Lincoln

We went to see the new movie, Lincoln, yesterday.  My husband hoped it was going to be more of a biography of his life.  Instead it was about the last few months prior to his death and the political back and forth of getting the 13th Amendment passed.  Needless to say, Hubby was disappointed.  I, however, thought it was great.

As soon as I saw previews for it this summer I knew I wanted to see this movie.  Then a few weeks ago Jay Leno was talking about it and said he thought it was one of the best movies he's ever seen and knew it was going to be an Oscar contender.

The topic of the movie alone isn't really something that would perk the nominating committee's interest - politics and slavery.  But they will enjoy the struggle and negotiations it shows.  For that alone it will get a best picture nomination, you know, forget that golden child, Steven Spielberg, produced it. 

Where this movie really stood out and no doubt will sweep the Oscars will be with the actors.  Daniel Day Lewis LOOKED like Abraham Lincoln and by all accounts sounded and behaved just like him.  I believed I was watching President Lincoln, it was an incredible performance.  Sally Field and Tommy Lee Jones were both absolutely stunning.

Unfortunately, this is a fairly boring moving.  My inner history geek thought it was great, but a lot of the beauty of this movie will be lost on the masses.  They may admire the fantastic performances by the entire cast (truly, ALL of them were awesome) and they may think the debates were somewhat amusing, but the struggle to significantly alter our Constitution and the work that went into it will be only an interesting side note, if even that.  And that will be the real crime.  I don't know how to make political debates any more interesting than what I saw on the screen yesterday - they were brilliant.  Thaddius Stevens was merely an interesting name that somehow hung in my memory from college, but I didn't know how or why he was important.  I'm sure some droll instructor covered him in one of many lectures.  It's probably scribbled in one of the notepads I've kept.  I'm quite sure no one told me of his linguistic artistry, but the man could make a point and drive it home.  His significance in history was lost on me until yesterday.  He was a passionate abolitionist and kept the slavery issue on the table at incredible odds.  Without his passion and convictions Lincoln would not have had the backing necessary to write slavery out of the Constitution.  

The one thing I do remember from high school, however, was the name Seward.  He was Lincoln's Secretary of State (something that also didn't stick in my memory).  The reason I remember him is that he was the guy who managed to bring Alaska in as a territory to the US and the newspapers called the deal "Seward's Folly".

There you go, a history lesson for the day.  You're welcome.

What?  The history geek doesn't remember these significant fellows?  Nope.  I hated history in high school and didn't discover its intrigue until college.  So, yeah, lots of important stuff slipped in one ear and out the other.

Back to the movies, I have a couple of other nomination titles I've jotted down:
The Forger
Magic Mike - yes, I think supporting actor is due here
Being Flynn
Ruby Sparks

We are at the beginning of block buster season where many more titles will bubble to the surface.  I can't wait to see The Hobbit.  By all accounts it will be as amazing as the Lord of the Rings trilogy that each received their own nominations.

We'll have to wait until January to see how my predictions turn out.