Weekly Movie #3

War Horse
Director: Steven Speilberg
Cast: Jeremy Irvine, Emily Wastson, David Thewlis
Released: December 25, 2011
Viewed in theaters: January 17, 2012

Oscar nominations:
Best Picture (lost to The Artist)
Best Score - John Williams (lost to Ludovic Bource for The Artist)
Best Art Direction (lost to Hugo)
Best Cinematography (lost to Hugo)
Best Sound Editing (lost to Hugo)
Best Sound Mixing (lost to Hugo)

I don't see War Horse galloping (haha) in the direction of the likes of Jaws, E.T., or Jurassic Park where it will become one of Speilberg's classic blockbusters. More likely it will trot (haha) along the lines of Catch Me If You Can or The Terminal, you know those movies where when somebody brings them up, you're like, "Oh, yeah, that was a good movie. Speilberg directed that? I forgot about that!" However, unlike those two movies, War Horse is the kind of movie that benefits from being seen on the big screen. With its lush cinematography, swelling music, and gorgeous camerawork, this is one beautiful movie. It's just pretty to look at.

The plot is pretty straightforward: a teen boy named Albert trains the horse his father bought (I wasn't really clear why he bought the horse in the first place because the family wasn't exactly rich), names him Joey, and trains him. Even though he teaches Joey to plow his family's farm land, they're still not getting enough money and his father ends up selling Joey into World War I. Albert is too young to enlist in the war and has to wait another four years before he can. We really don't see much of him after Joey is taken away from him.

We do see what happens to Joey on his journey and he ends up in many places and meets many people along the way. I would be lying if I said I didn't cry while watching this.