Each week the folks at Cinema Circus show a series of short films on Wednesday evenings 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 under way.

An advanced screening of the films was arranged with two young Island cineastes. In a world with few certainties, the kid critic is the critic to trust. This week’s reviewers are twins Olive Mae and Violet Jeanne MacPhail.

 

Floyd the Android (Dir. Jonathan Lyons / U.S.A. / 2011 / 4 min.)

Olive: This is really funny and makes me smile. He loses his head! It is neat that they can do this on the computer, it is really cool. I like robots! You should watch this with your friends, and young siblings — they would like it. And yeah, I really liked it ’cause it was so funny...oh, wait I already wrote that. This movie made me feel silly! Floyd the Android is silly. I didn’t learn anything, but I laughed. Oh, never climb up things unless someone is below you to catch you when you fall.

Violet: People should watch it. It is a little bit funny. And I bet a lot of people like funny things so, they would like this movie. I would rate this an eight (1 to 10, 10 being best).

All the World (Dir. Galen Fott / U.S.A. / 2011 / 8 min.)

Olive: I liked it because they only said one word to describe things. It kind of sounds like a poem. I would tell a friend to watch it because she likes poems. The little girl collected the shell and that was nice. I liked the drawing ’cause it looked real, the hair is a little weird though. I felt like I was at the beach and I am happy at the beach. I was excited about this movie, it made me hungry and happy — Mom, can I have some cut up apple? All the world’s everyone’s, everyone shares things and if you are using something you should share it. You have to share everything. The world is everyone’s. This is a bit different from the rest of the movies, it is like a poem. But it did have a lesson — to share things. I rate this one eight.

Violet: We have this book. I like it. The movie was beautiful because it was taking about real families and people. I liked it; I would tell my friends to watch it, or you could look at the book. Watch it because it is real and I want my friends to get better at drawing and be writers when they grow up. This movie would help you be a writer and a good artist because it was realistic, and the words in it are like a poem. And it rhymes a little bit. It makes me feel happy ’cause it is kind of real, like the families having fun together. I would rate it a 10. It is my mom’s favorite, oh, wait, she really liked the light one with the flower, too.

Gadget Boy (Dir. Tony Dusko / U.S.A. / 2011 / 2 min.)

Olive: Really cool. I liked when the robot says, “I Love you Gadget Boy” at the end; his voice is neat. The animation was simple and cool. I really, really liked it. It is a tiny bit funny. Gadget Boy makes a funny smiley face that is fun and a good drawing that made me laugh.

Violet: This movie is about helping. It is nice because someone is helping someone else. I liked when the robot took the wheel off of the car and had to push it home...that made me laugh. I would tell a friend to enjoy this movie and to pay attention. It is good for kids because it is not scary.

Hello, I Like You (Dirs. Mixtape Club / U.S.A. / 2011 / 2 min.)

Olive: Crazy with colors and creative! This movie is crazy and you are going to like it!

Violet: This movie is kind of creative and I don’t know how they made it. I really like that is was made with all different real things. I noticed that the tree was spinning; that doesn’t really happen like that, they just go around in circles with the earth. I would tell friends to watch this movie and to watch closely because things move fast and they are cool. The music was good and I am glad I watched it twice.

Slap Back Jack: White Gloves Willy (Dir. Mark Newell / U.S.A. / 2011 / 3 min.)

Olive: That guy has four fingers. This movie is about Slap Back Jack helping the traffic cop be better at his job. I liked it because of the slapping and the slap mitt machine. This movie is kind of silly, so it made me feel like being a little silly. And Slap Back Jack is a little hard to understand. I rate this movie a five.

Violet: I liked this one, but it wasn’t my favorite. But Jack was hard to understand. I would tell my friends to watch it but to pay attention because his hands and mouth move fast. It is nice that the traffic guy asked for help. He wasn’t doing good at his job so he asked Slap Back Jack for help. He learned something new and got better at his job.

The Light (Dir. Yuta Sukegawa / Japan / 2010 / 8 min.)

Olive: I really liked it. I liked that the light still worked at the end of the story even though it was off of the cord. The light made heat so the flower would come. It was not easy for the light. I think they were helping each other. The artwork is very fancy — the artist did a great job with the poles, the lights, the snow, and the flower. Watching this movie made me feel happy and I thought about summer and being warm, but I was cold. The flower and the light were together, they were good friends and neither of them wanted the other to go. I would tell my friends to watch this movie.

Violet: Mom, you really liked this one didn’t you? I think you liked it because the light and the flower were such good friends.

Tally ho, Pancake! (Dir. Kai Pannen / Germany / 2009 / 7 min.)

Olive: It tells you a lesson in the end that you need to rest after you run, and it is a little funny and it is good for Kindergartners ’cause they can count the people chasing the pancake. It was animated and it was very fun. This movie was really funny and you should watch it. The drawings of the people made me smile and it was silly. It was really, really good. I would give it 7 out of 10.

Violet: Well, this movie was really, really funny. The cow souring the milk was funny. This movie is funny and I think you would like it, because he pancake can fly, and the woman washed sausages! This movie is a little different, the drawings are different and it is a story about a pancake! The movie made me feel anxious to go outside and run laps around the house, so, yeah, I think you have to watch it! [reviewer begins to sing] “Tally Ho. A pancake is really quite nutritious!” I would give this movie an eight.

The Storyteller (Dir. Nandita Jain / U.K. / 2011 / 11 min.)

Olive: The main characters were the grandpa and the little girl. The grandpa was very white in his white shirt. I liked the way the hair was drawn on the little girl. I liked that they had a boy climb a coconut tree. This movie is interesting, and a little weird ’cause the grandpa had told the story forever, and then he forgot it so the girl told the story; it was non-fiction. This film was different ’cause they used ink to draw the characters, and it had some real stuff and some drawn. A girl wants to hear a story from her grandpa but he forgets the story and messes it up. The Little girl takes over. I would rate this film a 5. I would watch it again. I would ask a friend to sit and watch it with me. I love coconuts.

Violet: It was a little real and a little animation and I liked it a lot. I liked the story that she told her grandpa and I liked the coconuts. The grandpa was supposed to be telling the story about the coconut face, but he messed it up so she took his glass and acted like him and told the story to him. The grandpa wasn’t doing a good job for some reason and then the grandpa started to worry about the boy in the story. He went a little crazy in the head, then the girl told the grandpa that it was just a story and the boy turned into a fish. The grandpa became happier when the little girl told him that it wasn’t true and the boy was happy in the end. The girl takes care of the grandpa ’cause he is getting a little crazy in the head. You should watch this movie and have fun. ’Cause I think you might like it.

I would rate this movie seven. This movie made me kind of happy.

The Squeakiest Roar (Dir. Maggie Rogers / U.K. / 2011 / 4 min.)

Olive: Every morning the lion went to the hill with his brothers and sisters, but he felt left out because he has a tiny, tiny squeaky roar. He found out his wasn’t squeaky when he joined a band; it wasn’t squeaky and he liked it. This movie made me think that something has to be different from you and another person and it doesn’t matter! Everything is different than you and it is good!

Violet: This film is about a lion who joined a band, he didn’t like his roar and then, he loved his roar. I was a little sad for the smallest lion and a tiny bit surprised when he noticed his roar was kind of beautiful and at last he liked it. He realized that even if your voice is different than someone else’s it doesn’t matter because it is just who you are!