10 Memorable Marquees In The Movies

Regular visitors to this blog (there must be a few, right?) may be aware that I have a bit of a thing for movie theater marquees. I regularly post pictures of local theaters like the Colony Theater and the Rialto Theater’s marquees here in Raleigh on the sidebar (in the old days it would be the Varsity Theater in Chapel Hill when I lived there), and I have them collected on Facebook in the “Movie Theater Fun File!” section of my profile.

So since it’s been a while since I've put together a good ole Film Babble Blog list I thought I’d get back in the game with this top 10 of memorable marquees that have appeared in the movies throughout the years:

1. THE SORROW AND THE PITY in ANNIE HALL

It was a running gag throughout Woody Allen's 1977 Oscar winner ANNIE HALL that protagonist Alvy Singer (Allen) would drag his girlfriend (Diane Keaton in the title role) to see Marcel Ophüls' THE SORROW AND THE PITY (1969). The marquee shot above comes from the end of the film, after the couple has broken up, when Allen runs into Keaton coming out of a screening of the four hour documentary about Nazis at the Thalia Theater, which used to exist on 95th Street off Broadway (it's an apartment building now). It's a long shot so it's easy to miss that Allen's date is Sigourney Weaver, in her first film appearance. A bonus Woody Allen marquee appears at the top of this post.

2. FAMILY PLOT in DAZED AND CONFUSED

This is one of hundreds of well chosen details that helped Richard Linklater's 1993 cult comedy drama classic DAZED AND CONFUSED so convincingly recreate a day from May of 1976. Hitchcock's final film, released a month earlier, appears in a few early shots on a standing marquee for a drive-in in the background of the film mostly set in the suburbs of Austin, Texas. It works as both a piece of a time capsule capture, and a shout-out to the master of suspense.

3. PLAY MISTY FOR ME in DIRTY HARRY

This, and #4, are inside-jokes. In Don Siegel's 1971 cop classic DIRTY HARRY, Clint Eastwood's iconic Harry Callahan character enters a San Francisco burger joint in one shot in which a marquee advertising Eastwood's previous film, PLAY MISTY FOR ME (also '71) can be seen around the corner. Nice plug, Clint!

4. THE MIDNIGHT MEAT TRAIN in SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK

The same type of thing happens in David O. Russell's SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK from last year. While leads Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence are arguing in front of a theater midway through the film, a marquee advertising Ryûhei Kitamura's little seen 2008 thriller THE MIDNIGHT MEAT TRAIN, which starred Cooper, is fairly visible - partially obscured but still obvious.

5. PLATOON in THE NAKED GUN

During a very funny falling-in-love montage set to Herman Hermit's “I’m into Something Good” in David Zucker's 1988 comedy classic THE NAKED GUN: FROM THE FILES OF POLICE SQUAD, Leslie Neilsen and Priscilla Presley exit a Los Angeles movie theater laughing their asses off. The camera pans up to the marquee:

It's a cheap laugh, but still always gets me.



6. A double feature of A BOY'S LIFE and WATCH THE SKIES in GREMLINS

The fictitious film titles on this marquee seen in Joe Dante's 1984 classic GREMLINS are Spielbergian in-jokes. A BOY'S LIFE was the original title of E.T. and WATCH THE SKIES was the early working title of CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND, so the fake double bill presents a double nod to the film's executive producer. This marquee has been mentioned before on this blog as has:



7. SEE YOU NEXT TUESDAY in KENTUCKY FRIED MOVIE

This marquee for the phony film SEE YOU NEXT WEDNESDAY (previously covered in “Film Within Film Follow-up Fun” 7/13/07), seen in the 1977 ZAZ sketch comedy movie THE KENTUCKY FRIED MOVIE is part of a running gag through many of the films of John Landis. It comes from a line from 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY that the director liked enough to feature in the form of billboards, posters, and more than one marquee.

