2023 OSCARS: My Predictions for the Top 8 Categories

Here is my annual prediction post for the 2022 Oscars, i.e. the 95th Academy Awards. I really just consider the Top 8 categories on the blog but I often play the Oscar prediction game like lots of other people (on other websites) where I think about all 24 categories. I generally split my predictions into who I want to win versus (i.e. who I would vote for) as opposed to who I think will win (i.e. who the Academy voters will vote for).

In 2020 I predicted 6 of 8 correctly and last year I predicted 7 of  8 correctly. This year I have seen 6 of the (bolded) 10 Best Picture nominees (haven't seen The Fabelmans, Triangle of Sadness or Women Talking as of this writing but I do intend to watch The Fabelmans eventually). 

Best Picture:

• "All Quiet on the Western Front" 
• "Avatar: The Way of Water" 
• "The Banshees of Inisherin"
• "Elvis"
• "Everything Everywhere All at Once" 
• "The Fabelmans"
• "Tár"
  
• "Top Gun: Maverick"
• "Triangle of Sadness"
• "Women Talking"

SHOULD WIN: Avatar: The Way of Water.
WILL WIN: Everything Everywhere All at Once.

Director:

• Martin McDonagh (“The Banshees of Inisherin”)
• Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert (“Everything Everywhere All at Once”) 
• Steven Spielberg (“The Fabelmans”) 
• Todd Field (“Tár”) 
• Ruben Östlund (“Triangle of Sadness”)

SHOULD WIN: Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, Everything Everywhere All at Once.

WILL WIN: Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, Everything Everywhere All at Once.

Lead Actor:

• Austin Butler (“Elvis”)  
• Colin Farrell (“The Banshees of Inisherin”) 
• Brendan Fraser (“The Whale”)
• Paul Mescal (“Aftersun”) 
• Bill Nighy (“Living”) 

SHOULD WIN: Colin Farrell, The Banshees of Inisherin.

WILL WIN: Austin Butler, Elvis.

Lead Actress:

• Cate Blanchett (“Tár”) 
• Ana de Armas (“Blonde”) 
• Andrea Riseborough (“To Leslie”)
• Michelle Williams (“The Fabelmans”) 
• Michelle Yeoh (“Everything Everywhere All at Once”)

SHOULD WIN: Michelle Yeoh, Everything Everywhere All at Once.

WILL WIN: Michelle Yeoh, Everything Everywhere All at Once

Supporting Actor:

• Brendan Gleeson (“The Banshees of Inisherin”) 
• Brian Tyree Henry (“Causeway”) 
• Judd Hirsch (“The Fabelmans”)
• Barry Keoghan (“The Banshees of Inisherin”) 
• Ke Huy Quan (“Everything Everywhere All at Once”) 

SHOULD WIN: Ke Huy Quan, Everything Everywhere All at Once

WILL WIN: Ke Huy Quan, Everything Everywhere All at Once.

Supporting Actress:

• Angela Bassett (“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”) 
• Hong Chau (“The Whale”) 
• Kerry Condon (“The Banshees of Inisherin”)
• Jamie Lee Curtis (“Everything Everywhere All at Once”) 
• Stephanie Hsu (“Everything Everywhere All at Once”)

SHOULD WIN: Angela Bassett, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.

WILL WIN: Angela Bassett, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.

Adapted Screenplay:

• “All Quiet on the Western Front,” Screenplay by Edward Berger, Lesley Paterson & Ian Stokell
• “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery,” Written by Rian Johnson
• “Living,” Written by Kazuo Ishiguro
• “Top Gun: Maverick,” Screenplay by Ehren Kruger and Eric Warren Singer and Christopher McQuarrie; Story by Peter Craig and Justin Marks
• “Women Talking,” Screenplay by Sarah Polley

SHOULD WIN: All Quiet on the Western Front.

WILL WIN: Women Talking.

