Lincoln

My thoughts on Lincoln in bullet-point format.

·         Daniel Day-Lewis will join Denzel Washington on the Best Actor list come Oscar time.

·         Joseph Gordon-Levitt is in this too?  Is there some sort of new rule that he must appear in 25% of all new movies?

·         Tommy Lee Jones looks old.  I mean old.  He's amazing and all, and it's nice to see him chew the shit out of all the scenery, but when did he get so painfully decrepit?  Just looking at the bags underhis eyes made me want to sleep for weeks.

·         Sally Field is amazing, which is good, because I think she's 33% of all women with speaking roles.

·         It's PG-13, but there are a few points where you might not be totally comfortable with a 13-15 year old watching.  At the very least, be ready for a healthy discussion afterwards.

·         Spielberg is in fine form with Lincoln but he still hasn't shaken his inability to end a film.  This could have been shortened by two scenes and a good 15 minutes and, like AI, it may have actually been better without the coda.

·         Moriarty playing Ulysses S. Grant was weird.

·         Every time you recognize a new character on screen, take a shot.  You'll be legally dead by the 50 minute mark.

·         I'm ready to say that this is the definitive Lincoln performance.  I'm glad that so much research was done.  According to historical sources, yes, his voice really did sound more like this and not some sort of bear-like rumble.

·         150 minutes rarely pass by so quickly.

·         The Biopic is the new War Movie.  Everybody wants in.

·         How many people are going to be genuinely surprised by the factual politics?  School does NOT go this in depth.

·         We need more imaginative name-calling in Congress.

·         I'm not big on biographies, but I want to read more about Lincoln and the 13th Amendment just because of this film.  Go see it.  Now.