8. A double bill of DEEP THROAT and MEATBALL in SLAP SHOT

This marquee glimpsed in the background of a parade shot on the streets of Jonestown, Pennsylvania in George Roy Hill's classic 1977 hockey comedy SLAP SHOT proudly displays a double feature of Gerard Damiano's 1972 pornos DEEP THROAT (possibly the most famous porn film ever) and his lesser known, but presumably just as filthy MEATBALL.

9. JAWS 19 in BACK TO THE FUTURE PART II

I also featured this one before (“10 Self Referential Or Crossover Moments In The Films Of Lucas And Spielberg” 5/20/08), but couldn't resist including the marquee of JAWS 19 that Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) encountered in the future in Robert Zemeckis' BACK TO THE FUTURE PART II (executive produced by Spielberg) here because, you know, hologram shark! Also the fact that the director of the 19th film in the JAWS franchise is credited to Spielberg's son Max Spielberg (born in 1985) is a nice touch.

10. THE WHITE HELL OF PITZ PALU in INGLORIOUS BASTERDS

I'm including this one because I used to get up on the ladder and change the marquee a lot at the Varsity Theater in Chapel Hill when I worked there from 2004-2009. So I appreciated that Quentin Tarantino's and Eli Roth's revisionist World War II romp, INGLORIOUS BASTERDS, included a scene in which Mélanie Laurent's character Shoshanna is taking down the lengthy line of letters that spell out “German Night Leni Riefernstahl in Pabst's THE WHITE HELL OF PITZ PALU.” Thankfully, I rarely had to put up that many letters.



Post note: I should definitely note the cool blog Marquees in Movies, which houses a collection of screenshots from movies showing movie theater marquees. I, ahem, borrowed that great screenshot of SLAP SHOT from them.

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Film Babble Blog's Top 10 Films Of The '70s

Inspired by Sam Fragoso’s “History of Film: The Best Movies of the 1970s” at moviemezzanine.com, in which ballots from staff and friends of the site contribute their top ten films from the decade many consider to be the finest decade in American cinema, I decided to post my list here (also in their comments section).



So here goes:



1. HAROLD AND MAUDE (Dir. Hal Ashby, 1971)

2. THE GODFATHER: PART II (Dir. Francis Ford Coppola, 1974)

3. MONTY PYTHON AND THE HOLY GRAIL (Dirs. Terry Gilliam & Terry Jones, 1975)

4. ALL THE PRESIDENT’S MEN (Dir. Alan J. Pakula, 1976)

5. THE LONG GOODBYE (Dir. Robert Altman, 1973)

6. MANHATTAN (Dir. Woody Allen, 1979)

7. TAXI DRIVER (Dir. Martin Scorsese, 1976)

8. CHINATOWN (Dir. Roman Polanski, 1974)

9. BADLANDS (Dir. Terrence Malick, 1973)

10. CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND

(Dir. Steven Spielberg, 1978)

More
later…

Film Babble Blog Celebrates 25th Anniversary Of WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT

25 years ago today, Robert Zemeckis' innovative blend of animation with live action classic WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT was released in theaters. Guest writer Spencer Blohm, helps Film Babble Blog celebrate the anniversary with this insightful piece:

How WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT Impacted Movies

Almost everyone recognizes WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT as an iconic animated comedy-drama set against a gritty, noir detective novel background. What many don’t realize, however, is the lasting impact that this film had on both animated and live action films since its release.

An obvious innovation brought about by the hit 1988 movie was the development of the techniques used by director Robert Zemeckis, producers Frank Marshall, Robert Watts, and Steven Spielberg and their special effects crew. They were attempting to create a full scale human-cartoon hybrid world. That level of integration was truly uncharted territory, and the integration of both of these elements needed to be seamless. Since these techniques and procedures had not yet been developed, the team was left to figure it out for themselves.

It's amazing to think that scenes like the memorable shot of Bugs Bunny and Mickey Mouse parachuting alongside Bob Hoskins were created with nothing more than green screen technology and the team's ingenuity. Their success paved the way for future special effects driven films, such as SPACE JAM and THE MATRIX.

