To view a Real Video clip, click on each movie's picture!
Illya Woloshyn:
"Beethoven Lives Upstairs"
Unusual for its short length, this film has been distributed in the U.S. and Canada as one in a series to teach music appreciation to children. As a Fourth Grade teacher, I noticed that my students enjoyed watching it very much.
The story is based in part on historical fact and features more than 25 excerpts of Beethoven's most loved works. It captures a special friendship between the great composer and a young boy.
However, when the scene in the Real Video clip at left takes place, Christoph is anything but pleased with having the composer in a room right above his bedroom! But the boy is as excited any everyone else when, at the end, he and his family are given tickets to witness the first performance of "The 9th".
The Private War of Major Benson
As punishment for being too 'gung-ho' and constantly shooting-off his mouth, Major 'Barney' Benson is ordered from regular military duty-- to Sheridan Academy-- to help the school regain its ROTC rating. Upon his arrival he is shocked to find a school of mostly pre-teen boys instead of the college-age cadets he had expected.
The academy's female doctor gains his immediate attention, and she begins her campaign to soften the Major's training techniques. The football team is whipped into a no-loss season, but the boys complain that Benson took all the fun out of playing. And Cadet Hibler, who enjoys taking things apart and changing their gear directions-- soon gets most of the boys to sign a petition for his 'influential' parents to use in getting Benson sent packing. The hard-headed leader's redemption begins when both he and the youngest cadet decide on the same night to leave the school. Cadet Flaherty's failed escape attempt is shown in the video clip available at left.
How and why the boys finally decide to withdraw their opposition and give the Major another chance-- uses ingredients we can only love and cherish from the Good Old Days of Hollywood. No profanity, no sex, but lots of 'feel good' moments for all in this one, filmed at St. Catherine's Military School in Anaheim, California. Last time we checked, this video was till available on VHS through amazon.com.
(Tim Hovey died of a drug overdose at age 44.)
Ted Eccles: "My Side Of The Mountain"
It must be first said that Sam is NOT your average 13-year-old with his body either playing football, walking The Mall, or content with mind-numbing video games. His hero is not Hulk Hogan, but rather naturalist and poet Henry David Thoreau.
Somehow, in the book it is much easier to believe that Sam's large family refuses to panic when he determines to leave home. Sam wants to see if he can make it on his own in the Laurentian Mountains of Canada. Yes, today his parents would have the R.C.M.P. on his tail. But hey-- this is a movie in which you can imagine a perfect world where such things could really happen!
Sam is determined to do everything on his own. He narrates his feelings as the faces the dangers and enjoys the rewards of nature. And like Thoreau, he keeps a journal which he shares with us from time to time. If you don't get to go to the mountains, watching this movie will be the next best thing. The video clip at left will explain some of Sam's feelings after realizing that he may have hurt his parents by leaving home, and that he does have respect for at least a few individuals in the world he has tried to escape.
Sadly, the movie version leaves out how "Bando" got his name-- but does do a good job of showing the strong relationship which develops between him and the boy. This is truly a movie the kids can watch-- in fact it was a winner of the Parents Magazine Family Medal.
Jeremy James Kissner, Jesse James:
"A Dog of Flanders"
The video clip available at left will show you a conversation between the boy and his girlfriend. The topic is Nello's deceased mother and the mystery of where she may be now.
The characters live near Antwerp, a city in Flanders, which is the Flemish or Dutch-speaking part of Belgium.
The story line departs greatly from the 1959 version, adding a fire which the boy gets unjustly accused of starting, a circus coming to the area, and an elaborate 'near-death experience' for Nello. There is also an added and rather complicated plot concerning Nello's father. Nello sees winning money in a city art contest as his only hope to escape poverty and to become acceptable to his would-be future father-in-law. The movie provides an excellent example of honesty when the boy's dog finds a container of money, and Nello returns it to the rightful owner. There is very little profanity and only a dab of violence. Filmed on location, the viewer is allowed to see the scenic and historic beauty of this region-- also a bit of great art from one of the Dutch Masters. I would strongly suggest seeing the 1959 version either before or following this one!
Miles Feulner, T.J. Lowther:
"A Home of Our Own"
While driving through Idaho, with the old car about to quit before they do, Mrs. Lacey spots an old would-be house which was begun and then abandoned. She convinces the owner of a nearby nursery to allow her and the children to work for the property.
To some of the children it's an adventure, but life for Shayne, the oldest boy, is miserable. He is humiliated by his school coach and is constantly in arguments with his mother. His mother's iron-clad rule is enforced by her use of his deceased father's old belt.
Another child whose character is richly developed in the film is middle son Murray. Indoor plumbing becomes his goal in life, as you will see in the second half of the Real Video clip which is linked at left.
Most viewers will probably be very frustrated at the mother's refusal to "take charity" even when her children suffer-- the Christmas scene is especially heartbreaking. I would not spoil the final fourth of the film for you-- but will simply say that it is believable. In fact, the entire story is supposed to be a true one, as stated by Shayne, who narrates these realistic events set in 1962.
Rated PG for mild profanity, a date abuse scene, and one somewhat gruesome accident.
Ricky Schroder: "The Champ"
But the story is much deeper, concerning a broken marriage and the inevitable effect on a mother, a father and a child.
I honestly believe that Ricky Schroder, "T.J." in the film, has yet to be matched in talent as a kid actor. The very strong emotional scenes, especially at the end, make you believe the story to be real and boy's character to be real.
When the credits started rolling at the end, you could hear sobs all around in the audience; then a few giggles (at the sobs). Suddenly a girl stood up and said loudly, "It's not FUNNY!" I have yet to find a stronger depiction of love between a father and his son. In the Real Video clip at left, Billy enjoys that wonderful feeling of giving someone you love something they don't expect. (Too bad the boy doesn't get to keep her very long.) Strong profanity, but probably true to character in boxing.
