atleverton

I think that this movie was an interesting exploration of a forgotten time in American politics. The story revolves around the fight to gain the approval for the 13th Amendment in the United States. If you don't remember, the 13th Amendment is the one that abolishes slavery, except for as a punishment for a crime. The backdrop of this fight is the end of the Civil War, and Lincoln's search for a way to end the conflict permanently. It's pretty clear that some of the things that people suggest to him would just cause another civil war in 10 years, in 20 years. The film does a great job of recreating the world of politics of that time, the style of political speech to the way the House of Representatives sat and how they conducted their business. It's all very interesting. And one of the surprising discoveries for me was the character of Thaddeus Stevens. He had such an interesting life but ended up being an Ardent abolitionist. I think his life would also make an interesting movie, but in this movie he is very much a side character to the drama of Lincoln. Daniel Day-Lewis of course does a great job portraying Lincoln as he seems to have been. An aw shucks kind of politician, but one who had great depths and wisdom and even a bit of Darkness inside of him, which was necessary for the role he had at that time. What is also great is how the characters in the film react to him, they don't see him as Lincoln this great man they really interact with him as a human being and not somebody who's been on the penny for a hundred years, there's this great scene where he is summoned to the telegraph office to get reports on a military operation he has ordered, and they're waiting for news and his minister of war is very upset, and he just starts to tell this random story about George Washington's portrait and the minister of War just freaks out and yells at Lincoln saying something like I'm not going to listen to your stupid stories right now. It's great because Lincoln wasn't telling the story to assuage the minister of war is feelings, he was doing it for everyone else in the room and when the minister of War stormed off Lincoln wasn't mad at all, so it's a very unique way of doing politics.

Another great aspect of this film is Sally Fields acting as Mary Todd. Mary Todd if you don't know was the Lincoln's wife, and she was for a Time considered to be one of the worst First Wives in history because she had mental problems, and she was not a supportive wife at all times. But Sally Field plays her in a way which is not moving, but understandable. Mary Todd is a person who was incredibly difficult both to like and to love. Sally Field is not someone who gets as much credit as Daniel Day-Lewis does as an actress, but in this film they complement each other perfectly.

The last thing is to talk about the directing. Steven Spielberg I think is one of the greatest filmmakers of his generation, and I don't think that anyone would argue with that. This is not a film that blows you away with stunning shots or an Incredible story, but it does manage to be captivating because it pulls back the curtain and lets you see this very specific time in American history and these very specific individuals and now these individuals seem larger than life, but they were real people and this film does a good job of showing that.

As multiple other reviewers have mentioned, this show was a part of my childhood. I don't think I particularly liked it, but I am of the generation that didn't really have a choice when it came to what to watch for entertainment. We either had to watch what our parents wanted, or what was on the three channels or go do something else. So I did watch this a lot. I recently saw that it was on one of the streaming sites that I am subscribed to, so I watched it my 13 year old son. It's not bad, but not great also. The plots are pretty simplistic, and it's hard to understand where the enchanted forest is supposed to be, why are there aardvarks? The animation of the main characters is pretty ugly, the backgrounds have a level of detail that is absent from modern animated series aimed at children. Also the soundtrack is used in such a way that is lacking in modern animation. By which I mean, the soundtrack is clearly the star of the show just as much as the plot and the characters. I think young children might like this, if you can find it, which is why I rate it so highly.

I'm not as big a fan of game shows as I used to be but this show is a combination of psychological strategy and very difficult puzzles. I think the Korean version does a much better job of building the intrigue around the concept than the British version. In the Korean version, if a contest is sent to prison, they need to stay in a small room for the night and are isolated. But in the British version, they are stuck it a very flimsy golden cage in the centre of the room. It's very interesting from a strategy point of view. In the season that I watched, the Koreans are trying to build this atmosphere of teamwork, even though only one person can win, and in the British one, the knives are out from the beginning.