The human-cartoon integration piece created a host of challenges for actors, voice talent and animators as well. Bob Hoskins, who played male lead Eddie Valiant, read his lines to fully costumed voice actors to help him stay in character. Mime artists and mannequins were utilized to further assist the live actors with spacing and interaction. The attention to detail that this project required was so great that Kathleen Turner, the uncredited but unforgettable voice of Jessica Rabbit, had to record her voice track before the animators could finish their work. This was due to their need to get the character's breathing drawn correctly. This team's work created the blueprint for developing future projects with similar challenges.

WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT is also distinguished by the cooperation required by different cartoon studios and production companies to make the film happen. Many of the characters in the film are Disney characters, which is natural since this was a Disney production. However, quite a few of the other characters were created by Warner Bros. Studios. This cross-studio collaboration was (and still is) unique, and helped create a substantial interest in media that crosses the intellectual property of multiple studios. Currently, there is a whole sub-section of comic books and video games where characters come together in ways that would have otherwise been impossible.

Another achievement credited to this project is the impact it had on animated features that would follow. WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT, scripted by Jeffrey Price and Peter S. Seaman from the source material of the 1981 Gary K. Wolf  novel Who Censored Roger Rabbit, was not typical intellectual territory for a cartoon.

The plot and characters in the film were uncharacteristically adult in nature. From the literary influence of the crime novel genre to the background graffiti stating, "For a Good Time, Call Allyson Wonderland," this was new ground for animated production companies. The success of an animated film covering this ground paved the way for many future animated projects from the movies made by Pixar to South Park.

The Golden Age of Animation is the period of time when production companies used created theatrical animated shorts featuring such recognizable characters as Mickey Mouse and Popeye. These shorts eventually waned in popularity in the 1960's, when television cartoons began to overtake these shorts in popularity. 

WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT introduced these characters to a whole new generation of fans. If it were not for the adventures of Eddie Valiant in Toontown, many of the popular children's shows on various networks today might never have happened.

WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT was more than a detective story with cool special effects. It was an innovative feature film that had a wide reaching and profound impact on animation, film making and pop culture.

Author Bio: Spencer Blohm is a freelance television, film and video game blogger for Direct2TV.com. He enjoys animation from the golden age of Disney shorts all the way to the newest releases from Japan and the online work of Flash artists pushing the genre forward.

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JURASSIC PARK 3D Doesn't Quite Pop

Opening today at a multiplex near you:

JURASSIC PARK 3D

(Dir. Steven Spielberg, 1993)

To celebrate its 20th anniversary, and to create franchise awareness for the big ass IMAX 3D event spectacular JURASSIC PARK IV set for Summer 2014, Steven Spielberg’s action adventure epic has now been outfitted in 3D for a theatrical re-release opening today.

That’s all well and good, but at the advance screening I attended, the image looked faded. The colors were much more vibrant in a revival screening I saw the same week of THE MUPPET MOVIE (part of the Cool Classics series at the Colony Theater in Raleigh), and that was an original 35 mm print 15 years older than JURASSIC PARK! 


I know, I know, it's digital and I can only speak for how it looked at the one screening I saw, so I’ll be curious to know if any other movie-goers experienced such a dim image. When I see TV spots for the film, the color looks over-saturated, as if to make up for the faded picture. But anyway, on to the actual movie.

I could tell from the feel of the packed auditorium (and overhearing some random chatting) that many there had not seen the original JURASSIC PARK before. It has been a long time since I’ve seen it in full, but it has been on television so often that I’m very familiar with large chunks of it.

The Spielberg sense of otherworldly awe, that shined blindingly in such classics as CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND , RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK, and E.T., takes its last glorious gasp here.

