{"id":21798,"date":"2020-12-24T13:26:53","date_gmt":"2020-12-24T21:26:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/?p=21798"},"modified":"2020-12-24T13:26:53","modified_gmt":"2020-12-24T21:26:53","slug":"news-of-the-world-features-an-excellent-cast-and-great-photography","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/?p=21798","title":{"rendered":"NEWS OF THE WORLD Features an Excellent Cast and Great Photography"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/24_0009_B-merged.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-14439\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>This feature from Universal Pictures opens December 25<sup>th<\/sup> at operating cinemas. It will also be available for streaming on demand January 15<sup>th<\/sup>. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While 2020 has been a quiet year for many of us, that\ncertainly hasn\u2019t been the case for Tom Hanks. In addition to some personal\nevents that wound up garnering media attention, he recently wrote and starred\nin the submarine thriller, <em>Greyhound<\/em>. And to close out the season, the\nperformer has taken on the lead role in <em>News of the World<\/em>, a new western\nfrom director Paul Greengrass (<em>Captain Phillips<\/em>, <em>Jason Bourne<\/em>, <em>22\nJuly<\/em>). The movie may feel a bit old-fashioned and measured in some respects,\nbut it is a well-acted and beautifully feature the display some scenic natural\nlocations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/News-of-the-World-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-21800\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Captain Jefferson Kidd (Tom Hanks) is a Civil War veteran\nwho makes his living traveling around Texas reading news stories to paying\ncustomers. While on the way to his next stop, he comes across a stranded girl\nnamed Johanna Leonburger (Helena Zengel). It appears that the unruly\nyoungster\u2019s family was killed by the Kiowa people several years earlier and that\nshe was adopted by them. Now, her new guardians have been slaughtered, leaving\nher completely alone and unable to communicate in English. Initially, Kidd\nattempts to drop her off with government agents hoping they\u2019ll locate her next\nof kin. However, after being informed that the proper official is away for\nthree months, the performer decides to take the child himself. They travel over\n400 miles towards her aunt and uncle, making stops along the way to read to\naudiences. But as the route proves dangerous, the pair must deal with numerous\nthreats. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/News-of-the-World-CU-pair-FIXED-1024x556.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-21801\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This film is centered largely around Kidd and his own personal loss, depending wholly on the lead performances to work. Obviously, Hanks is fine in the role of a veteran struggling to deal with an unctuous child while quietly coming to grips with the loss of his wife (who died while he was away fighting in the Civil War). His character is remarkably even-tempered, perhaps even too much so, but the performer\u2019s natural onscreen charm does endear viewers. Kidd\u2019s calm disposition also helps viewers get accustomed to his young companion. Zengel is also very good as the angry child, at first violently fighting her companion\u2019s attempts to help before slowly forming a tight bond with him. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/news-of-the-world-cemetery-1024x553.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-21803\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The focus also addresses the various communication issues between Kidd and Johanna and their interpersonal conflict as, without realizing it, they both attempt to process loss and move forward with their lives. Over the running time it also become clear how much they need each other\u2019s assistance to survive, especially as the frontier becomes more dangerous. Threats include the old west equivalent of human traffickers, a corrupt town mayor and even a brutal sandstorm. For action fans, there are a few notable moments, including a lengthy shootout between Kidd and a trio of thugs that stands out as the most tension-filled sequence in the film.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/news-of-the-world-fight-FIXED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-21802\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It\u2019s also gorgeous to look at. Many of the locations features which were shot outside of Santa Fe, New Mexico and look stunning. The interiors and nighttime shots are also strikingly lit by cinematographer Dariusz Wolski (<em>Prometheus<\/em>, <em>The Martian<\/em>). While it is clear that the movie isn\u2019t attempting to do anything radical, the film does manage to subtly imply how much better these two tragic figures are together than apart as they attempt to find closure for past events.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>News of the World<\/em> is a low-key feature that puts its star in a familiar role and doesn\u2019t reinvent the genre. Still, it is an earnest and impressively made effort. In the end, it won\u2019t offer viewers any jaw-dropping surprises or big headlines, but remains a compelling and interesting western worth your attention. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This feature from Universal Pictures opens December 25th at operating cinemas. It will also be available for streaming on demand January 15th. While 2020 has been a quiet year for many of us, that certainly hasn\u2019t been the case for Tom Hanks. In addition to some personal events that wound up garnering media attention, he [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":21799,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[198,6251,9024,14773,14774,14775,14776,15317,15824,23015,24114],"class_list":["post-21798","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-movie-reviews","tag-198","tag-drama","tag-helena-zengel","tag-news-of-the-world","tag-news-of-the-world-film-review","tag-news-of-the-world-movie-review","tag-news-of-the-world-review","tag-old-west","tag-paul-greengrass","tag-tom-hanks","tag-western"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21798","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=21798"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21798\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=21798"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=21798"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=21798"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}