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War Horse ($45.99 BluRay combo; Touchstone/DreamWorks)
The Iron Lady ($39.99 BluRay combo; Weinstein)We Bought a Zoo ($39.99 BluRay combo; Fox) -- It's been a decade since Catch Me If You Can,
director Steven Spielberg's last truly satisfying film. But Tintin and now War Horse are misfires on the
level of career low points like Hook and Always , films so out of touch you can hardly believe they came
from someone who at the very least always had a populist touch. These two were both appropriatelyrejected not just by critics but by audiences as well.
War Horse is based on the novel by Michael Morpurgo, a solid young adult novel with classic status in
the UK. It was turned into a brilliant bit of theater (really, you should see it if at all possible). But
Spielberg's film fails on every level. I'll focus on just one: the cinematography by the great JanuszKaminski is laughably over the top, dolloping every scene in such a hazy, "pretty" manner that it becomes
self-satirizing...until the would-be tear-jerker of a finale raises the ante even higher and bathes a simple
scene of quiet homecoming in such lurid color, it's like reading a preteen's diary where every emotion andsentiment is underlined and followed by a string of exclamation points. Shameless, terrible work.
Meryl Streep on the other hand does sterling work as always in depicting British Prime Minister
Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady . It's a pity the movie isn't remotely worthy of her performance.
Some object to the film humanizing the divisive Thatcher. I wish the movie had embraced Maggie morestrongly: show her as the political steamroller she was. Or demonize her! But do something other than
generally ignore what made Thatcher as interesting and compelling as any Shakespearean king. Instead,people who don't know their history would look at this story of a nice little old lady and wonder whypeople on the street are screaming at her and bombing the places where she stays. Toothless.
Finally, Cameron Crowe is utterly lost. At least Elizaebthtown flopped with originality and a sense of
purpose. We Bought A Zoo is just an anonymous, family friendly film that might have been (mis)directed
by anyone. Someone help this man.
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David Lean Directs Noel Coward ($79.95; Criterion) -- Another impeccable boxed set from
Criterion, this one celebrating the collaboration between a young David Lean and writer/actor Noel
Coward. Before Lean turned into a specialist in smart epics like Lawrence Of Arabia, he was a tight,
economical director. His first truly exceptional movie was Great Expectations, but you can see him
building to that masterpiece in these four earlier films.
Blithe Spirit is based on a stage smash about a husband haunted by the ghost of his first wife while trying
to get along with his second. As a play, it must have seemed awfully clever. But Coward's essential
disinterest in humanity shines through in this silly froth: any writer worth his salt would have grounded
the comedy in some sort of purpose, such as having the ghost helping the husband set aside his first love
and commit wholly to the new wife or dumping a harridan that was no good for him or... well...something! This comedy just bounces about to no purpose and without nearly enough humor to let it
coast on charm.
This Happy Breed is a lower class spin on Coward's Oscar-winning Cavalcade . Both tell the recent
history of Great Britain through the eyes of a family. This Happy Breed is solid agit prop to gin up
soldiers by reminding everyone of exactly what England was fighting for (hearth and home and all that
mush). It's no Mrs. Miniver but interesting nonetheless. Brief Encounter is the best of the bunch, a
terribly stiff upper lip drama in which the romance is painfully, beautifully unsatisfied in the most Britishof manners. After seeing numerous Coward plays, hearing many of his songs and watching these movies,I must admit he leaves me cold. Gilbert & Sullivan are sillier, Oscar Wilde and Shaw more pointed, whileCoward is just archness and "sophistication." But Coward certainly couldn't ask for a better presentationof his work. Criterion includes bountiful extras, from a UK TV show about Coward's career to a 1971documentary about Lean and even a rare audio chat from 1969 between Richard Attenborough andCoward. Clearly, Coward was at his best in small talk.
