Empire of the Sun

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empire_of_the_Sun_(film)
Another Spielberg great film

Metamora murder case has place in 'Lincoln'

PJ Star: Metamora murder case has place in 'Lincoln'

Leonardo DiCaprio urged Daniel Day-Lewis to play Lincoln

OK Magazine: Leonardo DiCaprio urged Daniel Day-Lewis to play Lincoln

The Famous 50 - 2013

Connecticut Magazine: The Famous 50 - 2013

Roxbury CT Info

Scene from Gandhi

I didn't know that DDL worked with Ian Charleson

Lincoln Interview - Daniel Day-Lewis (2012)

NY Times: The Carpetbagger

NY Times: The Carpetbagger: What’s in the Running This Year? You Tell Us ---

"...Most pundits have “Argo,” “Lincoln,” “Les Misérables” and “Silver Linings Playbook” in the top spots, in metrics that are sure to shift as the season progresses. But let’s not just take the experts’ word for it – what’s the fun in that? Put your pick for best picture in the comments now, and earn bragging rights next year."

Phillip Tutor: Of Lincoln, Whigs and America

The Anniston Star: Phillip Tutor: Of Lincoln, Whigs and America

‘Lincoln’: A More Authentic Wonderment

NY Review of Books: ‘Lincoln’: A More Authentic Wonderment

In Daniel Day-Lewis’s performance—or, more properly, wholesale inhabitation—Lincoln is made more mysterious than ever. It is at once a deeply and uncannily consistent portrayal and a fantastically technical performance with regard to details of gait and gesture—and, above all, voice, since Day-Lewis has emulated historical accounts of Lincoln’s sometimes “shrill, piping, and unpleasant” way of talking.

May Be Best Ever Thanksgiving Box Office!

Deadline.com: May Be Best Ever Thanksgiving Box Office! 

Among holdovers, this will be another great #1 weekend for Summit’s Twilight Saga finale, Breaking Dawn Part 2 as well as #2 for Eon Productions/MGM/Sony Pictures’ James Bond #23, Skyfall and #3 for Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln from DreamWorks/Fox/Disney. That biopic continues to find an audience – amazingly – in both red and blue states.

Thanksgiving Proclamation

This is the proclamation which set the precedent for America's national day of Thanksgiving. During his administration, President Lincoln issued many orders similar to this. For example, on November 28, 1861, he ordered government departments closed for a local day of thanksgiving.

Sarah Josepha Hale, a 74-year-old magazine editor, wrote a letter to Lincoln on September 28, 1863, urging him to have the "day of our annual Thanksgiving made a National and fixed Union Festival." She explained, "You may have observed that, for some years past, there has been an increasing interest felt in our land to have the Thanksgiving held on the same day, in all the States; it now needs National recognition and authoritive fixation, only, to become permanently, an American custom and institution."

Prior to this, each state scheduled its own Thanksgiving holiday at different times, mainly in New England and other Northern states. President Lincoln responded to Mrs. Hale's request immediately, unlike several of his predecessors, who ignored her petitions altogether. In her letter to Lincoln she mentioned that she had been advocating a national thanksgiving date for 15 years as the editor of Godey's Lady's Book.

The document below sets apart the last Thursday of November "as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise."

According to an April 1, 1864, letter from John Nicolay, one of President Lincoln's secretaries, this document was written by Secretary of State William Seward, and the original was in his handwriting. On October 3, 1863, fellow Cabinet member Gideon Welles recorded in his diary how he complimented Seward on his work. A year later the manuscript was sold to benefit Union troops.

A Proclamation. The year that is drawing towards its close, has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature, that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever watchful providence of Almighty God. In the midst of a civil war of unequaled magnitude and severity, which has sometimes seemed to foreign States to invite and to provoke their aggression, peace has been preserved with all nations, order has been maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere except in the theatre of military conflict; while that theatre has been greatly contracted by the advancing armies and navies of the Union. Needful diversions of wealth and of strength from the fields of peaceful industry to the national defence, have not arrested the plough, the shuttle or the ship; the axe has enlarged the borders of our settlements, and the mines, as well of iron and coal as of the precious metals, have yielded even more abundantly than heretofore. Population has steadily increased, notwithstanding the waste that has been made in the camp, the siege and the battle-field; and the country, rejoicing in the consiousness of augmented strength and vigor, is permitted to expect continuance of years with large increase of freedom. No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy. It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and one voice by the whole American People. I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens. And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to His tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquillity and Union.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Seal of the United States to be affixed. Done at the City of Washington, this Third day of October, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and of the Independence of the Unites States the Eighty-eighth.

By the President: Abraham Lincoln
William H. Seward, Secretary of State

We Ask A Historian: Just How Accurate Is 'Lincoln'?