The scene where Richard Attenborough introduces Sam Neill, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum, and the less famous kids (Ariana Richards and Joseph Mazzello) to the wide landscape of cloned dinosaurs still has jaw-dropping impact, but the 3D-ness present this time is only intermittently effective throughout the film (the shot with the T-rex roaring into the jeep mirror with the disclaimer “Objects may seem closer than they appear” is one effective in-your-face instance). But most of the time, I didn’t even notice it.

The storyline (based on the 1990 novel by Michael Cricton, who co-wrote the screenplay with Spielberg cronie David Koepp) hasn’t really aged well - Billionaire Attenborough brings a team of paleontologists and scientists (Neill, Dern, Goldblum), and a blood-sucking lawyer (Martin Ferrero) to inspect his new cloned dinosaur island theme park, but things go wrong (thanks to the conniving ways of Newman from Seinfeld) and they spend the rest of the movie being chased by CGI dinosaurs - but does it matter with so many genuine thrills on display? No it doesn’t.

It also has a number of entertaining elements such as a pre-PULP FICTION Samuel L. Jackson (“hold on to your butts!”) as the park’s chief engineer, the before mentioned Newman (actually Wayne Knight) providing snotty comic relief (Goldblum provides the more egg-headed kind), and a great suspenseful sequence with the kids trying to escape from a few raptors in the lavish kitchen in the visitor’s center, so the film still largely holds up.

It’s not even that dated - I only noticed Knight drinking a Jolt Cola, and Richards identifying herself as a “hacker” reminded me how new a term that was 20 years ago.

However, over and over I could tell that in this new 3D presentation, the things that got rises from the audience (many of whom were kids) came from Spielberg’s film making drive being in fifth gear, not the 3D enhancement, which, as I said before, didn’t look very good.

If your kids haven’t seen it, or only seen it on TV, a matinee may be in order of Spielberg’s crowd-pleaser, but contrary to Attenborough’s repeated boasts throughout the film, it looks to me like they did spare some expense with this re-tinkering, so brace yourself for a picture that doesn’t quite pop.

Sigh. If only a 2D 20th anniversary re-release was an option at the multiplexes.

More later...

New Releases On Blu Ray & DVD: 3/26/13

To barely anybody’s surprise, Daniel Day Lewis won his third Oscar for his powerful portrayal of the 16th President in LINCOLN (my review here), out today in a lavish package on Blu ray and DVD. 



Film buffs have their choice of a 2 disc or a deluxe 4-Disc Blu-ray Combo Pack Super Set (Blu-ray + Bonus Blu-ray + DVD + Digital Copy). Bonus material includes the featurettes “The Journey to LINCOLN,” “A Historic Tapestry: Richmond, Virginia,” “Crafting the Past,” “In The Company Of Character" and “In Lincoln’s Footsteps.” As usual there’s no director’s commentary (Spielberg hasn’t recorded a commentary for any of his movies), but there’s plenty of Spielberg yakking about making his historical epic here so fans should be happy with this release. 

The first season of HBO’s Veep, you know the show with Julia Louis-Dreyfus as the Vice President, comes out today on Blu ray and DVD, and it’s a nice 2 disc Blu ray with DVD and digital copy set, with a neat art design that makes it resemble The West Wing’s DVD packaging of their seasons. 

I wasn’t much of a fan of the show when it first aired last year, but watching it now I am more appreciating Armando Iannucci’s (IN THE LOOP) shaky cam rhythms capturing the silly politics stressing out all his self centered characters, played by a fine ensemble cast including Anna Chlumsky, Tony Hale, and Matt Walsh, in a world in which the President is never named, political affiliation is never identified, and dignity is never present.

Louis-Dreyfus, who will always be Seinfeld's Elaine Benes to me, won an Emmy for her performance as the vain Veep, Selina Meyer, in the 8 episodes of season one here which are joined by such Bonus Features as “The Making of Veep,” “Misspoke” (a direct to the camera Louis-Dreyfus retracting remarks about Governor Chung), another outtake about Chung (which I don’t get at all), an Anti-Obesity PSA (also has a useless unfunny outtake), and 12 commentaries with cast and crew (I’ve listened to a few of them and they’re pretty entertaining). Annoyingly these extras are listed on the menu on disc one, but when you click on several of them it says “Please Insert Disc 2.”

