Bawlers
This War Horse rave is not just another arising of the Poland curse. Others have told me that Steven Spielberg‘s film choked them up also, and who am I to say that’s lame or invalid? It isn’t wise or considerate to rag on anyone for succumbing to an emotional film. We all have our weak spots. I melt down every time I watch the last acts of Carousel and The Best Years of Our Lives and three or four others I could name.
But I know whore-ish, patently phony, cornball filmmaking aimed at families and kids when I see it. As I summarized yesterday, “War Horse is Darby O’Gill and the Little People go to war with a horse.” And for anyone to say, as Poland has, that War Horse delivered “some very powerful, very real human emotions”….well, I’m speechless. I throw up my hands. Maybe a part of Poland has been opened up by having been a dad for the last couple of years. You let sappy stuff in when you have young kids that you wouldn’t otherwise. I’ve been there; I remember.
“I will admit now that I shed tears watching this film,” Poland said earlier today. “More than I’d like to admit. And I don’t feel like I was manipulated at all. I felt like I was a witness to some very powerful, very real human emotions. And one cannot help but to root for this horse like you would root for any of the great heroes of the movies. He is not anthropomorphic, but he does embody the traits of persistence, courage, and survival that most people would love to feel in themselves and certainly would love to see in those they love.
“And most importantly, you want him to be loved…to not have to show that persistence and courage and survival under fire, even though we know it’s there. This is, really, what all the characters want for themselves and their loved ones in this film…whether the soldiers or the parents or the grandparents or the crowds that gather now and again through the story.”
Hugo-3/4
Whazzat mean? That Hugo is only 75% of the film that War Horse is or vice versa or…?
WHORISH! FLASHING YOUR GOODIES ALL OVER TOWN!
Well, “War Horse” at least has a better shot of avoiding The Poland Curse than his much-nuttier early-season throwdown– “Anonymous,” which would’ve topped Phantom of the Opera as Poland lore goes, but I think he’s shied off of it already.
“I know whore-ish, patently phony, cornball filmmaking aimed at families and kids when I see it.”
i’d love to see you actually back up your pejoratives with something resembling a coherent argument.
Haven’t seen “Horse”, but I just got back from “Hugo.” It was solid, but a little long. I actually didn’t like the final half hour as much as the preceding parts. That last act gave me chilly memories of “Be Kind Rewind.” There’s something so unsatisfying about a film that so blatantly promotes the work of an earlier filmmaker.
At the risk of being ridiculed, here’s few “gets me every time”/greatest hits: William Atherton watching the drive-in movie in “Sugerland”. The father/son “give us a kiss” dinner table scene in “Jaws”. Roy Neary seeing Devil’s Tower for the first time. “He came to me, too Elliot” in E.T.. The “Where doesn’t it hurt?” kissing scene in Raiders. The reunion in “Color Purple”. Jim touching the plane/salute in “Empire of the Sun”. “This list is an absolute good” in “Schindler’s List”. Hopkin’s summation speech in “Amistad”. The soldiers watching Hanks’ hands shake while reading the map in “SPR”. Eric Bana hearing his son on the phone in “Munich”. I could go on, but I might get banned. Sorry, Jeff!
Wasn’t Poland the main person pushing Munich a few years ago?
Gotta say I agree with Jeff on Hugo. Last act is nice, but before that? Bad acting, and bad comedy. The story is fine there, but it all felt so dead. Honestly the movie looked and felt a bit like The Polar Express and The Terminal respectively. (And it wasn’t better than either, and didn’t look better than TPE either, which has gorgeous lighting and works because it’s all animated.) Hanks is way more charming,and better than Asa could dream, and we don’t have to deal with Moretz’s bad accent and faux-adventure. It certainly is a good movie though, but I definitely do think critics and movie fans are giving it a pass for its blatant reverence to silent movies and Melies in particular. That’s what is so appealing and it works, but Jeff’s right, it takes too long to get there. If criticizing Muppets fans for being blinded by nostalgia, or superhero fanboys or whatever then the same could be said about film fans getting their rocks off to the site of Melies’ work in 3d.
In fact your creative writing ability has inspired me. Really the article is spreading its wings rapidly.
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“It isn’t wise or considerate to rag on anyone for succumbing to an emotional film.”
Yet you went ahead and did it anyway.
Our words say more about ourselves than our subjects. I read that in a fortune cookie somewhere.
You know what got me bawling with my girlfriend when I was in high school? Romeo and Juliet. That Shakespeare was such a whore.
HE THRUSTS HIS FISTS AGAINST THE POSTS AND STILL INSISTS HE SEES THE GHOSTS!
This won’t be an example of the Poland curse (a legitimate phenomenon) because others have the same logic about its awards champions. It’s when he tries to build steam for something on the fringe that everything shrinks away from it.
It won’t have the Poland curse because its awards chances were already in play long before this. However, what I’m seeing this year more than any other years bloggers out front seeing movies and being kind of wrong about them (I count myself among them) – like Anonymous. I was stunned when I finally saw that movie that anyone would have given it a pass. There is a big picture too – it isn’t just about a few great set pieces. The movie as a whole is really what matters and you can’t pass off shit without people eventually figuring it out.
There’s a chance War Horse will get nominated … even still … because it’s such a big epic movie. But it’s supporters will also be The Help supporters. Same demo. With a few Spielberg fanboys thrown in.
Sorry, “its.”
But I’ll add here that it’s weird to me that Pete Hammond, Dave Karger et al. weren’t more forthcoming about what War Horse is…perhaps that’s why, in the end, one must still separate the critics from the bloggers…
act gave me chilly memories of “Be Kind Rewind