http://www.thecornernews.com/index.php/music_n_movies/ en cmerrill@thecornernews.com Copyright 2012 2012-02-07T17:43:46+00:00 http://www.thecornernews.com/index.php/music_n_movies/big-miracle-is-cheesy-but-entertaining/ http://www.thecornernews.com/index.php/music_n_movies/big-miracle-is-cheesy-but-entertaining/#When:16:43:46Z If a movie is cheesy and knows it’s cheesy — if it embraces the soft, gooey texture and pungent aroma of its own fromage — does that make it any more palatable as a meal? If a movie is cheesy and knows it’s cheesy — if it embraces the soft, gooey texture and pungent aroma of its own fromage — does that make it any more palatable as a meal? That is the question to ponder while watching “Big Miracle,” a rousing, feel-good, family-friendly animal adventure which has the added benefit of being based on a true story. It’s a weird hodgepodge, mixing the large cast and the melodrama of a 1970s disaster movie with the small-town quirkiness of “Northern Exposure,” with just a touch of the big-haired ambition of “Broadcast News.” At its center are three gray whales — a mother, father and baby — who found themselves trapped within the quickly forming Arctic ice near Barrow, Alaska, the northernmost point in the United States, in 1988. The effort to free them in the open water brought together a disparate alliance of environmental activists, oil executives, journalists, native people and even the Soviets toward the end of the Cold War, and it fascinated viewers worldwide. Director Ken Kwapis (“He’s Just Not That Into You,” “The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants”) includes archival footage of the “Big Three” anchors in their heyday — Dan Rather, Tom Brokaw and Peter Jennings — reporting the story from the climate-controlled comfort of their New York studios. Meanwhile, John Krasinski plays Adam, the boyishly enthusiastic local TV reporter who breaks the story. He’s been toiling away at the top of the world but would love to get down to “the lower 48,” and hopes this is his ticket out of town. He gets some help from an adorable little native boy (Ahmaogak Sweeney) who looks up to him as a big brother as well as from his idealistic ex-girlfriend, Greenpeace leader Rachel (Drew Barrymore). But soon everyone’s invading this small, remote town for a piece of the action, which sets up all the fish-out-of-water scenarios you’d expect. The visitors are ill-equipped for the extreme weather, including Kristen Bell as a self-serious Los Angeles TV reporter who’s hoping these trapped whales will carry her to a network. Then there’s Ted Danson as an oil executive who wants to drill in the region but directs his considerable financial resources toward the effort in hopes of looking more Earth-friendly. And then there are Rob Riggle and James LeGros as a couple of bumbling buddies from Minneapolis who arrive with their homemade ice-melting contraption; LeGros in particular is doing his best William H. Macy from “Fargo.” Every five minutes some other star shows up in a supporting role. Here’s John Michael Higgins as a pompous news anchor; there’s Dermot Mulroney as a no-nonsense National Guard colonel. And look: It’s Stephen Root playing the governor of Alaska. What makes these two-dimensional types tolerable is that the actors recognize that they’re playing two-dimensional types, and they have a little fun with that — not to the point of all-out parody, but enough to let us know that they’re in on the joke. Meanwhile, the locals are consistently bemused by the cluelessness of their visitors. They also gouge them for hotel rooms and lunches at the lone restaurant in town. Joking aside, though, Kwapis creates genuine suspense as the scores of volunteers struggle against time and the elements to free these creatures. Some moments feel hokey and wedged in, like the images of families around the world gathered in front of their televisions, watching with worry. A couple of blossoming romances feel like afterthoughts (although one of them really happened). Like a whale itself, “Big Miracle” is large and unwieldy — but it also has its moments of splendor. movies, reviews 2012-02-07T16:43:46+00:00 http://www.thecornernews.com/index.php/music_n_movies/blues-artists-releases-new-album/ http://www.thecornernews.com/index.php/music_n_movies/blues-artists-releases-new-album/#When:15:24:58Z Ruthie Foster's amazing voice has taken her on quite a ride. Ruthie Foster's amazing voice has taken her on quite a ride. Rising from humble church beginnings in rural Texas, followed by a tour of duty in the U.S. Navy Band, she