NPR: We Ask A Historian: Just How Accurate Is 'Lincoln'?

I was very pleased with Daniel Day-Lewis' depiction of Lincoln. He does a delicate balance between the homely Lincoln — the homespun Lincoln — and the high Lincoln of the second inaugural address. He walks like Lincoln, the way he puts his feet down one at a time. He talks like Lincoln — not the baritone voice of Disneyland, but the high tenor voice. Daniel Day-Lewis studied Lincoln intensely, and what comes out is a very accurate depiction of the spirit of the man."

Watch: Janusz Kaminski on lensing 'Lincoln' and working with Spielberg

Gold Derby: Watch: Janusz Kaminski on lensing 'Lincoln' and working with Spielberg

Lincoln's Dream

From Wikipedia: The Assassination of Lincoln:

According to Ward Hill Lamon, Lincoln's friend and biographer, three days before his assassination Lincoln discussed with Lamon and others a dream he had, saying: About ten days ago, I retired very late. I had been up waiting for important dispatches from the front. I could not have been long in bed when I fell into a slumber, for I was weary. I soon began to dream. There seemed to be a death-like stillness about me. Then I heard subdued sobs, as if a number of people were weeping. I thought I left my bed and wandered downstairs. There the silence was broken by the same pitiful sobbing, but the mourners were invisible. I went from room to room; no living person was in sight, but the same mournful sounds of distress met me as I passed along. I saw light in all the rooms; every object was familiar to me; but where were all the people who were grieving as if their hearts would break? I was puzzled and alarmed. What could be the meaning of all this? Determined to find the cause of a state of things so mysterious and so shocking, I kept on until I arrived at the East Room, which I entered. There I met with a sickening surprise. Before me was a catafalque, on which rested a corpse wrapped in funeral vestments. Around it were stationed soldiers who were acting as guards; and there was a throng of people, gazing mournfully upon the corpse, whose face was covered, others weeping pitifully. 'Who is dead in the White House?' I demanded of one of the soldiers, 'The President,' was his answer; 'he was killed by an assassin.' Then came a loud burst of grief from the crowd, which woke me from my dream. I slept no more that night; and although it was only a dream, I have been strangely annoyed by it ever since.

Abraham Lincoln's Funeral Train - The Route

Bob Newhart - Abe Lincoln vs Madison Avenue

Lincoln: Discover the Story

 at i tunes books: Lincoln - Discover The Story

The woman who transformed Daniel Day-Lewis into Abraham Lincoln

89.3 KPPC: The woman who transformed Daniel Day-Lewis into Abraham Lincoln (Fascinating - from the make-up artist for the film)

Honest, Abe’s hot

Page Six The NY Post - Cindy Adams: Honest, Abe's Hot

My review of Lincoln

Lincoln – The Film

As A O Scott says in his review of Spielberg’s Lincoln, the film is ostensibly about Lincoln’s struggles to pass the 13th amendment, but is so much more than that.It offers us a glimpse of the Washington of the mid-19th Century. A city that is cold in winter, crowded, with a White House whose doors are open to anyone who wants to come. It shows us a raucous Congress, with members shouting their opinions and doing any deal to get what they want. It is also terribly split, in this 4th year of the Civil War, by the issue of the slavery of Black people, north and south.

Into this scenario steps the President, Abraham Lincoln, a man treated with contempt by some, a rough man, but a man self-educated, honorable, and determined to give equal opportunity to all the people of the United States.In the hands of Daniel Day-Lewis, this Lincoln comes to vivid life – a shambling, tall, bent scarecrow of a man with kind eyes and tortured weathered face, aged beyond his years by the events of his presidency. He has led a country soaked in the blood of young men, Northern and Southern, through 4 years of the worst war in American History. The nearest battle was so close to Washington that the President could visit the scene on horseback. That aftermath of battle is made horridly alive in the film.

What I loved best about the movie, though, were the scenes of domestic and personal life in the family quarters. There we see Lincoln carrying son Tad on his shoulders and then reading with him on his lap. We also see the troubled, yet loving relationship between Abe and Mary (or Molly as he fondly calls her). I loved the one where he is undoing her dress stays for her and then she stands in her shift, screaming at him for lack of attention to her. The painful memory of their son Willie’s death consumes her. Field was great in this scene. And Lewis's Lincoln gives it right back to her, finally leaving the room after holding up his hands in surrender. 

Spielberg brings you directly into those family quarters, ornately furnished by Mary, but still cold and damp in Washington’s swampy weather. Lincoln always wore a shawl around his shoulders while there.