Original Screenplay:

• “The Banshees of Inisherin,” Written by Martin McDonagh
• “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” Written by Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert
• “The Fabelmans,” Written by Steven Spielberg & Tony Kushner
• “Tár,” Written by Todd Field
• “Triangle of Sadness,” Written by Ruben Östlund

SHOULD WIN: Tár.

WILL WIN: The Banshees of Inisherin.

2022 OSCARS: My Predictions in the Top 8 Categories

Here is my annual prediction post for the 2022 Oscars, i.e. the 94th Academy Awards. I really just consider the Top 8 categories on the blog but I often play the Oscar prediction game like lots of other people (on other websites) where I think about all 24 categories.  In 2019 I predicted 4 of 8 categories correctly and in 2020 I predicted 6 of 8 correctly.  Last year, I predicted 5 of 8 correctly. This year I have seen 7 of the (bolded) 10 Best Picture nominees (haven't seen Drive My Car, West Side Story or CODA). I do intend to see CODA regardless of whether it wins Best Picture.

Best Picture:

• "Belfast" 
• "CODA" 
• "Don't Look Up"
• "Drive My Car"
• "Dune" 
• "King Richard"
• "Licorice Pizza"
  
• "Nightmare Alley"
• "The Power of the Dog"
• "West Side Story"

SHOULD WIN: Dune.
WILL WIN: The Power of the Dog.

Director:

• Kenneth Branagh (“Belfast”)
• Ryusuke Hamaguchi (“Drive My Car”)
• Paul Thomas Anderson (“Licorice Pizza”)
• Jane Campion (“The Power of the Dog”)
  
• Steven Spielberg (“West Side Story”)

SHOULD WIN: Jane Campion, The Power of the Dog.

WILL WIN: Jane Campion, The Power of the Dog.

Lead Actor:

• Javier Bardem (“Being the Ricardos”)
• Benedict Cumberbatch (“The Power of the Dog”)
• Andrew Garfield (“Tick,Tick,...Boom!")
• Will Smith (“King Richard”)
• Denzel Washington  (“The Tragedy of Macbeth”)

SHOULD WIN: Will Smith, King Richard.

WILL WIN: Will Smith, King Richard.

Lead Actress:

• Jessica Chastain (“The Eyes of Tammy Faye”)
• Olivia Colman (“The Lost Daughter”)
• Penélope Cruz (“Parallel Mothers”)
• Nicole Kidman  (“Being the Ricardos”)
• Kristen Stewart (“Spencer”)
  

SHOULD WIN: Kristen Stewart, Spencer.

WILL WIN: Jessica Chastain, The Eyes of Tammy Faye

Supporting Actor:

• Ciarán Hinds (“Belfast”)
• Troy Kotsur (“CODA”)
• Jesse Plemons (“The Power of the Dog”)
• J.K. Simmons (“Being the Ricardos”)
• Kodi Smit-McPhee  (“The Power of the Dog”)

SHOULD WIN: Kodi Smit-McPhee, The Power of the Dog.

WILL WIN: Troy Katsur, CODA.

Supporting Actress:

• Jessie Buckley (“The Lost Daughter”)
• Ariana DeBose (“West Side Story”)
• Judi Dench (“Belfast”)
• Kirsten Dunst  (“The Power of the Dog”)
• Aunjanue Ellis (“King Richard”)

SHOULD WIN: Aunjanue Ellis, King Richard.

WILL WIN: Ariana DeBose, West Side Story.

Original Screenplay:

• Kenneth Branagh (“Belfast”)
• Adam McKay; Story by Adam McKay & David Sirota (“Don't Look Up”)
• Zach Baylin (“King Richard”)
• Paul Thomas Anderson ("Licorice Pizza")
• Eskil Vogt and Joachim Trier (“The Worst Person in the World”)
  

SHOULD WIN: Belfast.

WILL WIN: Belfast.