ended up in New York City where a promised record deal went sour. After taking a couple of years to care for her ailing mother in Texas, she became the darling of the Austin music scene, where she became a regular nominee at the Austin Music Awards, carrying away several awards over a period of years. Her 2009 album, “The Truth According to Ruthie Foster” earned her a Grammy nomination, and she's won both "Best Traditional" and "Best Contemporary Female Artist" in successive years at the Blues Music Association Awards. Next week her latest album “Let It Burn” will appear in stores, and it's most definitely one you will want to pick up. Chock full of her signature style of blues, soul, rock, folk and gospel, the album boasts guest appearances by the Blind Boys of Alabama and soul legend William Bell, and, in addition to two new songs penned by Foster, her inimitable versions of songs by Adele, Black Keys, Los Lobos, Johnny Cash, Pete Seeger, The Band, Crosby Stills Nash & Young and more. Add to this the fact that she's got one helluva band: the rhythm section from The Meters, bassist George Porter Jr. and drummer Russell Batiste, the incomparable Ike Stubblefield (Curtis Mayfield, Marvin Gaye, Eric Clapton) on Hammond B3 organ and piano, as well as guitarist Dave Easley and reknowned saxophonist James Rivers, and you've got one fine album of rockin', bluesy, folky soul music. Foster's vocal performance is stellar and beautifully nuanced, and the novel arrangements of recognizable gems like “Ring of Fire,” “Long Time Gone,” “It Makes No Difference,” and “If I Had a Hammer” make them all uniquely her own. “Let It Burn” is a great album, worthy of another Grammy nomination at the very least. Hear Wildman Steve’s Internet radio station, Internet radio for music lovers 24/7, at wildmansteve.com. music, thumbnail, Wildman's Picks 2012-02-03T15:24:58+00:00 http://www.thecornernews.com/index.php/music_n_movies/the-grey-stays-lost-in-the-woods/ http://www.thecornernews.com/index.php/music_n_movies/the-grey-stays-lost-in-the-woods/#When:16:53:10Z Liam Neeson, that burly Irishman of such rock-'em, sock `em films as "Kinsey" and "Schindler's List," is back in his new genre of choice, looking quite at home punching a wolf. How wonderfully unpredictable the movies can be. Who would have thought that, at nearly 60, Liam Neeson would be one of the top action stars around? It's the same, counterintuitive formula that made Michael Keaton a good Batman and the Rock a believable Tooth Fairy. But here he is again. After the thrillers "Taken" and "Unknown," Neeson, that burly Irishman of such rock-'em, sock `em films as "Kinsey" and "Schindler's List," is back in his new genre of choice, looking quite at home punching a wolf. In "The Grey," Neeson plays John Ottway, a grizzled veteran of remote oil refineries, where his specialty is shooting, by sniper rifle, wild animals that attack rig workers. What Neeson has is a resilient weariness with hard Irish eyes that come alive when challenged, and boyishly soften around women. But Ottway has tired of his rough life, an outcast — for undetermined reasons — from the woman he loves (Anne Openshaw), whom he recalls frequently in white visions of pillow-talk purity. The film, directed by Joe Carnahan ("The A-Team,""Narc"), opens with Ottway's lost musings: "I've stopped doing this world any good." Outside the mean-spirited revelry of his fellow roughneck workers, he prepares to kill himself, only to be called back to the world by the howl of a wolf — something not unlike Jack London's "call of the wild." En route to vacation in Anchorage, the workers — a rough crew of facial hair and flannel — pile into an airplane that hits a storm, crashes violently and leaves just seven alive in the middle of the snowy Alaskan tundra. Call it "Lost: The Winter Edition." Ottway, well versed in both survival and death, takes charge. Their predicament, deathly cold and with little hope of rescue, becomes considerably worse when a pack of wolves announce themselves by their eerie, glowing eyes on the dark fringes of their campfire. From there, "The Grey" is a survivalist thriller where the ever-dwindling band of survivors claw for safety, away from the relentless pursuit of the wolves. The group includes the sensitive Henrick (Dallas Roberts) and the conscientious, religious father Talget (a bearded, bespectacled and nearly unrecognizable Dermot Mulroney). But easily the most notable among them is Diaz (Frank Grillo, memorable in a small role in last year's "Warrior"), a former convict who initially opposes Ottway's