Lincoln

DreamWorks/Twentieth Century Fox/Reliance

*PISS OFF IF YOU HATE SPOILERS*

Steven Spielberg does what he does best, and that is a new genre I have invented, called “time travel films”. The phrase may or may not catch on, but who the hell cares, right?

DreamWorks/Twentieth Century Fox/Reliance

Just stick a TARDIS in the background, and
there you have it ─ time travel film.

A time travel film is one that is not a documentary, yet stripped of its dramatic embellishments, becomes a fairly accurate description of the times where the movie takes place. Spielberg has achieved that in Saving Private Ryan, and even a year earlier with Amistad. This time he takes us back through American history, right smack in the middle of the civil war.

DreamWorks/Twentieth Century Fox/Reliance

I never imagined there'd be mud in there.

Apparently, having Daniel Day-Lewis in your movie will raise the acting caliber of the entire cast, as if they’re ashamed to bring anything less than their A-game when interacting with him. Sally Field and Tommy Lee Jones are of course veteran actors, and they can hold their own even without Day-Lewis. But the relatively younger cast (such as Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Lee Pace) and the relatively less famous cast (such as both Davids Costabile and Strathairn) took home from Daniel Day-Lewis lessons in either method acting or douchebaggery, depending on who you ask.

Huffington Post

"You know the Oscar's mine, don't you, boy?"

I don’t even have to mention the production elements, since I already said this is a time travel film. The production design, art direction, sets, costumes, and make-up are all top-notch. Janusz Kaminski’s cinematography is perfect, as always, while John Williams’s score is historically haunting. If we’re going to be comparing presidential biopics, then Lincoln beats El Presidente hands down.

DreamWorks/Twentieth Century Fox/Reliance

That scene in Congress shows classic
behavior of the legislative department.

Lincoln. USA. 2012.



Original rating: 8.0 / 10
Voting on the 13th Amendment scene: + 0.1
Tommy Lee Jones loving a black woman: + 0.1
Final rating: 8.2 / 10





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