Showing posts with label Steven Spielberg. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Steven Spielberg. Show all posts

Saturday, February 9, 2013

The historical inaccuracies depicted in Steven Spielberg's much-lauded film "Lincoln" DO matter, even if screenwriter Tony Kushner claims they don't, and besides, don't we know he's got artistic license; Contrast with John Ford's "Young Mr. Lincoln" with Henry Fonda; Kushner needs to take his lumps like a man for his own mistakes and stop whining about being picked-on


criterioncollection YouTube Channel: Henry Fonda on Young Mr. Lincoln - Henry Fonda describes working with John Ford and playing Abraham Lincoln. Uploaded December 4, 2012. criterioncollectionhttp://youtu.be/c7dj36eo4Vc
The historical inaccuracies depicted in Steven Spielberg's much-lauded film "Lincoln" DO matter, even if screenwriter Tony Kushner claims they don't, and besides, don't we know he's got artistic license to say things that are NOT true; Contrast with John Ford's "Young Mr. Lincoln" with Henry Fonda; Kushner needs to take his lumps like a man for his own mistakes and stop whining about being picked-on
TheWrap
Tony Kushner to Congressman on Inaccuracy: 'Lincoln' Is Drama, Not History
By Alexander C. Kaufman
Published: February 08, 2013 @ 9:11 am
Tony Kushner hit back on Friday at a Connecticut congressman who complained about historical inaccuracies in the Oscar-nominated "Lincoln," saying his factual tweaks added to the film's drama.
On Tuesday, Democratic Connecticut Rep. Joe Courtney wrote an open letter to director Steven Spielberg, about the inaccuracies. In the film, two congressmen from his home state vote against 13th Amendment and two voted for -- but  archives in the House of Representatives show that the entire Nutmeg State's delegation said "yea" to the abolition of slavery.
Read the rest of the article at:

So you mean the J.L. Chamberlain of Gettysburg fame wasn't really a woman that looked like Rachel McAdams? Damn them!


Meanwhile, later yesterday afternoon...


The Washington Post
Joe Courtney gets in spat with Tony Kushner over ‘Lincoln’
Posted by Rachel Weiner on February 8, 2013 at 3:03 pm
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2013/02/08/joe-courtney-gets-in-spat-with-tony-kushner-over-lincoln/



When he did 'Young Mr. Lincoln' with Henry Fonda, director John Ford did NOT engage in a multi-month, multi-media publicity tour around the world to pat himself and his production team on the back when telling journos about how much time and care the crew took to be as historically accurate as possible. 
He acknowledged that his awesome task in bringing to the screen a telling snapshot of the early history of such a legendary man would inevitably require incorporating some aspects of the Lincoln legend as well, and he was more than willing to do so to help paint the larger picture. 
So that's what he did.

This scene is fiction:
Young Mr. Lincoln -- (Movie Clip) Blessed Are The Merciful
http://www.tcm.com/mediaroom/video/347152/Young-Mr-Lincoln-Movie-Clip-Blessed-Are-The-Merciful.html

Ford made no excuses for that, and audiences well-understood that when they entered the theater in 1939 to see the film, that it was not a scrupulously-footnoted treatise, rather it was an honest attempt by a very talented director and cast to make better known the character traits of a beloved and martyred American's early life, so they'd better appreciate and understand the later actions and difficult choices he made once elected president in 1860 of a country about to come apart at the seams.

Contrast that with what we have all witnessed with the marketing of this film, Lincoln
That's the difference right there -false advertising
Be what you want to be, but don't keep patting yourself on the back and taking bows for going the extra mile when it's not honestly earned.
Watch Young Mr. Lincoln in its entirety above at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJKWguqabUU
Might I strongly suggest that anyone planning on doing a Revolutionary War pic anytime soon -not that there is one- avoid the temptation to rewrite American history as has been done here, and have someone other than Caesar Rodney of Delaware be the person depicted as the sickly delegate to the Continental Congress who rode by horseback for 80 miles to get to Philadelphia.
After all, Caesar Rodney's vote in Philadelphia was as important as the ones cast by AdamsJefferson or Hancock, but outside the Mid-Atlantic states, few people know of his important role in creating the Declaration of Independence, since he wasn't known as an orator.
But guess who's on the U.S. quarter representing the State of Delaware?
And in Statuary Hall inside the U.S. Capitol building?
Caesar Rodney.
Why?

1999 Delaware State Quarter
The reverse was designed and engraved by William Cousins.

Because once there, Rodney -and Delaware- cast the DECIDING vote to make the Declaration of Independence more than just words on a piece of paper, but a living, breathing document.
That's why he's the person on the U.S. quarter representing the State of Delaware -and in Statuary Hall inside the U.S. Capitol building.
http://www.aoc.gov/capitol-hill/national-statuary-hall-collection/caesar-rodney


Then as well as now, one brave person can make a positive difference.
And isn't that the whole point of the new film?