leadership. Carnahan lays the alpha dog stuff on heavily, but there's real chemistry in the friction between Ottway and Diaz. In manly, fireside chats, they parse out existential ideas, talking God in a wintery void, faced with the uncompassionate brutality of nature. But "The Grey" is not "Jaws" and it's certainly not "Moby-Dick." In the script by Carnahan and Ian Mackenzie Jeffers, adapted from Jeffers' short story "Ghost Walker," the philosophical subtext is forced and obvious. At one point, God is shouted out at in the sky. Visceral action has generally been Carnahan's specialty, ranging from the brainless "Smokin' Aces" to the good, gritty genre film "Narc." That talent is here, too, particularly in his sure handling of the violent plane crash. The wolves, a combination of animatronics, trained animals and CGI, are also impressively real. With cinematographer Masanobu Takayanagi, Carnahan drains the color of the raw British Columbia landscapes, standing in ably for Alaskan wilderness. But when the filmmakers try to let the outside world into the film — in conversation and flashback memories — all they can manage are cliché images that sap the movie of depth, and keep it lost in the woods. "The Grey," which ambles toward an unconventional ending, deserves credit for looking for gravity in genre tropes. But, ultimately, the film feels less like a genuine existential thriller than a movie aping the conventions of one. movies, reviews 2012-01-31T16:53:10+00:00 http://www.thecornernews.com/index.php/music_n_movies/70s-rocker-keeps-rockin/ http://www.thecornernews.com/index.php/music_n_movies/70s-rocker-keeps-rockin/#When:16:26:58Z Todd Rundgren is one of rock ‘n’ roll's truly enigmatic characters.Todd Rundgren is one of rock ‘n’ roll's truly enigmatic characters. Having scored pop hits in the ‘70s with “I Saw the Light” and “Hello, It's Me,” he promptly made a left turn into progressive rock with his band Utopia. After building a large following with albums such as “Utopia,” “Ra” and “Healing,” he promptly moved back into pop music. After scoring another hit with “Bang the Drum All Day” in the '80s, he swiftly moved to experimental electronic music. In the years since, Rundgren has continued to be a maverick, exploring the fields of computer software, music video and Internet music delivery. Through all this, he has maintained a ferociously loyal cult following. That fan base was rewarded with his latest effort, “Todd Rundgren's Johnson,” a tribute to blues pioneer Robert Johnson, celebrating what would have been his 100th birthday. Recorded solo with bassist Kasim Sulton assisting, Rundgren does his best to turn each one of 12 Johnson songs on their side without completely deconstructing them. The classic “Dust My Broom” opens the album with heavy guitars, pounding drums and a feel more like Black Sabbath than B.B. King. This heavy approach continues throughout the album, with scorching versions of Johnson standards like “Stop Breakin' Down,” “Walkin' Blues,” “Come Home In My Kitchen,” “Traveling Riverside Blues” and the uber-classic “Crossroad Blues.” Most significant is his take on the normally up-tempo “Sweet Home Chicago,” which he manages to effectively convert to a near funeral-like dirge. In exposing his “Johnson,” Todd Rundgren once again shows that he is “A Wizard, A True Star.” Hear Wildman Steve’s Internet radio station, Internet radio for music lovers 24/7, at wildmansteve.com. music, thumbnail, Wildman's Picks 2012-01-24T16:26:58+00:00 http://www.thecornernews.com/index.php/music_n_movies/carano-kicks-butt-in-haywire-film-debut/ http://www.thecornernews.com/index.php/music_n_movies/carano-kicks-butt-in-haywire-film-debut/#When:16:23:38Z A straight-up action picture may sound unusual coming from Steven Soderbergh, but as he's repeatedly demonstrated throughout his career, he's keen to experiment with every genre imaginable.A straight-up action picture may sound unusual coming from Steven Soderbergh, but as he's repeatedly demonstrated throughout his career, he's keen to experiment with every genre imaginable. And if you look closely at his latest, "Haywire," you'll find it reveals glimmers of some of his greatest hits. It's a revenge thriller like "The Limey" (and comes from the same screenwriter, Lem Dobbs). It features a color-coded palette scheme to correspond with each new location in this globe-trotting tale, like "Traffic." It has a '70s-style aesthetic sensibility reminiscent of "The Informant!" It boasts an all-star cast like Soderbergh's "Ocean's" movies, "Full Frontal" and, most recently, "Contagion." But