Roger Corman's Cult Classics: The Nurses Collection ($19.93; Shout) -- In this feminine critique
of gender roles and the medical society's historic tendency to marginalize, ignore or dismiss aspsychological the physical ailments of women, the white uniforms of the nurses represent not purity andinnocence but its opposite, the blank slate of desire on which..... Okay, just kidding. This is more RogerCorman B movie silliness. If titles like Candy Stripe Nurses , Night Call Nurses , Private Duty Nurses,
and The Young Nurses sound like they're up your alley, by all means dive in. Be prepared for less nudity
and naughtiness than you're hoping for but hey -- in the early 1970s there was no Skinemax, so what elsedid you have to watch?HOT ON FACEBOOK 1 of 3
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The Conquest ($29.95; Music Box)
Sleeping Beauty ($24.98; MPI)
Miss Bala ($29.99; Fox) -- The Conquest is a fun, smart political drama about Nicolas Sarkozy's unlikely
rise to power. I boned up on French politics to prepare myself for this movie but the performances aresharp enough and the lust for power universal enough to translate into any language. Sleeping Beauty is
a rather silly tale of a young woman's almost passive descent into the sort of kinky netherworld that onlyexists in movies. However, the lead Emily Browning is totally committed to her part and director Julia
Leigh is so completely in control of the story on a technical level that you just know they both have real
talent and are ones to watch. Miss Bala never quite lives up to its catchy premise -- beauty queen
wannabe gets caught up in drug wars -- but is a serviceable thriller nonetheless. I expect a U.S. remakewith a comic spin.
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Treme Season Two ($79.98 Bl;uRay; HBO) -- I'm still rooting for Treme , the drama about life in post-
Katrina New Orleans. I haven't finished with season two yet and I'm still waiting for it all to click into
place the way The Wire did about half way through its first season. For the moment, it remains in
shambles with an excellent cast as the saving grace of a frustrating, meandering storyline. The bountifulextras look promising, with a focus on the music, the art, the food, the Mardi Gras Indians and most
unusual of all a commentary track devoted to the musical performances. You can't fault them for their
passion.
_______________________________________
Most titles listed here will be available in multiple formats and in multiple combinations, including DVD,
Blu ray, digital download, video on demand, streaming and the like. The format listed is the format
provided for review, not all the formats available. It is often the most expensive version with the most
extras. Do check individual titles for availability in all their various guises and price points.
Thanks for reading. Michael Giltz is the cohost of Showbiz Sandbox , a weekly pop culture podcast that
reveals the industry take on entertainment news of the day and features top journalists and opinion
makers as guests. It's available for free on iTunes. Visit Michael Giltz at his website and his daily blog .
Download his podcast of celebrity interviews and his radio show, also called Popsurfing and alsoavailable for free on iTunes. Link to him on Netflix and gain access to thousands of ratings and reviews.
Note : Michael Giltz is provided with free copies of DVDs and BluRays with the understanding that he
would be considering them for review. Generally, he does not guarantee to review and he receives farmore titles than he can cover.
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02:37 PM on 04/19/2012
His bio says the critic is an "expert on pop culture," yet he didn't know that War Horse was very
warmly received by critics.I'm still suspicious of the quality of most writing for The Post. That has nothing to do with politics,but quality. I generally stick to the aggregated pieces in the middle of the pages..
09:30 PM on 04/20/2012
My teenage granddaughter thought it was very good. She told me to be prepared though. I
adore horses and use to own them....she feels that I will get too emotional at the gore and
violence. Since I've read the book, I know what to expect. It's just sitting on my
desk.....waiting for me. I would have loved to see the stage play.
It's funny, my grandfather served in WWI and never mentioned horses. He was an
ambulance driver and auto mechanic during his time 'over there'. Oh, the stories he would
tell............
01:58 PM on 04/19/2012
War Horse review by the New York Times is a bit more professional.
It's a top critics pick amongst all PAID movie critics.
http://movies.nytimes.com/2011/12/23/movies/war-horse-directed-by-steven-spielberg-review.html?
pagewanted=all
09:03 AM on 04/19/2012
I thought War Horse was worth the watch.