It was fun identifying all the actors through their whiskers and rumpled clothing. I particularly liked Tommy Lee Jones as Thaddeus Stevens, with his ruin of a face, his crazy wig, and his desire to free all slaves forever; the profane and funny James Spader as the Republican lobbyist W.N. Bilbo; David Strathairn as William Seward (in a gorgeous brocaded smoking jacket in one scene); Jared Harris as a tough U.S. Grant; Bruce McGill, bald and whiskered as Edwin Stanton.The showpiece of the film was the counting of votes for ratification of the 13th amendment. We all held our breath as each vote was declared and counted. David Constabile as Representative James Ashley, one of those most responsible for passing the bill, was lifted and carried by all his cohorts in the house after the amendment passed. You wanted to cheer yourself. (from Wikipedia: While the Senate did pass the amendment on April 8, 1864, by a vote of 38 to 6, the House declined to do so. After it was reintroduced by Representative Ashley, President Lincoln took an active role in working for its passage through the House by ensuring the amendment was added to the Republican Party platform for the upcoming Presidential elections.)

In the film we do not see the assassination at the Ford Theater. Instead we are shown son Tad, who attended Grover's Theater to see Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp while his parents attended Our American Cousin at Ford's Theater. That same night his father was assassinated and when the news spread to Grover's Theater the manager made an announcement to the entire audience. Tad began running and screaming, "They killed Papa! They killed Papa!"

The final scene is of a shrouded white faced Lincoln lying dead on a bed in Petersen House while his cabinet looks on. I will want to see this one again.

Daniel Day-Lewis: extraordinary man of many parts

News360.com: Daniel Day-Lewis: extraordinary man of many parts

Lincoln Ad

There is a double page ad for Lincoln in today's NY Times. I will see it Sunday and give a review. I welcome anyone else who would like to send in their review - E mail me with it

Critic's Pick: The incomparable 'Lincoln'

The LA Times: Critic's Pick: The incomparable 'Lincoln' (Story and picture gallery)

AFI Festival: 'Lincoln' premiere

'He still has doubts and feels more pressure with each film role,' says sister of Daniel Day-Lewis

The London Evening Standard: 'He still has doubts and feels more pressure with each film role,' says sister of Daniel Day-Lewis

Tamasin said: “Look at the work. That’s it. You can’t teach it, bottle it, explain it. So much of it is sheer hard graft. When people imagine that Dan’s doubt as an artist must have vanished by now, they couldn’t be more wrong. It all gets more difficult. The stakes get higher.” The siblings were born to poet Cecil Day-Lewis and actress Jill Balcon, whom Tamasin says were emotionally distant. She said: “We were mostly left alone. We didn’t holiday with out parents until we were nine and six. We were sent instead to our grandparents in Sussex, or to the Black Mill House Hotel at Bognor Regis with nanny. [At home] we didn’t come down for dinner, we had tea in the nursery with nanny, and were thrown together into a solitary world but for each other, which led us straight into the landscape of the imagination.”

‘Lincoln’ Screening At White House Tomorrow

Deadline.com: ‘Lincoln’ Screening At White House Tomorrow; Steven Spielberg, Daniel Day-Lewis & Tommy Lee Jones In Attendance

Historical sound effects captured in Spielberg’s ‘Lincoln’

The Washington Post: Historical sound effects captured in Spielberg’s ‘Lincoln'

Hearing History In The Sounds Of 'Lincoln'

NPR: Hearing History In The Sounds Of 'Lincoln'

Lincoln Review: Daniel Day-Lewis Turns In an Oscar-Worthy Performance

People Magazine: Lincoln Review: Daniel Day-Lewis Turns In an Oscar-Worthy Performance

Daniel Day-Lewis On Creating A Voice From The Past

[Excellent interview] - NPR: Daniel Day-Lewis On Creating A Voice From The Past

"There are so many contemporary accounts, very vivid ones, of his storytelling and his anecdotes. Somebody said to him, you know, accused him of being two-faced, and he said, 'Well, look, if I had another face, do you think I'd be wearing this one?'  

"There was humor, really, it was in the forefront of his spirit, I think, humor. I think he probably used it often to buoy his spirits at times when the alternative was just too bleak to contemplate."

More Lincoln Reviews

The SF Chronicle

The Boston Herald

Christian Science Monitor

NY Times

The Newark Star-Ledger

NPR

NY Times Review of Lincoln

NY Times Review of Lincoln- A President Engaged in a Great Civil War -By A. O. SCOTT

The most famous and challenging beard of them all sits on the chin of Daniel Day-Lewis, who eases into a role of epic difficulty as if it were a coat he had been wearing for years. It is both a curiosity and a marvel of modern cinema that this son of an Anglo-Irish poet should have become our leading portrayer of archaic Americans. Hawkeye (in “Last of the Mohicans”), Bill the Butcher (“Gangs of New York”), Daniel Plainview (“There Will Be Blood”) — all are figures who live in the dim borderlands of memory and myth, but with his angular frame and craggy features, Mr. Day-Lewis turns them into flesh and blood. 