Last December, I skipped a press screening of Andy Fickman’s PARENTAL GUIDANCE, starring Billy Crystal and Bette Midler as wacky grandparents, so I doubt I’ll put it in my Netflix queue, but for folks who are interested, it’s out now on Blu ray and DVD with several Special Features: commentary (with Crystal and Fickman), gag reel, deleted scenes (also with commentary), and a featurette entitled “FXM Productions Presents: In Character with Billy Crystal, Bette Midler, Marisa Tomei.” Hmm, I didn’t know Marisa Tomei was in it! Still doesn’t make me want to see it though.

A few other films I missed in their theatrical run, but actually might check out, are also out today on Blu ray and DVD: A ROYAL AFFAIR, EASY MONEY (aka SNABBA CASH), and the documentary STEP UP TO THE PLATE (French title: ENTRE LES BRAS), about French chef Michel Bras.

Also in that category is Rick Alverson’s THE COMEDY, which is also available on Netflix Instant. Tim Heidecker of Tim & Eric fame, stars as a guy who I hear is a bit of a dick who harasses people while he’s waiting for his Dad to die. I guess that’s what it’s about. Despite that I hated TIM & ERIC’S BILLION DOLLAR MOVIE, I am very curious about this film. I’ll let you know how it goes.

Andrew Dominik’s KILLING THEM SOFTLY, which featured Brad Pitt doing just that, is out today in both one disc Blu ray and DVD editions. I sort of semi-liked what Dominik was going for in the film, I likened it to a mash-up of GOODFELLAS and MARGIN CALL in my review last November, so I’m curious about what the Special Features are. Well, looks like only some deleted scenes, and a short “making of” featurette (6 minutes). That’s too bad, this is a film that could really use a commentary. 

Older films out today on Blu ray and DVD: THE SANDLOT: 20th Anniversary Edition, JURASSIC PARK (also a 20th anniversary re-issue just in time for the new 3D version of the film), Elia Kazan’s PANIC IN THE STREETS (1950), and Criterion Collection editions of Charlie Chaplin’s excellent MONSIEUR VERDOUX (1947) and and Robert Bresson’s A MAN ESCAPED (1956).

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Hey Kids - Funtime Oscar Picks 2013!

As I’ve said before, the 85th Academy Awards, airing Sunday night on ABC, is looking like one of the most unpredictable Oscars ever. So I bet I get more wrong this time than usual. But it's all in fun so what the Hell!

Here are my picks:

1. BEST PICTURE: ARGO 

Yep, I'm going with the theory that the Academy will make up for not nominating Ben Affleck for Best Director and give him the gold for his film, which I think deserves to win. LINCOLN looks pretty possible too, and I could see SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK being an upset, but I'm still going with ARGO.

2. BEST DIRECTOR: Steven Spielberg for LINCOLN

3. BEST ACTOR: Daniel Day-Lewis for LINCOLN



4. BEST ACTRESS: Jennifer Lawrence for SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK


5. BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: Robert De Niro for SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK

6. BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Anne Hathaway for LES MISÉRABLES

And the rest:

7. PRODUCTION DESIGN: LES MISÉRABLES (Eve Stewart, Anna Lynch-Robinson)

8. CINEMATOGRAPHY: LIFE OF PI (Claudio Miranda)

9. COSTUME DESIGN: ANNA KARENINA (Jacqueline Durran)

10. DOCUMENTARY FEATURE: SEARCHING FOR SUGAR MAN

11. DOCUMENTARY SHORT: OPEN HEART (Kief Davidson, Cori Shepherd Stern)

12. FILM EDITING: ARGO (William Goldenberg)

13. MAKEUP: THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY (Peter King, Rick Findlater, Tami Lane)

14. VISUAL EFFECTS: LIFE OF PI (Bill Westenhofer, Guillaume Rocheron, Erik De Boer, Donald Elliott)

15. ORIGINAL SCORE: LIFE OF PI (Mychael Danna)

16. ORIGINAL SONG: “Skyfall” (Adele, Paul Epworth)

17. ANIMATED SHORT: PAPERMAN (John Kahrs)

18. LIVE ACTION SHORT: CURFEW (Shawn Christensen)

19. SOUND EDITING: ZERO DARK THIRTY (Paul N.J. Ottosson)

20. SOUND MIXING: LES MISÉRABLES (Andy Nelson, Mark Paterson, Simon Hayes)

21. ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: DJANGO UNCHAINED (Quentin Tarantino)

22. ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: LINCOLN (Tony Kushner)

23. ANIMATED FEATURE FILM: BRAVE (Mark Andrews, Brenda Chapman) What I want to win: WRECK-IT RALPH.

24. BEST FOREIGN FILM: AMOUR (Dir. Michael Haneke)

Check back Monday morning to see how many I got wrong.

Also, I should again plug my appearance on postmodcast in which I discuss the Oscars with host Kevin Brewer.

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The Film Babble Blog Top 10 Movies Of 2012

Yeah, I know it’s the end of January, but I had a bunch of movies to catch up with so back off! 2012 wasn’t really a bad year for film, but it was far from fantastic. Looking at the top ten highest grossing films of the year, I see that all of them were franchise entries.

Maybe 2012 was the most formulaic year for film ever, I dunno, but I do know that there were some worthwhile films that stood out from the usual glut of super hero sequels and here they are - Film Babble Blog’s Top 10:

1. THE MASTER (Dir. Paul Thomas Anderson)

The immaculate imagery provided by cinematographer Mihai Malaimare Jr., the layered construction of Anderson’s screenplay, and the powerful performances by Philip Seymour Hoffman, Joaquin Phoenix, and Amy Adams (who ought to win the Oscar just for having to sit nude except for a pregnant-belly prosthetic in a central surreal scene), all make up the most memorably stirring movie of the year. Shame on the Academy for not nominating it for Best Picture. Read my review. 

2. HOLY MOTORS (Dir. Leos Carax)

The freakiest film of the year is also one of the most invigorating. French film maker Carax gives us Denis Lavant as the eccentric Mr. Oscar, whom we watch being driven around Paris by his associate Céline (Édith Scob) in a white limousine that functions as his dressing room to various odd jobs. And I do mean odd. Read my full review here.

3. ARGO (Dir. Ben Affleck) 

Another shameful omission by the Academy was Affleck for Best Director for this superb thriller, but some are predicting that it will win Best Picture to make up for it. I would be cool with that because his terrific take on the joint CIA-Canadian secret operation that used the ruse of a sci-fi film production to rescue a group of American diplomats from Iran’s clutches in 1980 is well deserving. Read my full review. 

4. BERNIE (Dir. Richard Linklater) 

Linklater’s 15th film takes the true story of a Texas mortician (played to perfection by Jack Black) who kills a wealthy widow (a sharp harpie depiction by Shirley MacClaine), and makes a matter-of-fact comic docudrama out of it that really works. Read my full review here.

5. SKYFALL (Dir. Sam Mendes)

Who expected that the return of the iconic superspy after a four year hiatus would yield an Oscar caliber James Bond movie? I sure didn’t. I’m happy to have it as Daniel Craig’s third outing as 007 isn’t just one of the best of the series, it’s one of the best full throttle action films in years. Read my full review.

For my full reviews of the rest – please click on the highlighted titles:

6. LINCOLN (Dir. Steven Spielberg)

7. SAMSARA (Dir. Ron Fricke)

8. MOONRISE KINGDOM (Dir. Wes Anderson)

9. LOOPER (Dir. Rian Johnson)

10. ZERO DARK THIRTY (Dir. Kathryn Bigelow)

Now bring on 2013! Again, I know it’s a month into it, but go with me on this. 

