News for today's 2018

Benneteau, Ferrer enjoy rankings boosts

<a href="http://cache.images.core.optasports.com/news/tennis/2014/8/18/603913header.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://cache.images.core.optasports.com/news/tennis/2014/8/18/603913header.jpg" /></a>Julien Benneteau is one place off a career-high ranking of 26 after his run to the semi-finals of the Western and Southern Open.<br />
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The Frenchman reached the final four of the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event before bowing out to David Ferrer who, in turn, lost to Roger Federer in the final.<br />
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However, his semi-final effort ensured he moved up 14 places to 27th in the world with Ferrer also jumping up a place into the top five thanks to his final appearance.<br />
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Poland's Jerzy Janowicz is another big climber, moving 13 places to 52nd having reached the last 16 in Cincinnati before losing to Benneteau.<br />
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While the world's top four remain unchanged, Ferrer and Milos Raonic occupy fifth and sixth respectively while Tomas Berdych drops to seventh after a tough time in Ohio.<br />
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The Czech, seeded fourth for the competition, bowed out at the first hurdle to Lu Yen-hsun.<br />
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In the WTA rankings, Ana Ivanovic replaces Victoria Azarenka in the top ten after the Serb contested the Western and Southern Open final on Sunday.<br />
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Despite losing out to world number one Serena Williams, she moves into ninth while Azarenka drops seven places having lost in the quarter-finals to Agnieszka Radwanska.<br />
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Svetlana Kuznetsova sits just outside the top 20, having reaching the last 16 before losing to Ivanovic in Cincinnati.<br />
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Like Kuznetsova, Roberta Vinci moves up three places despite bowing out at the first hurdle against Sabine Lisicki at the hard-court event in the United States.

Julien Benneteau is one place off a career-high ranking of 26 after his run to the semi-finals of the Western and Southern Open. The Frenc...

Kvitova, Bouchard bow out in Cincinnati

<a href="http://cache.images.core.optasports.com/news/tennis/2014/8/14/599109header.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://cache.images.core.optasports.com/news/tennis/2014/8/14/599109header.jpg" /></a>Wimbledon finalists Petra Kvitova and Eugenie Bouchard continued their poor form since SW19, losing at the Western and Southern Open.<br />
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Kvitova beat Bouchard for her second All England Club title in July but between them they have won one match of five since as they stumble into the US Open later in August.<br />
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World number four Kvitova, of the Czech Republic, was beaten by Ukraine's Elina Svitolina 6-2 7-6 (7-2) in their second-round affair in Cincinnati.<br />
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The third seed lost serve five times throughout, including the opening game of the match, as Svitolina took control early.<br />
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Kvitova jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the second set but then trailed 5-4 as Svitolina served for the match.<br />
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The pair would exchange three consecutive breaks, with Svitolina twice failing to serve it out, before the world number 39 won all four points on her serve in the tie-break to cause the upset.<br />
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Canada's Bouchard, the seventh seed at the WTA Premier hard-court tournament, was bundled out by in-form Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova.<br />
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Kuznetsova, a two-time major winner, won through 6-4 3-6 6-2, with Bouchard's losing streak extending to three matches.<br />
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World number one Serena Williams was one of eight seeds to progress to the last 16 on Wednesday, with the American beating Sam Stosur for the second time in as many tournaments.<br />
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Williams, the top seed in Ohio, thrashed Stosur in Montreal but could not break the Australian's serve this time around as she posted a 7-6 (9-7) 7-6 (9-7) triumph.<br />
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Polish fourth seed Agnieszka Radwanska eased past Japan's Kurumi Nara 6-2 6-2, while German sixth seed Angelique Kerber had a surprisingly straightforward win over fellow lefty Ekaterina Makarova of Russia 6-4 6-1.<br />
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Serbian seeds Jelena Jankovic (eighth) and Ana Ivanovic (ninth) both advanced in straight sets, Jankovic downing German qualifier Annika Beck 6-1 7-6 (7-0), while Ivanovic thrashed American wildcard Christina McHale 6-4 6-0.<br />
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Italian 13th seed Flavia Pennetta dismissed American youngster and qualifier Taylor Townsend 6-4 6-3, while Spanish baseliner and 15th seed Carla Suarez Navarro beat French qualifier Pauline Parmentier 6-3 7-5.<br />
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Wimbledon semi-finalist Lucie Safarova continued her impressive form, the 16th seed comfortably surpassing Kazakh qualifier Zarina Diyas 6-4 6-2.<br />
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Germany's Sabine Lisicki ousted 14th seed Sara Errani of Italy 6-4 2-6 7-6 (7-2) in a near three-hour battle.<br />
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Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova accounted for Italian qualifier Karin Knapp 6-1 6-3, not before the Russian saved 11 of 13 break points faced.<br />
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American Sloane Stephens broke opponent Barbora Zahlavova Strycova's serve five times in succession from late in the first set, to run out a 7-5 6-1 winner over the Czech.

