Django Unchained

There is a point early on in "Django Unchained" when the German dentist turned bounty hunter known as Dr. King Schultz, played by Christoph Waltz introduces himself and his horse to a group of slave traders, both he and his horse bow their heads as only proper gentlemen would, its a pure Tarantino moment and it sold me completely on this Spaghetti Western meet Blaxploitation epic.

Quentin Tarantino is a master filmmaker, as a true artists he makes films which interest him and doesn't really have a regard for what others think. This has caused a split between most filmgoers, you either despise this trait or you go along for the ride, either way it cannot be debated that he is one of the most original voices in Hollywood today and "Django Unchained" does nothing to deter this fact. The film tells the story of a slave named Django played by Jamie Foxx (in a role that Will Smith now surely wishes he didn't turn down) who is freed by Dr. Schultz and in turn for his freedom joins the Dr.  in the bounty hunting business. The movie is filled with Tarantino mainstays such as juicy scenes of dialogue to gratuitous violence all along the way while Django is in search of his long lost wife, Broomhilda Von Shaft played by Kerry Washington. joining in on this fun ride is Leonardo DiCaprio as the villainous plantation owner Calvin Candie and Samuel L. Jackson as Candie's loyal house slave known as Stephen-these two seem destined to duke it out for a best supporting actor statue come Oscar night.

The mix of genres is a skill that Tarantino has mastered and with it comes a slew of controversy in this film which I feel is mostly without warrant. In particular the use of the N-word which is used approximately over 100 times during the almost 3 hour running time. The time period is two years before the Civil War, a very dark time in America's history to not use this word would be like turning a blind eye to historical accuracy and to this point I did not feel it was used blatantly to stir up controversy. The violence, as is the case with other Tarantino movies such as "Inglorious Basterds" or the Kill Bill movies is graphic and cartoonish in some parts but this isn't a movie for kids, only towards the overlong conclusion of the film did I think it was overdone.

The cast is most exceptional, Foxx as the lead doesn't have a whole lot of dialogue but his character doesn't need to say much but when he does you listen. The scene chewing players in this are DiCaprio, in probably his best performance since "The Aviator", Christoph Waltz, who seems was placed on this earth to act of Tarantino's scripts and Samuel L. Jackson, whose role here is a true Benedict Arnold in film lore that should be discussed and dissected for years to come. Going back to DiCaprio, when his character is first introduced I wasn't impressed, whether it was how he decided to interpret the script or he just felt out of place but as soon as the group arrive to the plantation known as "Candie Land" DiCaprio turns what could have been an overacted piece of southern trash into a pure being of evil and menace. Other highlights are Don Johnson as another plantation owner known as "Big Daddy" and a scene involving the early beginnings of the KKK played out almost like an Abbott and Costello routine, its so ridiculous and wrong that it might be the funniest scene in film this year.

Music is another aspect that Tarantino has control over in all his films, again he mixes genres, such as in "Basterds" when he used a David Bowie song in a movie set in World War II France, here he uses everything from rap to a Jim Croce song, it shouldn't work but it does. What doesn't work in the film is the last 30 minutes, it almost seems like the filmmaker had too many ideas and he tries to fit everything in and with that makes the final act feel both rushed and deliriously long.

"Django" is one of the best films of the year in my mind, The screenplay-should be another Oscar lock along with Supporting actor, they should really just change the name from "Best Original Screenplay" to the "Tarantino". Films from the recent past such as "Precious" and "The Help" in my eyes do worse to exploit African American stereotypes than anything does in Django Unchained. If this would be your first time experiencing a Tarantino film I'd say start with his third feature, "Jackie Brown" his most accessible and most underrated film. Django isn't for everyone but I can promise you that you will at least have something to talk about when the credits roll.

Forget the Latest "Bourne" or "Bond" entries, go for "Jack Reacher"

The "One Man, One Mission" genre of film has been around for awhile, its form can even be traced in early literature such as "The Odyssey". Stars such as Charles Bronson, Clint Eastwood and Steve McQueen made their careers with this genre in the 70's and it almost became a lost genre in the 80's with almost superhero action stars such as Stallone, Van Damme and Schwarzenegger. As previously discussed in other entries on this site with the introduction of Jason Bourne the genre of "OMOM" came back with immense popularity, Liam Neeson and his "Taken" franchise helped solidify this further.

