Vikingdom opens in the United States, October 4th 2013

Vikingdom is a film by Yusry Abdul Halim, of KRU studios, in which I play a supporting role. It is not my place to review it, since I played the role of Warick the Wise and my words would not seem to be free of influence, therefore. However, I would like to point your way to two American reviews, that have appeared in the last two days.

The first is from Slant Magazine:

http://www.slantmagazine.com/film/review/vikingdom

The second is a syndicated review, which first appeared in the Village Voice, yesterday, but has now appeared in OC Weekly, and City Pages. No doubt it will spread further in the next few days.

http://www.citypages.com/2013-10-02/movies/vikingdom-review/

Both reviews are favourable, in general and give some insight into how the film fits into the context of prior works. What I found most interesting about these reviews is that Vikingdom is being received much more intelligently and open-mindedly in the United States, than in its homeland of Malaysia. It very much seems as if the Malaysian cinema going public is a bit narrow in its views of what it will accept whole-heartedly, from a Malaysian director. They seem to have certain conventional expectations which Vikingdom transgresses.

For those of you living in America, Vikingdom has a limited release on October 4^th 2013. In many theatres it is just for one night, it seems...so if you want to catch it in the cinema, October 4^th is the night to do it. For those of you in or near New York, Vikingdom is showing at the AMC theatre, 34^th Street, for one full week’s run. For others who are not near any of the cinemas in the listing to follow (which covers 21 cities across the USA), Vikingdom may be downloaded from iTunes, from October 4^th 2013, for enjoyment at home.

http://www.vikingdommovie.com/

To set the film in context for you: Malaysia has never made a film like Vikingdom, before. It is the first attempt at an internationalized, epic action adventure. It is also a big step forward on what has been achieved, at any time, by a Malaysian production company in the past. This production was a co-production with Epic Pictures of Hollywood. Notably, this is also the first time a Malaysian film has ever been shown in US cinemas, at all. So, it is a major achievement, in that sense.

If you get to see it, you may not recognize me easily. I play Warick the Wise, but I am heavily disguised. I have a bushy brown and grey beard, long grey hair, period costume, a bow and arrow, and look utterly unlike my modern self. Even my own wife didn’t recognize me, after I had changed into my Viking get-up one day, on set. So, if you want to be sure who I am playing...just follow the name of my character: Warick the Wise.

I do hope you get to see the film. Thanks.

For those of you living outside of the USA, distribution has been arranged in around 85 countries. Most of those appear to open on or around the 16th December, 2013. The openings so far confirmed are: Thailand, October 10th; Japan, December 15th; and Australia, Brazil, New Zealand, South Africa and Sweden December 16th. I will notify you of further release dates, once I become aware of them. Thank you.

As for the Malaysian release on September 12th...Vikingdom was no.2 at the box office, in its first weekend of release, which is a pretty good showing. It finished up its run in the top 20% or so of box office, for local films, which is respectable.

Written by Valentine Cawley

(If you would like to support my continued writing of this blog and my ongoing campaign to raise awareness about giftedness and all issues pertaining to it, please donate, by clicking on the gold button to the left of the page.

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If you would like to read any of our scientific research papers, there are links to some of them, here: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2011/02/research-papers-by-valentine-cawley-and.html

If you would like to see an online summary of my academic achievements to date, please go here: http://www.getcited.org/mbrz/11136175To learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, 10, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, 7 and Tiarnan, 5, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html

I also write of gifted education, child prodigy, child genius, adult genius, savant, megasavant, HELP University College, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, Malaysia, IQ, intelligence and creativity.

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Please have a read, if you would like a critic's view of this blog. Thanks.

You can get my blog on your Kindle, for easy reading, wherever you are, by going to: http://www.amazon.com/Boy-Who-Knew-Too-Much/dp/B0042P5LEE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&s=digital-text&qid=1284603792&sr=8-1

Please let all your fellow Kindlers know about my blog availability - and if you know my blog well enough, please be so kind as to write a thoughtful review of what you like about it. Thanks.

My Internet Movie Database listing is at:http://imdb.com/name/nm3438598/

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Our editing, proofreading and copywriting company, Genghis Can, is athttp://www.genghiscan.com/This blog is copyright Valentine Cawley. Unauthorized duplication is prohibited. Use only with permission. Thank you.) 

Vikingdom Teaser Trailer Released

As regular readers will know, I played a role in Vikingdom, the KRU studios epic action adventure film. Last night, at 9 pm, KRU released a one minute, seven second teaser trailer for Vikingdom. I am visible in it, to the eagle eyed (try the 22 second, in the right hand upper corner).

Here it is:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DkBbQm-W5SI

Vikingdom will be released, I expect, in the next few months. My role, Warick, is a significant one in that I am one of the questors, in the main quest, which occupies most of the film. I am, therefore, onscreen, for much of the time.

The funny thing is, I never would have expected to have been in an epic action adventure film. It was a good experience. The hero of the film, Eirick, was played by Dominic Purcell, of Prison Break fame.

Please let me know what you think of the trailer below. I hope you go on to see the film when it comes out. It certainly looks like it will be enjoyable to watch...and it will give you a chance to see some of my acting, in action, as it were.

Happy watching.

Posted by Valentine Cawley

(If you would like to support my continued writing of this blog and my ongoing campaign to raise awareness about giftedness and all issues pertaining to it, please donate, by clicking on the gold button to the left of the page.

