TelegraphHerald.com • Telegraph Herald • Friday, July 31, 2020 1C

new movies

”THE FIGHT”Rated PG-13 for strong language, thematic material and brief violence. 91 minutes. ★★★

This summer, there aren’t any superhero movies coming out (they’ve all been postponed), but there is one film this season that features real-life heroes.

The filmmaking team behind the riveting political doc “Weiner” — Josh Kriegman, Elyse Steinberg and Eli B. Despres — have made the documentary, “The Fight,” which follows a group of crusading ACLU lawyers as they fight to defend some of the bedrock American civil liberties under attack from the Trump administration.

This lively and fast-paced doc opens with a rapid-fire split-screen montage that introduces the ACLU’s 100-year history of defend-ing civil liberties and introduces the focus of the film: Four specific cases of the hundreds the organization has brought against the Trump administration, regarding immi-grants’ rights, reproductive rights, voting rights and LGBTQ rights.

They are the heroes of this era, battling it out in court after court, armed with tote bags of documents, caffeine and a deeply unwavering and humanitarian sense of justice. But as the protagonists put it so frankly, lawyers and courts aren’t going to change the world; people are. And it’s up to us to do it.

“SUMMERLAND”Has not been rated by the Motion Picture Association of America. 100 minutes. ★★★

“Summerland ” might look like something you’ve seen before: A scenic story about a schoolchild who must leave London during the war and take up shelter with a reluctant caregiver.

But while it is comfortingly familiar in many ways and a little cliche and overwrought in others, it also has a modern edge and bite to it that keeps it novel enough to sustain interest.

That modernity is credit to writ-er-director Jessica Swale, a British theater director and playwright, who with “Summerland” makes a note-worthy entry into the world of film.

With well-drawn characters and a surprising scope, the story feels like it’s been adapted from a novel (a compliment). And along with cinematographer Laurie Rose, “Sum-merland” captures three eras in a small seaside town with breathtaking beauty.

“Summerland” even felt a little resonant in the moment. Quaran-tine doesn’t compare to wartime sacrifices in the least, of course, and yet there is something undeniably moving about watching a hopeful and kind film like “Summerland” right now.

OTHER RELEASE“Black Is King”: Written,

directed and executive produced by Beyoncé, the pop star’s “visual album” arrives on Disney+.

current Got a tip? Please contact usMegan Gloss, Features Editor

megan.gloss@THmedia.com563-588-5638 or 800-553-4801

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movie review

A team of immortal merce-naries embarks on a bloody path of revenge in Netflix’s “The Old Guard.”

The film stars Charlize Theron, KiKi Layne, Marwan Kenzari, Luca Marinelli, Harry Melling,

Matthias Shoenaerts and Chiwetel Ejiofor. The film is directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood.

“The Old Guard” boasts a creative premise and two energetic performances by Theron and Layne.

“The Old Guard” team has been alive for centuries. When injured or killed, they’re almost immediately healed or resurrected.

This makes for some creative scenarios and action sequences. Seeing the team progress from the 1100s to modern day is intriguing to see unfold, though the main story is set in the present.

The ensemble does a nice job in the action scenes. Theron is built for this kind of phys-ical role. As she’s proved in “Mad Max” and in “Atomic Blonde,” she knows how to sell an authentic action sequence.

The skill of the director isn’t on par with

those other films. The action sequences often are above average. Despite the creative concept, the action relies on a standard shoot-’em-up formula.

The action and gunplay are suitably en-tertaining, but it never reaches the heights of Theron’s previous adrenaline-fueled outings.

The lead performances make up for some of the action-based shortcomings. Theron and Layne have the most interesting relationship in the film.

Layne’s character is a former U.S. soldier who discovers she is immortal. As she’s dis-covering her abilities, Theron is a kind of men-tor. I enjoyed their relationship as it grounded the film from its premise.

Despite the characters being seemingly invincible, there are plot developments that put their lives in danger. I liked that the writers found a way to add tension.

An issue that bogs the film is that it often raises more questions than answers. It’s never explained how these characters obtained their abilities. It’s also never explained how they stay the same age during the course of centuries.

There is clear sequel bait, so possibly those questions will be answered. However, I think those things should have been explained in

order to make it a stronger film.Another issue I had was the soundtrack.

The music choices were baffling and often didn’t match the scenes. In the middle of a shootout or after a big plot development hap-pens, the EDM and pop-oriented soundtrack kills the vibe of the scene. The soundtrack is awful in terms of how it’s placed in the context of each scene.

