War Horse (Short Review)

War Horse Consider the movie poster on the right as well as the name of the movie. You can tell that a horse is going to play a big part in the movie, as is a war. Animal movies and war movies usually mean one thing: this movie is designed to tug at your heartstrings and maybe make you cry. Throw in that the movie was directed by Steven Spielberg, and you already know whether or not you are going to like this movie without me saying anything. So, if you think you will like a movie about a horse with war scenes, then go buy your ticket.

That said, for those of you still reading, I will add a little more to say that I enjoyed the movie and it lived up to my expectations as someone who likes both animal movies and war movies. Although the film seems a little formulaic and predictable at times, the film gradually draws you into the story.

It is difficult to build a story around an animal where the animal changes hands among different owners. The people we care about continue to change, and that we do not have two hours with any character besides the horse. But War Horse does a good job of keeping your interest as the horse travels through different owners in different situations, and it is all tied together as we also periodically follow the original owner (Jeremy Irvine in his first film role) through the movie’s conclusion. The structure of the film reminded me of Anthony Mann’s excellent western, Winchester ’73 (1950), a Jimmy Stewart movie that followed a rifle through various hands. That movie used the device effectively, and Spielberg does so here too.

If I had one complaint about the movie it would be that it is hard to believe that in a war where more than 8 million horses died there were so many decent people appearing as often as they did throughout the movie. Such portrayals may reflect that War Horse started off as a children’s novel by Michael Morpurgo, who unlike the film told the story from the horse’s point of view. At the same time, I do not mind that Spielberg often comes along with a film to challenge my cynical view of the world.

Finally, I also enjoyed the film because there are too few movies about World War I. The paltry pickings may be because World War I is so far in the past without a clear storyline (unlike World War II) and because American audiences may be less interested in a war that occurred off American shores (as compared to the Civil War). It is a shame that movie makers have not delved more into the Great War. Spielberg does a good job with the war scenes to capture the horrors of trench warfare and the horrendous battle conditions of this war that straddled old and new technologies, using both horses and tanks. The film also works in a nod to one of the most amazing stories of the real war.

Still, there are some good DVDs to rent if you wish to watch more about World War I. There are a few good documentaries on World War I available on DVD, including The Complete Story: World War I and World War I in Color (both available on Netflix as well as at the Amazon links). Some other classic films of the war include Sergeant York (1941) with Gary Cooper, Paths of Glory (1957) with Kirk Douglas, Lawrence of Arabia (1962) with Peter O’Toole, All Quiet on the Western Front (1931), and Joyeux Noel (2005). Now we can add War Horse to the list.

The story is also a play on Broadway, which Saturday Night Live re-imagined (but unfortunately the video is no long available).

Bonus Reviews Because Why Should You Listen to Me? Currently, Rotten Tomatoes has a critic rating and audience rating both at 77% for War Horse. Film & Felt did not like the film, concluding that the movie “hammers you over the head with sap.” By contrast, QNetwork.com liked the film, giving it 3.5 stars and calling War Horse, “an ambitious, anthological portrait of both the devastation of war and the potential for human decency.”

What did you think of War Horse? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    Devil’s Right Hand Arrest in New York City

    pellet gun Recently, a woman from Tennessee was arrested for carrying a licensed gun in New York City. The case has sparked some uproar because of the unusual facts. The woman, Meredith Graves, apparently was carrying a gun licensed in her home state of Tennessee while visiting the 9/11 Memorial in New York. After seeing a “No Guns” sign, Ms. Graves asked police where she could check her gun. Subsequently, she was arrested under a New York law prohibiting people from carrying a loaded gun, even if the gun is licensed in another state.

    The case is a perfect illustration of the old adage, “Ignorance of the Law is No Excuse.” Generally, that is true in the law, as one may understand that someone should not be able to commit robbery and then say they did not know it was against the law. Only very rarely can ignorance of the law rise to a Due Process problem when someone is punished for violating a law they did not know existed. Under this case, a court would probably hold that when someone travels to another state with a gun, it is not unfair to require them to check the local laws on whether they can pack heat.