Adapted Screenplay:

• Siân Heder (“CODA”)
• Ryusuke Hamaguchi and Takamasa Oe (“Drive My Car”)
• Jon Spaihts and Denis Villeneuve and Eric Roth (“Dune”)
• Maggie Gyllenhaal ("The Lost Daughter")
• Jane Campion (“The Power of the Dog”)
  

SHOULD WIN: Dune.

WILL WIN: CODA.

FILM REVIEW: Jurassic World

I'm a big fan of the original Jurassic Park film, which amazingly, was released way back in 1993. And, after last year's Guardians of the Galaxy I'm also a fan of Chris Pratt so when I started seeing the ads for Jurassic World I added the film to the shortlist of movies I wanted to see this summer. (Other movies on this very short list include Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation and The Man from U.N.C.L.E. Of course these all pale in importance to my anticipation of the release of the new Star Wars movie The Force Awakens on  December 18.)

Jurassic World acts like it is a direct sequel to the original Jurassic Park, basically ignoring the two intervening films The Lost World and Jurassic Park III. In fact, Jurassic World is practically a reboot of the original, with many of the themes from the original: strong lead female role, extensive depictions of corporate greed, many situations endangering children, multiple examples of employee betrayal, a prideful, egotistical scientist, several fiendishly clever dinosaurs and lots of terrifying chase sequences.

There are two notable aspects of Jurassic World which are different from the original. The first is the idea that because there has been an operating dinosaur park for years two things have happened: 1) the park has become geographically huge, with multiple attractions (hence the upgrade from Park to World); 2) The attending public has grown so accustomed to seeing dinosaurs that they have grown inured to the novelty of interacting with gigantic animals that went extinct tens of millions of years ago.

Because of the situation reflected by (2) the corporate owners (represented by Irrfan Khan's multi-billionaire Simon Masrani) have invested tens of millions of dollars in literally constructing a new dinosaur hybrid, which they have named (after extensive focus group testing) Indominus Rex. The head of the park is Claire Dearing, played by Bryce Dallas Howard (as a particular example of a successful corporate woman) whose nephews are visiting their very busy aunt. Pratt plays Owen Grady, the primary "dinosaur-whisperer" on staff who has been trying to train velociraptors (the hyper intelligent dinosaurs from Jurassic Park) to follow voice commands.

Of course Indominus Rex escapes and goes on a rampage across the island, putting Claire's nephews in mortal danger, and of course demonstrating the hubris of humans thinking that they can mess with Mother Nature with impunity.

Overall, Jurassic World is a fun, entertaining trifle, with a script with holes big enough for a Tyrannosaurus Rex to run through. (Why do the kids talk about the impending divorce of their parents but then the subject is never mentioned again? Are we really to believe they not have continuous video coverage of Indominus Rex's cage so that they can figure out where it is at all times? Why can't they use the tracking device to confirm it's location?) Regardless, it is still enjoyable and worth seeing in the theaters. (There's a reason why it is absolutely demolishing box-office records and has a healthy 82% rating from the audience on rottentomatoes.com)

Title: Jurassic World.
Director: Colin Trevorrow.
Running Time: 124 minutes.
MPAA Rating: Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of science-fiction violence and peril.
Release Date: June 12, 2015.
Viewing Date: June 28, 2015.

Writing: C+.
Acting: B.
Visuals: A-.
Impact: B+.

Overall Grade: B/B+ (3.08/4.0).

2013 OSCARS: Analysis of the Winners and Losers

Wel, well, well! This year's Oscars were quite a revelation, although they went well over time, locking in well over 3-and-a-half hours, ending after midnight on the East Coast.

