My Top Five Films on Abraham Lincoln

In observance of Abraham Lincoln's 205th birthday I've compiled a list of my favorite films about our 16th president.  Film biographies in themselves are dubious for their historical accuracy, but they are an irresistible genre of American film for all their foibles.

5) Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter (2012) - In an age dominated by superhero films - why not turn the heroic president into a vampire slayer?  The totally absurd premise makes the movie work with insane scenes like Abraham and Mary Todd fighting off vampires on a speeding steam engine.  This is not the movie for history buffs who flip out over historical inaccuracies, but I enjoyed it.  Readers of Lincoln biographies will notice a surprising amount of accuracy about Lincoln's life - minus fighting off the undead!

4) Young Mr. Lincoln (1939)- John Ford effectively blended history and myth into a film about Lincoln's early days in Springfield.  Many of these scenes of frontier America were taken directly from Carl Sandburg's elegiac, six-volume biography.  Henry Fonda is perfectly cast in this piece of Americana.  The climatic courtroom scene has Lincoln pulling off some moves to make Perry Mason proud.

3) Abe Lincoln in Illinois (1940)- Raymond Massey plays Lincoln as the sad eyed prophet of the prairie.  Based on a hit Broadway play by Robert Sherwood, the film follows Lincoln's rise from Springfield lawyer to candidate for President.  Some highlights include the debates with Stephen Douglas and his farewell speech before leaving Springfield.  

2) The Civil War (1990)- Ken Burn's groundbreaking PBS series cast Lincoln as the era's conscience and upholder of the idea of America.  Sam Waterston's narration captures the power of Lincoln's rhetoric and all the tragic loss and dashed hopes of the Civil War. Many of Lincoln's most important moments as President such as the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation, the Gettysburg Address, and his assassination are evoked in ways motion pictures fall way short. 

1) Lincoln (2012)- Steven Spielberg's long awaited biography of Lincoln did it's best to strive for authenticity.  The film follows Lincoln in the final months of his life as struggled to pass the 13th amendment which abolished slavery.  Daniel Day Lewis set a new standard for accuracy when portraying a historical figure.  There's no hero worship here as Spielberg depicted Lincoln as a pragmatist who realized the limits of his idealism - and did the best he could under those conditions. 

Inside Llewyn Davis ***1/2 (out of 4)

With Inside Llewyn Davis the Coen Brothers have revisited themes not unfamiliar to their canon.  Among these are cruelty, fate, and the mystery of existence.  Set in February 1961 in the folk scene milieu of Greenwich Village, the film follows its protagonist musician Llewyn Davis as his world appears to collapse around him.  Students of the Coen Brothers will see clear parallels to their previous films Barton Fink, Fargo, O Brother Where Art Thou, and especially A Serious Man.  

The film opens at the legendary Gaslight Poetry Club with Davis performing a spellbinding version of "Farewell" with the ominous lyrics opening each verse "Hang me... Oh hang me." We learn Llewyn's barely making it.  He's homeless and must crash where ever he can, but his argumentative personality alienates him from family and friends.  In addition, he constantly must borrow money after his singing partner jumped off the George Washington Bridge. Despite his character flaws he has good friend in Jim (Justin Timberlake), a square folk singer with a knack for writing quirky topical songs.  In one of the funniest scenes Jim invites Llewyn to play session guitar on a nutty space age satire "Please Mr. Kennedy."  When an opportunity comes about for Llewyn in Chicago the film deters into a bleak Quixotic journey.

Before going to see it, I expected a sort of ironic take on the folk scene of the early 1960s. And to a certain extent that's what I got, but I'm sure there's a better film waiting to be made about Greenwich Village in the 1960s.  The same type of story would work for any period in post-war America associated with a genre of music whether it be rock, bebop, punk etc . . . But there's always been a halo around the folk movement as a time when youth and idealism connected with the mass culture.  The folk narrative usually invokes adjectives like "naive" and "pure" when describing the artists. And that era gave way to a more cynical time and so on . . . and so on.  The Coen Brothers are playing with that narrative by making a gritty film about an unforgiving place where everyone had their selfish motives.  Beneath all the sincerity of the folkies seemed a bland emptiness.  Llewyn at several points expresses a antipathy towards the audience of folk as middle class bores.