All England Club Eugenie Bouchard Petra Kvitova US Open Western Kvitova, Bouchard bow out in Cincinnati

Wimbledon finalists Petra Kvitova and Eugenie Bouchard continued their poor form since SW19, losing at the Western and Southern Open. Kvit...

Federer reaches Masters milestone, Berdych beaten

Tomas Berdych was the highest profile casualty at the Western and Southern Open on Wednesday, falling to Lu Yen-Hsun.<br />
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It was the Chinese Taipei man's first win over Berdych in four career meetings, all of which have been played on hard courts.<br />
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Lu prevailed 3-6 6-3 6-4 over the Czech fourth seed at the ATP 1000 event, the world number 43 reversing his loss to Berdych at the Rogers Cup in Toronto earlier in August.<br />
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Other seeds to crash out in Ohio included Grigor Dimitrov (seven), Ernests Gulbis (nine) and Roberto Bautista Agut (13), with big names Roger Federer and Andy Murray safely through to the last 16.<br />
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Swiss second seed Federer won his 300th career match at a Masters-level tournament, when he saw off Canada's Vasek Pospisil 7-6 (7-4) 5-7 6-2.<br />
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Eighth seed Andy Murray had less trouble getting past Portugal's Joao Sousa, the Briton a 6-3 6-3 winner.<br />
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Canadian fifth seed Milos Raonic downed American wildcard Robby Ginepri 6-2 6-2, while sixth seed David Ferrer of Spain endured an almighty struggle to beat German Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-7 (4-7) 7-6 (7-4) 7-6 (7-4).<br />
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Bulgaria's Dimitrov was outgunned by Poland's Jerzy Janowicz 6-4 3-6 6-3, while Latvian Gulbis was no match for American wildcard Steve Johnson 6-4 6-4.<br />
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Frenchman Gael Monfils dumped out Spaniard Bautista Agut 6-4 6-1.<br />
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American number one and 11th seed John Isner progressed with a 6-3 7-6 (7-1) win over Australian qualifier Marinko Matosevic.<br />
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Matosevic's compatriot Lleyton Hewitt joined him in a second-round exit, the veteran beaten by Italian 15th seed Fabio Fognini 6-1 6-4.<br />
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Spanish 16th seed Tommy Robredo dispatched of American wildcard Sam Querrey 6-2 6-4, while Marin Cilic - the 14th seed from Croatia - advanced past Spain's Fernando Verdasco in a break-free contest 7-6 (8-6) 7-6 (7-5).<br />
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France's Julien Benneteau saw off British qualifier James Ward 6-2 6-2, and Russia's Mikhail Youzhny defeated Italy's Andreas Seppi 6-3 6-4.

Lu Yen-Hsun news sports tennis Tomas Berdych Western Federer reaches Masters milestone, Berdych beaten

Tomas Berdych was the highest profile casualty at the Western and Southern Open on Wednesday, falling to Lu Yen-Hsun. It was the Chinese T...

