IanA Posted 6 December , 2011 Share Posted 6 December , 2011 It apparently took fifteen gee-gees to play 'Joey'. I don't suppose they were using real bullets... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
truthergw Posted 6 December , 2011 Share Posted 6 December , 2011 It's an awful pity he's so locked in to the Hollywood definition of what makes a great movie as he has the power and I believe the talent to make a great film (which is why I liked the very atypical Schindler's list) but he seems to revert all the time to the big kid mentality and a certain way of telling his stories. After I read what he said in a recent interview about there being no more great Hollywood (!) films I really did feel like sending him Sophie Scholl to let him see what can be done with peanut budgets and unknown actors. I'm not sure who said it but there's the old saying about the difference between Hollywood and European cinema,one tells a small story with a big budget and the other exactly the reverse. Best/Liam Could it be that he likes making a lot of money? No sillier than Fifi-Tinkerbell, or however it was Bob Geldof chose to label his kids. Not to mention Zowiie Bowie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michaeldr Posted 6 December , 2011 Share Posted 6 December , 2011 It apparently took fifteen gee-gees to play 'Joey'. I don't suppose they were using real bullets... It took only 14 per the Guardian see http://www.guardian.co.uk/theguardian/shortcuts/2011/dec/05/pass-notes-finder-war-horse?INTCMP=SRCH will the next movie be "One of our Horses is missing" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Clay Posted 6 December , 2011 Share Posted 6 December , 2011 Not to mention Zowiie Bowie. Real name, Duncan Jones, under which moniker he plies his trade as film director. Two successful and critically acclaimed films under his belt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanA Posted 6 December , 2011 Share Posted 6 December , 2011 It took only 14 per the Guardian see http://www.guardian.co.uk/theguardian/shortcuts/2011/dec/05/pass-notes-finder-war-horse?INTCMP=SRCH will thew next movie be "One of our Horses is missing" I may have exaggerated for effect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peterhogg Posted 6 December , 2011 Share Posted 6 December , 2011 I will go see it. I agree with some of the criticism of Spielberg written above and I am not a fan of all of his films--I hate ET, for example and all it represents. On the other hand, in my view he has captured some truly memorable scenes---Jaws for eg. Say what you will about Saving Private Ryan, but bringing together all the wonders of cinematography, sound, camera-technology and other bits of wizardry, he produced combat scenes, both at the beginning and end that were spell-binding. And in Schindler's List, while I agree that final scene was verged on the maudlin, the movie as a whole was brilliant. From a technical point of view, watch the scene again with Schindler at the cabaret as he susses out who's who and ends up the life of the party feeding SS and SD men. And he brought out two outstanding performances from Neeson and Fiennes. I agree with the criticisms, but I will go see it, because while I do not like all Spielberg films, on at least three occasions he has done something that I found very appealing. But, I only will see it at a matinee late in the run, as I hate the sort of people that Spielberg films attract, and I hate children also, and popcorn munchers, but I digress....... And yes, I expect there will be much to nitpick. In SPR the tracks on the Tigers were all wrong and that plane at the end should have been an RAF or RCAF Typhoon....it goes on from there. (Though, on the Tiger and armour front, there are no surviving Tigers in the world that can be used in a film, anyway, for obvious reasons the people owning them want them back in one piece) So, can I offer the first nitpick? In the trailers I have seen the horse is running along the German trench, it appears. But it seems like trenches were not normally be that long and straight, would they? (we are used to seeing the crenulated or zig-zag shaped trenches for defensive reasons) Peter PS: I have had to edit the #$%@ out of this posting. Me no rite well in the morning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
truthergw Posted 6 December , 2011 Share Posted 6 December , 2011 Real name, Duncan Jones, under which moniker he plies his trade as film director. Two successful and critically acclaimed films under his belt. I saw this chap with his mum and dad in Park Lane when he was just a toddler. Going into the Dorchester. I worked just down the road. I did wonder how he would cope as he grew older. Glad to hear he did well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
