The Writer's Life 7/25 -

I caught up to Steven Spielberg's War Horse (2011) last night, courtesy of Netflix. Based on a 1982 novel by Michael Morpurgo, it is solid film-making, but it rarely soars. It is unusually understated for a Spielberg film. It is basically a reworking of Homer's The Odyssey, set during WWI, with a beautiful stallion at the center of the story. One big plus is the avoidance of gore, which probably would not have worked in such a feel-good movie. The deaths of likeable characters occur off-screen. One minus: German characters address each other in English. This is unacceptable in such a big time production, implying that the audience is jingoistic or too dumb or lazy to read subtitles. People at IMDb rated it 7.2 out of ten. I can't decide whether to rate it three or three-and-a-half out of five. The cinematography is beautiful, the characters are easy to root for, and there was a moment when I experienced chills but, overall, I thought it was standard stuff. It was nominated for six Oscars but took home none.

Here's something that will likely have duffers, especially male, eating their heart out: Latanna Stone, ten years old, has qualified for the U.S. Women's Amateur golf championship. She shot 70 in a recent tournament. She is four-feet-ten. The previous youngest qualifier was 12. Here's a pic of the mighty mite:

The weather was glorious and business was good at the floating book shop. Several of my regulars bought and donated today. Thanks, folks.

RIP Lou Trotta, brother in law in law of my niece Sandra. He passed away due to complications from diabetes. He was about the same age as I am, 62. I always enjoyed his jam sessions with his brother Ron, a superb banjo player. Lou was a guitarist. Condolences to his wife Marie and everyone else in his family.

Visit Vic’s sites:
Vic’s Third Novel (Print or Kindle): http://tinyurl.com/7e9jty3
Vic’s Website: http://members.tripod.com/vic_fortezza/Literature/
Vic’s Short Story Collection (Print or Kindle): http://www.tiny.cc/Oycgb
Vic’s 2nd Novel: http://tinyurl.com/6b86st6
Vic’s 1st Novel: http://tiny.cc/94t5h
Vic’s Screenplay on Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/cyckn3f