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Becoming Abraham Lincoln

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Dainel Day-Lewis certainly cuts a striking image of Lincoln for the upcoming film due out in November.  The biopic is based on Doris Kearns Goodwin's Team of Rivals, so one doesn't have to worry about Lincoln stalking vampires in this one, although it looks like Spielberg applies a rather heavy hand.

I hadn't realized Robert Redford had made a movie on the assassination of Lincoln, entitled The Conspirator, just last year.  Here's a trailer.

Comments

  1. avrdsSeptember 25, 2012 at 5:09 AM

    That is an eerie photograph, assuming it's the actor and not the President.

    ReplyDelete
  2. James FergusonNovember 2, 2012 at 11:52 AM

    Here's an interview with Goodwin on the film,

    http://americanfilm.afi.com/cover-story

    ReplyDelete
  3. James FergusonFebruary 17, 2013 at 2:12 PM

    Maureen Dowd tees of on Spielberg's "Lincoln" and deservedly so,

    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/17/opinion/sunday/dowd-the-oscar-for-best-fabrication.html?hp&_r=0

    She also has some unkind words for Argo when it comes to historical accuracy.

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    Replies
    1. Rick DiguetteFebruary 17, 2013 at 3:03 PM

      Tony Kushner's response is pretty weird. It would have been so simple to be accurate. He complains "It's like saying that Lincoln didn’t have green socks, he had blue socks.” Uh . . . no, it isn't like that at all.

      Although I suspect Lincoln will get the best picture nod, I'm pulling for Life of Pi.

      Delete
  4. avrdsFebruary 17, 2013 at 4:12 PM

    This is why I haven't gone to see it. It looks beautiful, and maybe even entertaining, but it's easy to nick pick these sorts of films to death.

    I did go see two movies recently, both of which I loved: Chasing Ice and Searching for Sugar Man. I was disappointed that Chasing Ice was not up for an Academy Award (the haunting song at the end sung by Scarlett Johansen is, however). Sugar Man was nominated, but it may be out of its league, alas. Both really worth seeing.

    ReplyDelete
  5. avrdsFebruary 17, 2013 at 4:14 PM

    Scarlett Johansson that is.

    ReplyDelete
  6. James FergusonFebruary 18, 2013 at 8:25 AM

    Things aren't shaping up well for Lincoln at the Oscars. Argo has won big in all the other significant awards, Lincoln has scored a big goose egg. This kind of response from Kushner doesn't help at all, and I'm really surprised Speilberg is being so quiet about it. Change the damn scene, especially if he plans to distribute the film among high schools, although this strikes me as little more than a pre-Oscar publicity stunt.

    BTW, I saw Anna this weekend and enjoyed it. It was a glossy version of the novel, but the way Wright and Stoppard chose to set it was excellent, especially the first half with all those glorious stage sets. Really novel idea and I thought worked very well. Second half became too gloomy, too interiorized, which fit the story, but I would have liked to have seen them stick with the stage sets.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Rick DiguetteFebruary 18, 2013 at 1:02 PM

      I've seen both Anna and Argo. Keira Knightley is just too gorgeous for me to believe in her as Anna. Argo, on the other hand, apparently has fact problems as well. Maybe Beasts of the Southern Wild will pull the ultime upset.

      Delete
  7. James FergusonFebruary 18, 2013 at 4:24 PM

    I find myself pulling for Beasts as well, but I doubt it will win. Certainly the most imaginative film of the year.

    ReplyDelete
  8. James FergusonFebruary 18, 2013 at 4:24 PM

    On an inspiring note,

    http://news.yahoo.com/thanks-lincoln-mississippi-finally-definitely-ratified-thirteenth-amendment-024920825.html

    ReplyDelete

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