Tom Cruise has been the go to PG-13 action star for going on his third decade now, with films such as the "Mission Impossible" franchise and "War of the Worlds" Cruise is the supreme leader of action films that you want to see as well as your grandma. Cruise has smartly traded in his leather pants and monkey from the (almost) so bad its good musical flop "Rock of Ages" for "Jack Reacher" a film based on the first book from author Lee Child's popular literary franchise. The character of Jack is described in the book as among other things-tall, something that Cruise is indeed not, I think that scenes of Cruise with his shirt off and in bed with scantily clad women is to try and make up for Cruise's lack of being a forceful presence as the character is described in the book. Luckily Cruise brings his charisma to full blast and it makes the film work beyond expectations.

The movie begins with a basically dialogue free first few minutes, something that actually works given that the first scene is of a sniper taking out random people in a Pittsburgh park, given the real life events of recent weeks this is a disturbing scene and it surprised me that they left it in the final film. Actually, the film is quite topical in this regard as gun control is brought up in minor form towards the end of the movie. The man who is arrested for this crime only has one request "Get me Jack Reacher" it is explained that Jack Reacher is someone who is not "gotten" and if he wants to find you, he will find you. Reacher is ex military and through the course of the film we find out why it is that he is here, the plot is very procedural which is  refreshing in these days of Nolan-esque plot twists.

Simplicity is what makes this film work. Cruise is a good enough actor to know this isn't "Macbeth" he delivers his lines with enough gusto to take him seriously and writer/director Christopher Mcquarrie knows how to shoot a fight scene- a must in a film such as this. Other than Cruise the best performance in "Jack Reacher" is by acclaimed independent film/documentary maker Werner Herzog as the main villain known only as "The Zec" Herzog delivers his lines with such creepiness that he made me wish he was the bad guy in "Skyfall". British actress Rosamund Pike plays the love interest and while a beauty to look at I'd hope if there are future installments they go for someone who isn't just "boobs in a business suit" and can deliver a believable American accent.

So overall "Jack Reacher" is not groundbreaking, in fact its the opposite, its a cry back to simple movies that are just entertaining as they stand, one leading man and no alien invasion or "it was all a dream" moments. Cruise, like most big movie stars is much better at being an actor then he is as a celebrity. If other installments of "Jack Reacher" are made I would definitely see them, even if they resort to Cruise wearing lifts in his shoes...

"Killing Them Softly" in fact kills

Brad Pitt is probably the closest thing we have to a movie star nowadays, you put his smiling mug on a movie poster and at the very least a 20 million dollar opening at the box-office is guaranteed. While Pitt's status as a leading man is invaluable, to me he has always been more interesting as a supporting player in an ensemble such as "Snatch" or "Inglorious Basterds". In the new movie "Killing Them Softly", a mash up of noir meets gangster meets Tarantino meets Mamet, Pitt hidden under sunglasses, facial hair and sleazy gangster attire continues to show that even as head of the world's most glamorous family he can still pick out a good script.

"Killing Them Softly" takes place during the height of the recession in 2008, being as all the characters in the movie are criminals and or thugs its an interesting perspective to see that even illegal goings on can be affected during hard economic times. The movie is based off a novel from the 70's entitled "Cogan's Trade" having not read the source material I can't say how closely the film is adapted from it but the plot surrounds a underground card game that is robbed by two low level (dumb) criminals played by Ben Mendelsohn and Scoot McNairy and the consequences that arise from said heist. Pitt plays mob enforcer Jackie Cogan who is sent to make things right, as only a mob enforcer can. The cast features an almost Mount Rushmore of actors from mob related movie and TV projects, there is Ray Liotta (Goodfellas) as the head of the card game and most impressively James Gandolfini (The Sopranos) as a hit man recruited by Pitt's character to "take care" of one of the assailants from the card game. For better or worse Gandolfini will forever be Tony Soprano, even in this role he uses the familiar New Jersey accent from the show however the character  he plays, a down on his luck hit man from Miami is so effective in his two main scenes that I would consider him seriously for a best supporting actor Oscar nomination.

The overall plot of "Killing Them Softly" is not what makes the movie a success, director Andrew Dominik has made a small, gritty human crime drama with hints of early Quentin Tarantino, mostly filled with great scenes of dialogue splattered with chunks of violence. During a lot of scenes in the background there are TV's on with speeches from George Bush and Barack Obama regarding the recession at first they are almost a distraction but when filtered in with the plot by the end it makes total sense and is almost genius in its execution. Pitt has a few scenes with character actor Richard Jenkins who plays the mobs paper pusher consigliere that truly make this point across, everything is a negotiation, the mob needs a bailout just as much as the auto industry does.