The Lone Ranger: The mild, mild West

<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #5e5e5e; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #5e5e5e; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #5e5e5e; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #5e5e5e; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #5e5e5e; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><b><i>The Lone Ranger</i> </b></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #5e5e5e; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><b>(2013) • <a href="http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/disney/theloneranger/" style="color: #27a9c5; text-decoration: none;">View trailer</a></b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #5e5e5e; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #5e5e5e; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #5e5e5e; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #5e5e5e; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><b> </b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #5e5e5e; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #5e5e5e; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><b>Two stars. Rating: PG-13, for intense action violence and suggested gore</b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #5e5e5e; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #5e5e5e; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><b>By <a href="http://www.blogger.com/profile/12885694730612878577" style="color: #27a9c5; text-decoration: none;">Derrick Bang</a> • </b></span>Originally published in <i><a href="http://www.davisenterprise.com/" style="color: #27a9c5; text-decoration: none;">The Davis Enterprise</a></i>, 7.5.13</b></span></span></span></span></span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>            <br /><div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The best that can be said for this fiasco, is that it’s marginally superior to director William A. Fraker’s leaden, charmless 1981 film, <i>The Legend of the Lone Ranger</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But that’s damning with <i>very</i>faint praise.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDwU1YzZ7KG-TtIWqjB5Zx-is2ZYgbMKz-PvSW8BRmZw9vo-e0fY5sb8rO2wf3v3u1jNC9zZV-JCPXMkiMjqkoYPEjRIlp9RMyVUwEO1BAl9mSb59EAuIg9EwwZeNl1VvjKpXAcklLKLg/s504/Lone+Ranger+blog.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDwU1YzZ7KG-TtIWqjB5Zx-is2ZYgbMKz-PvSW8BRmZw9vo-e0fY5sb8rO2wf3v3u1jNC9zZV-JCPXMkiMjqkoYPEjRIlp9RMyVUwEO1BAl9mSb59EAuIg9EwwZeNl1VvjKpXAcklLKLg/s400/Lone+Ranger+blog.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Having failed to persuade a Comanche tribe that war with the neighboring white-man<br />settlement is a bad idea, Tonto (Johnny Depp, left) and the Lone Ranger (Armie<br />Hammer) are left in a painfully vulnerable position. And it's about to get worse, when<br />scorpions come calling...</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Chief among that earlier film’s many flaws was the block-of-wood “performance” from no-name star Klinton Spilsbury, in (thank God) his only big-screen appearance. Michael Horse, as Tonto, acted circles around him.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But pretty much everything else was wrong, as well; even the usually dependable John Barry turned in a listless score that was marred further by a pokey, half-speed rendition of “The William Tell Overture” — the Lone Ranger’s iconic theme — that brought the already sluggish drama to a dead stop.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So I give composer Hans Zimmer credit for his spirited, cheer-inducing handling of “The William Tell Overture” during this new film’s climax, and I credit director Gore Verbinski for knowing how best to use it. Kudos, as well, to Verbinski and special-effects supervisors Tim Alexander and Gary Brozenich, for two audacious train chases: a good one to open the film, and a dog-nuts-sensational one to close it.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But pretty much everything else is wrong.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For openers, this clumsy, overcooked mess runs a butt-numbing 149 minutes: a “privilege” Verbinski apparently earned because his similarly bloated <i>Pirates of the Caribbean</i> entries have made a gazillion bucks for Disney. Mind you, length is fine if the script demands it, but that’s far from the case here; as my watch’s illuminated dial ticked off the minutes — depressingly slowly — toward the two-hour mark, I desperately hoped we were about to wrap things up ... but no, the slog continued, mercilessly, for another half-hour.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The major problem is that Verbinski and his scripters — Ted Elliott, Terry Rossio and Justin Haythe — can’t decide what sort of movie to make. On the one hand, they more-or-less attempt to honor the existing Lone Ranger mythos, as established by the popular radio series (1933-54) and TV series (1949-57). I appreciate the effort, half-hearted though it may be.