at its center is an actress who'd never appeared in a major feature film before, like "The Girlfriend Experience" and "Bubble." So since we're in the midst of making comparisons, we'll just say that "Haywire" feels like minor Soderbergh: zippy, hugely entertaining and well-crafted as always (since he once again serves as his own cinematographer and editor), but not one of his more important films in the broad scheme of things. It does, however, mark the auspicious film debut of MMA superstar Gina Carano as special-ops bad-ass Mallory Kane. Carano had never acted before, and not only did she do all her own stunts, she had to do them in a way that she wouldn't injure her male co-stars, including Ewan McGregor, Michael Fassbender and Channing Tatum. Her dialogue delivery may seem a bit stiff — and she has acknowledged that Soderbergh made some tweaks to her voice in post-production — but she has tremendous presence: an intriguing mix of muscular power and eye-catching femininity. Mallory works for a private contractor that performs secret missions for the U.S. government. Her latest required her and her team to rescue a Chinese journalist who'd been kidnapped and was being held captive in Barcelona. The mission itself (pretty much) went down as planned, but afterward she finds she's been set up. Now, her task is to figure out who's double-crossed her and why. All of this takes place out of chronological order as it hops around between upstate New York, Barcelona, Washington, Dublin, the scrub-brushed buttes of New Mexico and a Mexican beach at sunset. (That last location is one of the most beautiful, with the warm, jagged rocks serving as a striking backdrop for one of the film's most intense fights.) Mallory tells her story to the poor schmo whose car she has to borrow (played by Michael Angarano) for escape; it's intentionally disorienting, but that's part of the fun. Among the excellent cast, McGregor plays Mallory's obviously slimy boss, with whom she shares some sort of nebulous romantic history. Tatum is her partner on the Barcelona job, who may or may not be trustworthy. Fassbender is the British agent with whom she's asked to team up on a follow-up mission; their scenes smolder with an old-school James Bond sense of glamour and intrigue, as well as danger. Michael Douglas plays Mallory's government contact and the one person she seems to be able to trust aside from her father (Bill Paxton) who, like her, is a former Marine. And Antonio Banderas is her Spanish connection, a role he plays in almost as cartoonish a fashion as his "Puss in Boots" character. Regardless of the setting, the opponent or their motives, Soderbergh is smart enough to emphasize Carano's strengths. He lets the elaborate fight scenes play out — lets us see every kick, punch and body slam — without a lot of needless edits and even without any music. The battles provide their own rhythm, and afterward you may feel as if you've been worked over as well. But in a good way. movies, reviews 2012-01-24T16:23:38+00:00 http://www.thecornernews.com/index.php/music_n_movies/wahlberg-does-one-last-job-in-contraband/ http://www.thecornernews.com/index.php/music_n_movies/wahlberg-does-one-last-job-in-contraband/#When:18:21:00Z Mark Wahlberg is nestled deep within his comfort zone as a former master criminal who's lived a dangerous life and gone straight. Yes, "Contraband" follows the tried-and-true One Last Job formula. Yes, Mark Wahlberg is nestled deep within his comfort zone as a former master criminal who's lived a dangerous life and gone straight. Still, this is a solid genre picture that knows exactly what it is, has no delusions of grandeur and carries out its task in entertaining and occasionally even suspenseful fashion. That probably sounds like an elaborate way of saying, "Hooray for mediocrity!" But it's January, and we'll take our thrills where we can get them. Based on the 2008 Icelandic film "Reykjavik-Rotterdam" and directed by that film's star, Baltasar Kormakur, "Contraband" features Wahlberg as Chris Farraday, a one-time expert smuggler who's now living a quiet life as a security consultant in the New Orleans suburbs with his hairstylist wife, Kate (Kate Beckinsale), and their two young sons. When Kate's younger brother (Caleb Landry Jones) botches a job for volatile local drug dealer Tim Briggs (Giovanni Ribisi, tatted, high-pitched and squirrelly) while pulling into the Port of New Orleans, Chris must come out of retirement to make up the loss to this madman. His plan involves shipping down to Panama City to bring back millions in