03:40 AM on 04/19/2012
This is a good analysis, if not in argument at least in intent. Articles that ask "Is it worth the money?" are extremely useful. In my personal opinion, it takes quite a bit to warrant buying a film. It seemsfrivolous to own lots of movies that just sit on the shelf collecting dust. Putting up the prices of these
films is a nice touch.
As for Spielberg, he seems to be a bit past his prime when it comes to making films. War Horse
does not look like a terrible film, but it fits into the standard niche of the inspirational film. With howtired the genre is, expectations for these types of films are exceptionally low. People have seenwhat happens when Spielberg makes a truly inspirational film. War Horse looks very saccharine;Spielberg needs to step it up if he wants silver screen glory again.
http://www.videodetective.com/movies/schindlers-list/5037
07:34 PM on 04/18/2012
I will admit I have not seen "War Horse."
But I do have a strong opinion of the directorial career of Mr Spielberg.As Mr Giltz points out, Stephen Speilberg's career as a major director has had his ups and downs.sureofit
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Although he is easily one of the top 3 or 4 best American directors of the last 40 years, he spent
most of the 1980's - while American film as a whole was enjoying one if it's finest decades - tryingto get in the "zone," as they say. After ET (1982) Stephen struggled to find his "vision" and he didnot turn it around again until Jurassic Park (1993). So there is plenty of precedent for a misstep now
with "War Horse."
I do disagree with Mr Giltz dismissal of Mr Speilberg's films of the last decade and feel this may
have even hurt his argument against War Horse (which i might like when i see it).
In the last ten year's (since catch me if you can) I feel that both "War of the Worlds" and "Munich"are both excellent films - right on par with Mr Speilberg's finest. I feel that both were dismissed bycritics for more politcal reasons than artistic ones which lead to both of them being somewhat
ignored by the public.
01:20 PM on 04/19/2012
Thanks for commenting. I'm not sure what any political objections would be to War Of The
Worlds. it had some great tense moments but like the novel and previous film versions, itjust peters out at the end in a rather deflating manner. As for Munich, it's the mostnoteworthy of his films from the past decade but still didn't make my best of the year list,
unlike so many other Spielberg films of the past. That's my standard for him; I expect a
great film and when it's merely good or okay, I consider it a disappointment.
01:58 PM on 04/19/2012
War Horse was fantastic and universally lauded...by the academy.
Six nominations including one for Best Picture speaks volumes ;)
02:12 PM on 04/19/2012
Why tell me? I didn't give it a bad review, Mr Giltz did. I said I haven't seen it yet
and I'm reserving judgement. However I do recall a review of the film on Salonwhere they panned it pretty badly so acclaim was not "universal." But is it ever in
the art world?
03:13 PM on 04/19/2012
War Horse was reviewed favourably by 77% of "Top Critics" aggregated on Rotten
Tomatoes. Nowhere does that amount to being "universally lauded".
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06:32 PM on 04/18/2012
Regarding War Horse, the finale scene of orange/red colors was in fact real and was filmed by
Speilberg in a spontaneous reaction to an actual epic sunset. Some parts of the film were cliche andsimple, but it was geared more as a family film than the live theater versions.Permalink | Share it
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01:24 PM on 04/19/2012
Hi Alex, anyone who quotes Dylan is good in my book. I didn't suggest that the sunset was
digitally altered. But the filters used by Kaminski, the way it was captured, the choice ofhow actors were silhouetted and so on all contributed to what I considered the over-the-topcolors of the final scene. Saying "it really happened" is not the same as how they chose to
present and frame and shoot that genuine sunset. As for film versus theater, both are very
appropriate for families though either one features animals in danger and animals dying as
well as war scenes so young children esp sensitive to animals in pain should be taken into
consideration. But I wouldn't hesitate to take a ten year old to either the film or the play.
03:59 PM on 04/18/2012
War Horse "Shameless, terrible work."
Please!
It's a fine family film and while it comes up far short against The Black Stallion it is an excellent
companion to that film.
