Skip to main content
So I watched "Shadows and Beards" yesterday (aka Lincoln). Sacrilege alert! I wasn't amazed. Credit to Spielberg for the realism of candlelight in the pre-electricity era, but damn, even the day scenes were dark.

Fine group of actors, some great individual scenes. Sally Field doing her always-solid "Southern crazy" and taciturn Tommy Lee with the SURPRISE ladyfriend reveal. Great costumes, great sets, but LONG and SLOW...

Daniel Day Lewis gets credit for what? Looking thin and tall and dealing with appliances and make-up? He was fine as Lincoln, but it's not like we have recordings to compare him to the real deal. This is inarguably the best produced movie about a sliver of Lincoln's life, but that doesn't make it the best film of the year... by a long shot.

Side note: I have to say, the VERY FIRST scene kinda threw me out of it. To have those two soldiers mosey up to Lincoln's wagon and recite the speech like that? And one admitted that he couldn't even really hear it? Sorry; it felt like Spielbergian manipulation.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Two Parties are NOT the same.

Thinking about the differences between the Dems and the Trump. Trump is promising "America First" jingoism without delivering anything but racism, while riding the economic tide of his predecessor. Consider what the Dems have been DEMANDED to fix. 1) Healthcare for all Americans 2) Student loan relief 3) A workable immigration solution 4) $15 min. wage and/or guaranteed income 5) Incremental gun regulation 6) Protecting the environment 7) Iran nuclear treaty 8) Thwarting Russian election interference 9) Reparations 10) Lowering taxes for middle class 11) Raising taxes for the 1% 12) Improving K-12 education 13) Rolling back Citizens United 14) Protecting Roe v. Wade 15) A satisfying DC Cinematic Universe (why not?) It's perfectly fine to be in your feelings if you are upset that this country is so f*cked that your particular issue is not being trumpeted by all (or any) of the Democratic primary candidates. It's even OK if you feel that the cur...
1 comment
Read more

Open Letter to GOP recruiters

To whom it may concern: I am a telegenic, articulate, working, married father of two who owns his own house and a small business. Before you come knocking on my door, there are a few ground rules. Rule No. 1 No discussion of "The Party of Lincoln" without claiming Strom Thurmond and Jesse Helms too. I know American history well enough, thank you. I also know that Thurmond was only a Democrat until the party decided to stand up for the rights of Black people. Then he jumped ship (while denying his own half-Black daughter) and led the drive to keeping a strong segregated state. Leave Lincoln in his grave (besides, we both know he didn't really emancipate very many don't we?) Rule No. 2 Liberal is not a bad word. It does not mean that Democrats love big government and spending tax dollars foolishly. That's Bush's job. Nor does it mean that I have been stroked and manipulated by a Leftist cabal that wants to think for me. Convince me on the merits of what YOU ...
11 comments
Read more

An open letter to Bob Johnson

BJ... phi... bruh... Your tirade about Barack Obama is appalling. You earned your billion on the backs of ass-slapping videos, blaxploitation reruns and informercials and you have THE GALL to talk about being "insulted" that "we are so stupid?" Back at you, dawg. Incidentally, NOT ONE PERSON was confused about your thinly veiled reference about Obama's days "in the neighborhood." It was pathetic when the recently dismissed Clintonian flak floated it out there. Coming from you, it's traitorously venomous. We were smart enough to avoid buying tickets to "Who's Your Caddy?" and we're smart enough to understand your half-assed attempt at a smear. By the way, if you're going to "go there," have the balls to own up to it. Your backtrack about referring to his days as an organizer is even worse than the smear. Are we to understand that Obama's grass roots community leadership is somehow less legitimate than the...
1 comment
Read more