Lincoln

[baumer]

Discuss

[JackO]

In Lincoln, Abraham Lincoln( Daniel Day Lewis) tries to handle ending the civil war, while balancing his family including his mentally ill wife Mary Todd (Sally Field), his son Robert (Joseph Gordon Leavitt) passing the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, ending slavery, despite strong opposition from Democrat Fernando Wood (Lee Pace) with the help of his cabinet including Secretary of State (David Strathaim) Steward and Republican Robert Latham.One thing that struck me during the first debate is the similarities between this film and 1776 minus the singing. The congress of yore was much more animated then we see today on C-SPAN. And while these old guys rarely swore, they surely found big words to replace them. These scenes were some of the funnest and funniest in the movie. I was engrossed by them. This is where Lee Pace from the quirky tv comedy fame, Pushing Daisies really shined. He reminded me of Rutledge from 1776. A Big grand hateful showman. Really fun to watch in combination with the ever quipping Latham.To put it simply, Daniel Day Lewis is Lincoln. You may think you are in for a history lesson getting to the theater but you come out getting stories from the man himself. This Lincoln is meditative and constantly thinking. He is not explosive, he is story teller. My favorite scene was when him and Mary Todd were fighting over whether Robert should enlist and it is a thesis on acting. DDL bounces from anger, frustration, incredulity, and despair. Field goes from anger, depression, sudden anger, and fade to happiness. Best pure acting scene I have seen this year.Tommy Lee Jones explodes every scene he is in. His constant quips always find themselves int he right moment. His character is pretty theatrical but his best scene in my opinion is when he had to control himself during one of the debates. Instead of telling Democrats exactly how he felt about them or the amendment, he to say that something he did not believe, that the he was not for the 13 amendment to further racial equality but only to protect blacks under the law. It's a fun scene since after getting verbally abused by Democrats for selling out his beliefs he completely pivots and drops the nice shtick ad turns it against them. Something I did not really like was the way they handled Lincon's assassination. It happens off screen so it felt kind of cheap just losing him like that. Luckily, he is not completely gone from the movie, but I felt that since the entire movie was about him, that we should see the whole story, not just the good parts.All in all, Lincoln is the sort of film you better bring a theasuraus to the theater for with amazing performances throughout. I give it an A-will come back and add more later, tired now

Edited November 9, 2012 by JackO

[Kvikk Lunsj]

How did you already see Lincoln and Bond Jack?

[baumer]

You've never told us how you see these movies before all of us Jack.

[JackO]

You've never told us how you see these movies before all of us Jack.

Gofobo advance screenings

[cozmeesah]

Yeah, man .... advancescreenings.com. Completely awesome.

[Kvikk Lunsj]

I wish I lived in big city so I could go and see advance screenings.

[cozmeesah]

Don't have to live in that big of a city. Go to advancescreenings.com and look at the screening lists.

[Kvikk Lunsj]

Don't have to live in that big of a city. Go to advancescreenings.com and look at the screening lists.

I did there is none by me. If move back to Minnesota next year then I will have chance since the Minneapolis area has a lot of test screenings.

[cozmeesah]

Sometimes there are more for other films than for another. And it also depends on how far ahead or how close it is to the release date. They're always adding shows, so keep checking.

[Gopher]

A pretty marvelous achievement and Speilberg's best since Minority Report. I loved that they approached Lincoln as the commander of this huge political drama rather than doing the birth-to-death story that would've been a wasted opportunity when drama like ratifying the thirteenth amendment is worth delving into. This is West Wing-level fun with the best ensemble cast Speilberg's ever pulled together. I think my problems with the last five minutes are reflective of how much the film works as a political thriller and that the transition to biopic was jarring. Daniel Day IS Lincoln. I think his performance will define how people today will think of the man. Simply stunning.

[Blankments]

Abraham Lincoln is generally considered one of the greatest Presidents we’ve ever had. One does wonder, then, why Steven Spielberg’s new film, aptly titled Lincoln, is the first film about Abraham Lincoln released in my lifetime. Not that I’m complaining, as Lincoln is carried by fantastic performances, a solid script, and the best John Williams score in a decade.

http://blankedoutrev...11/lincoln.html

A for those not wanting to click.

[Cmasterclay]

What a brilliant job they did here. This was Daniel Day Lewis at his best since My Left Foot (Though my hate for TWBB as a film maybe be blinding me), and one of the better performances I've seen in years. The supporting cast was great up and down the board. Quite funny, and Speilberg showed alot of restraint, as did WIlliams.

[RichWS]

A pretty marvelous achievement and Speilberg's best since Minority Report.I loved that they approached Lincoln as the commander of this huge political drama rather than doing the birth-to-death story that would've been a wasted opportunity when drama like ratifying the thirteenth amendment is worth delving into. This is West Wing-level fun with the best ensemble cast Speilberg's ever pulled together. I think my problems with the last five minutes are reflective of how much the film works as a political thriller and that the transition to biopic was jarring.Daniel Day IS Lincoln. I think his performance will define how people today will think of the man. Simply stunning.

This sums it up for me. Just an excellent film.

[Michael Gary Scott]

Excellent film. Ddl was excellent

[FTF]

...Though my hate for TWBB as a film maybe be blinding me...

[baumer]

I'm going to leave my grade incomplete for now because I clearly need to see this again. Watching this film was like watching a film in Hindy or Greek or Russian....I really have no idea what they were saying half the time. This is as deep into political minutia as I have ever seen. I don't understand a lot of the film and I really wish I could have. I grasped that to free the slaves, it had to get tied into the end of the war and then emancipating all property that belonged to the losing side. But after that, I really didn't get much. The little speech that Mrs. Lincoln gives Thaddeus Stevens when he first sees her in the White House had me scratching my head. WTF was she talking about there?The fun thing about the movie was trying to place all the faces behind the look and facial hair of the 1800's......I could have swore that I saw James Spader in there as Bilbo...and checking imdb I was right. I also recognized Jackie Earle Haley, Tim Blake Nelson, Jared Harris, David Strathairn of course and Walter Goggins. Checking imdb, there are a lot more recognizable names.I loved...LOVED Daniel Day Lewis as Lincoln. A commanding and superbly acted performance. The score had a lot of Saving Private Ryan in it and I enjoyed that as well.I will see this again because right now I don't know what to feel or to think. Do you have to be American to understand this? I'm not sure.To be continued.....

Edited November 25, 2012 by baumer

[mattmav45]

Reminds me a lot of The Social Network in terms of my response and reaction to it.

Well-made, and an above average historical drama with some interesting scenes. But in the end, simply not entertaining or involving enough for me to become one of my favorites of the year. A decent film for a matinee watch, IMO.

B

[Gopher]

I thought it was Speilberg's most entertaining and involving film in a decade.

[mattmav45]

I thought it was Speilberg's most entertaining and involving film in a decade.

In a situation such as this, it is quite clear only one can be right.Yield to your elders, IMO.