witch. The witch likes the dust and cobwebs, so the mother tells her to live in the attic while they clean up the rest of the house. The witch is depressed because the modern world is such a scary place that people don't want the fun of being scared by witches anymore, so she agrees and retreats to the attic to listen to her old Victrola record operas and read newspapers. When the little boy finds out that the witch feels unwanted, he asks her to be their cook. The witch excitedly agrees and reverses an old recipe to invent blueberry Happiness Pancakes, which make colored dots dance before your eyes and are guaranteed to cheer even the most unhappy people. The family opens a pancake parlor in the house and people come from miles around. Nicky and the witch become friends, gathering blueberries together, and the witch confides that when her pancakes have made the world happy again, then she will go back to scaring people. • classic psychedelia not just for kids: Yes this strange and charming short does exist, as many have wondered who vaguely recollect seeing it in elementary schools and on PBS in the 1970's. Based on a classic children's story called the "Old Black Witch", the film is a little better than amateur in production, and worked well enough for Parents' Magazine distribution. Adults will get the suggestion of LSD for the era, but the pleasure is no more guilty than Puff the Magic Dragon. I would have loved this as a child, and children think about befriending monsters and altered states quite naturally (at least I did). The witch is stereotypical, with broom and black pointy hat and cauldron, but the open-ended meaning of her purpose in life is most intriguing. She says old witches do not die, they just fade away, losing their magic until they can no longer fly. But then the pancake mission gives her a new lease on life. Can it be that scary archetypes are not meant to be enemies, but guardians of secrets and emotional experiences that the ancients knew to enjoy, and modern society loses at its greater peril? I'd rather fear trickster witches than people with guns, that’s for sure. Dir./writer Gerald Herman, writers Harry Devlin, Wende Devlin (book), stars Roger Morgan (Nicky), Hermione Gingold (Witch), Anna Strasberg (Mother), Burgess Meredith (Narrator) - Themes: Altered States, Contact, Higher Friends, Innocence, Myth/Religion, Powers of Spirit, Relationships www.MysticalMoveGuide.com - All Original Writings Copyright © Carl J. Schroeder, All Rights Reserved. Images Are The Copyright Property Of The Respective Owners/Studios And Were Obtained Through Public Channels And Are Not Intended to Infringe On Any Copyrights