This movie was released in the weeks after the big Thanksgiving holiday and right before the gargantuan Christmas holiday, the word of mouth has not been good. I believe this to be people expecting it to be a "Brad Pitt" movie, its not. A few people even walked out during the show I was in this last Friday. Pitt has the same problem Gandolfini has, for better or worse he is a movie star and that's what the majority of the public want to see him in, "movie star" movies. Killing Them Softly is no "Benjamin Button" or "Moneyball" if you go in with that attitude I can promise you that you will not enjoy. Killing Them Softly joins the ranks of "Reservoir Dogs" and "Suicide Kings" as a movie that doesn't get the theatrical and or awards recognition it deserves but will justifiably find a cult audience on DVD.

Hitchcock, a textbook movie about making movies...almost

"Hitchcock" is the story of the trials and tribulations it took the legendary "Master of Suspense" Alfred Hitchcock to get what many to consider his signature film "Psycho" to the big screen. While most of the film is done very well "Hitchcock" struggles in some places as it tries to separate itself from other biopics.


Anthony Hopkins under a slew of makeup plays "Hitch" as he is lovingly referred to by most in his inner circle including his wife and collaborator "Alma" played by hot old broad of the moment Helen Mirren. Much has been said about if Hopkins actually resembles the real Hitchcock in this movie, now granted the makeup job here is nowhere near to the levels that was shown in "Lincoln" as you are always aware that's Hopkins under the fake nose, prosthetic belly and bald cap but it doesn't take away from the performance that he gives-one of his better in the last ten years. Both Hopkins and Mirren can do this stuff in their sleep, there is nothing really challenging here but if put in other hands it could of gotten very messy. The supporting players including Toni Collette as Hitch's assistant Peggy and the ever increasingly beautiful Scarlett Johansson as early "scream queen" Janet Leigh (its nice to see Johansson take a break from green screens and get back to her indie roots), also look for a blink and you miss it cameo from Karate Kid himself Ralph Macchio. Jessica Biel shows up as actress Vera Miles and does what Jessica Biel does best: look good but bring absolutely nothing to the table.

The movie starts after the success of "North By Northwest" Hitchcock, now 60 is worried that he has reached his peak as a filmmaker and desperately wants to keep the title of "Master of Suspense". He discovers a script for "Psycho" based in part on real life serial killer Ed Gein and decides that this will be his next movie. "Psycho" was revolutionary for the time for many reasons, most importantly it was the first "horror" movie to be directed by a respected, mainstream director as well as star established actors and was going to show such horrifying images such as a man dressed in his mother's clothing and a toilet being flushed on film-needless to say the movie studio wanted no part of it and only agrees to distribute it once it is agreed that Hitchcock himself will finance the movie with his own money. These early scenes as well as the scenes involving filming the movie itself are what makes "Hitchcock" most effective. The other plot involving Hitchcock and Alma's relationship with themselves and Alma's "will she or won't she" relationship with a screenwriter played by Danny Huston and Hitch's notorious obsession with his leading ladies mostly falls flat and for a moment you almost forget that there is something much more important going on elsewhere. Another interesting thing that director Sacha Gervasi does is place Hitchcock in dream sequences with Ed Gein during the filming of Psycho, something that no one other than Hitch would know if actually happened but puts you in the mind of one of the great directors of all time.


No spoiler alert here but it is known that ultimately Psycho was released and was extremely successful and broke new ground for the movie industry as a whole as well as how movies are promoted and distributed today. It also shows that "horror" and "scary movies" can be for more than teenage kids looking for cheap thrills and a good excuse to sit n the back row of the theater, I'd like to see studios today actually put money into scary movies with actually decent scripts and actors and actresses not just on summer break from their CW TV series.


Movies about making movies are almost a genre in of itself and along with "Argo" this is the first time I can remember two films about the subject are being released so closely together and receiving mainstream publicity. I think Hitchcock shies from too many "industry" jokes and lingo to make it more accessible to mainstream audiences, which works for it in terms of financial gain from the box office but may also harm its credibility for those looking for a true, true to life story.