Instead we don't necessarily get a revealing expose on early 1960s (although many will interpret it that way) but a character study in the guise of a fable.  How much cruelty can one person take?  Llewyn is regularly beat up, condescended to, verbally abused, and demeaned in his interactions with people.  The indifferent, cruel world he faces is best epitomized by Roland Turner played by John Goodman who the Coens amusingly like to cast as an embodiment of evil in the world (the exception being Walter from The Big Lebowski).  Roland's a jazz musician who torments Llewyn on their trip to Chicago, with insults like "in jazz we play all 12 notes."

Accompanying Llewyn through much of his journey is a cat named Ulysses.  I'm guessing the name choice is not a coincidence.  Is Llewyn their version of Joyce's Leopold Bloom?  I'd argue there are

Coen's Version of Leopold Bloom?

some notable resemblances.  Or at least a distant relative?  Like Joyce's protagonist, Llewyn is haunted by forces beyond his control and faces the world with a quiet fatalism.  Bloom was a kindly humanist, while Llewyn can only use music to reveal the decency within himself.  When studying Ulysses I was always reminded that it was just one day.  And Inside Llewyn Davis takes place over a week.

Where does Bob Dylan fit into all this?  I would argue the film has everything and nothing to do with him. One wonders if the Coens simply thought, "wouldn't it be cool to make a movie set in Greenwich Village in 1961."  After all that Freewheelin Bob Dylan cover was pretty cool!  Dylan, a rock and roller in High School back in Hibbing, Minnesota discovered folk and wrote like his hero Woody Guthrie.  But the rock and roll attitude never left him. He came to despise the entire phenomenon of "topical" songwriting, as he infamously dismissed the erstwhile folker Phil Ochs from his circle, with the put down "you're nothing but a journalist."  One can imagine Llewyn saying the same thing to his peers.  Dylan once wrote "there's no success like failure/And that failure's no success at all."  How does an artist define success?  Making millions on an album?  Applause from an audience after a performance?  Acknowledgement from peers?  Can one attain greatness without the recognition of peers?  

While Inside Llewyn Daivs is not the best Coen Brothers film, it is very much worth seeing. They create a world other filmmakers simply cannot duplicate.  And much like the release of a new Dylan album - you might not always find genius, but always something worthwhile and thought provoking.

My Top Ten Christmas Movies

 Not a definitive list by any means - just a personal one.  Six of the ten

titles are from the 1980s so that should tell you enough right there.

10) Home Alone (1990)  The first of three John Hughes films to make my list.  Starring a charismatic Maculay Caulkin as a suburban kid accidentally left behind when his family departs for France.  During the course of the film he learns to value his family, redeem a random old man, and protect his home from two hapless robbers played by Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern.   

9) Charlie Brown Christmas Special (1966)  Everyone gets bummed about the holidays and who better than to channel our rage than through the perpetual sad sack Charlie Brown? With a little help from his friends including  Linus as his conscience and Lucy with her tough love - where can one go wrong? Meanwhile Snoopy's antics add a refreshing anarchy to the proceedings.  Who can go wrong with friends like that?  And the music of Vince Guaraldi.  Charlie Brown Lives!

8) Planes, Trains, and Automobiles (1987) Although technically not a Christmas film since it takes place during Thanksgiving, the pairing of John Candy and Steve Martin warrants this one to have "holiday" film classic status.  With Martin as a humorless yuppie and Candy as his earthy, but erstwhile travel companion Del Griffith, both characters become friends and change each other for the better. The honesty in both performances makes the emotional payoff believable at the end. 

7) A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1945)  Emotional coming of age narrative set in turn of the century Brooklyn.  Told mostly from idealistic daughter's perspective, the film follows the an Irish-American family struggle's with poverty and their father's alcoholism.  Although not a Christmas film per se, a significant portion takes place during the holiday.  Elia Kazan's debut film.