The antagonist of the film was miscast. Melling doesn’t come off as believable. Known best for playing Dudley in “Harry Potter,” his placement as the villain was odd to me. He lacked the conviction to appear as a genuine business tycoon.

“The Old Guard” is a very flawed action film. The premise is killer, though. Featuring two excellent lead performances and some decent action, it merely achieves its purpose: To entertain.

While it had to potential to be great, it ends up just being a passable — and in the grand scheme — forgettable action flick. It’s sort of a mixed bag. That might be enough for some.

I give “The Old Guard” 3 stars out of 5. “The Old Guard” is rated R and runs for 2 hours and 5 minutes. It’s streaming on Netflix.

Ellis is a freelance writer.

Immortality premise falls a bit shortBY AUSTIN ELLISFor the Telegraph Herald

Tribune News Service“The Fight” opens today.

The Associated PressGemma Arterton stars in “Summerland.”

BY PAMELA MILLERStar Tribune

OLD FRONTENAC, Minn. — The tangled deciduous woods that surround the south-eastern Minnesota

village of Old Frontenac are busy with sound. Especially at dawn and dusk, they echo with birdsong. Wind whooshes through live trees and rattles dead ones. At night, coyotes trade lonesome calls with faraway trains.

Of late, a new sound, melodic, of-ten melancholy, has floated through the woods.

Virginia Oliver, 73, of New Fronte-nac, heard it as she watered flowers in the Old Frontenac cemetery.

“I couldn’t quite make out what it was,” she said. “I thought it must be a horn, but I didn’t know right away where it was coming from. It was a concert for one — for me.”

The source of the beguiling sounds was Kestrel Wright, 38, of Red Wing. Several days per week, he drives south to the rest stop off Minnesota 61 and County Road 2, an entry point to Old Frontenac and

to two Frontenac State Park hiking trails. Sitting atop a picnic table, he runs through strength and breath-ing exercises and arpeggios, then practices for an upcoming audition and for his now largely in hiatus roles with the Fort Snelling Army Band and the La Crosse (Wis.) Symphony Orchestra.

Why is this man with a falcon’s name — Kestrel is Old English for “a piercing cry” — playing Mozart, Bach, Haydn and Strauss in the woods?

“I’m just practicing,” Wright said. “I’m not busking or looking for an audience. I need to stay in shape musically, and here, I can practice without bothering anybody. I hope I’m considerate and that I’m not changing the way this place is used.”

Amid frequent pauses, his horn’s gently trembling notes echo the sounds of nature and inspire

callbacks from wrens, bluebirds, goldfinches and the occasional lovesick swan.

He attributes his unintended influence partly to his practice site — a historical marker for Fort Beauharnois, a 1700s-era battlement long lost in the shifting sands of Wells Creek, which splays into the nearby Mississippi River.

Perhaps it is forest acoustics that give his sounds their magic. Or perhaps, he says, it is the pecu-liar sounds of the Dufrasne horn exercises he moves through, with their birdsong-like high notes and octatonic scales, with their haunting half-steps.

Wright describes himself as “a drifter,” but his path will be familiar to any musician or artist struggling in a tough economy. He was born on a homestead near Viroqua, Wis., his unusual name unnotable in a

family that included siblings Simeon and Evangeline. His family moved to Dubuque, where he graduated from high school in 2000.

As a high school junior, he discov-ered his passion for the French horn while dating a pretty trumpet player whose watchful father gave him French horn lessons. After two years at the University of Iowa, Wright earned a degree in music from the University of Washington in Seattle in 2006, then stayed in Seattle for several years, occasionally busking in the city’s bus station, an acoustical palace. He played with the Tacoma, Mid-Columbia and Walla Walla symphonies.

Oliver, who followed the haunting sounds from her cemetery duties to Wright’s practice site, subsequently invited him to visit the Florence Township hall in New Frontenac.

“It is only appropriate he should be there,” Oliver said. “He is echoing our history, and now he belongs with us.”

Wright is honored by such invi-tations. “I am lucky to have a place to play that’s so welcoming,” he said. “I’m happy that people don’t mind what I do here.”

Former Dubuquer’s French horn practice beguiles

Minnesota village

PAMELA MILLER • Tribune News ServiceKestrel Wright plays his French horn at the Old Frontenac, Minn., rest stop. The village’s residents say his music fits right in with birdsong and the wind in the trees.

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