counterfeit bills; not only does this not go according to plan, it spins wildly out of control. Among the strong supporting cast, J.K. Simmons is the ship's uptight captain; Lukas Haas plays Chris' right-hand man. Meanwhile, back in the bayou, Kate and the kids become targets of the drug dealer's increasing threats, even though they're supposed to be under the protection of Chris' best friend and former partner in crime, Sebastian (Ben Foster). Beckinsale is stuck in a bit of a thankless role as the victimized wife, but she does try to infuse a harder edge to the character. Besides, another "Underworld" movie is coming out next week, so you'll see her in full butt-kicking mode soon enough. Ribisi, by contrast, massively overdoes the crazy but at least it's a hoot to watch. Kormakur relies too heavily on shaky-cam tricks and quick, needless zooms to pump up the tension, but some of his set pieces do play out in visceral fashion. An armored-car heist that Chris and his cohorts get roped into helping with at the last minute is one example; this sequence also has the daring to suggest that Wahlberg's character hasn't completely transformed himself into a nice — or even decent — guy after all. The "Contraband" script, written by Aaron Guzikowski, seems more interested in exploring the complexities of its characters' interior lives than a lot of action movies, which is commendable. There's also an amusing subplot involving a stolen Jackson Pollock painting that's smartly played for some subtle laughs, one that just goes to show that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. movies, reviews 2012-01-18T18:21:00+00:00 http://www.thecornernews.com/index.php/music_n_movies/new-jersey-band-showcases-wide-variety-of-styles/ http://www.thecornernews.com/index.php/music_n_movies/new-jersey-band-showcases-wide-variety-of-styles/#When:15:20:44Z BuzzUniverse's latest effort, “Living Breathing Magic,” underscores this band's determination to cast off labels and make the music they want to make.New Jersey's BuzzUniverse is a prog-rock band. No, they're a jam band. No, they're a world music band. Well, they're a funk band and a Latin band too. They are all these things and more. BuzzUniverse came together when lead guitarist/frontman/songwriter Alex Garay and drummer Dave Migliore envisioned a power trio with horns. Enlisting the considerable talents of bassist Greg McLoughlin to round out the trio, the band found its voice with sax monster Brian Ciufo, violinist Meredith Rachel and vocalist Rose Lazroe. The band’s 2006 album “birdfishtree” was met with critical acclaim and the band won Relix Magazine's National Jamoff, garnering a nomination for “Best New Groove” at the 2008 Jammy Awards. The band’s latest effort, “Living Breathing Magic,” underscores this band's determination to cast off labels and make the music it wants to make, regardless of genre. Columbian-born Garay displays his roots in “Caballo Viejo” and tips his hat to Buena Vista Social Club in the band's superb arrangement of “El Carretero.” The band's prog roots are exhibited in “Catbootz” and “Jive,” while “Round and Round” and “(In the) Nighttime” reveal why the band won the Jamoff, and the band just rocks to its hearts content on “Another Way” and “You and Me” while “Evangeline” explores Americana via a cajun/country feel. BuzzUniverse accomplishes great things on “Living Breathing Magic,” embracing a wide array of styles and melding it into something unique and highly satisfying. Hear Wildman Steve’s Internet radio station, Internet radio for music lovers 24/7, at wildmansteve.com. music, thumbnail, Wildman's Picks 2012-01-11T15:20:44+00:00 http://www.thecornernews.com/index.php/music_n_movies/we-bought-a-zoo-not-as-hairy-as-it-looks/ http://www.thecornernews.com/index.php/music_n_movies/we-bought-a-zoo-not-as-hairy-as-it-looks/#When:20:33:53Z The whole exercise could have been agonizingly mawkish, and/or filled with cheap, lazy animal-poop jokes. And yet, it's not.Sometimes, reacting to a movie is all about the expectations you bring with you walking into it. "We Bought a Zoo" is about a family that buys a zoo. It's as high-concept as you can get, outside of maybe "Attack of the Killer Tomatoes" or "I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry," and it's equally straightforward in wearing its heart on its sleeve. We know to expect this ahead of time because "We Bought a Zoo" comes from Cameron Crowe, the writer-director of "Say Anything ...," "Jerry Maguire," "Almost Famous" and, more recently, the 2005 flop "Elizabethtown." We know there will be