If you have a family and are looking for a film that you can all watch together, 8 and up for the kidsdue to the non-bloody war scenes, then War Horse is worth bringing home. Glitz' criticism is outrageously over the top.He's a bit more on point regarding Iron Lady. Streep is great.
The script is not.
We Bought A Zoo IS a disappointment from Cameron Crowe but again it's a perfectly acceptablefamily rental.Treme like The Wire before it is outstanding TV.Watching on DVD is the best way to see it.But it's HBO and not for the kids.
01:29 PM on 04/19/2012
HI NHBIll, thanks for commenting. My standard of criticism is not "can this film be watchedwith your children without fear of adult content?" It's simply, is this a good film or not?Many films qualify as family fare, even painless family fare, but still aren't good films. The
Lorax is a fine family film if you want something safe, and as a parent I might get
dragooned into watching it, just as my nieces and nephews suddenly had me seeing Alvinand the Chipmunks. Terrible, terrible movie (and far worse than the bland War Horse) butwas it ok family fare? Yes, in the sense of is it appropriate. Yes in the sense will adultssometime allow subpar fare be put on thier DVD players to keep the kids amused. No, inthe sense of is it an enduring work of art, which the best family films can be. I'll take The
Black Stallion a hundred times over rather than War Horse. I'll take Toy Story over The
Lorax. Same with We Bought A Zoo. we both seem to agree it's not good; why show yourkids a so-so movie? Why not rent a classic instead? I agree 100% that shows like Tremeare best watched all at once in a marathon over a week or two rather than stretched out. Itdoes improve the experience.
02:14 PM on 04/19/2012
I was motivated to comment by your hyperbolic criticism of "War Horse" as"Shameless, terrible work."("Human Centipede 2" or "Hostel 2" is "Shameless, terrible work.")
"War Horse" was nominated for 6 Academy Awards including Best Picture!
The biggest thing the film is guilty of is overt manipulation but as with all Spielbergfilms it is expertly crafted with fine performances from the cast.Many critics seem to take umbrage at John Williams' Oscar nominated score forWar Horse.I'm not one of them.War Horse is "B" level Spielberg which in my view makes for worthwhile family
home viewing that eases children into the mature theme of the futility of war.HUFFPOST BLOGGER
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War Horse ($45.99 BluRay combo; Touchstone/DreamWorks)
The Iron Lady ($39.99 BluRay combo; Weinstein)We Bought a Zoo ($39.99 BluRay combo; Fox) -- It's been a decade since Catch Me If You Can,
director Steven Spielberg's last truly satisfying film. But Tintin and now War Horse are misfires on the
level of career low points like Hook and Always , films so out of touch you can hardly believe they came
from someone who at the very least always had a populist touch. These two were both appropriatelyrejected not just by critics but by audiences as well.
War Horse is based on the novel by Michael Morpurgo, a solid young adult novel with classic status in
the UK. It was turned into a brilliant bit of theater (really, you should see it if at all possible). But
Spielberg's film fails on every level. I'll focus on just one: the cinematography by the great JanuszKaminski is laughably over the top, dolloping every scene in such a hazy, "pretty" manner that it becomes
self-satirizing...until the would-be tear-jerker of a finale raises the ante even higher and bathes a simple
scene of quiet homecoming in such lurid color, it's like reading a preteen's diary where every emotion andsentiment is underlined and followed by a string of exclamation points. Shameless, terrible work.
Meryl Streep on the other hand does sterling work as always in depicting British Prime Minister
Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady . It's a pity the movie isn't remotely worthy of her performance.
Some object to the film humanizing the divisive Thatcher. I wish the movie had embraced Maggie morestrongly: show her as the political steamroller she was. Or demonize her! But do something other than
generally ignore what made Thatcher as interesting and compelling as any Shakespearean king. Instead,people who don't know their history would look at this story of a nice little old lady and wonder whypeople on the street are screaming at her and bombing the places where she stays. Toothless.
Finally, Cameron Crowe is utterly lost. At least Elizaebthtown flopped with originality and a sense of
purpose. We Bought A Zoo is just an anonymous, family friendly film that might have been (mis)directed
by anyone. Someone help this man.
