Arts & Entertainment

Greenbelt Facebook Review of 'War Horse': Part IV

Greenbelters use Facebook to review Spielberg's latest — after dining at Siri's Chef's Secret.

This is the closing post on a Facebook chat movie review of "War Horse" by four Greenbelt movie lovers.

Following a Thai meal at in Greenbelt, and "War Horse" at Academy 8 Theaters, Greenbelt movie reviewers faced off on Facebook with a whirlwind of opinions.

Reviewing the movie for Patch were: Konrad Herling, Sheila Maffay-Tuthill, Anna Socrates and I was representing Patch.

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and posted last week. posted this week. This is part four and the final post.

Konrad Herling: Bailey, perhaps you're right. More broadly, the horse is being told to" "walk on,” and the leaders of the countries were being told, also, to "walk on.”

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Bailey Henneberg: Yes, I think too that the horse was being destroyed by war. A beautiful animal that was a champion among horses — caught in barbed wire and having to pull weapons — when he should have been winning the Triple Crown.

Konrad Herling: I can see, to some degree, the overall points all of you have made. But that is his [Spielberg's] formula — introduce the main characters, lay out the tenor of the "community,” have them go through ups and downs, and in the end win.

Anna Socrates: I think I like films where the stories are a little more open-ended or ambiguous, though I am glad that the horse made it though.

John Williams' Music

Anna Socrates: Konrad, what are your thoughts on the music?

Konrad Herling: Yes, he helps "paint" the scenery of the beautiful countryside.

Bailey Henneberg: Williams always does a good job. I like how Spielberg's team stays together —in contrast to Hollywood marriages.

Konrad Herling: He sets a tone that makes everything, even smaller scenes, bigger.

Anna Socrates: The use of the English folk music was a nice touch.

Konrad Herling: Agreed

SPOILER ALERT: Bailey Henneberg: I even knew by the lack of music that the Dublin friend was about to die. So when the music was gone, it said something too.

Konrad Herling: Well put.

SPOILER ALERT: Anna Socrates: Bailey: good point about the lack of music. Also the sound went quiet when that officer was about to get killed.

Bailey Henneberg: I hadn't noticed that Anna. Good catch.

Would the War Story Work Alone?

Bailey Henneberg: Question. If you took the beautiful scenes out and just had the war, would it work?

Anna Socrates: Bailey: I am not sure it would work without the beginning part, since you needed to get to know the horse. But maybe it didn't need to be so postcard perfect.

Bailey Henneberg: I guess I'm saying, on the war end of things, it was novel and not contrived. He really was saying something that worked. The rest was a staple story.

Anna Socrates: The war scenes felt more like “Saving Private Ryan” — very confusing and grim.

Konrad Herling: Well, the irony for me was that it was a horse that did so much — resistant to change initially, then plowing the fields, hauling the cannons, taking the bullets and sword slices that otherwise might have been directed to men. Yet, despite that, it is a horse that brings even warring enemies together in a common cause.

Bailey Henneberg: I think the horse did that. But I think its life got saved miraculously one too many times to be set in a very realistic war film.

Reviewers were working with different connection speeds, so the chat has been edited to keep conversation topics together. It has also been edited for grammar and trimmed.


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