    Here, Ms. Graves had every intent to comply with the law and was arrested for violating a New York law she did not know existed. A prosecutor sought a felony conviction, which could result in a sentence of up to 3 1/2 years. This case seems like a perfect one for a prosecutor to use discretion to avoid a conviction of someone who did not wish to cause any harm and who tried to comply with the law — even if she could have done things a little better. My guess is that the prosecutor is using the case to help publicize the New York law to tell tourists to leave their guns at home. 

    There are a number of slang terms for guns, and one of the coolest is “the Devil’s right hand,” used in the song of the same name written by Steve Earle from his album, Copperhead Road (1988). The song begins with the singer’s first encounter with what his mama called “the Devil’s right hand,” illustrating a fascination that ends up with the singer using a gun to kill another man during a fight in the card game. Like Ms. Graves, the singer pleads not guilty and blames it all on “the Devil’s right hand.” Here is a young Steve Earle performing the song.

    It is somewhat surprising that the song has not been covered more often by rock groups, considering the song’s catchy music and edgy lyrics. Perhaps the best cover is by The Highwaymen. That version makes good use of all of the members of the group: Johnny Cash, Waylong Jennings, Kris Kristofferson, and Willie Nelson.

    Two of the members of that group — Waylon Jennings and Johnny Cash — recorded their own solo versions too. Here is the group version. So listen to the song one more time as a reminder to check those gun laws when you travel.

    UPDATE:  In March 2012, Merredith Graves reached a deal with prosecutors so she did not face any jail time for carrying bringing her gun to town.

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    Pop Culture Roundup (Best of 2011 Edition)

    New Year hat 2012 Happy new year! In case you have been too busy preparing for the new year, here is a sample of recent pop culture stories you might have missed. As you might guess, many of the interesting stories look back at the best and worst of 2011.


    — Best of 2011 —

    A number of websites and blogs consider the best music of 2011. The New York Post featured Twitter-sized reviews of the best songs of 2011. Ickmusic has a 2011 best-of list of albums and songs. Uprooted Music Revue listed its 50 Favorite Audio Releases of 2011. Entertainment Weekly listed its top 10 albums of 2011. USA Today critics picked their best albums of 2011. Cover Lay Down presented mp3s of the best cover songs of 2011.

    A number of sites considered the best and worst films of 2011. Chicago Tribune critic Michael Philips picked his 10 worst films of 2011, and he also picked his 10 best films. Just Go With It was the number one rented film at Redbox kiosks in 2011. All of top 5 rentals were comedies. Leonard Maltin picked the 11 Best Films You May Have Missed In 2011.

    Some posts examined the top books. For example, NPR listed its Best Music Books Of 2011. (Thanks @robertloerzel.) The New York Daily News picked the best under-the-radar books of 2011.

    There were other end-of-the-year lists. For example, Salon featured the viral videos of 2011. Frontier Psychologist listed The Top 10 Not That Special People of 2011. (Thanks @HipandCritical.) Salon featured the best and worst Tweets of the year. Slate had the worst catchphrases of 2011. TV critic Robert Bianco put together a list of the best and worst of TV in 2011.

    DJ Earworm created a mashup of the top 25 pop songs of 2011 in one 5-minute clip. It’s pop. There ain’t no Lucinda Williams or Ryan Adams in here.

    — Other Recent Music News —

    Beyond “more cowbell!” The New York Post examined Blue Oyster Cult in pop culture.

    Kelly Clarkson received a big boost in album sales after she endorsed Ron Paul.

    stuffed puppy toy
    Thanks for saving me, Pink!

    Pink saved a puppy thrown in a river. How cool is that?

    Singer-actress Kaye Stevens passed away. She performed with the Rat Pack, on Johnny Carson, etc.

    Bob Seger recently explained his 2011 highlight was playing with Bruce Springsteen.

    The Los Angeles Times
    interviewed Woody Allen about his career playing New Orleans jazz.

    Bono and Glen Hansard played on the streets of Dublin for charity on Christmas Eve.