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On the other hand, they blend this often grim drama with the sort of jokey, slapstick tone that marked the <i>Pirates</i> series ... no surprise there, since Elliott and Rossio wrote all four entries in that franchise. No surprise, as well, that Johnny Depp’s Tonto is the same sort of mincing, scowling, alternate-reality caricature that the actor made of Capt. Jack Sparrow. The only difference is that Tonto isn’t ever drunk ... although the film’s scripters flirt with that notion, as well.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><a name='more'></a><br />  <div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">These two extremes of tone simply don’t work; at times, the mix becomes deeply offensive. The film’s low point — and it’s a ghastly, horrifying miscalculation — comes when an entire Comanche tribe is slaughtered by a corrupt U.S. Cavalry captain and his Gatling gun-toting soldiers. Moments later, our heroes crack wise as usual, and events proceed in that farcical fashion, as if nothing significant has occurred.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Comanches aren’t mentioned again, despite their relevance to Tonto’s back-story. Hey, what’s a few hundred dead Injuns, right?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thoroughly, reprehensibly tasteless.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Enduring that sequence and its aftermath, in the moment, I couldn’t believe Disney had signed off on it. Days later, I <i>still</i> can’t believe it.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Heinous though it is, that’s merely an isolated incident. The bigger, ongoing problem concerns this film’s depiction of John Reid — the Lone Ranger — who is played by Armie Hammer as a prissy fop, idealistic far beyond the point of absurdity, and utterly incapable of doing or saying the right thing. He is, in short, an irredeemable fool: a clown who exists solely to serve as a foil for Depp’s Tonto.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">No fault of Hammer’s; he was directed this way. Indeed, he’s quite convincing as an imbecilic, bumbling, starry-eyed näif.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Until, that is, he has to shift gears so that Reid can truly, seriously mourn the loss of a brother who is murdered — and has his heart cut out and <i>eaten</i> — by this story’s key villain. Suddenly, Hammer’s otherwise dainty performance doesn’t seem so amusing. Nor is it as successful.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I simply cannot understand why modern filmmakers find it necessary to defecate on the carefully cultivated legacy — sometimes generations in the making — of characters who mean a great deal to fans who grew up with them, back in the day. Why irritate the people who care — the acolytes who will recognize the name, and expect a certain fidelity toward folklore — when it would be easier, and safer, to simply invent <i>new</i> characters, and establish <i>new</i> traditions?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The notoriously campy big-screen revivals of <i>I Spy</i> and <i>Wild, Wild West</i> — as two examples — were shameful financial duds, driving a stake through the possibility of any serious remakes. This new debacle — call it Verbinski’s Folly — is equally disgraceful, and I hope Disney posts a whopping financial loss on its (reported) $250 million budget.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">To cases, then:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The film unfolds in the fashion of <i>The Princess Bride,</i> as a fable related to an impressionable young listener. We begin in San Francisco, during the Depression, as a young boy (Mason Cook, suitably wide-eyed) visits the “Wild West” exhibit in a large carnival. Pausing at a display case showing a wizened Native American “in his natural habitat,” the boy is astonished to see the statue’s eyes flicker. Indeed, this is a very, <i>very</i> old Tonto, who is deeply moved by the kid’s cowboy outfit and black domino mask.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And, so, Tonto tells his story.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We move backward to 1869, as residents of the small Texas town of Colby cheer when railroad baron Latham Cole (Tom Wilkinson) enthusiastically proclaims that the “iron horse” soon will connect their community — and the entire United States — from sea to shining sea. First, though, there’s an old matter to deal with: the proper hanging of notorious outlaw Burch Cavendish (William Fichtner, grimy down to his blackened teeth), soon to arrive by train.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The local rangers, led by Dan Reid (James Badge Dale), ride out to meet the train. Conveniently, its passengers include Reid’s younger brother, John, returning after years of absence, during which he has become an idealistic, big-city lawyer.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Also on the train, locked up alongside Cavendish: Tonto ... for reasons of his own.