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David Lean Directs Noel Coward ($79.95; Criterion) -- Another impeccable boxed set from
Criterion, this one celebrating the collaboration between a young David Lean and writer/actor Noel
Coward. Before Lean turned into a specialist in smart epics like Lawrence Of Arabia, he was a tight,
economical director. His first truly exceptional movie was Great Expectations, but you can see him
building to that masterpiece in these four earlier films.
Blithe Spirit is based on a stage smash about a husband haunted by the ghost of his first wife while trying
to get along with his second. As a play, it must have seemed awfully clever. But Coward's essential
disinterest in humanity shines through in this silly froth: any writer worth his salt would have grounded
the comedy in some sort of purpose, such as having the ghost helping the husband set aside his first love
and commit wholly to the new wife or dumping a harridan that was no good for him or... well...something! This comedy just bounces about to no purpose and without nearly enough humor to let it
coast on charm.
This Happy Breed is a lower class spin on Coward's Oscar-winning Cavalcade . Both tell the recent
history of Great Britain through the eyes of a family. This Happy Breed is solid agit prop to gin up
soldiers by reminding everyone of exactly what England was fighting for (hearth and home and all that
mush). It's no Mrs. Miniver but interesting nonetheless. Brief Encounter is the best of the bunch, a
terribly stiff upper lip drama in which the romance is painfully, beautifully unsatisfied in the most Britishof manners. After seeing numerous Coward plays, hearing many of his songs and watching these movies,I must admit he leaves me cold. Gilbert & Sullivan are sillier, Oscar Wilde and Shaw more pointed, whileCoward is just archness and "sophistication." But Coward certainly couldn't ask for a better presentationof his work. Criterion includes bountiful extras, from a UK TV show about Coward's career to a 1971documentary about Lean and even a rare audio chat from 1969 between Richard Attenborough andCoward. Clearly, Coward was at his best in small talk.
Roger Corman's Cult Classics: The Nurses Collection ($19.93; Shout) -- In this feminine critique
of gender roles and the medical society's historic tendency to marginalize, ignore or dismiss aspsychological the physical ailments of women, the white uniforms of the nurses represent not purity andinnocence but its opposite, the blank slate of desire on which..... Okay, just kidding. This is more RogerCorman B movie silliness. If titles like Candy Stripe Nurses , Night Call Nurses , Private Duty Nurses,
and The Young Nurses sound like they're up your alley, by all means dive in. Be prepared for less nudity
and naughtiness than you're hoping for but hey -- in the early 1970s there was no Skinemax, so what elsedid you have to watch?HOT ON FACEBOOK 1 of 3
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The Conquest ($29.95; Music Box)
Sleeping Beauty ($24.98; MPI)
Miss Bala ($29.99; Fox) -- The Conquest is a fun, smart political drama about Nicolas Sarkozy's unlikely
rise to power. I boned up on French politics to prepare myself for this movie but the performances aresharp enough and the lust for power universal enough to translate into any language. Sleeping Beauty is
a rather silly tale of a young woman's almost passive descent into the sort of kinky netherworld that onlyexists in movies. However, the lead Emily Browning is totally committed to her part and director Julia
Leigh is so completely in control of the story on a technical level that you just know they both have real
talent and are ones to watch. Miss Bala never quite lives up to its catchy premise -- beauty queen
wannabe gets caught up in drug wars -- but is a serviceable thriller nonetheless. I expect a U.S. remakewith a comic spin.
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Treme Season Two ($79.98 Bl;uRay; HBO) -- I'm still rooting for Treme , the drama about life in post-
Katrina New Orleans. I haven't finished with season two yet and I'm still waiting for it all to click into
place the way The Wire did about half way through its first season. For the moment, it remains in
shambles with an excellent cast as the saving grace of a frustrating, meandering storyline. The bountifulextras look promising, with a focus on the music, the art, the food, the Mardi Gras Indians and most
unusual of all a commentary track devoted to the musical performances. You can't fault them for their
passion.
