Page 31 - ARUBA TODAY

people & arts A31
Tuesday 9 January 2018

Review: Bale, landscapes, boost grim western ‘Hostiles’

By LINDSEY BAHR and give voice and com-

AP Film Writer passion to everyone — the

Enemies are thrown to- people defending their

gether for a perilous jour- lands, the settlers looking

ney in “Hostiles ,” an unfor- for a new life, and those

givingly violent and sparse who were “just doing their

revisionist Western set in jobs,” even if their jobs in-

1892 that explores the trau- volve killing women and

mas of American westward children.

expansion. Actors like Bale, Pike, Studi

There’s hardly a soul in and the rest of the cast

writer-director Scott Coo- (even the clichéd casting of

per’s ambitious odyssey Ben Foster as an unhinged,

who isn’t haunted by some outspoken criminal) ele-

gruesome incident of the vate the dreariness of the

past, whether it’s the cav- script with compelling dra-

alry officers who slaugh- matic performances. Bale

tered and scalped untold especially stands out as the

numbers of natives, the This image released by Entertainment Studios Motion Pictures shows Christian Bale in a scene from gruff Blocker, whose layers
natives who slaughtered “Hostiles.” start to be exposed as the

untold numbers of cavalry Associated Press story moves along. And,

officers, or the young set- Studi), and his family from Majors, Jesse Plemons and ting its characters across while she isn’t given all that

tler family that goes from a base in New Mexico to Timothee Chalamet) and the over 1,000-mile stretch much to do, it is a treat

five members to only one their homelands in Mon- head off on the trail. of the United States, but it is to see actress Q’orianka

in the distressing opening tana. Having had encoun- It’s a premise that lends a gorgeous journey thanks Kilcher, who played Poca-

scene of the film. To say this ters with this man before, significant and compelling to cinematographer Ma- hontas opposite Bale in

is a grim and difficult watch Blocker has no interest in tension to every scene. Al- sanobu Takayanagi. His “The New World,” back in a

is an understatement. embarking on this endeav- though not much is hap- camera makes even the mainstream film.

Christian Bale, who also or, convinced that Yellow pening early on, it’s the most familiar western mi- Bursts of intense violence

starred in Cooper’s gloomy Hawk could only be a safe threat of what might hap- lieus looks splendidly fresh are punctuated with some-

“Out of the Furnace,” leads and trustworthy compan- pen that keeps you glued and invigorating. If only the times tedious blocks of

a formidable ensemble ion dead. But this choice to the screen and worried meandering story and dia- speeches and silence, but

cast as a U.S. Cavalry Of- isn’t up to him and he’s go- for all involved. Will there logue were matches for the “Hostiles,” despite its pos-

ficer, Captain Joseph J. ing to have to go through be a misunderstanding? A pure poetry of the scenery. ture of brutal amorality, has

Blocker, who is ordered to with it whether he likes it or mistake? A scuffle that es- Cooper wrote the screen- a goodness at its core, of

lead an aging Cheyenne not —so they assemble a calates too quickly? Things play off of a manuscript understanding and empa-

chief, Yellow Hawk (Wes crew (including Jonathan are further complicated from the late Donald E. thy. It also has something

when group encounters a Stewart (“Missing,” ‘’Patriot that so many sequel and

New York and burned down settlement Games”). Misery, regret franchise-hungry studios to-
LA chapters of and a grieving woman and grief drip from every day wouldn’t dare show —
shuttered inside. She is Ro- word, and it’s hard not to an actual ending.
salie Quaid (Rosamund wonder if the impact is “Hostiles,” an Entertain-
Pike) and has suffered dulled as a result. That’s not ment Studios release, is rat-

PEN to merge nearly unspeakable loss. to say that there aren’t mo- ed R by the Motion Picture
Blocker, likely not knowing ments that are deserving Association of America for
By HILLEL ITALIE overseas. what else to do with the of this seriousness. Indeed, “strong violence, and lan-
AP National Writer “As a unified organiza- possibly suicidal woman, Cooper has chosen to bite guage.” Running time: 135
NEW YORK (AP) — The two tion with strong tent poles takes her along with them. off no less than the sins of minutes. Two and a half
main U.S. chapters of PEN, on both coasts and a di- “Hostiles” takes its time get- the entire American West stars out of four.q

the international literary verse, growing commu-

Review: C.J. Tudor makesand human rights organi- nity of writers and read-
zation, are merging. ers all across the country,
The New York-based PEN we can speak out more compelling debut with ‘Chalk Man’
America and California- forcefully, mobilize a
based PEN Center USA wider creative commu- By OLINE H. COGDILL friends, Gavin “Fat Gav,” outside of town. Another
told The Associated Press nity and mount a more Associated Press ‘’Metal” Mickey Cooper, death puts a pall over the
on Monday that they will forceful effort to defend Childhood affects devel- David “Hoppo” Hopkins group, whose friendship
be called PEN America. free expression, amplify opment into adulthood, and Nicky Martin, the only would eventually “splinter
Suzanne Nossel, currently silenced voices and foster as C.J. Tudor fervently il- girl, have an idyllic child- and crack.”
executive director of the dialogue that transcends lustrates in her compelling hood roaming the small In 2016, Eddie is now a
New York chapter, will differences,” Nossel said. debut, “The Chalk Man.” British village of Anderbury. teacher, living in his same
oversee the new entity Michelle Franke, execu- The discovery more than It’s 1986 and the worst they childhood home. He still
along with an expanded tive director of PEN Cen- 30 years earlier of a dis- do is draw chalk men as se- meets up with Gavin and
board of trustees that will ter USA, said in a state- membered teenage girl cret signals to each outside Hoppo, who never outgrew
include members from ment, “We are excited continues to reverberate in their homes. his nickname, but the get-
both chapters. by the opportunities that the lives of five childhood But happiness, sadness, togethers are more about
Nossel said in a statement national reach will afford friends, affecting the path jealousies, guilt and abuse something to do than real
that the decision came to our local writers and each has chosen as an also punctuate their young friendship. Nicky hasn’t
out of a “shared sense of to the scriptwriting and adult. lives, and those innocent been heard from since she
urgency” about free ex- screenwriting communi- On the surface, 12-year-old chalk drawings take a sinis- moved away decades
pression in the U.S. and ties we serve.”q Eddie Adams, who serves ter turn when Elisa Rendell’s ago after her vicar-father
as the narrator, and his body is found in the woods was hospitalized. q