6) National Lampoons Christmas Vacation (1989)  The third John Hughes film to make the list.  Chevy Chase returns as the well meaning, but hapless family man, Clark Griswald.  This time around he wants to have the ultimate family Christmas.  Hughes takes common Christmastime rituals like getting a tree, putting up Christmas lights, shopping for family, dealing with pushy in-laws and uninvited guests, and living up to the ghost of past Christmases with the right balance of sarcasm of sentimentality. Randy Quaid's reprisal of "Cousin" Eddie takes the comedy to another level and prevents Chevy Chase from becoming too tiresome.

5) Die Hard (1988)  Set during a Christmas Eve in a L.A. highrise as East German terrorists attempt to steal millions from a wealthy Japanese conglomerate.  Standing in their way is street smart New York cop - John McClane.  With methodical determination he outwits the Eurotrash terrorists at every turn.  All the ingredients are here: a sense of humor, excellent action, a compelling villain, and a new everyman action hero.  

4) Gremlins (1984)  A b-movie homage disguised as a Christmas film.  Something about the 80s zeitgeist makes Gremlins a must see with it's subversive homage to Reagan's America.  Directed by Joe Dante and produced by Stephen Spielberg - every shot has that Spielbergian vibe. Gremlin's is partly creature feature, family drama, and satire all rolled into one.  

3) Scrooged (1989) - As years go by the irreverence and sheer zaniness of Scrooged grows more endearing with me.  Bill Murray plays a bitter TV executive who berates his employees and drives everyone else in his life away.  Then he is visited by three ghosts . . .  you know the rest of the story.  The cameos range from Miles Davis to Jamie Farr.  The screenwriters keep the cynicism coming.  Hard to imagine anyone except Bill Murray pulling this one off - it's like his own twisted version of George Bailey.

2) A Christmas Story (1983) - Once upon time TBS did not air this movie 24/7.  As a result, it's impact has diluted.  Nevertheless, for the first 20 viewings one cannot resist this piece of Americana capturing the Midwest in the 1940s.  The true hero is the narrator Jean Shepard, a legendary radio broadcaster known for his hipster persona on New York's legendary AM station WOR, who for years captivated night owls with his stories about growing up in Indiana.

1) It's a Wonderful Life (1946) Frank Capra's classic can at turns annoy with its broad sentimentality and blind faith in humanity. It can also inspire viewers with the basic decency of George Bailey.  I'll credit the acting starting with Jimmy Stewart, who's respect and dedication to the story has reverberated through the decades.  That goes for the entire ensemble cast who magically captured a distinct moment in American history. 

That's the list.  See you next year!!!

Ender's Game: Love Thy Enemy **1/2

The long awaited adaptation of Orson Scott Card's classic Sci-Fi novel Ender's Game is generally well made, engaging, and consistently grim (in a good way).  The film stars Asa Butterfield (from Hugo Cabaret) as the child prodigy Ender Wiggin; a military genius recruited to defend earth from buglike space invaders. Unlike most alien invasion pictures, which emphasize special effects and action, Ender's Game dwells more on characterization - allowing the film to at least touch upon moral and philosophical issues.

Set possibly a 100 years into the future after Earth has successfully repulsed an alien invasion, the story follows a group of children training to stop the next one.  The world government forces parents to give up their "gifted" children for military training.  Ender's two older siblings, Peter and Valentine (who both play a stronger role in the novel) represent conflicting sides of his personality: intelligent aggression and informed compassion.  Ender's mentor, Colonel Graff (Harrison Ford), sees Ender as humanity's last hope - exuding a creepy moral ambiguity in his performance.

A bit of inspired dialogue from the film got me thinking.  Colonel Graff wants to mold Ender into another Julius Caesar or Napoleon.  However, as pointed out to the Colonel, Caesar was killed by his own friends and Napoleon ended up in exile.  Generally, movies portray military heroes as larger than life egotists obsessed with their image in the history books - Patton being the glaring example.  But Ender's Game tries to answer the question of what makes a "great" general?  From my humble amount of reading of history, there a multitude of complex factors and talents appropriate for their time period:

Dwight Eisenhower: First rate conflict resolver and manager. 