some poignantly phrased life lessons in store for this family as they struggle to reconnect after the mother's death. The whole exercise could have been agonizingly mawkish, and/or filled with cheap, lazy animal-poop jokes. And yet, it's not. It's actually surprisingly charming and more emotionally understated than the material would suggest, and a lot of that has to do with Matt Damon's performance. He is an actor incapable of faking it, one who cannot mail it in, and so he brings great authenticity and gravitas to the role of Benjamin Mee, a widower and father of two. ("We Bought a Zoo," which Crowe co-wrote with Aline Brosh McKenna, is based on a true story with some tweaks.) Six months after his wife died of cancer, Benjamin is struggling to move on. He's having trouble dedicating himself to his career as a Los Angeles newspaper columnist and finds himself squabbling with his troublemaking teenage son, Dylan (Colin Ford); meanwhile, his younger daughter, Rosie (Maggie Elizabeth Jones), is an impossibly adorable angel. Benjamin thinks a change of scenery might help, so he quits his job and moves the family to a rustic, rambling house on 18 acres outside the city. Seems perfect -- except for the fact that the land includes an animal park that has fallen into disrepair. Since Benjamin is a writer and not a zoologist, he has no idea what he's doing. He gets some help from the park's ragtag, hippie crew, led by Scarlett Johansson as the hottest zookeeper on the planet. Moving to a zoo -- spoiler alert! -- eventually helps everyone reconcile. No big shocker there. And no, this does not occur through the mystical power of the animals radiating positive vibes to the universe. The lions and tigers and bears are mercifully free of cloying anthropomorphism. Basically, father and son are just stuck in the middle of nowhere and the necessity for teamwork thrusts them back together. Dylan also makes friends with the only other kid his age on the grounds, the ebullient Lily, played by Elle Fanning. Yes, "We Bought a Zoo" is sentimental and overlong, and full of obligatory fish-out-of-water physical humor. But everyone is so good in it -- especially Damon, who brings real emotional truth to his character's grieving process -- that it's hard not to be won over. Johansson has a no-nonsense likability about her performance, and the suggested romance between her character and Damon's, while easy to predict, isn't milked for easy heart-tugging. It's a beautiful film, too: Everything is bathed in this sort of magical sunlight, the work of cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto ("Brokeback Mountain," "Lust, Caution"), which enhances the sensation that anything is possible. This is the first feature from Crowe since the heavy-handed, overly quirky "Elizabethtown," and while it's not a complete return to form, it's close enough. movies, reviews 2012-01-10T20:33:53+00:00 http://www.thecornernews.com/index.php/music_n_movies/americana-frontman-blazes-new-trails/ http://www.thecornernews.com/index.php/music_n_movies/americana-frontman-blazes-new-trails/#When:19:18:16Z With his band, Great American Taxi, Vince Herman continues to blaze new trails in the world of Americana musicVince Herman is no stranger to Americana. As frontman/guitarist/washboard player for Leftover Salmon, he boldly went where no band had gone before and explored new worlds of Americana. With his band, Great American Taxi, he continues to blaze new trails in the world of Americana music, and the band’s new album, “Paradise Lost,” is a great example. After performing numerous shows backing critically-acclaimed songwriter Todd Snider and appearing on his latest live album, “The Storyteller,” GAT tapped him to produce its new album, with superb results. Musically, “Paradise Lost” captures all the excitement of Taxi's upbeat country, bluegrass, rockin’, no-holds-barred Americana style. Songs like “Poor House,” “Gonna Make a Record,” “Radiation Blues” and “Swamp Song” are guaranteed to make you put on your boogie shoes and dance, but the real brilliance of the album is in its message. With a nod to folk icon Woody Guthrie, Great American Taxi tackles social and political issues deftly and with great clarity. Important issues like mountaintop removal, poverty and a poor economy, nuclear energy and soldiers returning from war are just a few of the issues taken on by the band with great eloquence and passion. Add to this guest appearances by pedal-steel master Barry Sless, multi-instrumentalist Tim O'Brien, Elizabeth Cook and Todd Snider, plus a cover of Atlanta