The folks at Cinema Circus are gearing up for their first winter screening to be held on Saturday, Dec. 3, beginning at 5 p.m. at the Chilmark Community Center. The event includes food, activities and, of course, a series of short films. And just as during the summer an early screening of the films is arranged with a young Island cineaste to give the real deal, kid’s-point-of-view on what’s good, great and not so much.

The review for this weekend’s kids’ movie comes from the desk of Cary J. R. Moré-Straton

The Boy Who Cried Wolf (Dir. Konstantin Bronzit / U.S.A. / 2008 / 8 min.)

The story is about a shepherd boy who tries to get attention in the wrong way. The story is not an original one but it was entertaining because of the great animation. It is set in old-fashioned times. The music went along with the action very well and the artist who drew the pictures for the movie makers did a great job. I loved the funny clothes that the townspeople wore. The most important part about this film is that it teaches a really important lesson for people. The shepherd boy does not tell the truth and because he doesn’t, the people in his village do not believe him any more. The lesson is that if you don’t be honest, no one will trust you, ever.

Book Girl and Cabinet Girl (Dir. Jane Wu / U.S.A. / 2010 / 4 min.)

I didn’t really love this film because it wasn’t colorful enough for me. I also didn’t really understand it because there wasn’t a narrator and wasn’t any dialogue. I think that the film would be better if there was a clearer story to tell for children. I think it was about jealousy but I’m not quite sure.

Johnny (Dir. Malena Modéer / Germany / 2010 / 5 min.)

This is a good film! It had quite a clear lesson to me because if Johnny had minded his mother in the beginning, he wouldn’t have shrunk down to a tiny boy and gotten swept away with the family garbage. The music was terrific in this film because it went along with the narrator’s voice really well. This movie was a combination of claymation and real live action. I enjoyed watching Johnny a lot. It’s OK for all kids to see this one.

Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed (Dir. Pete List / U.S.A / 2011 / 11 min.)

This was a good movie because there was an important lesson to consider. That lesson is that even if everybody thinks you have a dumb idea or makes you feel bad for being different, stick to yourself and your ideas because it’s who you are. Don’t let people make you feel like you have to change to be like them. The music was supersonic great and I loved it. The animation was alright but I thought the characters looked more like hippopotamuses than like moles or rats.

Marcel the Shell with Shoes On (Dir. Dean Fleischer-Camp / U.S.A. / 2010 / 3 min.)

This was a cute little film. There was only one character and the story was just her telling about her whole life. Marcel is a tiny shell with small shoes and one eye and a mouth. She has a cute little voice and her surroundings are underneath parts of everything that we see as people from above. All children will love this movie. I rate it as very good and “G”.

Truck Farm (Dir. Ian Cheney / U.S.A. / 2010 / 4 min.)

This is a high-speed film and is full of energy set in New York City. It is the story of giving life to an old, useless truck by planting a vegetable garden in the back of it. The fast motion was hard to follow but the narrator did a really good job telling what was happening. This film could be for all ages and adults will like it too. I liked ‘Truck Farm’ a lot because it had real people in it who really knew how to plant a garden.

Ormie (Dir. Rob Silvestri / Canada / 2009 / 4 min.)

This was one of the funniest movies I ever saw in my whole life! It was absolutely hilarious. I’d give it an A+ if I had to grade it. Ormie is a fat little pig and he wants the cookies that are sitting on top of the refrigerator. And so the whole movie is about all the different ways that Ormie tries to get the cookies down to eat! He tries everything. You have to see this one!

The Henhouse (Dir. Elena Pomares / U.K. / 2010 / 7 min.)

The Henhouse is about a fox who leaves the forest to go to the city to get food. He goes to a café and gets a job as a waiter but he steals the whole time he is supposed to be working. This film may not be for young children, like one to three-year olds; the fox gets pretty scary looking with his big sharp teeth and this could scare little kids. The best part of this movie was the terrific ani mation. The artists are great. I also really liked the way the scenes changed in and out of each other.