Figured I'd start a new thread now that the trailer's out, and the only previous thread dedicated to the casting of Day Lewis got wildly off topic.

Here's the trailer here.

Looks very Spielberg, though I kind of dug it. As I read elsewhere, it's either going to be a massive, slightly overblown but utterly moving and sweeping movie or it's going to be a massive, very overblown stuffy bit of manipulative awards season bait.

At first I thought I was watching the War Horse trailer again, and I almost wonder if Spielberg's making some kind of point here. If there is a point, I think it's that subject matter and acting are still the most important parts of a movie in the public mind. While War Horse may be relatively forgotten, I doubt Lincoln will go unnoticed by either critics or general audience. This is the same writer who did Munich, so I expect the same looseness and richness. This is gonna be a powerhouse.

I sure hope so. And man oh man, we can just e-mail DDL the Oscar now, right?

If this was any of the last three years or so it'd be my most anticipated, as it stands it's more like 3 or 4. Hoping it's truly special and that it's time focus is minimal.

That fucker is intense, no matter what he does. Match him up with Speilberg and I don't know what's coming.

Think of just his collection of voices. If he was living in the radio era, before moving pictures, he'd still be considered the best. This is one of the reasons I think he's the best actor who's ever lived.

Yes he is. And I suspect he knows this full well and this is the reason he does so few films compared to other high-profile actors.

Biopics (or epics for that matter) are always a great challenge for the lead actor/actress: How much do you want to disappear under the mask/facial prosthetics, body language, voice and mannerisms - and how much do you want to retain of yourself?

Sure enough, Day-Lewis only looks very Abe-like from a certain angle. I like his powerful presence when we see his face full front. "Honest Abe" certainly wasn't always a soft spoken man. Nobody is. Please fogive me, I am surrounded by experts regarding each and every US president. I just know that Abe and George are usually among the most beloved US presidents.

Anyway: looks like here comes another Spielberg epic about war, something so devastating that even the hundreds of first-hand accounts I heard can never even remotely begin to describe.

Looks like this will be at least an important picture. Daniel Day-Lewis was an excellent choice. He is edgy and intense, not your "sweet uncle".

I immediately recognized John Williams' music. It talked louder to me than the pictures (there: take your 80% of human perception and do what you want with it - to refer to another thread). I am not sure if this particular cue will make it into the movie, but I love it how Williams still is on top of his game: he takes tried and true piano passages (both as a requiem and saying at the same time: it was not in vain), Aaron Copland type (the ultimate musical outdoors Americana) horn passages and still you can tell immediately: John Williams. Man, this guy is great! On a much, much more modest scale I already wrote for, and conducted/recorded F-horns, trombones, Bb-trumpets and a full string section. Quite often. I still do as we speak. This music in the trailer is among the finest In ever heard. If Williams werenm't that good anymore, Spielberg would fire him in no time. Peter Jackson fired Howard Shore during production of "King Kong".

I am happy that these musical traditions will be presented in its finest quality to younger audiences, so they will know that there is more than what they usually listen to. Even if most of them won't give a damn. Some will.

I hope it's not a biopic in any traditional sense. If it tries to tell the story of his whole life, it will inevitably become derivitive and overwrought.

I think the calling of an actor in something like this is to disappear in one sense only: we have to believe him. No, he's not a spitting image of Abe, but he doesn't need to be: a great performance can be bought into during the viewing of a film like this. In other words, it doesn't matter if he looks like him as long as he feels like him during the movie.

I'm expecting DDL to become peoples' image of Lincoln. Sort of like how George C. Scott became Patton. When people hear the name they associate the actor's face with it, rather than any actual photos of images of the real person.

My standards are high, but Lewis has consistently exceeded them.

the new tv spot seems very different from the trailer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTA5rdz51XI

Supposedly the focus is 1865. That means we get to see Lincoln deliver the second Inaugural address ("With malice toward none, with charity for all,") walk through Richmond, which should be a great scene, then take in a play.

I'm used to the Lincoln portrayal with the deep, sonorous voice (think "Bill and Ted's" prior to the "party on dudes" directive). DDL's voice threw me off a bit when I saw the most recent trailer.

I've read articles over the years that described Lincoln's speaking voice as something close to what Daniel Day-Lewis is using here. I'm willing to bet he did a whole library's research for this role.

Incidentally, Patton had kind of a thin nasal voice, too, very much unlike George C. Scott's iconic bark.

http://www.empireonline.com/news/feed.asp?NID=35693

Certainly the best trailer yet. I'm seeing it this Friday a few hours before Skyfall. Change my mind every other minute regarding which one I'm more psyched for.

The more I think about what you wrote here Shade, the harder I find it to disagree. From The Unbearable Lightness of Being to The Last of the Mohicans, The Age of Innocence, The Boxer, There Will be Blood and then hearing him speak at the Oscars http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jxK54LnTZ0, I wonder if anyone has ever had more range with their voice? And then with the Lincoln clip it sounds like someone different again. Sure people can imitate the way other actor's speak but DDL speaks eloquently different so seamlessly. Compare him to say, Kevin Spacey, who has a truly unique voice and can uncannily imitate so many actors. Have you ever seen KS do an entire film with a different voice?

OT slightly; Dominic West and Idris Elba blew me away with their Baltimore accents in The Wire. When watching the special features, I found it hard to fathom what their natural dialect was. I’m sure Kevin Costner did too.



Gees mate, that is a double header I'm very envious of. In the land of OZ, we have to wait two more weeks to see Skyfall and till next fucking year to watch Lincoln.

Lincoln doesn't open here until next week. Rest assured, I await it anxiously.

In the meantime, I will likely be seeing Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom on Saturday and Skyfall on Sunday. It's going to be a good weekend, even if it is Lincoln-less.

With him, I wouldn't be surprised if it was several libraries' worth of research.

Given the early reviews of the films, it's looking like we might as well just give Lincoln all the Oscars and go home early. Wouldn't be at all surprised if this is the first film to win the big five since Silence of the Lambs.

The trailers make this movie look like one of the most self-important films to be released in recent memory. The tone, the images, Day-Lewis' voiceover - they all practically scream "take this movie seriously!" I mean, what can a movie tell us about Lincoln that we don't know already? He's one of, if not the, most recognizable figures in US history.

What can this movie possibly be other than a period piece with high production values and a great cast? I'm not interested in this one at all.

Same here, the trailer didn't impress me one bit, so i'll be avoiding this one.