Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Film Fest - War Horse and Hugo

Too busy to catch the Christmas glut of movies then, I'm now struggling to catch up cinematicly...

War Horse, by Steven Spielberg, is a gorgeous big-screen saga that reminds me of my young-teen favorite book Black Beauty, being a horse's eye view of the often cruel human world.  Remarkably free of gore, this IS the story of a cavalry horse in the trench warfare of World War I...  A moment's thought suggests that this cannot be all cantering through fields of poppies.  Not for young children.  But I was able to watch without peering through my fingers too much.  Really liked it.  No one could help but root for the horse Joey and his boy.  The film has a big old-fashioned heart and an engrossing story.  Gorgeously photographed.    

Hugo, however, stole my heart.  About a boy living secretly in a Paris train station in about 1920, this is a magical film.  Run to see it.  Even its 3D - usually silly - seems appropriate to this tale of early film-making and its technology.  A love-letter to early film by Martin Scorsese.  Extra bonus is the steampunkish sensibility shown in the camera's loving study of clockwork, gears, and the automata central to the story.

Wooden automota by artist Andrew Boyce

BTW  I love researching illustrations for this blog - I find such wonderful things!  This photo is of a wooden automata by artist/craftsman Andrew Boyce.  See his site HERE.

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