<p>Lincoln was inspired and inspiring. Daniel Day Lewis will be in the running for a third Oscar imho. saw it with all three kids, that was priceless…great conversation about how similar many issues are to today…</p>
<p>I saw Life of Pi last night. Was it a deliberate creative choice to give wooden actors clunky dialogue so they wouldn’t compete with the 3D visuals?</p>
<p>“Loved Lincoln, but I’m a big history buff. My only complaint (jokingly) is that both of the American “icons”, Lincoln and US Grant, were played by Brits! Outsourcing!”</p>
<p>Interesting to have a movie about the abolition of slavery without Frederick Douglass (with whom Lincoln met and consulted on multiple occasions), Sojourner Truth, and without a single slave. And by 1865, when the movie takes place, 30-40% of the population of DC was Black people, but you’d never know it from the film. I loved the acting (and I’m a sucker for costumes).</p>
<p>(The portrayal of Elizabeth Kechley was particularly insulting. Keckley founded the Contraband Relief Association in August 1862, receiving donations from both Lincolns, as well as other white patrons and well-to-do free blacks.[22] The organization changed its name in July 1864 to the Ladies’ Freedmen and Soldier’s Relief Association to “reflect its expanded mission” after blacks started serving in the United States Colored Troops.[23] The CRA provided food, shelter, clothing, and emotional support to recently freed slaves and/or sick and wounded soldiers. The organization was based in Washington D.C., but the funds distributed and the services provided helped families in the larger region. The Contraband Relief Association became lost to history, but it set the standards and showed the need for relief organizations to provide aid to the poor and displaced black community. The work of the Contraband Relief Association within the black community helped create black autonomy. Through intra-ethnic networking, the Association created an organization by and for African Americans." Would you have had even a hint of that from the film?)</p>
<p>All of the discussion of Lincoln here led me to watch the trailer. I hated the trailer. It makes the film look so sentimental and manipulative. And Tommy Lee Jones’ wig…eek, bizarre.</p>
<p>Lincoln was the best film I’ve seen all year. I think it’s glorious filmmaking. Yes, there were sentimental and manipulative moments, but I didn’t care. Daniel Day-Lewis is an absolute genius - I saw no acting, only a true, full human being. The rest of the cast was marvelous. I especially liked Tommy Lee Jones, Sally Field, Hal Holbrook, David Strathairn, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt. And great to see John Hawkes and James Spader, excellent in featured roles.</p>
<p>I have to disagree with mini about about the portrayal of Elizabeth Keckley. I thought that Gloria Reuben made much of a small role, communicating a gravity and intelligence that resonated beyond her time on screen. The character is a profound influence on Lincoln. Lincoln is 2.5 hours long already, and I don’t know what Tony Kushner and Spielberg could have done differently to give a fuller portrayal of a supporting character.</p>
<p>They could have cut LOTS of the political machinations, or exchanged machinations with the important ones - like Frederick Douglass. Meanwhile, you never find out that Kechley is not a servant in the Lincoln household, but a businesswoman who sells her work to Mrs. Lincoln (and to others); you never know that she had a life, and was MARRIED while working in the White House, and had a son who died fighting for the Union. </p>
<p>I too thought the very first scene, with the two Black soldiers wonderful, but you never find out that it was Frederick Douglass who got their pay raised, and Frederick Douglass who finally stopped the executions of Black soldiers in the South (and Frederick Douglass who prevailed on the President to stop prisoner exchanges unless Black soldiers were in the exchange - resulting, of course, in Andersonville. Directors make artistic choices, and I think, in this instance, he made some rather bad ones. (And I know that I have Black schoolteacher friends who are just furious!) Apparently, earlier drafts of the movie focused on the Lincoln-F. Douglass relationship; that went out the window when Kushner decided to rewrite based on the work of the Harvard plagiarist.)</p>
<p>I loved the acting.</p>
<p>
You most certainly do find out that she had a son who died fighting for the Union - it was in the scene between Mrs. Keckley and Lincoln toward the end of the film.
I don’t think the guy’s artistry is lacking … Spielberg’s a great filmmaker, not a historian. I think, too, that the political machinations were an important aspect of the story.</p>
<p>I also loved that first scene, and how Lincoln listened to the soldiers…</p>
<p>“you never know that she had a life, and was MARRIED while working in the White House, and had a son who died fighting for the Union.”</p>
<p>there’s actually a powerful scene where Kechley reminds Lincoln of her soldier son’s death, and she seems to define herself through her relationship with her son who fought. the scene was one of my favorites. her pride in her son’s sacrifice came through for me…</p>
<p>I do agree that a little less political machinations would have enabled more about Douglass.</p>
<p>I didn’t think the acting in Life of Pi was wooden, I like Irrfan Khan & have seen him in quite a few things, although everyone else was new to me. ( well except Depardieu - but his part would have been better served by someone who wasn’t so recognizable IMO)</p>
<p>But while it was beautifully filmed, and the special effects were amazing even in 2D, I didnt feel as moved by the story as I expected. Perhaps I am just shallow, or maybe I was distracted by my daughter whispering at the beginning of the film " I was there & I was there".