Napoleon: Observers described as otherworldly and detached during battle.  

U.S. Grant: Stoic determination

Robert E. Lee: Aristocratic, risk taker, and endeared himself to history despite his less than noble cause.

George Washington: A gentleman who could win friends and influence others.

The list goes on and on. Ender Wiggin, like Grant, is a reluctant warrior.  He's really, really good at combat and strategy, but takes little joy in it.  Barely into adolescence Ender must defeat an enemy no one understands - another important allegory here?

The special effects are exceptional and avoid being too flashy.  As I said, this is a somewhat bleak movie for PG-13 audience, because of the issues it raises.  The adults using the children for their own purposes is another recurring theme in need of more development.  Or is the primary theme about the necessity of preparing for war?  The script tends to meander around those sticky quandaries.

Unfortunately, there's a pacing problem throughout. Some sequences go on too long, while others go by way too fast. The build up to the climax falls a bit flat.

I would recommend this movie as slightly above average Sci-Fi.  If you like it - definitely check out the novel.

Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983) ***

In 1983, Warner Brothers released a much anticipated film version of Rod Serling's classic TV series, The Twilight Zone.  With two successful young directors attached, Steven Spielberg and John Landis, the project looked like box office gold.  However, a tragic accident during the filming that resulted in the deaths of Vic Morrow and two child actors has cast a grim legacy over the production.  Nevertheless TZ: The Movie holds up as a curiosity in 1980s pop culture for its wry nostalgia for classic television.  For many like myself too young to remember the original series, the film served as introduction to the best anthology series of all time.

An amusing "prologue" with Dan Aykroyd and Albert Brooks opens the film.  On the road late at night, two guys play a TV trivia game to relieve the boredom of the road.  They swap stories about how The Twilight Zone influenced their childhood, but unfortunately ends with a cheap piece of schlock horror - not in keeping with Serling's legacy.   

The first segment stars Vic Morrow as an angry middle aged man passed over for a promotion.  In a bar he goes on a racist rant.  Upon leaving, he's transported to Nazi Germany and the Jim Crow South for some rough lessons on tolerance.  Landis's attempt at social commentary came off as a clumsy liberal sermon.

Spielberg's segment hasn't aged well either.  A stranger played by Scatman Crothers arrives at a retirement home and offers the residents a chance to return to their youth.  Stereotypes and broad generalizations sink Spielberg's attempt to make a statement on aging.

Joe Dante remade "It's a Good Life."  The TV episode starred Bill Mumy as a kid with telekinetic powers. Dante effectively used some creepy special effects with tinges of dark humor. Arguably, it's the most memorable segment.

The last tale, directed by George Miller of Mad Max fame, "Nightmare at 20,000 feet", has Jon Lithgow (reprising a classic William Shatner performance)  as a neurotic plane passenger who claims a monster is on the wing.  From a teleplay by Richard Matheson, the story plays on the terror of being stuck in claustrophobic space with a crazy person.  As a piece of film making it works because Miller let the audience emphasize with Lithgow who delivered a memorable performance.

Rod Serling's imagination continues to inspire.  TV shows like The X-Files, Lost, and Breaking Bad owed much to his legacy.  Perhaps the time has come for Hollywood to make  their own 21st century version of The Twilight Zone with a new crop of directors.  But as a piece of 1980s pop culture TZ: The Movie remains worth revisiting, albeit with the knowledge it had the potential to be much better.  

Gravity ****

Gravity displays the amazing power of cinema.  To fully appreciate Gravity, experiencing the film in 3D is a must. Like any great story, it's one of survival. Humanity versus an inhospitable environment. Watching the film has the effect of reading Jack London at his best.  Director Alfonso Cuaron does an amazing job of depicting the feeling of being in space and capturing the mystical nature of the universe.

