Steven Spielberg's Abraham Lincoln

Let's see we've got Wreck-it Ralph, Twilight, and Skyfall out right now.

Yeah, that'll do it.

So it's number 3 behind Skyfall and Twilight? Not terribly surprising, really. When I saw it, the (admittedly smallish) theatre was packed. I don't really expect a character piece about a president to score higher than big franchise blockbusters.

I enjoyed the movie quite a lot overall; I thought the score was a bit heavy handed (it probably would've worked better without one, actually, but I don't think Spielberg likes to work without music in the backgrounds).

Kudos to Sally Field as Mary Todd Lincoln. She made her look sympathetic and, in some ways, admirable while at the same time portraying her as unapologetically selfish, frequently hysterical, and unpleasant (which, from what I've read, is pretty accurate for Mary Todd Lincoln).

Just saw it last night. Fucking epic.

And after all the hype at the Golden Globes, with the multiple nominations and so on, it only wins one, for Daniel Day Lewis as the eponymous Lincoln.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-21008256

Gets beaten to the Best Director and Best Drama prizes by Ben Affleck and Argo (his film) respectively.

Stephen Spielberg is on the BBC Radio 5 Live Mark Kermode and Simon Mayo film review program for an extended interview. Well entertaining. It seems that if Leonardo De Caprio hadn't intervened, Daniel Day Lewis wouldn't have taken the role on.

Folks in America will have to see if there is a podcast - it is worth tracking down for a listen if it is available.

Argo was awful. The hollywood scenes are decent because of good actors, but I couldn't give a rat's ass about the people stuck in Tehran because of how bland everything was. "Oh whoopdie doo, they learn their roles. Why do I care?"

For all Lincoln's problems, I at least gave a darn. It was an interesting character piece with fantastic performances and a ton of both wit and accuracy. The main problem is the Spielberg crammed so much in, but at least that's better than "Let's give barely any personality to the people this movie is supposed to make us care about".

edited 25th Jan '13 10:12:04 AM by Scardoll