_______________________________________
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provided for review, not all the formats available. It is often the most expensive version with the most
extras. Do check individual titles for availability in all their various guises and price points.
Thanks for reading. Michael Giltz is the cohost of Showbiz Sandbox , a weekly pop culture podcast that
reveals the industry take on entertainment news of the day and features top journalists and opinion
makers as guests. It's available for free on iTunes. Visit Michael Giltz at his website and his daily blog .
Download his podcast of celebrity interviews and his radio show, also called Popsurfing and alsoavailable for free on iTunes. Link to him on Netflix and gain access to thousands of ratings and reviews.
Note : Michael Giltz is provided with free copies of DVDs and BluRays with the understanding that he
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02:37 PM on 04/19/2012
His bio says the critic is an "expert on pop culture," yet he didn't know that War Horse was very
warmly received by critics.I'm still suspicious of the quality of most writing for The Post. That has nothing to do with politics,but quality. I generally stick to the aggregated pieces in the middle of the pages..
09:30 PM on 04/20/2012
My teenage granddaughter thought it was very good. She told me to be prepared though. I
adore horses and use to own them....she feels that I will get too emotional at the gore and
violence. Since I've read the book, I know what to expect. It's just sitting on my
desk.....waiting for me. I would have loved to see the stage play.
It's funny, my grandfather served in WWI and never mentioned horses. He was an
ambulance driver and auto mechanic during his time 'over there'. Oh, the stories he would
tell............
01:58 PM on 04/19/2012
War Horse review by the New York Times is a bit more professional.
It's a top critics pick amongst all PAID movie critics.
http://movies.nytimes.com/2011/12/23/movies/war-horse-directed-by-steven-spielberg-review.html?
pagewanted=all
09:03 AM on 04/19/2012
I thought War Horse was worth the watch.
03:40 AM on 04/19/2012
This is a good analysis, if not in argument at least in intent. Articles that ask "Is it worth the money?" are extremely useful. In my personal opinion, it takes quite a bit to warrant buying a film. It seemsfrivolous to own lots of movies that just sit on the shelf collecting dust. Putting up the prices of these
films is a nice touch.
As for Spielberg, he seems to be a bit past his prime when it comes to making films. War Horse
does not look like a terrible film, but it fits into the standard niche of the inspirational film. With howtired the genre is, expectations for these types of films are exceptionally low. People have seenwhat happens when Spielberg makes a truly inspirational film. War Horse looks very saccharine;Spielberg needs to step it up if he wants silver screen glory again.
http://www.videodetective.com/movies/schindlers-list/5037
07:34 PM on 04/18/2012
I will admit I have not seen "War Horse."
But I do have a strong opinion of the directorial career of Mr Spielberg.As Mr Giltz points out, Stephen Speilberg's career as a major director has had his ups and downs.sureofit
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Although he is easily one of the top 3 or 4 best American directors of the last 40 years, he spent
most of the 1980's - while American film as a whole was enjoying one if it's finest decades - tryingto get in the "zone," as they say. After ET (1982) Stephen struggled to find his "vision" and he didnot turn it around again until Jurassic Park (1993). So there is plenty of precedent for a misstep now
with "War Horse."
I do disagree with Mr Giltz dismissal of Mr Speilberg's films of the last decade and feel this may
have even hurt his argument against War Horse (which i might like when i see it).
In the last ten year's (since catch me if you can) I feel that both "War of the Worlds" and "Munich"are both excellent films - right on par with Mr Speilberg's finest. I feel that both were dismissed bycritics for more politcal reasons than artistic ones which lead to both of them being somewhat
ignored by the public.
01:20 PM on 04/19/2012
Thanks for commenting. I'm not sure what any political objections would be to War Of The
Worlds. it had some great tense moments but like the novel and previous film versions, itjust peters out at the end in a rather deflating manner. As for Munich, it's the mostnoteworthy of his films from the past decade but still didn't make my best of the year list,
unlike so many other Spielberg films of the past. That's my standard for him; I expect a
great film and when it's merely good or okay, I consider it a disappointment.
