I Watch Movies : Lincoln

Is it okay not to like Lincoln?

The movie was always going to be an Oscar buzz-fest, but it took off in theater sales too.

That said, I did like Lincoln. 

It's just that I don't see how it ended up being such a success.

The acting is incredible.  Daniel Day Lewis brings Lincoln to life unlike anyone I have ever seen.  Tommy Lee Jones steals the show, though as Thaddeus Stevens.  The rest of the cast is just as incredible- Sally Field as Mrs. Lincoln, Jackie Earle Haley as Alexander Stephens, Hal Holbrook, David Straithairn, Joseph- Gordon-Levitt.

Equally incredible is how the characters represent the actual people and the era's landscape.

The film has been advertised as being based on Dorris Kearns Goodwin's book Team of Rivals.  I think the Lincoln of this movie is largely based on the observations captured in that book.  However , this isn't Rivals: The Movie as I hoped, but is instead a telling of how the 13th Amendment got passed.

If you didn't know, political backbiting and gridlock was around before Limbaugh and Hannity.

So, this movie gets a tempered recommendation.  If you know what is about to happen when Major Rathbone comes to pick up Lincoln for the night, you will enjoy this movie.  History buffs will be tuned in the entire time. 

Otherwise, if you are not a fan of Historical drama, this might be a bit of a struggle. Like say, The King's Speech, I think most anyone would like it if they were in the right mood and wanted to put the time in (and have someone who could explain the main characters).  However, despite the strong performances, this doesn't have the immediate accessibility of some biopics.  Maybe a film like this shouldn't be accessible, but be warned. 
 

New Music Initiative 051: the Cloud Nothings

picked up on this Cleveland band from Sirius XU (Sirius XM's version of a college radio station). undfortunately, I found out Pitchfork loved them, too.

Oh , well.

They are good, and they appeal to that lo-fi noise with screaming vocals (with a good feel for pop) that grabs me the way The Thermals do.

That said, they are probably closer to the 90s indie sound than they do the Thermals or The Pixies (In 2012, any band that screams automatically gets compared to the Pixies), and those bands (the DC/Dischord scene, the emo scene as defined by bands like Braid and Sunny Day Real Estate.

Indeed, the band falls at that intersection of commercial alt rock that is my thing and the rhythm/style of the emocore bands that my friend love; so that they resemble a bit that other band that did fell in similar territory in the 90s- Jawbreaker.

Comics Roundup

Moar!

Alan Robert's Killogy (IDW) - written and drawn by Alan Robert-  Not Alan Roberts, the controversial filmmaker, but Robert, the bassist for the hardcore band Life of Agony.  Robert has established himself as a serious comics writer (A lot of musos have had comic projects, but most were one-offs) and I figured it was time I checked him out.

On initial viewing, I didn't like the idea that Robert's characters in this book were Marky Ramone, Frank Vincent (Goodfellas, Sopranos) and Brea Grant (Heroes).  Upon reading though, I didn't think it was a negative.  Robert knows them and they consented to be in it, and it's not any different than "casting" a movie.

I like Robert's artwork a lot.  It gives it a movie feel and really tells a story.  The story itself is slightly lacking.  It's goal is to capture a grimy B-movie feel with zombies and mafia.  It does feel like a direct-to-video movie. 

I don't intend on continuing with this comic, but that doesn't mean I am not recommending it.  Fans of 80s horror should find enough potential here to draw themselves in and will likely enjoy it.

All New X-Men (Marvel- Marvel NOW) - written by Brian Michael Bendis - I feel like I don't need to recommend this book, as it should be obvious, but here goes.  After taking on the Avengers, Bendis takes on the X-men like only he can.  As if that is not enough, there is some amazing artwork from Stuart Immomen that gives it a cinematic blockbuster feel.

Of course when you mess with the X-men, comic fanboys may throw a fit, and a plot that involves taking the five original X-Men and time traveling them to the Present is a bit risky.

I think Bendis has started off the right way (The series is into issue 3).  It has his hallmarks- strong individual characterization, but the plotting seems promising as well.  Recommended.

Ex Sanguine (Dark Horse Comics)- written by Tim Seeley and Joshua Emmons, drawn by Tim Seeley - This comic tells the story of a vampire taking on a serial killer.  Seeley and Emmons give us what is a pretty standard story, but deliver it in such a way that it feels fresh.

The lead character is the type of disaffected anti-hero that deserves his story to be told like John Constantine or Dexter.  This is a horror comic, but it's a different feel than Killogy mentioned above.  It falls more in the realm of the Supernatural (more like Buffy than Fangoria.   This might not appeal to the grindhouse fans, but the characterization and art that falls in the realm of what I would consider classic Dark Horse style (if there is such a thing), this is one I am really excited about.