movies

[BigDCardlvr]

Here is a tidbit I will share about the movie Lincoln. My nephew has a M.A. in History, and being born in raised Springfield he had a special interest in Lincoln and made it his specialty in his studies. He loved the movie, and was very impressed with the attention to detail and historical accuracy. He said some of those folksy type of stories that Lincoln told in the movies were exactly the same renditions he had heard. I thought maybe that was just some creative writing, but apparently these were stories Lincoln was known to tell. There were a couple of things he wasn't sure about - the letter he sent to congress saying he knew of no efforts by the South for resolving the war - but he said that if they got other details so right that he did know about that he'd almost be surprised that it was made up.

So apparently if you are a history buff and need historical accuracy you will get it with this movie. I need to see it again.

The movie is fairly meticulous about details including that letter which was interesting as I'd never read about efforts at negotiations to end the war. In fact, one thing watching the movie reminded me is how exclusively discussion of the Civil War in school focused on battles. We learned almost nothing about the politics, which I think are a lot more helpful in understanding ourselves and our past than troop movements.

That said, there's been some good commentaries on the movie's narrow focus allowing it to portray emancipation as a gift given by great white men, and on theme of compromise versus principled radicalism. See, for example this New York Times op-ed and this essay for Jacobin.

Went to see Lincoln, and jim's description of his nephew's reaction resonated with me. I read the links Arthur Dent posted, and I felt that maybe the authors were disappointed that Spielberg didn't include more African-American voices, but I thought that the movie worked for what it was. I must say the last scene made me sit bolt upright and think

[SHOW]

"That's Lt. Anita Van Buren in bed with Thaddeus Stevens!

I thoroughly enjoyed this movie and like most of the audience was unable to get up and leave once it was over. Just had to sit there and take it in.

[lukethedrifter]

I watched Jiro Dreams of Sushi last night. The best parts examined the family dynamic in this sushi family; you can glean a lot about the dead seriousness of Japanese culture there. And it's inspiring to see an 85 year old man wax poetic about striving for perfection, and about his passion for his profession.

But really, it could have been half the length. One can take only so many slow motion shots of an old man molding a piece of sushi.

It's fun to read the reviews of Jiro's place after seeing the movie. Honestly, I can't remember if I saw it to the end.

[Vidor]

Saw "Ted" on an airplane. It was pretty funny. I know it's not fashionable to like Seth MacFarlane, and the third act of the movie did lose a lot of steam, but I was laughing.

[JL21]

Compliance is a really, really good movie, and is pretty much guaranteed to make you feel uncomfortable. I can't imagine a movie like that getting an Oscar nomination but it deserves one.

[/youtube]

[haltz]

It must be Oscar season because there are a ton of screeners floating around p2p land. Zero Dark Thiry and Seven Psychopaths are up first.

[thrill]

It must be Oscar season because there are a ton of screeners floating around p2p land. Zero Dark Thiry and Seven Psychopaths are up first.

I got skyfall this weekend as well.

[Vidor]

The other movie I saw on the airplane that I liked was "Bernie", starring Jack Black and Shirley Maclaine, about a very weird murder case in Texas. The real-life article the movie was based on is here.

http://www.texasmonthly.com/1998-01-01/feature4.php

[haltz]

Zero Dark Thirty was fantastic. Really well acted and it didn't require any suspension of disbelief for once. Surprised to see Chris Pratt and Pete from The League.

[ghostrunner]

The other movie I saw on the airplane that I liked was "Bernie", starring Jack Black and Shirley Maclaine, about a very weird murder case in Texas. The real-life article the movie was based on is here.

http://www.texasmonthly.com/1998-01-01/feature4.php

I'm a little mystified by the good reviews for that. I'm a Linklater fan usually, but it's just kind of meh. Shirley Maclaine is more or less wasted. Jack Black is fine. Decent story and colorful characters, but not that funny or particularly moving.

[lukethedrifter]

I gave Bernie a 'I didn't feel it was a total waste of my time'.


Off topic, Linklater seems to be buds with that Alex Jones character that showed up in the Gun Control thread.