Lincoln (2012)

Lincoln

Directed by: Steven Spielberg

Starring: Daniel Day-Lewis, Sally Field, Tommy Lee Jones


     The movie deals with last days of Abraham Lincoln life. The 16th president is winning the war and he has two choices. To continue the bloody war that took countless of innocent lives and pass his 13th amendment to abolish slavery forever or to sit down with the south representatives, end the war for good but slaves will still be slaves. He faced moral dilemmas, oppositions from both parties but he believed in equalities and freedom. He had to compromise, to get his hands dirty and from the movie you find out that the slavery issues was fought not only on the front lines of the war but in Washington as well. I guess politics was a dirty game and will remain a dirty game and no one played it as well as Lincoln.

     The movie is a project that took Spielberg more than a decade to get right. And he got it right. I went to see the movie because everyone is talking about it and not because I was looking forward to it. I thought the movie will be boring, a history lesson of some sorts and boy was I wrong. It’s an entertaining piece of cinema, superbly acted by Daniel Day Lewis, Sally Field, Tommy Lee Jones and many others.
Lincoln is the perfect movie. I gave myself few days before writing this to let things sink in and I really can’t find fundamental flaws. Since I know virtually nothing about the civil war, it made me hungry for more so I bought Ken Burns: The Civil War which came highly recommended.

I don’t know if the movie will be as successful overseas, many will deem it too American I guess. It’s a great film. Period.




Verdict:
❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

Dorian Gray (2009)

Dorian Gray

Directed by: Oliver Parker

Starring: Ben Barnes, Colin Firth, Rebecca Hall

Dorian Gray is loosely based on the Novel. The soul of the book is there but it's not a faithful adaptations. While I liked Ben Barnes performance as Dorian, his character lacked the intensity, volatility of Dorian in the book. Colin Firth who played Lord Henry was great as always. I liked the movie well enough to recommend it and will look for the 1945 black & white version.

Verdict:
❤❤❤❤❤❤♡♡♡♡

My Review of the Book

Django Unchained (2012)

Django Unchained

Directed by: Quentin Tarantino

Starring: Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz, Leondardo DiCaprio

     Django Unchained is set in 19^th century just two years before the civil war. A German bounty hunter/dentist, Schultz, rescues Django from slavery and then enlists him in the search for the notorious Brittle Brothers. In return, Schultz will grant him his freedom and help him find his wife who was sold years back.

     The film is directed by the immensely talented Quentin Tarantino. It is uniquely his. The movie is gore, violent, has many unexpected turns of events and sometimes funny. Like many of his film the writing takes center stage. The dialogue is amusing, every major characters were given time to develop. The use of music is like no movie you’ve seen. 

During the course of the movie, you’ll hear country music, opera, Spanish songs, Beethoven, and yes RAP music as well.

     The film is not for everyone. Many will deem it too violent, too offensive and I agree. But then again, I love revenge stories. They are the best. Quentin put a movie out every 3-4 years or so. I find myself waiting for them impatiently and I’m never disappointed. 

Verdict:
❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤♡

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012)

Dir: Peter Jackson

I watched The Hobbit last night and I have to say I have mixed emotions about it. Being a huge fan of the Middle-Earth universe and Peter Jackson craft, I had more hope for it to succeed than expectations to dazzle. The movie critics specially the top Critics from www.rottentomatoes.com haven’t been kind to the film giving it 42%. The fans on the other hand seemed to love it.

The film is based on the The Hobbit which is a fairly small book. How they managed to stretch it into three films is beyond me. Considering this, the pace of the movie is not as slow as I was led to believe. Gandalf says “out of the frying pan and into the fire” and it does feel like that in away with the continuous spectacular action scenes.

On other places, like Gollum Cave, it does feel stretched out too much. The dialogue is long, the game they played is a bit idiotic and it slowed down the movie considerably. The sense of urgency is gone. The actors were great. Most of the dwarves are indistinguishable and you don’t connect with most of them actually. Bilbo Baggins played by Martin Freeman is mediocre. It’s the worst thing about the film actually. I enjoyed him a lot in Sherlock but in The Hobbit he seemed out of place, out of pace, and out of sync with everything around him.

The experience is still spectacular. Middle-Earth is still raw, beautiful and beyond reach. I am still going to watch the movie many, many times I’m sure. It’ll end up as one of my holiday movies and I know that I’ll grow to love it more and not mind its flaws.

Verdict:
❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤♡♡