Two astronauts, played by George Clooney and Sandra Bullock, an engineer and medical doctor, face catastrophe when a Russian satellite crashes into their space shuttle.  In a gripping 20 minute shot we are carried along in a unique sort of terror evoking both helplessness and awe. Clooney's pitch perfect as the veteran astronaut holding it together during a crisis (channeling Dr. Ross from ER).  Sandra Bullock's performance does something even more special.  She keeps humanity in the story.  Countless films sacrifice the human element for an endless parade of banal special effects.  But not here.  Bullock experiences crisis after crisis in the 93 minutes of Gravity and keeps the audience engaged at every step.

Space itself is the other major character.  While experiencing the film, it's easy to to just look on with wonder at the amazing visuals and forget the story.  Cuaron includes several shots of the astronauts looking minuscule between the earth and space reminding us of two things: our smallness in comparison to the universe and the beauty of being part of something so mysterious.  Films like Tree of Life and 2001: A Space Odyssey create a similar sense of wonder. Gravity avoids trying to answer the big philosophical questions, but brings them up in a more natural way.  A sudden threat to our existence quickly makes philosophers out of us all!

Comparisons with Kubrick and Cuaron's conceptions of space are inevitable.  In 2001, Kubrick portrays the universe as indifferent while suggesting other intelligent life may exist.  Cuaron also forces the audience to ponder the indifference of space. In the final 20 minutes he makes us believe humanity can transcend its limitations.   Both films end with moving images recalling our own past and future.  Cuaron's the humanist; Kubrick the existentialist. 

Another irony is that America's current space program faces it's own uncertain future.  NASA's glory days of Apollo are long gone and many wonder whether space travel is worth the investment. In 1970, a mission to Mars appeared within easy grasp.  Now space missions seem to exist outside of my lifetime.  Maybe, we'll see.

As a follow up to Cuaron's Children of Men, Gravity will stand as one of the best films of this decade.  All the elements are present for a great film: acting, special effects, sound, music, and all around immersive experience.

Cosmopolis: Welcome to Delillo's World ***

Cosmopolis is the first Don Delillo novel to get a proper adaptation from Hollywood.  Delillo stands as one of the great American novelists of the past fifty years with classics looking deep into the fringes of America's troubled soul.  His canvas ranges between the epic to the small scale story:  Underworld covered the entire Cold War, while Libra focused on the JFK assassination.  Cosmopilis, one of his shorter novels, takes place over the course of one day.  Directed by David Cronenberg, watching Cosmopolis at times feels like a long piece of drone music heading towards an inevitable anti-climax

The film follows Eric Packer (Robert Pattinson), an ultra rich Wall Street "Master of the Universe" type as he controls his shrinking world from the confines of a high tech limousine.  From the beginning it's clear he's facing a crisis.  As the day unfolds he consults with tech experts, post-modern gurus, a rapper, meets his wife, mistress, and a call girl.  Cronenberg imagines a much angrier version of Occupy Wall Street with protesters launching violent assaults on Wall Street traders.  Like the characters in Poe's The Masque of the Red Death, who live in decadence as a plague decimates the population, Eric cannot escape a confrontation with the have-nots.  And he does not avoid them, in fact he seeks a confrontation.  When a guru calls the protesters "unoriginal" he replies,"What's Original?"  While history repeats itself, or at least the pattern returns, what else can the elite do but sit back and reflect on how the peasants will react this time around.

Pattinson's quite effective.  He's like Louis XIV riding around town making philosophical statements about random topics.  He reminds me of the Delillo's protagonist from his debut novel Americana, a young TV executive who has everything decides to leave it all behind for a vanity project.  There's a self-destructive element to Eric in his quest to experience desire, fear, and violence.  The climax of the film comes right out of Dostoevsky's Notes from the Underground with Paul Giamatti (Benno Levin) personifying alienation   The scene plays as if Eric as represents the 1% versus Benno as the 99 percent's avatar.  Both characters have an obsession with the decay of the body and its philosophical implications.  Most film goers will not like their confrontation, but I've seen few with more intensity.

I liked Cosmopolis because of its great juxtaposition and attempt to make sense of the modern world through the eyes of some truly flawed characters searching for some meaning amid all the sound of fury of the 21st century.