Skyfall(s) and fails

James Bond is easily one of the top 5 most recognizable movie characters in the history of the medium, people who have never seen a James Bond movie know who James Bond is. 23 Bond films have been in theaters since the 1960's it's considered the most monetarily successful film franchise in history. After Pierce Brosnan ran his course as Bond through the 90's and early 2000's, as well as the new success of the Jason Bourne franchise James Bond was deemed too out of touch and was in need of a reboot.

Insert Daniel Craig, a mostly unknown character actor Craig beat out frontrunners such as Hugh Jackman and Clive Owen for the role that would forever define whoever puts the tuxedo on. Craig's first film as Bond would be "Casino Royale" one of the only original Ian Fleming novels that had not been properly adapted (Woody Allen and Peter Sellers did make a spoof of Royale at one point). This plan worked as "Casino Royale" quickly became the most successful Bond film in recent history and many placed Craig right up there with Sean Connery as the best Bond ever-after one film. Next up was "Quantum of Solace" which was set up as a direct sequel to "Royale" something again that really hadn't been done before in the franchise. "Quantum" was not as well received critically or commercially as "Royale" but still made a ton of money and in my opinion is a very underrated film. Four years have passed since the release of "Quantum" which brings us to "Skyfall".

Some new blood was added for this go around, most notably, Academy Award winning director Sam Mendes (American Beauty) was called upon to helm the film and Academy Award winning actor Javier Bardem was cast as the mysterious villain Silva. Its unfortunate that with all the talent and production value surrounding itself that "Skyfall" is a mediocre Bond film at best.

"Skyfall" opens with the traditional big action scene that is customary with all Bond films, and it really is a good one. This set piece ends with Bond being shot from atop of a train and seemingly left for dead, cue a tremendous opening credits montage with the theme song performed by Adele. At this point all hopes are high for not just a great Bond film but possibly one of the best films of the year. Unfortunately after a somewhat confusing plot set up (not rare for the franchise) "Skyfall" depends on too much of a backstory that is overlong and to be honest boring. Having Mendes who with films such as "American Beauty" and "Revolutionary Road" is a disappointing mistake as some of the action scenes and Bond mainstays get away from him here

A few things are required in Bond films: exotic locations, cool gadgets, beautiful women and a great over the top Bond villain, working as a reboot "Skyfall" throws almost all of these out the window. Bardem is perfectly game as the villain Silva, an ex MI6 agent who only has revenge on the mind. Silva can best be described as an A-sexual albino with a deep mommy complex, the scene in which we are introduced to him (which comes far too late in the picture) is creepy and effective but almost as soon as he appears he disappears and doesn't return until towards the end of the movie. Bardem is like a Spanish version of Christopher Walken, he plays creepy very well, almost to camp levels. We are made to think that Silva is the Hannibal Lecter of the Bond universe, another scene actually has him in a glass prison cell almost identical to the one seen in "Silence of the Lambs" but again Silva is creepy and not terrifying like he is set up to be.

We also find out that Bond is an orphan, the climactic scene actually takes place at his families estate which is left in the care of Kincade played by a grizzly Albert Finney. The thought of finding out about Bond's upbringing and what happened to his parents is interesting in theory but again the execution is not pulled off and Bond basically comes off as Batman without the cool costume.

"Skyfall" is like the prologue to the next movie, new characters are set up and old ones are killed off. The last half of the movie I kept thinking why is this necessary when they just rebooted the franchise two films ago and Craig is signed on for at least 2 more adventures. My take on the mediocrity of this film is in the minority as "Skyfall" in just 3 weeks has already become the highest grossing film in the storied franchise. Even with all the flaws (I'm not even bringing up the scene with the Komodo dragon) "Skyfall" is effective in that it does make me curious to see where this leads the franchise. But maybe I'm just a Bond guy living in a Bourne world...

"Argo" see this movie!