Here are some of my thoughts on the biggest surprises and most interesting results of the night:

1. They Really Don't Like Steven Very Much, Do They? Steven Spielberg's Lincoln was the big loser of the night, coming in with 12 nominations and only winning 2, for Best Actor (Daniel Day-Lewis) and Best Production Design, which really must be considered something of a fluke. It was clear that there was no groundswell for Lincoln from the very first award of the night when a very shocked Christoph Walz won  his second Best Supporting Actor Oscar for Django Unchained, surprising almost everyone, denying Lincoln's Tommy Lee Jones. When Life of Pi (which came in with 11 nominations and went home with 4 Oscars) continued to pick up wins in the important technical categories like Best Cinematography and Best Score where it was competing against both Argo and Lincoln one really started to wonder about the message the Academy was sending to America's most talented filmmaker. Once Ang Lee won his 2nd Best Director Oscar instead of Spielberg, the message became clear: We Like Your Movies And The Profit You Generate, But Not You So Much! Spielberg's first nomination came in 1978 for Close Encounters of the 3rd Kind (he wasn't even nominated for Jaws, despite the fact that movie invented the notion of a summer blockbuster film). He has since been nominated for Raiders of the Lost Ark, E.T., The Color Purple, Schindler's List, Saving Private Ryan, Munich and Lincoln. A total of 8 times with only two wins. And he has been snubbed (not nominated) for such classic films as Jaws, Empire of the Sun and Minority Report. Now Ang Lee, Clint Eastwood and Oliver Stone have as many Best Director Oscars as Spielberg! It should be noted that only one other person has been nominated more times for Best Director: William Wyler. And only Wyler (3), Frank Capra (3) and John Ford (4) have more wins. I think he is developing a Meryl Streep problem where in order for him to win, it is going to have to be something outstanding compared to his already excellent body of work.

2. Michelle Obama Announces Best Picture Oscar for Argo from the White House. This was a truly surreal moment when just a handful of minutes before midnight 3-time Oscar winner Jack Nicholson introduced First Lady Michelle  Obama who gave a (somewhat trite but inclusive) speech about the importance of the arts to all Americans and then cut back for the announcement of the nine Best Picture nominees. They then amazingly cut back to Obama holding an envelope who then opened it and announced Argo had won. Nicholson was also holding an envelope which he gave to the producers of the winning film: Affleck, George Clooney and Grant Heslov.

3. The Tarantino Effect. For the second time in as many films Quentin Tarantino wrote an amazing part for Christoph Walz and the multi-lingual actor won an Oscar for animating Tarantino's words. The surprising strength of Django Unchained in the big categories was one of the highlights of the night for me with wins in Best Original Screenplay for Tarantino (only his second after his 1995 win for Pulp Fiction) and the 2nd win for Walz. This was another example of the out-of-control Directors' branch snubs (of Kathryn Bigelow for Zero Dark Thirty, Ben Affleck for Argo and Tarantino for Django) resulted in surprising wins as the rest of the Academy tried to ameliorate the damage.

4. It's All About Editing) In the end with 3 wins Argo joins the dubious club of Rocky and Crash of winning Best Picture without a director's nomination and only three wins overall. Interestingly, the unbroken string that every Best Picture winner has always had a Best Editing nomination and that almost every film that has won Best Picture has won Best Editing (including Argo, Rocky and Crash) continues. (Quiz: Which Best Picture winner(s) did not win Best Film Editing?)

5. (Almost) Everybody Gets A Prize! The really big story of the night was the even distribution of the wins throughout the 24 categories. The totals were

4 Wins: Life of Pi (Director, Score, Cinematography and Visual Effects);
3 Wins: Argo (Picture, Editing, Adapted Screenplay), Les Miserables (Supporting Actress, Makeup, Sound Mixing)
2 Wins: Skyfall (Song, Sound Editing), Lincoln (Actor, Production Design), Django Unchained (Supporting Actor, Original Screenplay)
1 Win: Zero Drak Thirty (Sound Editing), Anna Karenina (Costume Design), Amour (Foreign Language), Silver Linings Playbook (Actress)

Films with multiple nominations that went home empty-handed (0 Wins) were Beasts of the Southern Wild (4), The Hobbit (3), The Master (3), Flight (2), Snow White and the Huntsman (2).