( when she was 18 she spent her gap year in Tamil Nadu)
I would like to see it in 3d now though -</p>
<p>I haven’t seen Lincoln, but my son saw it last night and said it was worth watching because of Daniel Day Lewis. He said he is sure to nab an Oscar nomination.</p>
<p>We went as a family to see Lincoln last night. DH is a Civil War buff, S1 was a history minor. We all enjoyed the movie. Daniel Day-Lewis is extraordinary as Lincoln. The other actors were all very good. Were there inaccuracies and omissions? Certainly, but Speilberg chose to focus on just the passage of the 13th Amendment and the machinations in Congress to get it passed. As a film, it was quite good. It was not a documentary.</p>
<p>They were remarkably good at rendering the scenes accurately. The capitol dome is shown whole - completed in 1864. And the lettering you can see behind Tommy Lee Jones - Old House Chamber - is real. </p>
<p>The actual House chamber is wrong; it’s the same as the one used today with some architectural changes, mostly to the ceiling and upper walls. The one they used is smaller, like the size of Virginia’s. Don’t know if that was a set in part or if they used a real place for at least part. </p>
<p>I saw a piece about sound. They got a team into the White House to record the actual clock that still sits on the mantel in what was then Lincoln’s office - now the Lincoln bedroom. They recorded the sound of people knocking on the original doors and of them closing. They got the keepers of Lincoln’s pocketwatch to wind it and recorded its actual tick.</p>
<p>I noticed a few things, mostly they didn’t give Tad a major speech problem. He had a lisp, maybe a cleft palate, though it doesn’t show in photos so who knows. But his speech was hard to understand. He was accurately portrayed, however, as running the house in his uniform and barging into meetings at will. Lincoln is also accurately shown waking his aides in the night. He would go to the War Room telegraph and sit. </p>
<p>As to Mrs. Keckley, I thought they did a great job of not explaining too much. She was Mary’s friend and advisor - straightened out her finances, etc. - who also helped her somewhat as a personal maid. She went with her to Illinois to help her settle in Chicago and they were very close until she wrote her memoir. (It’s very good.) I also thought it was brilliant to have Tad absorbed in photos of slaves; it was a way to make them present without jamming them into a political narrative that was in fact dominated almost entirely by white people and by white men in particular. </p>
<p>I was particularly impressed by Sally Field’s Mary. She really captured the combination of acerbic brilliance, emotion and fearful hysteria which everyone who knew her describes. We only see hints of her depression. Well written part masterfully acted. </p>
<p>As to Thaddeus Stevens, look at pictures. His wig was horrible. It barely looks real when he’s posed for photos; he had it cut the same all the way around so he wouldn’t have to worry which side was front. You have to imagine how it looked as the day wore on. He was 73 and did have a club foot. And I loved that he brought the Amendment home because he really lived with Lydia Smith and their neighbors called her Mrs. Stevens.</p>
<p>I thought Lincohn’s shoulder would be wider. Perhaps Hollywood overemphasized Lincohn’s height?</p>
<p>Quite a bit of love for Lincoln here. </p>
<p>I’m going to see Hitchcock tomorrow.</p>
<p>We saw Sky Fall and liked. We appreciated the nod to the passage time and aging. We thought all gracefully handled. And the villain – sorry not going to look up his name – was extraordinarily good. Also enjoyed the Scottish landscape at the end as we are planning a trip there for spring to visit the land of forebears.</p>
<p>Another slight thing that bothered me: Grant was smaller than Jared Harris. I think Grant was under 5’8". </p>
<p>Lincoln’s partner, William Herndon, used to call him stoop-shouldered.</p>
<p>I think you’re seriously getting away from the point. The movie is more accurate than Vampire Hunter, but it isn’t supposed to be a documentary.</p>
<p>Ok, didn’t read all 30 pages
Skyfall is great.<br>
Could have used more gadgets, but still great.</p>
<p>Javier Bardem/( in Skyfall) he won an oscar for playing the bad guy in No Country for Old Men, which i didnt see- but Id recommend his other films.
Especially this one.
[The</a> Sea Inside :: rogerebert.com :: Reviews](<a href=“http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20041216/REVIEWS/41130002/1001]The”>http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20041216/REVIEWS/41130002/1001)</p>
<p>I saw Life of Pi in 3D by default as Lincoln was sold out. I really enjoyed it and thought it was visually stunning. Enjoyed the book better but would say this is worth seeing!</p>