Ben Affleck has had an interesting career in Hollywood. After "writing" Good Will Hunting with best pal Matt Damon and winning an Oscar for said screenplay Affleck went the movie star route starring in big blockbusters such as "Armageddon" and "Pearl Harbor" among a slew of forgettable rom-coms, (Gigli, anyone?)  With his movie career on life support Affleck directed the small film "Gone Baby Gone" which itself is an adaptation of a Dennis Lehane (Mystic River) novel, the movie got good reviews, but did poorly at the box office, in fact the biggest thing to come out of "Gone Baby Gone" was the surprise Oscar nomination for supporting actress Amy Ryan. Next up for Affleck was the heist/thriller "The Town" for which he starred in as well as directed. "The Town" made many top 10 lists towards the end of the year but due to competition from "The Social Network" and "The Kings Speech" it was again left out of the major Oscar categories sans a best supporting actor nomination for Jeremy Renner. The major difference between GBG and The Town is that while GBG was a box office non factor, The Town opened at #1 and ended its domestic run with over 92 million dollars

With "Argo" Affleck's third film as a director he has reached the top of the mountain, who was once looked upon as a forgettable B movie actor Affleck has substantiated himself as this generations Warren Beatty, or  even Clint Eastwood. Affleck makes movies he wants to make, the way he wants to make them.

"Argo" is a true story set between 1979 and 1981 during the Iran hostage crisis and tells the story of the rescue of six fugitive American diplomatic personnel out of revolutionary Iran.Affleck plays CIA agent Tony Mendez who is tasked with leading the rescue. With the help of the Canadian Prime Minister the 6 would be hostages are put up to be a Canadian film crew in Iran to scout movie locations for a would be Star Wars rip off known as "Argo". All the bells and whistles are put on for this "hoax", a production company is set up, storyboards are made, the hostages are set up to be cameramen, screenwriter, director, among others. The film is so well made and paced that even though I've just told you that they are eventually rescued I promise that by the end you'll be gripping the armrests of your seat as this pot boiler of a thriller comes to its dramatic conclusion.

The acting again is top notch, Affleck himself is the only true blue "star".in the whole thing, John Goodman, Bryan Cranston and a scene stealing Alan Arkin are the other recognizable names in an othewise nameless cast which effectively makes the movie better for doing so.

This again is Affleck's baby and he deserves all the credit in the world. One scene in particular set during a script reading plays like something Scorsese would make during his hey day, and even uses Van Halen's "Dance the Night Away" to set the tone of Hollywood in the late 70's/early 80's. This film reeks of this time period and is all the better for it, the clothes, the music, the drinking and of course the smoking all make it feel like this was something left on the cutting room floor from 1980. For a story based around such a dark time its surprising how funny "Argo" actually is, as well as it being a true Hollywood movie about "Hollywood". "Argo" itself is defining Hollywood expectations, when it opened in October it actually grossed less than "The Town" but thanks to word of mouth people are finding this movie and its set to cross 100 million dollars domestic any day now with more to come with the expected multiple Oscar nominations coming its way. Its nice that someone like Ben Affleck can repent for the errors of his previous ways and I look forward to what he has to offer in the future

Silver Linings Playbook scores on all levels.

Silver Linings Playbook the newest movie from director David O. Russell (The Fighter, I Heart Huckabees) and staring Bradley Cooper (The Hangover, Wet Hot American Summer) and most impressively Jennifer Lawrence (The Hunger Games, Winter's Bone) comes right in the middle of Hollywood's award season and is quite possibly the best American film to come out this year.

Russell, until recently was mostly known for niche underground movies such as "Huckabees" and "Spanking the Monkey", it was with 2010's "The Fighter" that he finally received all around critical and commercial success, as well as an Oscar nomination for best director. It would be hard to imagine Russell's name not being one of the 5 up for the award come Oscar night this year. Russell guides a movie essentially about crazy people with such ease and style that you feel as you are in the living room or dance studio with the characters. The hand held camera technique, mostly used now in Jason Bourne ripoff films is most effective, there are some intense scenes here and the hand held camera gives it an intimate feel

The story surrounds Cooper's character "Pat" as he is released from a mental institution and into the care of his two parents Jackie Weaver (Animal Kingdom) and Robert De Niro (The King of Comedy) who is so strong here it makes you remember the De Niro of the 70's and 80's and not the one from the last two "Focker" movies. Pat's sole goal is to win back his ex wife who now has a restraining order on him after he walked in on her sleeping with a co-worker. Blinded by either not taking his meds or by sheer unwillingness to accept reality Pat has designed his own "playbook" to win his ex back, this includes reading every book shes assigned to the high school English class she teaches, Pat takes out his frustrations hilariously on an unknowing Ernest Hemingway classic early on in the film. In reconnecting with an old friend Pat is introduced to "Tiffany" played by Jennifer Lawrence, a fellow "crazy" still grieving over her husbands sudden death. In a deal struck by both Pat agrees to help Tiffany in a dance competition if she helps him get a letter to his ex wife. Lawrence who most mainstream audiences know only from her star turning role as Katniss Everdeen in "The Hunger Games" really does a good job playing beyond her young age and striking beauty, she has graduated with honors from the Scarlett Johansson "smokey voice" school and really turned in a performance that should have Kristen Stewart looking for a new agent.