To read about my fundraising campaign, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2011/01/fundraising-drive-in-support-of-my.html and here: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2011/01/fundraising-drive-first-donation.html

If you would like to read any of our scientific research papers, there are links to some of them, here: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2011/02/research-papers-by-valentine-cawley-and.html

If you would like to see an online summary of my academic achievements to date, please go here: http://www.getcited.org/mbrz/11136175To learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, 10, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, 7 and Tiarnan, 5, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html

I also write of gifted education, child prodigy, child genius, adult genius, savant, megasavant, HELP University College, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, Malaysia, IQ, intelligence and creativity.

There is a review of my blog, on the respected The Kindle Report here:http://thekindlereport.blogspot.com/2010/09/boy-who-knew-too-much-child-prodigy.html

Please have a read, if you would like a critic's view of this blog. Thanks.

You can get my blog on your Kindle, for easy reading, wherever you are, by going to: http://www.amazon.com/Boy-Who-Knew-Too-Much/dp/B0042P5LEE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&s=digital-text&qid=1284603792&sr=8-1

Please let all your fellow Kindlers know about my blog availability - and if you know my blog well enough, please be so kind as to write a thoughtful review of what you like about it. Thanks.

My Internet Movie Database listing is at:http://imdb.com/name/nm3438598/

Ainan's IMDB listing is at http://imdb.com/name/nm3305973/

Syahidah's IMDB listing is at http://imdb.com/name/nm3463926/

Our editing, proofreading and copywriting company, Genghis Can, is athttp://www.genghiscan.com/This blog is copyright Valentine Cawley. Unauthorized duplication is prohibited. Use only with permission. Thank you.) 

Bacon Number and the size of Hollywood.

Hollywood is a very small place. I am not talking physically – although it isn’t very big in that sense, either – I am talking in terms of relationships.

Today, I went to the Oracle of Bacon, online, and typed in my name, out of curiosity, to see what connection it could find for me, with Kevin Bacon, the actor.

It said I have a Bacon Number of 2. That is I am only two degrees of separation from Kevin Bacon.

The relationship was that I appeared in Vikingdom as Warick, (not yet released) with Ron Smoorenburg (as Captain of Jomsberg 2), who appeared with Kevin Bacon in Elephant White (2011). This brought home to me just how small Hollywood is, in terms of human associations.

Only by appearing in a film with Kevin Bacon directly, could I improve upon this Bacon Number. Whether that will happen is anyone’s guess. Nevertheless, it does show how small the filmic world is.

To put this Bacon Number score of 2 into perspective, I looked up Dominic Purcell’s Bacon Number (he is the star of Vikingdom, playing the hero Eirick). It is also 2. The connection is that Dominic Purcell was in Scenes of the crime (2001) with Robert Wahlberg, who went on to appear in Mystic River (2003) with Kevin Bacon.

Now, that is not to say that I am as well established as Dominic Purcell – I am not, by a great margin – but in terms of connectivity to Kevin Bacon in this limited sense, we are just as well connected as each other.

On the other hand, Tom Cruise has a Bacon Number of 1, having appeared with him in A Few Good Men (1992).

Of course, this measure of Hollywood connectivity is entirely arbitrary, since any other actor could have been chosen. There are in fact many more well connected actors than Kevin Bacon (I read recently that he was only the 444^th most connected actor in Hollywood). It is probable that the connectivity numbers would be smaller had a more well connected actor been chosen as the “target” than Kevin Bacon. Whatever the case, whomever is chosen to connect to, the result would be the same: Hollywood is a very small “place”.

Given how small it is, I feel fortunate to be a part of it, in my own way.

Posted by Valentine Cawley

(If you would like to support my continued writing of this blog and my ongoing campaign to raise awareness about giftedness and all issues pertaining to it, please donate, by clicking on the gold button to the left of the page.

To read about my fundraising campaign, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2011/01/fundraising-drive-in-support-of-my.html and here: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2011/01/fundraising-drive-first-donation.html

If you would like to read any of our scientific research papers, there are links to some of them, here: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2011/02/research-papers-by-valentine-cawley-and.html

If you would like to see an online summary of my academic achievements to date, please go here: http://www.getcited.org/mbrz/11136175To learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, 10, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, 7 and Tiarnan, 5, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html

I also write of gifted education, child prodigy, child genius, adult genius, savant, megasavant, HELP University College, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, Malaysia, IQ, intelligence and creativity.

There is a review of my blog, on the respected The Kindle Report here:http://thekindlereport.blogspot.com/2010/09/boy-who-knew-too-much-child-prodigy.html

Please have a read, if you would like a critic's view of this blog. Thanks.

You can get my blog on your Kindle, for easy reading, wherever you are, by going to: http://www.amazon.com/Boy-Who-Knew-Too-Much/dp/B0042P5LEE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&s=digital-text&qid=1284603792&sr=8-1

Please let all your fellow Kindlers know about my blog availability - and if you know my blog well enough, please be so kind as to write a thoughtful review of what you like about it. Thanks.

My Internet Movie Database listing is at:http://imdb.com/name/nm3438598/

Ainan's IMDB listing is at http://imdb.com/name/nm3305973/

Syahidah's IMDB listing is at http://imdb.com/name/nm3463926/

Our editing, proofreading and copywriting company, Genghis Can, is athttp://www.genghiscan.com/This blog is copyright Valentine Cawley. Unauthorized duplication is prohibited. Use only with permission. Thank you.)