    — Other Movie News —

    Me Tarzan, you ?? Maybe it isn’t true that the chimp that just died was the 80-year-old Cheetah of Tarzan movie fame.

    Scientists have discovered the reason for the strange bird behavior that inspired Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds.


    — Other Television News —

    Anne Serling has written a memoir about discovering her father Rod through his show The Twilight Zone.

    Slate has the best and worst ads inspired by director Wes Anderson.

    Barry Livingston, who played Ernie on My Three Sons, is still acting and has a book out.

    What were your favorite stories of the year? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    Best New Year’s Eve Scene in a Film

    New Year's Eve Movies

    Is there a better New Year’s Eve movie scene than this one in When Harry Met Sally? The movie makes perfect use of the holiday, including Harry Burns’s (Billy Crystal’s) questions about “Auld Lang Syne.”

    Below is the climactic scene from the movie. {Spoiler alert: This clip is the film’s ending.}

    After When Harry Met Sally shows Harry’s loneliness magnified by the special night, Sally Albright (Meg Ryan) wonders about the role the holiday played in Harry’s surprise appearance. She wonders if he is just lonely because he is by himself on New Year’s Eve. Harry directly confronts that possible explanation for why he ran to Sally: “And it’s not because it is New Year’s Eve. . . When you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible.” Where are my tissues?

    When Harry Met SallyFor romance, one might compare Meg Ryan’s New Year’s Eve meeting with Tom Hanks in Sleepless in Seattle. That movie does a good job of not overplaying when the two finally meet.

    But the movie New Year’s Eve kiss that one might compare to When Harry Met Sally for dramatic impact is when Michael Corleone (Al Pacino) kisses Fredo (John Cazale) with the kiss of death at a New Year’s Eve party in The Godfather: Part II. Michael tells Fredo, “You broke my heart. You broke my heart.”

    More tissues, please.

    Happy New Year. In the new year, may your kisses be of the When Harry Met Sally type instead of of the Godfather: Part II type.

    What is your favorite portrayal of New Year’s Eve? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    (Back in the) USSR Established on Today’s Date

    USSR flag On December 30, 1922, following the Russian Revolution, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (“USSR“) was established. The country was created out of a confederation of Russia, Belorussia, Ukraine, and the Transcaucasian Federation (which was later divided into the Georgian, Azerbaijan, and Armenian republics).

    Before being dissolved in 1991, the Soviet Union eventually included fifteen republics: Russia, Ukraine, Georgia, Belorussia, Uzbekistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia.

    When any Beatles fan hears “USSR,” the person’s mind wanders to the Beatles classic “Back in the USSR” from the two-disc The Beatles (1968), otherwise known as The White Album.”

    Although the song is about the USSR in the title, underlying the song is a tribute to American rock and roll. The title evokes Chuck Berry’s “Back in the USA.” And in the chorus there is a nod to the Beach Boys’ “California Girls“:

    Well the Ukraine girls really knock me out
    They leave the west behind
    And Moscow girls make me sing and shout. . .

    Another line in the chorus mixes the USSR Georgia and the USA state Georgia to evoke Ray Charles and “Georgia on my Mind.” That song was recorded by Charles in 1960 and written by Hoagy Carmichael and Stuart Gorrell in 1930.  As a tribute, the Beatles sing, “That Georgia’s always on my my my my my my my my my mind.”

    Although “Back in the USSR” takes the conflict of the Cold War to make a piece of beautiful music, there was conflict among the band members when the song was recorded. In a precursor to later band troubles, during the making of The White Album, Ringo Star quit the group for a short period. “Back in the USSR” was recorded during this period.

    So, Ringo does not play on the song. Most believe that the drums on the song were a composite of the other band members taking a turn at the skins, although a majority of the drumming may be McCartney, the primary writer of the song. For an earlier version of “Back in the USSR,” check out this Beatles demo:

    Paul McCartney eventually performed the song in Russia in 2003. By then, neither the countries of the USSR nor the men of the Beatles were together.

    Still, it is a good performance. I suspect the people in the crowd know how lucky they are.

    What do you think of Back in the USSR? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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