01:58 PM on 04/19/2012
War Horse was fantastic and universally lauded...by the academy.
Six nominations including one for Best Picture speaks volumes ;)
02:12 PM on 04/19/2012
Why tell me? I didn't give it a bad review, Mr Giltz did. I said I haven't seen it yet
and I'm reserving judgement. However I do recall a review of the film on Salonwhere they panned it pretty badly so acclaim was not "universal." But is it ever in
the art world?
03:13 PM on 04/19/2012
War Horse was reviewed favourably by 77% of "Top Critics" aggregated on Rotten
Tomatoes. Nowhere does that amount to being "universally lauded".
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06:32 PM on 04/18/2012
Regarding War Horse, the finale scene of orange/red colors was in fact real and was filmed by
Speilberg in a spontaneous reaction to an actual epic sunset. Some parts of the film were cliche andsimple, but it was geared more as a family film than the live theater versions.Permalink | Share it
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01:24 PM on 04/19/2012
Hi Alex, anyone who quotes Dylan is good in my book. I didn't suggest that the sunset was
digitally altered. But the filters used by Kaminski, the way it was captured, the choice ofhow actors were silhouetted and so on all contributed to what I considered the over-the-topcolors of the final scene. Saying "it really happened" is not the same as how they chose to
present and frame and shoot that genuine sunset. As for film versus theater, both are very
appropriate for families though either one features animals in danger and animals dying as
well as war scenes so young children esp sensitive to animals in pain should be taken into
consideration. But I wouldn't hesitate to take a ten year old to either the film or the play.
03:59 PM on 04/18/2012
War Horse "Shameless, terrible work."
Please!
It's a fine family film and while it comes up far short against The Black Stallion it is an excellent
companion to that film.
If you have a family and are looking for a film that you can all watch together, 8 and up for the kidsdue to the non-bloody war scenes, then War Horse is worth bringing home. Glitz' criticism is outrageously over the top.He's a bit more on point regarding Iron Lady. Streep is great.
The script is not.
We Bought A Zoo IS a disappointment from Cameron Crowe but again it's a perfectly acceptablefamily rental.Treme like The Wire before it is outstanding TV.Watching on DVD is the best way to see it.But it's HBO and not for the kids.
01:29 PM on 04/19/2012
HI NHBIll, thanks for commenting. My standard of criticism is not "can this film be watchedwith your children without fear of adult content?" It's simply, is this a good film or not?Many films qualify as family fare, even painless family fare, but still aren't good films. The
Lorax is a fine family film if you want something safe, and as a parent I might get
dragooned into watching it, just as my nieces and nephews suddenly had me seeing Alvinand the Chipmunks. Terrible, terrible movie (and far worse than the bland War Horse) butwas it ok family fare? Yes, in the sense of is it appropriate. Yes in the sense will adultssometime allow subpar fare be put on thier DVD players to keep the kids amused. No, inthe sense of is it an enduring work of art, which the best family films can be. I'll take The
Black Stallion a hundred times over rather than War Horse. I'll take Toy Story over The
Lorax. Same with We Bought A Zoo. we both seem to agree it's not good; why show yourkids a so-so movie? Why not rent a classic instead? I agree 100% that shows like Tremeare best watched all at once in a marathon over a week or two rather than stretched out. Itdoes improve the experience.
02:14 PM on 04/19/2012
I was motivated to comment by your hyperbolic criticism of "War Horse" as"Shameless, terrible work."("Human Centipede 2" or "Hostel 2" is "Shameless, terrible work.")
"War Horse" was nominated for 6 Academy Awards including Best Picture!
The biggest thing the film is guilty of is overt manipulation but as with all Spielbergfilms it is expertly crafted with fine performances from the cast.Many critics seem to take umbrage at John Williams' Oscar nominated score forWar Horse.I'm not one of them.War Horse is "B" level Spielberg which in my view makes for worthwhile family
home viewing that eases children into the mature theme of the futility of war.HUFFPOST BLOGGER
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