It will be interesting to see how the Academy reacts to the fact that it changed it's nomination deadline to before many of the Guilds had weighed in so that this led to surprising (some would say, uninformed) nominations that in turn led to surprising wins.

As for the show itself, I thought Seth McFarlane did a very good job, although there was too much singing for my taste, but it was part of the show's theme of a tribute to musicals. For the most part Seth's humor was on point, with some notable exceptions. (Making a joke about the assassination of a President is not edgy or funny, it's just dumb.) Openly gay producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron did an amazing job with the Obama surprise and Dame Shirley Bassey belting out Goldfinger at age 76 was breathtaking.

Other highlights of the show for me: Meryl Streep announcing the Best Actor winner instantly by opening the envelope off camera while the nominations video was playing; Jennifer Hudson and Adele (Adkins) singing; the Best Documentary Short Subject winners for Inocente and Channing Tatum and Charlize Theron (two of the most beautiful people in Hollywood) dancing with McFarlane to open the broadcast; for the first time since the Best Actress tie of 1968 (between Barbra Streisand and Kathleen Hepburn) there was another tie, this time in Sound Editing between Zero Dark Thirty and Skyfall--Mark Wahlberg was the announcer and he handled the moment well.

Let the race for the 2014 Oscars begin! (August, Osage County anyone?)

2013 OSCARS: Predictions, Mine and Nate Silver's

Sunday is the day of the Gay Super Bowl, i.e. the 85th Annual Academy Awards ceremony. I have previously made my predictions for this year's winners of the Top 8 categories, like I have done every year since 2007:

In 2012, I predicted 7 of the Top 8 categories correctly; 

In 2011, I predicted 15 of 24 correctly (7 of the Top 8).

In 2010, I predicted 17 of 24 correctly (7 of the Top 8).

In 2009, I predicted 20 of 24 correctly (8 of the Top 8).
In 2008, I predicted 8 of the Top 8 categories correctly.
In 2007, I predicted 7 of the Top 8 categories correctly.

Here are my predictions for all 24 categories (with 2nd choices) for the 2013 Oscars:

Best Picture: Argo (2nd: Lincoln) 

Director: Steven Spielberg (2nd: David O. Russell) 

Original Screenplay: Django Unchained (2nd: Amour) 

Adapted Screenplay: Lincoln (2nd: Argo) 

Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis  (2nd: Bradley Cooper ) 

Actress: Jennifer Lawrence (2nd: Jessica Chastain) 

Supporting Actress: Anne Hathaway (2nd: Amy Adams) 

Supporting Actor: Robert De Niro (2nd: Tommy Lee Jones) 

Editing: Argo (2nd: Zero Dark Thirty) 

Production Design: Anna Karenina (2nd: Life of Pi) 

Sound Mixing: Les Miserables (2nd: Life of Pi) 

Sound Editing: Life of Pi (2nd: Django Unchained) 

Cinematography: Life of Pi (2nd: Skyfall) 

Costume Design: Anna Karenina (2nd: Lincoln) 

Documentary: Searching for Sugarman  (2nd: How To Survive A Plague) 

Foreign Language: Amour (2nd: A Royal Affair) 

Animated Film: Frankenweenie (2nd: Brave) 

Makeup: The HobbitScore: Lincoln (2nd: Life of Pi) 

Song: "Skyfall" (from Skyfall) (2nd: "Pi's Lullaby") 

Visual Effects: Life of Pi (2nd: Prometheus) 

Animated Short: Maggie Simpson in The Longest Daycare (2nd: Paperman) 

Live Action Short: Buzkashi Boys (2nd: Asad)  

Documentary Short: Inocente (2nd: Redemption)

Predictions Guru Nate Silver has gotten into the game, somewhat, by predicting the Top 6 categories. His choices are Argo, Spielberg, Lawrence, Day-Lewis, Hathaway, Jones.

