100W: Lincoln

Short reviews for clear and concise verdicts of a broad range of films...

Lincoln (Dir. Steven Spielberg/2012)

Directed by Steven Spielberg, the iconic Abraham Lincoln (Day-Lewis) leads an epic story about the fight to emancipate the slaves. Soaked in information on the historical era, we are educated on the closing moments of the Civil War as a multitude of figures (who are critical to the evolution of the USA) vote to amend the constitution. The “countdown” narrative, as each vote is returned, gives a sense of pace, but the level of detail is overwhelming and it will take multiple viewings to fully appreciate the expansive scale and clear depiction of one man fighting for the greater good.

Rating: 6/10

Inception (Christopher Nolan, 2010)

"You keep telling yourself what you know. But what do you believe? What do you feel?"

Introduction

It wasn't my favourite film of 2010 - but it was pretty damn high: Number 3. Ironically, one point I made when recording my initial observations of the film was my lack of interest in the soundtrack - going so far as to say that I couldn't hear a clear 'theme' throughout. I take this back. This was foolish - since then, I have bought the soundtrack and I love it. It is great and Hans Zimmer impresses once again. Its worth noting that the incredible soundtrack to Tron:Legacy by Daft Punk states in the liner notes "with thanks to Hans Zimmer, John Powell..." and I think their are some very Zimmer-esque elements to the Tron:Legacy soundtrack, whilst John Powell is The Bourne Identity composer and, I think there are hints of that too. One thing Jo pointed out when we discussed Inception on the recent podcast was the ambiguity of the character - knowing who is good and bad. I think this is a great point to raise and this is where I will begin, by fusing it with some religious symbolism ...