Lincoln, Lincoln, I've been thinkin'....

Well, hello hello to the blogosphere! It's been quite a long time since my last post. I've moved back across the pond, back across several time zones, and back to school. This space, however, will not be filled with the drivel and woes of my academic experiences. No one wants to read that, not even I do. Instead, I'm going to keep doing what I do best: discuss and analyze pop culture from the heights of high-brow to the gutters of low-brow. Today I present to you: my musings upon Lincoln I had been anticipating this film for quite a few years, from before DDL had signed on, and Spielberg's first choice for the role was Liam Neeson. I love Liam Neeson, and I was sad to see him leave the project, but I also have great admiration for DDL and thought he'd do a great job. There was a lot of hype surrounding the film, but I waited to see it until it had been out for about a month, never really feeling quite in the mood for it, and deferring to see comedies instead. Nevertheless, I really wanted to love it. I entered the theater with high hopes, and left in a manner I have seldom done before--early. I found it hard to believe that a piece by an auteur like Spielberg could be simultaneously skull-numbingly boring, and nausea-inducing schmaltzy. The opening scene shows Lincoln speaking to some soldiers on a battlefield, one black and one white. One of the soldiers mentions that he had been present during the delivery of the Gettysburg Address, and Lincoln asks him if he recalls any bits of the speech. The soldier proceeds to recite verbatim the speech, and he is soon joined by the other soldier in unison. Scenes like this speak more to the mythology of Lincoln than of his character as a man; a leader; caught in a great struggle. Day-Lewis's performance is indeed extraordinary, as really all of his performances are. He has such a transformative ability as an actor. Nevertheless, it's not enough to carry this ship to harbor. As we watch Lincoln struggle to pass the 13th Amendment and thereby end the Civil War, we are introduced to a host of secondary characters whose roles and place are barely defined. Even though so much of the film is devoted to ideological discussions, the sides and beliefs of the other politicians presented remain murky at best. Rarely do I decide to leave a movie early. Usually, if ever, it only happens if I or my companions are feeling unwell (see this fall's viewing of The Holy Mountain). However, when my significant other fell asleep during the picture, and then told me that he was enjoying the sleep just as much if not more than the film(and this is coming from someone who attended film school and works professionally with the medium), I knew it was time to go. I also figured I had a pretty good inkling of how this story was going to turn out.... Next up: my musings on other recent films I've seen, such as Django Unchained, Les Misérables, and Silver Linings Playbook.