I generally agree with him on his predictions, but the hardest category to pick is Best Supporting Actor this year (usually the first acting award given out of the night) and I think De Niro is going to pull a surprise win. And really there are 8 top categories so it is a bit of a cop-out to not do the screenplay categories. The adapted screenplay category is particularly tough this year, basically a coin flip between Argo and Lincoln while Original Screenplay is basically anyone's game (except Beasts of the Southern Wild--they have zero chance of winning any Oscars).

We'll know within several hours how well I did this year. I suspect my results in the Top 8 will not be as high as I am accustomed.

2013 Oscars: My Predictions

Here are my current predictions for the 2013 Oscars, which will be given out exactly two weeks from today. I think that in the end the Academy will vote for Best Picture the movie they enjoyed the most sitting through, which is Argo and not the movie they have been bludgeoned into thinking should be the best picture, i.e. Lincoln. The real question is since they can not vote for Affleck for Director, will they give it to a previous winner (like Steven Spielberg or Ang Lee), or will they try to anoint someone new who has been creating deserving work for years, like David O. Russell or Michael Haneke?

The toughest categories in the big 8 are Best Director, Best Supporting Actor, Best Adapted Screenplay. And they are all basically related.

Best Picture
Amour
Argo
Beasts of the Southern Wild
Django Unchained
Les Misérables
Life of Pi
Lincoln
Silver Linings Playbook
Zero Dark Thirty

Best Director

• Michael Haneke, Amour
• Ang Lee, Life of Pi
• David O. Russell, Silver Linings Playbook
• Steven Spielberg, Lincoln
• Benh Zeitlin,  Beasts of the Southern Wild

SHOULD WIN: David O. Russell, Silver Linings Playbook
WILL WIN: Steven Spielberg, Lincoln

Best Actress

• Emmanuelle Riva, Amour
• Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook
• Jessica Chastain, Zero Dark Thirty
• Naomi Watts, The Impossible
• Quvenzhané Wallis, Beasts of the Southern Wild

SHOULD WIN: Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook
WILL WIN: Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook

Best Actor

• Bradley Cooper, Silver Linings Playbook
• Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln
• Denzel Washington, Flight
• Hugh Jackman, Les Misérables
• Joaquin Phoenix, The Master

SHOULD WIN: Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln
WILL WIN: Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln

Best Supporting Actress

• Amy Adams, The Master
• Sally Field, Lincoln
• Anne Hathaway, Les Miserables
• Helen Hunt, The Sessions
• Jacki Weaver, Silver Linings Playbook

SHOULD WIN: Anne Hathaway, Les Miserables
WILL WIN: Anne Hathaway, Les Miserables

Best Supporting Actor

• Alan Arkin, Argo
• Robert De Niro, Silver Linings Playbook
• Phillip Seymour Hoffman, The Master
• Tommy Lee Jones, Lincoln
• Christoph Waltz, Django Unchained

SHOULD WIN: Robert De Niro, Silver Linings Playbook
WILL WIN:  Robert De Niro, Silver Linings Playbook

Best Original Screenplay

• Amour, Michael Haneke
• Django Unchained, Quentin Tarantino
• Flight, John Gatins
• Moonrise Kingdom, Wes Anderson and Roman Coppola
• Zero Dark Thirty, Mark Boal

SHOULD WIN: Django Unchained, Quentin Tarantino
WILL WIN:  Moonrise Kingdom, Wes Anderson and Roman Coppola

Best Adapted Screenplay

• Argo, Chris Terrio
• Beasts of the Southern Wild, Lucy Alibar and Benh Zeitlin
• Life of Pi, David Magee
• Lincoln, Tony Kushner
• Silver Linings Playbook, David O. Russell

SHOULD WIN: Life of Pi, David Magee
WILL WIN: Lincoln, Tony Kushner or Argo, Chris Terrio

Oscar Totals: 
Lincoln (6) followed by Argo (4) and  Life of Pi (4)