truthergw Posted 6 December , 2011 Share Posted 6 December , 2011 .... I hate children also, and popcorn munchers, but I digress....... ......... So, can I offer the first nitpick? In the trailers I have seen the horse is running along the German trench, it appears. But it seems like trenches were not normally be that long and straight, would they? (we are used to seeing the crenulated or zig-zag shaped trenches for defensive reasons) Peter How dare you! Some of my best friends were children. Re the trench. Some of the longer communication trenches started off straight and only zig zagged as they got closer to the front line. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peterhogg Posted 6 December , 2011 Share Posted 6 December , 2011 Okay, yes children are nice, but I won't budge on the popcorn munchers.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Broomfield Posted 6 December , 2011 Author Share Posted 6 December , 2011 And, out of interest, did British cavalry ever charge an entrenched enemy? Yes, I know they charged (for example) at Cambrai, but was ever a charge made against a Hindenburg Line-type entrenchment? The attacks on the Somme were generally against more fluid positions, and the 1918 attacks were surely against enemy in the open, having been prized out of their defences by artillery, armour and infantry. I noticed photos (in the Tottygraph, of course) of cavalry lined up, sabres shouldered, in a wheat field with the crops up to the shoulders of the mounted men. It all just seems somewhat... well ... stereotyped to me. A Forum Pal who wished to remain anonyonyonyonyonmous said it sounded like Black Beauty with bombs (or something similar). I have an awful feeling that so many "Butchers and Bunglers" stereotypes are possible ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Mills Posted 6 December , 2011 Share Posted 6 December , 2011 I'm actually looking forward to seeing this film. I was on the set of War Horse last year (early October, I think it was) and I was amazed at the amount of work that was done to recreate the trenches. The WWI battle sequences were filmed at Wisley Airfield in Surrey and from what I could see the audience will get the full production value. It was very weird arriving at 7.00 a.m. and walking over the deserted muddy battlefield, shrouded in fog and with dead bodies (some half-submerged in shell craters) scattered across the ground. Alas there was no artillery to be seen, but a military ambulance and a specially built Mk V tank made a very welcome appearance in the afternoon to save the day. The interesting thing is that by the late morning the sun had burnt off most of the fog and practically all of the atmosphere went with it. After that the smoke machines were working overtime to maintain the effect, but at least I had the battlefield to myself for about half an hour. I'm not sure about the story as I haven't seen the play or read the book, but if you're looking for a WWI visual treat then I would highly recommend it. It must have taken them ages to reinstate the land after the film-makers moved out... S. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yelob Posted 6 December , 2011 Share Posted 6 December , 2011 I don't think the money has anything to do with it at this stage so I suppose we'll never know. We will have to depend on others I suppose to tell some real important stories with no heroes or at least everyone a shade of grey, God forbid how would that go down in Hollywood. I'm not sure if it's still true but A list actors used refuse to play bad or ambiguous characters. He could do something really interesting like film the Klemperer diaries or tell a tale with a gazillion $ budget about the German side of the war,he certainly has the talent and money for it but not the will methinks. Best/Liam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NigelS Posted 6 December , 2011 Share Posted 6 December , 2011 ... I was on the set of War Horse last year (early October, I think it was) and I was amazed at the amount of work that was done to recreate the trenches. The WWI battle sequences were filmed at Wisley Airfield in Surrey and from what I could see the audience will get the full production value... Thanks Simon. When I photographed this notice at Wisley some time ago I wondered what the film might be, now I know. Rumours that Spielberg also uses Wisley for storing an old prop from 'Close Encounters of the third kind' ... are unfounded; althoughly Wisley's runway is no longer used by aircraft (it's blocked by 'Armco' style barriers to prevent local 'boy-racers' killing themselves), this bit of kit on the site is an aircraft radio navigation beacon - least that's what I've been told ... NigelS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Mills Posted 6 December , 2011 Share Posted 6 December , 2011 Nigel, Good to know that everything was nice and legal. I do have one or two shots of the film set but unfortunately I can't post them as the film has still to be released and the distributors can be a bit sensitive about that sort of thing. Suffice to say that the set is very impressive, although it was a tough one for the camera department as they were usually up to their knees in mud for most of the working day. I just told them to stop moaning as my grandfather has to put up with it for almost four years -- and I don't think that he was paid nearly as much either... S. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waddell Posted 6 December , 2011 Share Posted 6 December , 2011 Well I'm going to see it for the Prince Henry Vauxhall shown about a minute into those trailers- real horsepower! Scott Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chief_Chum Posted 7 December , 2011 Share Posted 7 December , 2011 "...but there's the old saying about the difference between Hollywood and European cinema, one tells a small story with a big budget and the other exactly the reverse. Best/Liam" We recently finished filming Michael Morpurgo's other Great War novel, 'Private Peaceful', here in the UK, for a fraction of the War Horse budget, so let's hope the saying proves to be true... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin kenf48 Posted 12 December , 2011 Admin Share Posted 12 December , 2011 Ancestry are currently running a prize draw competition in association with War Horse UK release You don't have to be a subscriber to participate There is also a quiz - if you really want to bore the grandchildren! http://www.ancestry.co.uk/warhorse for information only. I've no commercial connection other than subscriber. Ken EDIT Oh dear just watched the trailer not a dry eye in the house who cares if 'historically inaccurate' or 'Black Beauty with bombs'. I'll be queueing at my local Odeon - let the cynics stay home Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John W Posted 18 December , 2011 Share Posted 18 December , 2011 Ok having been to see a preview of the film this morning my view is, if you want to count the buttons on the uniforms or check the badges are correct give it a miss. However my feeling for what its worth is it was 2 hours a great entertainment. I would actually pay to see this. JOhn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NigelS Posted 19 December , 2011 Share Posted 19 December , 2011 Incidentally, the dear olf Tottygraph is in overdrive pushing this movie. Today it has a photo of Spielberg with his daughter, Destry, at some do. Today's 'Tottygraph' (19th December) carries, under the headline 'War Horse actor develops trench foot', the story that Jeremy Irvine spent so much time in the soggy trench sets that he developed trench foot, telling The Hollywood Reporter : 'you're just soaking wet...I got trench foot.'; Spielberg, who is reported as not delaying shooting 'during wet and cold British weather', is also said to have fallen foul of the conditions in the recreated trenches when he fell into one, saying: 'I was totally under Icy water. I threw my hands over my head and two big grips [film assistants] pulled me out' Nothing like a bit of reality for the publicity machine, next it will be that live fire was used... NigelS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanA Posted 21 December , 2011 Share Posted 21 December , 2011 The 'Grauniad' has (as one might expect) a slightly different view from the 'Tottygraph' and describes the film as 'lachrymose' and 'buttery' with a two out of five stars classification. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Mills Posted 21 December , 2011 Share Posted 21 December , 2011 It probably is a bit of a tearjerker if you're in to that sort of thing, but film critics never seem to amaze me and I'll lay odds that they were trying to find some justification just to use the word "lachrymose" -- I had to look it up. Why can't they write English that everyone can understand without having to resort to a dictionary? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanA Posted 21 December , 2011 Share Posted 21 December , 2011 The English language is a glorious and a wonderful thing which ought to be celebrated. Could you not deduce its meaning from the use of lachrymatory gas in the Great War? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pighills Posted 21 December , 2011 Share Posted 21 December , 2011 There are lots of words I don't understand, but I delight in looking them up and being wiser for it. Even better if I then get an oppportunity some time later to use said newly learnt word and flummox the person to whom I am speaking! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
squirrel Posted 22 December , 2011 Share Posted 22 December , 2011 One should not be pusilanimous in using the full range of the language even if it does reduce you to a lachrymatory discharge in finding the meanings in the first instance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanA Posted 22 December , 2011 Share Posted 22 December , 2011 Indubitably. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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