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Cavendish manages to escape, with help from his outlaw gang. Dan mounts a posse that John insists on joining, much to the consternation of Rebecca (Ruth Wilson), married to Dan but apparently still carrying a torch for John. Her son, Danny (Bryant Prince), is understandably confused by his mother’s behavior.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(We wonder, throughout this entire film, if Danny actually is John’s son. The question remains unresolved.)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Things subsequently go very, very bad; there’s a reason John Reid subsequent adopts a new identity as the <i>lone</i>ranger. He owes his rescue to Tonto, whose generosity comes reluctantly, and only because a wild white stallion — regarded as an intelligent, mystical spirit — “chooses” John for greater things.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This majestic beast steals the film (not all that difficult, considering). Silver, far more intelligent than either John or Tonto, has a disconcerting tendency to appear in treetops, or on the roof of a burning barn. Reid’s new mount also is utterly fearless, whether galloping amid gunfire or (ahem) atop a moving train, leaping from one car to the next.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When Tonto mutters “Something very wrong with that horse,” we can’t help laughing ... because, actually, something is very <i>right</i>. Silver’s various antics are masterminded by horse-wrangler Bobby Lovgren, who worked similar magic in <i>Seabiscuit</i> and <i><a href="http://derrickbang.blogspot.com/2011/12/war-horse-truly-incredible-journey.html">War Horse</a></i>. As a result, Silver displays far more personality than his two-legged co-stars.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Anyway, the chase is on, and on ... and on. Tonto and the Lone Ranger get caught, escape, get caught again, escape again. They bicker, make up, bicker again. Cavendish gets caught again, and <i>he</i> escapes again. Over and over and over. Meanwhile, Cole makes smarmy advances toward Rebecca, who is understandably wary.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sidebar characters enter the mix: Barry Pepper, as the morally challenged Cavalry officer; and Helena Bonham Carter, actually quite amusing as Red Harrington, a peg-legged madam whose scrimshaw-adorned false limb conceals a rather lethal gun. We’re told that Red lost her leg to Cavendish, with a further implication that he may have eaten it. (<i>Such</i> palatable details, in this story.)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">No question, Depp’s shifty-eyed performance can be quite funny at times. His double-takes are superbly timed, and he gets considerable mileage from a variety of scowls: doubtful, bewildering, angry, playful. We wait for Tonto to crack a smile; I’m not sure it ever actually happens ... and that, too, is amusing.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Far less amusing — indeed, tedious — is the amount of time Tonto spends “feeding” the dead crow that adorns his headpiece. Not even the Monty Python gang would have beaten a pallid joke to death so relentlessly.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Fichtner is memorably nightmarish: every inch a loathsome villain. Wilkinson is sinister in his own right, on the level of a slow burn; we wonder, throughout, what he’s actually up to. Dale’s Dan Reid is the story’s most credibly “real” character: a decent man whose passing we mourn deeply.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Bonham Carter’s Red Harrington is a hoot, but Pepper can’t begin to navigate the ethical extremes assigned to his character. The members of Cavendish’s gang aren’t allowed to display much personality, and therefore remain anonymous blobs. Rebecca is similarly ill-defined; Wilson’s performance is so muted that she seems to be in a drug-induced haze (actually true only once).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Things are pretty bad when the stand-out characters are a horse and the kid listening to this saga unfold. And they can’t begin to sustain a 149-minute movie.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Nobody can. Nobody does. <i>The Lone Ranger</i> is a clumsy, badly directly and atrociously scripted slog.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When radio audiences heard the Lone Ranger shout “Hi-yo, Silver ... away!” — back in the day — they knew an exciting riding sequence was about to take place. It’s too bad this film’s Silver couldn’t have dragged Verbinski, the writers and most of the cast far, far away ... thus sparing us the need to sit through this dud.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>

2013 Armie Hammer Barry Pepper fantasy Helena Bonham Carter James Badge Dale Johnny Depp Ruth Wilson Tom Wilkinson Western William Fichtner The Lone Ranger: The mild, mild West

The Lone Ranger (2013) • View trailer Two stars. Rating: PG-13, for intense action violence and suggested gore By Derrick Bang • Ori...

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