FILM REVIEW: Lincoln

The other half and I finally saw Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln over the Thanksgiving weekend, at our usual spot at the Edwards Renaissance 14 theaters in Alhambra. The film has an eye-caching pedigree with the involvement of high-profile talent such as Spielberg himself, of course, along with screenwriter Tony Kushner (openly gay playwright of the Pulitzer-prize winning Angels in America). The cast includes 2-time Oscar winners Daniel Day-Lewis and Sally Field as Abraham Lincoln and his wife Mary Todd Lincoln; fellow Oscar winner Tommy Lee Jones as the celebrated anti-slavery activist Congressman Thaddeus Stevens (R-PA); Joseph Gordon-Levitt (from Looper and The Dark Knight Rises) as the Lincoln’s eldest son, David Strathairn as Secretary of State William Seward and Gloria Reuben (television's E.R.) as free Black woman who works in the White House. The story of the film is adapted from material in the Pulitzer-prize winning Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin; the book is about Lincoln’s cabinet which famously contained many of the same men who he defeated for the Presidency in 1860.

The movie based on the book is focused on a very short 3-month window of Lincoln’s life in 1865, a period when three historic events of significant national import happened: the 13^th Amendment to the United States Constitution discharged from Congress and sent to the States for ratification, the Civil War (“War of Northern Aggression” or “War Between the States”) came to an end, and President Abraham Lincoln was shot and killed by a Confederate assassin.

The vast majority of the film’s duration is spent depicting the events around the first of these events. In fact, some people have really said the movie should be called The 13^th Amendment instead of Lincoln. The 13^th Amendment abolished slavery in the United States and thus insured that the Confederate way of life that included profiting from the involuntary servitude and dehumanization of millions of people would cease to exist once the Civil War came to an end. As someone whose skin color would mark me as a slave if I had been born in 1818 instead of 1968, I appreciate the significance of the 13^th Amendment and am pleased that Hollywood found this topic a subject for a major motion picture released (deliberately) in the heart of the year-end gauntlet known as Oscar season. As a dilettante of American history, I am somewhat chagrined that almost no mention of the 14^th Amendment is made, although its penumbra can be seen in one of the critical moments of high drama in the film. If you know the historical context or understand the legal implications of the crucial debate between the main proponent and opponent of the anti-slavery measure on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives right before the vote, the rhetorical decision made (to accept formal equality between the races versus actual or social equality) has a particularly piquant resonance.

That being said, although Lincoln works as a educational history lesson about important topics that all Americans should know it doesn’t really work as a movie, i.e. filmed entertainment. Day-Lewis is astonishing as Lincoln, he completely embodies the part and almost eerily looks like history come to life. However, at its core Lincoln is about politics and the men who practice it. The passage of the 13^th Amendment clearly would not have happened without Lincoln’s insistence, cajoling and persuasion. But the film also shows that the end of slavery in the United States was also accomplished through appeals to sheer greed, political cowardice and blatant bribery. I believe this unsanitized view of history is a good thing, but I’m sure there are others who will object that it tarnishes the legacy of the person who by universal acclaim is one of the Top 3 Presidents of all time.  

Lincoln demonstrates how presidents can use their powers to do good and that perhaps in politics the ends do justify the means. (It is particularly interesting to view Lincoln in the context of our current political partisan moment since back then the Republicans were the party fighting for the rights of the minority and the Democrats were the party staunchly committed to maintaining the saliency of white privilege—oh how things can change in a century!)

Going to see Lincoln is something that you should go do, and you will be edified for doing so. I’m just not so sure how many people when they are making their weekend’s entertainment plans think to themselves “I think I want to do something edifying this weekend!”

Title: Lincoln.
Director: Steven Spielberg.
Running Time: 2 hours, 29 minutes.
MPAA Rating: Rated PG-13 for an intense scene of war violence, some images of carnage and brief strong language.
Release Date: November 16, 2012.
Viewing Date: November 24, 2012.

Writing: A.
Acting: A.
Visuals: A-.
Impact: B+.

Overall Grade: A/A- (3.75/4.0).