More later…

LINCOLN: The Film Babble Blog Review

LINCOLN (Dir. Steven Spielberg, 2012)



At the beginning of Steven Spielberg’s LINCOLN, based in part on Doris Kearns Goodwin’s 2005 bestseller “Team of Rivals,” we meet the friendly, soft spoken Abraham Lincoln, played by Daniel Day Lewis in another Oscar caliber performance, as he’s conversing with soldiers, both black and white, in the Army of the Potomac’s camp.



When more than one of the infantryman starts reciting the Gettysburg Address with gusto to our 16th President,  I was thinking ‘what, is this written by Aaron Sorkin?’

I knew that it wasn’t - LINCOLN’s screenplay was penned by playwright Tom Kushner, best known for ANGELS IN AMERICA and Spielberg’s MUNICH - but the scene’s simultaneous attempt at gravitas and heartstring-tugging so reminded me of Sorkin’s style that the comparison was hard to shake. However, in this case, that’s not a bad thing.

Spielberg’s modest epic isn’t a life-spanning biopic; it concerns the pivotal last leg of Lincoln’s life, from January 1865 to his death several months later, in which he tirelessly fought to pass the Thirteenth Amendment abolishing slavery, and end the Civil War.

Although it begins on the battlefield, only briefly do we see combat (there’s nothing that compares to the SAVING PRIVATE RYAN’s lengthy opening Normandy invasion sequence), because the film is more interested in the back room deals, with the suspense coming from how close the vote over the 13th Amendment was in the House of Representatives.

Of course, we all know how it’s going to turn out, but that doesn’t harm the feeling of being a fly on the wall for some of the most crucial conversations in America’s storied past.

A cast of recognizable faces help bring history alive, including Tommy Lee Jones (once a scene stealer always a scene stealer, especially as he has the most humorous moments here) as Republican Congressional leader Thaddeus Stevens, Sally Field as First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln (Field’s one-on-ones with Day-Lewis are wonderful - two Academy Award winners reminding us what won them those awards in the first place), the always welcome Joseph Gordon-Levitt in a brief part as Honest Abe’s son Robert Todd Lincoln, and - thank the Heavens he’s still with us - Hal Holbrook, who once played Lincoln himself in a 1976 television project, as the wise, and very old political figure Francis Preston Blair.

Every other face seems to be somebody you may know too - James Spader, David Strathairn, Bruce McGill, Gulliver McGrath (last seen in DARK SHADOWS and HUGO), Jared Harris, Jackie Earle Haley, Tim Blake Nelson, and John Hawkes are all on hand.

Day-Lewis’s and Spielberg don’t offer us a larger than life Lincoln, they give us a humble man passionately driven to change the fate of human dignity (as he puts it), and it’s a portrayal to believe in. It’s made the more powerful because Spielberg refrains from CGI (an era-appropriate Washington D.C. could’ve been created with lavish special effects), and keeps his cameras (or more accurately cinematographer Janusz Kaminski’s cameras) tight on these grand men (or in the case of Lee Pace’s character Democratic Congressman Fernando Wood, not-so-grand).

Spielberg’s long-time composer John Williams (this is their 26th film together) provides a suitably grandiose score, that gets cheesy at times, but overall effectively enhances the narrative turns, even if I’m having trouble remembering it right now.

For most of its almost 3 hour running time (of course, it’s long!) LINCOLN has the thrust of the best entertainment about political matters from the 1939 classic MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON to the acclaimed NBC drama The West Wing (Sorkin again!), but a few sections drag, and there were times that I thought it might’ve been better as HBO mini-series.

But that probably would’ve denied us the excellent work of Day-Lewis and other A-list cast members though.