The acting all around is top notch. Bradley Cooper, already a solidified movie star really ups his game here, its very reminiscent of Jack Nicholson's turn in "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's nest" in that he plays a character who is crazy but almost believes himself not to be. Awards recognition is almost inevitable for Cooper in the lead actor category and De Niro in the supporting actor race, I hope Lawrence is not overlooked because of her "Hunger Games" status. It's also nice to see that Chris Tucker (Friday) and Julia Stiles (10 Things I Hate About You) are still alive and well as they are both featured in limited but effective roles.

I don't want to give too much of the movies plot away, honestly the plot itself almost turned me off to the idea of the movie. Its best summed up as a romantic comedy drama for people who don't find "How To Lose A Guy in 10 Days" romantic or even entertaining in the least.  This movie got an initial limited release and is now expanding out to most major markets, do yourself a favor: skip "Skyfall" and seek out this gem of a movie

"Lincoln", no vampires here and thats not even the best thing about it!

Steven Spielberg's "Lincoln" an intimate epic if there ever was one opens as most might expect, with a powerful, disturbing yet somewhat short battle scene from the American Civil War, Spielberg can film a battle scene with his eyes closed, one arm tied behind his back and any other cliche' you can think of. His choice of abstaining from a lengthened battle scene or any other battle scenes is a bit of a shock but after completion of viewing you realize its the right move as this two and a half hour almost masterpiece gives viewers a look into one of the most respected, yet mysterious men in American history as well as a glimpse into the differences and shockingly similar way American politics were done then and now.

"Lincoln" is basically set up as a play, very few camera moves by Spielberg and really not that many exterior shots, most of the movie is dialogue between men in rooms lit by candlelight. The basic plot of the movie is the struggle of Abraham Lincoln to get the 13th Amendment which permanently freed the slaves passed the struggle is both between his Republican and Democrat senators and representatives but also between his family and most importantly himself. As expected Daniel Day Lewis immerses himself in the role of honest Abe, this was really never a question of "if" it would only be a question if you could believe him as Lincoln. Though as far as I know there are no actual sound clips of Lincoln everyone in their head has an idea of what he would sound like, in the movie Lincoln for the most part sounds like a man broken down by loss, stress and tragedy, again some of this from the war and some of this in his own life, he ages before us during the movie, his voice only raises when it is most needed, I feel this was a good decision by Lewis as it humanizes a figure beloved in American lore.

My three favorite characters in the film are played by three great actors: John Hawkes, Tim Blake Nelson and the always reliable James Spader, they play what can best be described as Lobbyists working for Lincoln to get the necessary votes in the House of Representatives to pass the amendments their purpose is valuable as it gives a Cliffs Notes version of the democratic process and what it takes to get issues resolved, something I think today's representatives could learn from. The acting is top notch all around, Sally Field as Mary Todd Lincoln will probably stir up a debate, Mary Todd in reality is not a very likable person, she was said to be bi polar and very much critical and involved in the goings on in the white house, Field stays true to this perception, its not a likable role at all and I can imagine older viewers will be surprised that they come out of the movie and basically not liking Sally Field in this role. Actors such as Hal Holbrook, Tommy Lee Jones and David Straithain fill other vital roles in the movie and again prove that each is worth seeing in almost anything, Straithain especially shines as Lincolns Secretary of State. One miscast is Joseph Gordon Levitt as Robert Todd Lincoln, Abe's oldest son, he's really not given much to do other than one important scene between he and his father regarding signing up to enlist, another issue that haunts Lincoln throughout.

In closing "Lincoln" is probably the smallest film Spielberg has ever done, even in taking on non "blockbuster" films before such as "The Color Purple" "Lincoln" makes you feel like you are in the room during these great moments in history. Daniel Day Lewis is assured of at least a nomination for best actor at the Oscars and this is easily Spielberg's best movie since "Munich" so multiple nominations are not out of the question.