LINCOLN - Trailer is Out

[AndyDursin]

I'm sorry, but I laughed outloud when I saw Tommy Lee Jones' rug... really broke the mood.

[AndyDursin]

I also have to admit -- maybe it's because I've been burned by Spielberg's last few movies -- but wow does this look pretentious.

[Eric W.]

Daniel Day Lewis...just that alone has to help shift some favorability on this thing but I, too, smell pretentious a mile away so the yellow caution flag is up.

Hope it's good!

[AndyDursin]

Daniel Day Lewis...just that alone has to help shift some favorability on this thing but I, too, smell pretentious a mile away so the yellow caution flag is up.

Hope it's good!

Lot of speechifying in that trailer if you know what I'm saying lol.

[mkaroly]

It looks very sentimental and highly melodramatic (all typical of Spielberg, so nothing new there). I know you like AMISTAD Andy, but to me the trailer looks like an AMISTAD redux in a way...I don't see anything different in tone or approach between the two films based on the trailer. For me that's a negative since AMISTAD never sat well with me...I get the feeling that it'll be the same type of thing. Even Williams' trailer score sounds like the most dramatic parts from AMISTAD (very generally speaking). I found AMISTAD to be very pretentious and frustrating...I like Lincoln, so I hope that is not the case here. Even Sally Field has her Mary Todd dramatic moments...lol...

Anyway, I hope the movie delivers something positive despite what I saw from the trailer. I haven't seen TINTIN or WARHORSE yet (though I have them on BR), so the last Spielberg film I saw was KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL (which isn't saying much).

[Paul MacLean]

"America...and the dream goes on..."

[AndyDursin]

I do like AMISTAD -- I think it's one of his best post-Schindler's films, and incredibly underrated -- so I'd be happy if this film approximated it. However, between the Tony Kushner script and "based on the book by Doris Kearns Goodwin" you just know it's going to be chock full of well-meaning but probably heavy handed speeches.

I am a huge Spielberg fan but as I've said so many times, in general, his work from around Hook/Jurassic Park on has never had the vitality, energy or enduring element of his early pictures.

[AndyDursin]

"America...and the dream goes on..."

Are they available to do lyrics for a song?

[TomServo]

I do like AMISTAD -- I think it's one of his best post-Schindler's films, and incredibly underrated -- so I'd be happy if this film approximated it. However, between the Tony Kushner script and "based on the book by Doris Kearns Goodwin" you just know it's going to be chock full of well-meaning but probably heavy handed speeches.

I am a huge Spielberg fan but as I've said so many times, in general, his work from around Hook/Jurassic Park on has never had the vitality, energy or enduring element of his early pictures.

While not everything in his post-SCHINDLER'S years has been gold, I am a huge fan of both CATCH ME IF YOU CAN and MUNICH, the former I could pretty much watch anytime and the latter a movie that is of course very dramatic but I love the cast, the story and its entire arc. Also, I have a soft spot for A.I.

[mkaroly]

While not everything in his post-SCHINDLER'S years has been gold, I am a huge fan of both CATCH ME IF YOU CAN and MUNICH, the former I could pretty much watch anytime and the latter a movie that is of course very dramatic but I love the cast, the story and its entire arc. Also, I have a soft spot for A.I.

I am with you on those three movies...although I felt the "marital intimacy" scenes in MUNICH were looked awkward and corny (Spielberg was never one for those kinds of scenes in his movies), I really enjoyed the film. A.I. is one of my favorites; I have come around more with each viewing to CMIYC. All three are reflections on broken families, the importance of the family unit, reuniting with parents/parental figures...

Heck, MUNICH is the grand summary of all his family themed movie subtext as everything pivots around the "family unit" on the major stage: Avner's three families (Israel, his wife and kid, and his "surrogate" family of assassins) interacting with all the family units around them (the Palestinians, the French family, etc.)...what is best for the family? How do you protect it? What conflicts affect it and its stability? And on and on...I think it's a fascinating film from that perspective.

[AndyDursin]

Oh you guys had to go there, huh? lol. I hate A.I....but I think I've made that clear before. MUNICH, for me, is a mixed bag and something of a cold fish -- effective performances, well made, some powerful moments, but it's also dense and, for me, lacks passion and cohesion. I don't think the point of what Spielberg was trying to do or say came across effectively enough. And the "sex scene" is one of the most embarrassing moments of Spielberg's career IMO.

I do like CATCH ME IF YOU CAN...even if I found the last third a comedown from what came before it. I don't love it, but it's good. That one is coming on Blu-Ray in December -- just fyi!

In general, I think Spielberg's weakest point is when he tries to be "adult" or "edgy" -- like in that sex scene in MUNICH, or when he tries to go "dark" like in A.I. or the "edgy, violent" bits of MINORITY REPORT. When he goes there, it comes off as awkward and uncomfortable, because his greatest ability has always been his ability to bring his youthful enthusiasm and perspective to the screen in so many different genres -- often through the eyes of children. EMPIRE OF THE SUN -- for me, one of his very best films -- does go into very "grown up" areas, but does so from the perspective of a young boy. That film is a masterwork IMO, and I'm looking forward to seeing it in HD in a few weeks. Schindler's is obviously a very adult film -- but it came off naturally -- whereas these "mature" elements of some of his more recent work just don't feel "right" to me. WAR HORSE suffered the most from this schizophrenic split, with some evocative and uplifting moments like a 1940s melodrama, but then some gritty, grim (and nasty) passages that felt like something out of "Private Ryan." Didn't work for me at all, and left a bad taste in the mouth like too much of his recent fare.

[mkaroly]

Oh you guys had to go there, huh? lol. I hate A.I....but I think I've made that clear before. MUNICH, for me, is a mixed bag and something of a cold fish -- and the "sex scene" is one of the most embarrassing moments of Spielberg's career IMO.

Lol...actually, when I was typing it out I was laughing a bit. I do agree that the "sex scene" (specifically, the one towards the end for me) just brought everything to a screeching halt. Just...bad!

In general, I think Spielberg's weakest point is when he tries to be "adult" or "edgy"...when he goes there, it comes off as awkward and uncomfortable, because his greatest ability has always been his ability to bring his youthful enthusiasm and perspective to the screen in so many different genres -- often through the eyes of children.

In addition, I think his strength is in his sincerity. Yes, like every other filmmaker in history he is telling a story and manipulating the audience, but for the large majority of his films (with only a few exceptions for me) I feel he is coming from a place of real sincerity...that this is really how he sees/feels things. As the years have gone by I have enjoyed going back through his films and looking at his idioms and subtexts and how the main ones are developed and redeveloped as he ages.

Finally, one other film I really liked was THE TERMINAL. I've said many times how much I love that score...I think the movie is sweet and very quiet and subtle.

[AndyDursin]

The Terminal has one of Williams best late career scores....romantic and charming. Love it!!

[Edmund Kattak]

Daniel Day Lewis...just that alone has to help shift some favorability on this thing but I, too, smell pretentious a mile away so the yellow caution flag is up.

Hope it's good!

Lot of speechifying in that trailer if you know what I'm saying lol.

You mean, lecturing?

[AndyDursin]

Daniel Day Lewis...just that alone has to help shift some favorability on this thing but I, too, smell pretentious a mile away so the yellow caution flag is up.

Hope it's good!

Lot of speechifying in that trailer if you know what I'm saying lol.

You mean, lecturing?

Yeah, that too