 Above all, he gives them voice. His Lincoln speaks in a reedy drawl that provides a notable counterpoint to the bombastic bellowing of some of his allies and adversaries. (John Williams’s score echoes this contrast by punctuating passages of orchestral grandeur with homey scraps of fiddle, banjo and parlor piano.)

The Writer's Almanac

It was on this day in 1864 that Abraham Lincoln was elected to his second term as president of the United States, one of the few elections in world history to be held in the middle of a civil war. Lincoln might have tried to cancel or postpone the election until the war was over, but he said, "If the rebellion could force us to forego, or postpone a national election, it might fairly claim to have already conquered and ruined us." The Confederate Army had recently gotten so close to Washington, D.C., that Lincoln himself was able to watch a battle, standing on top of a parapet with field glasses. On July 30 that year, 4,000 Union soldiers were killed in a disastrous attempt to invade Petersburg, Virginia. The army needed 500,000 more soldiers, and Lincoln knew he would probably have to call for another draft despite the fact the war debt was becoming unsustainable. On August 23, Lincoln wrote a memo to his cabinet that said, "This morning, and for some days past, it seems exceedingly probable that this Administration will not be re-elected." The Democratic Party was running on a platform of ending the war. But this turned out to be a huge mistake when news arrived in early September that the Union Army had captured Atlanta and Mobile. Suddenly, the Democratic Party looked like the party of surrender when Union forces were winning the war. Lincoln carried every state except New Jersey, Delaware, and Kentucky.

Daniel Day-Lewis and Steven Spielberg Ably Fill Lincoln's Hat

The Village Voice: Daniel Day-Lewis and Steven Spielberg Ably Fill Lincoln's Hat

When you get beyond the technical and cosmetic aspects of Day-Lewis's performance—the attenuated voice, gangling stride, the actor's striking physical similarity to the president—this Lincoln is quietly ironic, an indulgent storyteller, a charismatic leader. A politician by turns charmingly persuasive and iron-fisted. A melancholic who suffers deeply, forced to barricade his grief behind a facade of steadiness and disarming humor. A father who sprawls on the floor with his young son, and a husband whose wife's madness is no match for his affection. Day-Lewis is just crazy good.

Daniel and Steven BAFTA LA 2012

BAFTA LA Awards - Empty Chair Theme

DDL having some sly fun - The Wrap: Brittania Awards: 'Lincoln' Star Daniel Day-Lewis Carries on 'Empty Chair' Theme

Daniel Day-Lewis was in the election spirit, carrying his own empty chair through the crowd to the stage Wednesday. He said he stayed up until 2 a.m. on election night, watching CNN's Wolf Blitzer and that he wanted to sneak in and out of Thursday night’s “Lincoln” premiere in case he’s held responsible for bringing down one of the most popular figures of the 19th century. Photo: Frazer Harrison/Getty Images for BAFTA

USA Today: DDl brings back 'eastwooding"

Spielberg Chased Daniel Day-Lewis For 9 Years, Wanted Him Before Liam Neeson To Play ‘Lincoln' & More About The Film

IndieWire: Spielberg Chased Daniel Day-Lewis For 9 Years, Wanted Him Before Liam Neeson To Play ‘Lincoln' & More About The Film

Zimbio Review - Complex 'Lincoln' is Spielberg's Least Mainstream Film

Zimbio: Zimbio Review - Complex 'Lincoln' is Spielberg's Least Mainstream Film

David Edelstein on Spielberg's inspiring "Lincoln"

CBS Sunday Morning: David Edelstein on Spielberg's inspiring "Lincoln"

Review of Lincoln - THR

The Hollywood Reporter: Lincoln: Film Review - by Todd McCarthy -

At the film's center, then, lies one of the remarkable characters in world history at the critical moment of his life. As Walt Whitman said of Lincoln (as he did of himself), “he contained multitudes,” and Day-Lewis's sly, slow-burn performance wonderfully fulfills this description. Gangly, grizzled and, as his wife was known to say, “not pretty,” this Lincoln plainly shows his humble origins and is more disheveled than his Washington colleagues. With an astonishing physical resemblance to the real man, Day-Lewis excels when shifting into what was perhaps Lincoln's most comfortable mode, that of frisky storyteller, especially in the way he seems to anticipate and relish his listeners' reactions.

Lincoln Cameos

LA Times: Cameos of supporting actors in Lincoln - Lots of familiar faces from other roles