icon Ralph Roddenbery's “Maud Only Knows,” you've got one great album. The performances are stellar, the ardor is palpable, the fun is through the roof. I'll take this Taxi anytime. Hear Wildman Steve’s Internet radio station, Internet radio for music lovers 24/7, at wildmansteve.com. music, thumbnail, Wildman's Picks 2012-01-04T19:18:16+00:00 http://www.thecornernews.com/index.php/music_n_movies/war-horse-an-uplifting-family-film/ http://www.thecornernews.com/index.php/music_n_movies/war-horse-an-uplifting-family-film/#When:19:04:00Z Clearly, Spielberg intended “War Horse’’ as a throwback, an homage to good, old-fashioned, heartrending storytelling, full of recognizable types and uplifting themes. "War Horse" is s a story that began life as a children’s book by Michael Morpurgo, then made its way to the London and New York stages to great acclaim featuring inventive puppetry, and now arrives in theaters with all the grandeur a master filmmaker can conjure. “War Horse’’ features a strong cast and the sort of impeccable production values you would expect from Spielberg – that trademark, mystical lighting, the product of his longtime collaboration with Oscar-winning cinematographer Janusz Kaminski. And yet it’s overlong, painfully earnest and sometimes even hokey. Clearly, Spielberg intended “War Horse’’ as a throwback, an homage to good, old-fashioned, heartrending storytelling, full of recognizable types and uplifting themes. The skies are so impossibly colorful in such a retro way, they look like hand-painted backdrops on a soundstage. And the dialogue is so frequently on-the-nose and repetitive, it might just make you cringe. Yes, the horse is remarkable – of course he is – that’s why they made a movie about him. That should have been obvious to us through the action alone, yet the script (from Lee Hall and Richard Curtis) feels the need to tell us again and again that he is a “remarkable’’ horse. The majestic Joey comes into the lives of a struggling British farming family just before World War I. The alcoholic father (Peter Mullan) buys him at auction, even though he knows he can’t afford him; the long-suffering mother (Emily Watson) insists he return him and get the family’s money back. But plucky teenager Albert (good-looking newcomer Jeremy Irvine) begs to keep him and promises to train him. Cue the montage. Although Joey is clearly a spectacular creature, the father ends up selling him to the British cavalry because the family needs the money. Albert is devastated and swears they’ll meet again; the conscientious captain (Tom Hiddleston), who immediately recognizes Joey’s greatness and chooses him as his own mount, promises to take good care of him until then. Joey, meanwhile, thrives once more in this new setting on the front lines. And these moments are some of the film’s best – the ones where the Spielberg of “Saving Private Ryan’’ comes shining through. An overhead shot of row after row of soldiers saddling up as one while hidden in a wheat field is especially stirring, as is their subsequent ambush on a German encampment. The battle scenes are reliably visceral and well-staged, albeit in a sanitized way. Even a race between Joey and the impressive horse belonging to the cocky major (Benedict Cumberbatch) provides a quick, thunderous thrill. There’s a reason so many movies get made about horses: They’re beautiful, powerful creatures, and the pounding of hooves gets your heart pounding, as well. But speaking of Joey and his new rival, their relationship represents one of the more cloying aspects of “War Horse’’: the incessant anthropomorphism of these animals. Would they really achieve a hard-won respect for each other and end up protecting one another in the thick of battle? Maybe. Maybe not. But the human assumption that they would just for the sake of furthering the narrative is sort of obnoxious. Eventually, Joey changes hands again and ends up living on a farm with an adorable but sickly French girl (Cecile Buckens) and her doting grandfather (Niels Arestrup). But then he’s captured once more – this time by the Germans – and forced to fight again. This sets up the film’s best scene by far, in which a British soldier and a German soldier find Joey entangled in some barbed wire in no man’s land and work together to free him. It’s a tense, quiet exchange that ultimately reveals some much-needed humanity, and it could have ended on just the right note – but then “War Horse’’ goes and ruins it by adding one line too many, just to remind us of how “remarkable’’ Joey is. movies, reviews 2012-01-04T19:04:00+00:00