Texas is 49th. Right?Originally Posted by lazarus
Texas is 49th. Right?
Movies recently reviewed by RRA:
Star Trek (2009)
Pain & Gain (2013)
Oblivion (2013)
Jurassic Park III (2001)
The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997)
Jurassic Park (1993)
The New RRA: Less Spam, still 100% deliciously ruining AD.
I hate Texas, but it does have Austin at least.
Alabama is another illiterate, right-wing, bible-thumping racist embarrassment. And it has...Dally.
T E A M R I V E T T E
So, three months later, I finally got around to seeing this!
It was mostly good! The acting is really wonderful and insightful and the script at least attempts to make some salient thoughts (and frames them effectively and intriguingly). I thought the tone of the piece was kind of all over the place (a lot of weirdly comic scenes and James Spader is basically is another movie entirely) and Spielberg makes a few clumsy and clunky choices along the way, with the ending being awe-inspiringly random and particularly pointless. (Lincoln is a candle!)
But this is also a film full of warmth and unexpected surprises and a lot of great little moments. The trifecta of Day Lewis-Jones-Field is hard to top and Day-Lewis' performance definitely grows on you the more you watch him delve into the character. Some of the more minor roles (like Elizabeth Keckley) provide great emotional strength to the film, but I think some of the other characters get a little lost in the giant parade of big names. Joseph Gordon-Levitt and the aforementioned Spader, in particular, seem a bit lost at sea. (Insert random dream montage footage here.
Overall, it was an accomplished and fascinating effort, but it's also feels just a bit underwhelming.
WE'RE GONNA FIGHT!
This weekend...one last chance to save Halle's career from complete oblivion. Oh, wait...
"...it's already done."
#THECALL.
I finally saw this tonight!
It's funny, because while I was watching it and it ended I found to be a terrific, fascinating, surprisingly entertaining and intelligent film, but I agree with sio that, somehow, despite many great individual parts (and it has many: a sophisticated script, restrained and understatedly solemn direction from Spielberg, excellent performances and a compelling and even entertaining narrative), on the whole it is a tad underwhelming overall; it doesn't feel as rousing and monumental as it should be, which is funny because many were precisely fearing that it would be too solemn and self-important and that's what Spielberg seems to have consciously avoided here and yet, the film lacks for example, the cumulative power of another political Best Picture nominee like Milk. That film probably wasn't as ambitious and the script not nearly as wordy and intellectual as this film's, but it never seemed to miss the emotional urgency and the resonance of the importance of the historical event it was depicting. I applaud Kushner and especially Spielberg for not giving in to some of his more sentimental impulses but I think that he so desperately avoided to make a cloying film that he forsook most of the edifying, history-changing spirit (even if literally implying Lincoln is the light, LOL!) of such an event.
Still, a very good biopic and political film, at times even great and aided by truly magnificent performances. Day-Lewis (who gracefully develops a titanic character with such a gentle touch, intelligence and understated yet palpable pathos) and Jones (a forceful, commanding and striking presence) are Oscar-worthy and I never felt Field's over-the-topness was unwarranted or felt inauthentic. A compelling and lived-in performance. And David Strathairn can do no wrong ().
I wouldn't mind if this won Best Picture. It most certainly is far more challenging, memorable and artful than Argo. If Lincoln is the only possible alternative, then I really hope it upsets.
Last edited by affy18; 02-22-2013 at 11:43 PM.
Yes, David Strathairn was great! I want to see him in a sequel about buying Alaska or something!
I think the comparison to Milk is also very apt, because that film also used a fragment of a man's life to position him at the forefront of an important American social movement. You are right to point out the emotional consistency of that film and I think it does a much better job out of creating a journey for the audience through its focus on its central character. Lincoln falters a bit because it has to rely on a lot of sideshow to move its plot along, while Lincoln himself remains somewhat at a distance from some of the major events of the film.
WE'RE GONNA FIGHT!
This weekend...one last chance to save Halle's career from complete oblivion. Oh, wait...
"...it's already done."
#THECALL.
I think a movie starring Strathairn as Seward could be awesome. It would start with him beating off the co-conspirator of John Wilkes Booth who tried to kill him, and then it'd turn into a Taken-style revenge thriller where he takes down every remaining member of the conspiracy.
I'd watch David Strathairn read the phone book...in a lead role!
I'm watching it right now and Jesus Christ, I'm not gonna make it through 2 hours and a half of this.
LOL. I wish it had been more Mysteries of Lisbon and less Masterpiece Theatre.
I wish we'd gotten a film of the beginning of the administration where Seward tries to, basically, pull a coup and take charge and Lincoln makes him back down.
Also, just more shared screentime for Strathairn and DDL. They were fantastic together in this, and I'd love to see them work together on another project.
Last edited by Dent; 02-23-2013 at 03:07 AM.
At first I couldn't take more than 40 minutes of this movie - however, yesterday I watched 1 hour more and I'm actually kinda enjoying it, for my surprise.
I'll watch the rest now
If Anne Hathaway was a movie, Lincoln would be it.At first I couldn't take more than 40 minutes of this movie - however, yesterday I watched 1 hour more and I'm actually kinda enjoying it, for my surprise.
I'll watch the rest now
omg I kinda loved it!
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