There will be many folks that will be turned off by the notion of a long talky history lesson, but with the sheer strength of Day-Lewis’ incredible acting, and Spielberg’s subtle construction (and minimum of his trademark corny sentiment), LINCOLN ought to win over many more folks with the patience to take in what’s being said, how things were changed, and why, to this day, its title subject is considered to be the greatest American President of all time.

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FLIGHT: The Film Babble Blog Review

FLIGHT (Dir. Robert Zemeckis, 2012)

With its disaster movie tension and tone, Robert Zemeckis’ first live action film since 2000’s CAST AWAY (and first R-rated movie since 1980’s USED CARS) comes on at first like it could be a reboot of the ‘70s AIRPORT series. Albeit a more edgy version, as we witness pilot Denzel Washington snort a few lines of cocaine before take-off, and drink vodka while in flight.



Despite the drinking and the drugging, when the airplane’s machinery malfunctions Washington is still able to successfully make an emergency landing, after the stunning maneuver of flying the jet upside down to halt the dive. Washington’s skills saves 96 of the 102 lives (or “souls” as he says it), and he’s initially hailed as a hero, but his hospital toxicology report could get him lifetime imprisonment for manslaughter.



As he’s recuperating, Washington tries to quit drinking and throws out all his liquor and beer. This can’t help but be comical as the supply of booze at his family’s farmhouse in the countryside of Georgia, where he’s hiding from the media, is so huge that he keeps finding more to dispose of.



Washington’s sobriety doesn’t last long; he drops off the wagon right after a morning meeting with Bruce Greenwood as a airline union rep, and Don Cheadle as a Michael Clayton-esque fixer-lawyer who is a little concerned about a certain blood-alcohol-level report. Although Cheadle is confident that he can suppress it, Washington relapses big-time.



Again, the scenes with Washington dealing with his alcoholism can’t help but be comical as we see him guzzle from a big bottle of liquor in the parking lot of a liquor store, and driving around Atlanta with a can of Budweiser in his hand. It seems like Washington spends most of the movie trying to out-drink Nicholas Cage in LEAVING LAS VEGAS.



Washington falls in with Kelly Reilly, who he met at the hospital, as a recovering heroin addict/hooker, but it’s obvious that she’s on a better path to getting her life back together than he is by getting a new job and going to AA meetings. Reilly tries to get Washington to attend a meeting with her, but he walks out half-way through. Our disgraced hero’s behavior gets even worse when he pays a drunken visit to his ex-wife (Garcelle Beauvais) after Reilly leaves him.



While Zemeckis, actually a longtime pilot himself, is a former Steven Spielberg protégé his use of music here has a Martin Scorsese-style specificity. This is most on display in the cameo by the always hilarious John Goodman, who should cameo in every movie, as Washington’s drug dealer who struts through hallways to the Rolling Stones’ “Sympathy For The Devil.” Washington gets Joe Cocker’s “Feelin’ Alright” as his strutting song when all he’s coked-up yet still smooth, and Reilly gets the Cowboy Junkies’ cover of the Velvet Underground’s “Sweet Jane” to serenade her when she shoots up in an early scene. 



I dug how gutsy FLIGHT was for most of its lengthy running time (2 hours and 18 min), and was highly amused by Washington’s cocky manner of talking around people (“Don’t tell me how to lie about drinking, I’ve been lying about drinking my whole life!”), but the film hugely falters in its concluding scenes that contrive to give this appealingly un-redemptive character redemption.



Sorry if this is a Spoiler!, but in the climatic hearing, in which Washington gets questioned by Melissa Leo as an understanding federal inquisitor, I was rooting for the guy to get away with it all, like folks often do in this cruel world. Is that what screenwriter John Gatin (REAL STEEL - that’s right) wanted folks to feel? Like, yeah we know Denzel has substance abuse issues, but, da-ham! Look how good he looks even after a rough night, and he did save the majority of passengers on that doomed flight, so why not let him off the hook?



In the end, the well made FLIGHT enjoys partying with Washington so much, that its punishment of him doesn’t really fly.



More later...