Americans and film-goers around the world who do NOT know the true facts about certain aspects of U.S. history, for instance, the vote depicted in 'Lincoln,' will believe what they see in the film. 
I know this because I received an object lesson in this first-hand while visiting Stockholm for over a week in January.
While there, I had a chance to speak to some very well-educated and well-informed people at a social gathering, who at one point mentioned that they'd recently seen the film and liked it very much.
Those particular movie-goers, along with many others around the world and across the U.S., believe the film to be the gospel, in large part because of the high caliber of the people associated with the film, starting from the top.

It wasn't my intention to rain on their parade, but I felt that since they seemed pretty bright, they'd appreciate knowing the truth.
But when I told them that there were, in fact, some inaccuracies in the film, they told me that "Spielberg would never do that in a film about a real person" and looked at me angrily.

There's your problem in a nut-shell -facts do matter.
Tony Kushner got caught. 
He needs to take his lumps like a man for his own mistakes and stop whining about being picked-on.

Wednesday, November 7, 2012

Alonso Duralde at TheWrap: 'Lincoln' is Steven "Spielberg’s finest work in decades"; Daniel Day-Lewis radiates integrity; Opens nationwide in U.S. on November 16th, opens in U.K. in January



LincolnMovie video: Lincoln Trailer. Uploaded September 13, 2012. http://youtu.be/qiSAbAuLhqs

TheWrap
'Lincoln' Review: Riveting Tale Separates the Man from the Monument
By Alonso Duralde
November 7, 2012
There are few dramaturgical tasks as difficult or as thankless as telling the life story of a Great Man (or Woman), particularly when that historical figure has become the sort of legendary icon featured in national monuments and on currency.
Reads the rest of the review at:

International trailer

Reminder: Film is 150 minutes long, so don't drink a lot before or at the theater.

Trivia: Both of Abraham Lincoln's parents, Thomas Lincoln and Nancy Hanks, had
a father named Abraham!
Hmm-m...

The Daily Mail
Still a silver fox: Daniel Day-Lewis keeps his Lincoln look post-filming... as he shows off his grey hair on lunch date
By Kimberly Dadds
PUBLISHED: 05:43 EST, 7 November 2012 
UPDATED: 06:52 EST, 7 November 2012

And for you regular readers of the blog, what have I had written at the top of this blog since Day One?
"Trust me when I tell you, this part of Florida is NOT the Land of Lincoln."

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Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Perfect film casting? Aussie as Honest Abe? Maybe says Jeff Sneider in TheWrap: Eric Bana as "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter"

Above, 1923 Abraham Lincoln three-cent stamp

But Eric Bana won't be starring in Steven Spielberg's historical film "Lincoln," which was originally going to star Liam Neeson as the 16th U.S. president, but which will now feature Daniel Day Lewis, http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0443272/ but rather in a very different sort of film, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter.
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0051509/


Here's the exclusive story with casting Bana as Honest Abe as I came to learn it last Thursday in my daily First Take email from Sharon Waxman's savvy Santa Monica-based entertainment industry news site, TheWrap, http://www.thewrap.com/
And you know how I love Santa Monica!

The Wrap

Exclusive: Eric Bana Circling 'Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter'
By Jeff Sneider
December 16, 2010 @ 11:52 am

EXCLUSIVE
Hollywood may be looking to continue to outsource the role of Abraham Lincoln.

British Oscar winner Daniel Day-Lewis was recently set to play the 16th President in Steven Spielberg's "Lincoln," and now another foreign import is being eyed to play Honest Abe.

Australian actor Eric Bana is circling the title role in 20th Century Fox's big screen adaptation of Seth Grahame-Smith's novel "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter" TheWrap has learned.

While Bana hasn't landed the coveted role yet, he's scheduled to meet with director Timur Bekmambetov soon, and is certainly in contention for the part.


Read the rest of the exclusive story at

http://www.thewrap.com/deal-central/column-post/exclusive-eric-bana-testing-abraham-lincoln-vampire-hunter-23294

The last time we saw Daniel Day Lewis in buckskins was 1992's The Last of the Mohicans, which I've seen about a dozen times.
Hope DDL wears some as Abe!



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Eric Bana's
upcoming film is Joe Wright’s Hanna, co-starring Saoirse Ronan and Cate Blanchett, which opens in the U.S. on April 8th, 2011.

As you can see for yourself below, the trailer really grabs you from the get-go!



Hanna (2011) HD Official Trailer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bucFp1tQ0z8


"Sometimes, children are bad people, too." -Marissa Wiegler

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0993842/maindetails


TheWrap YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/thewrapnews