I have yet to see "The Hobbit", and hope that I haven't missed the opportunity (when it failed to show up in Oscar contention, the local theaters cut back on afternoon showings, except for the 3D version, at higher admission, of course). Still haven't seen "Life of Pi", or "Les Mis". Caught theothers you mentioned, though.
I am also looking to see "The Impossible", to see how well they can carry off a tsunami.
But I was impressed with "Lincoln". Much better than your typical Hollywood costume drama. It is a political adventure; it also has a few humorous moments, especially when ol Abe is confronted with a problem, and starts to spin off one of his little funny stories (even though the story told may not relate in any way to a problem).
What I really liked about it, though, was that the appropriate actors, for once, come across as middle-aged 19th century men, NOT like 21st century actors trying to act and look middle-aged, and with as much of a sense of the 19th century as I have for neurosurgery. The actor portraying Lincoln has a high-pitched, scratchy voice - which is at first startling, as most portrayals give him at least a rich tenor, or resonant baritone - but it fits the character marvelously. I could hear that as Lincoln. And he walks funny, too - not like the marble demigod we associate with the image of Lincoln, but more like a gawky stork. (His law partner, Billy Herndon, wrote than when Lincoln walked about town, he looked like a mechanical contrivance that badly needed oiling). A very human Lincoln - and one you can feel for.
The ONLY sour moment in the whole thing is the revelation of Lincoln's fate; VERY poorly contrived, almost painfully so; it looks like it was spliced in from another movie. It was like a pothole in an otherwise smoothly paved story. You go over it, its very jarring, you bump your head...but then it is gone and behind you. It sucked royally - like it was done that way to save on the budget - or like it was an afterthought, put in at the instigation of an assistant associate producer (that is, a cousin or brother-in-law of a financial backer), just so he can point out that scene to his friends and say, "See that? _I_ contributed that part!".
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Date: 2013-01-15 04:00 am (UTC)I am also looking to see "The Impossible", to see how well they can carry off a tsunami.
But I was impressed with "Lincoln". Much better than your typical Hollywood costume drama. It is a political adventure; it also has a few humorous moments, especially when ol Abe is confronted with a problem, and starts to spin off one of his little funny stories (even though the story told may not relate in any way to a problem).
What I really liked about it, though, was that the appropriate actors, for once, come across as middle-aged 19th century men, NOT like 21st century actors trying to act and look middle-aged, and with as much of a sense of the 19th century as I have for neurosurgery. The actor portraying Lincoln has a high-pitched, scratchy voice - which is at first startling, as most portrayals give him at least a rich tenor, or resonant baritone - but it fits the character marvelously. I could hear that as Lincoln. And he walks funny, too - not like the marble demigod we associate with the image of Lincoln, but more like a gawky stork. (His law partner, Billy Herndon, wrote than when Lincoln walked about town, he looked like a mechanical contrivance that badly needed oiling). A very human Lincoln - and one you can feel for.
The ONLY sour moment in the whole thing is the revelation of Lincoln's fate; VERY poorly contrived, almost painfully so; it looks like it was spliced in from another movie. It was like a pothole in an otherwise smoothly paved story. You go over it, its very jarring, you bump your head...but then it is gone and behind you. It sucked royally - like it was done that way to save on the budget - or like it was an afterthought, put in at the instigation of an assistant associate producer (that is, a cousin or brother-in-law of a financial backer), just so he can point out that scene to his friends and say, "See that? _I_ contributed that part!".