Lincoln (movie review)

lincoln

This wasn’t a movie I wanted to see. I don’t like biographical moves; I’d rather watch a documentary about a person’s life. Also, I teased M – we already know he dies in the end. (If you consider that a spoiler, the education system has failed you.) Plus, at over two hours long, I expected boredom to creep in at the halfway mark.

I’m very happy to report that I couldn’t have been more wrong. This was a Steven Spielberg film, so I should have had more faith in it going in. Daniel Day Lewis as Lincoln was great, but Sally Field as Mary Todd Lincoln was awesome. Their interaction as a married couple could have been it’s own film.

Based on Team Of Rivals: the Political Genius Of Abraham Lincoln, the film doesn’t cover the President’s entire life. The focus is on the passage of the 13th amendment–the constitutional amendment that abolished slavery. The political aspect was riveting and provided real edge-of-the-seat type suspense. Lincoln had to walk a tightrope between ending The Civil War and ending slavery. Even though I knew that the 13th amendment would pass–seriously, the US would look a lot different today if it hadn’t–for a moment I found myself worrying if the President would get enough votes.

Also, the movie gets points for making it clear why the 13th amendment was necessary even after the Emancipation Proclamation.

While the film does show the horrors of the civil war, it stays away in large part from the horrors of slavery. Lincoln’s youngest son looks at pictures of slaves throughout the movie (like this one) and at one point–almost as an aside–a woman briefly mentions having been whipped once herself.  This NY Times article feels that the narrow focus of the film gives the impression that blacks weren’t involved in the struggle for freedom outside of fighting for the Union Army.

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Though based on a work of nonfiction, it’s important to remember that Lincoln is a film and not a documentary. There are plenty of embellishments and omissions–according to historians. Historical movies, even inspirational ones, shouldn’t been seen as shortcuts to learning actual history.

Coffee, Tea and Emancipation

Day 1 in San Fran saw us waking up at 4am. Since stores/shops/attractions don’t open before 10 am we had a lot of time on our hands. Catching up with email, reading the news and just hanging out lead to us drinking lots and lots of coffee.

We had th20130102-204847.jpgree or four cups before leaving the hotel–that’s not counting the latte from Starbucks. We took a walk up to Chinatown–looking in shop windows on our way. One place did catch our attention: the New Nespresso cafe in Union Square.

In a town with a Starbucks or a Peet’s Coffee on every corner, who needs another cafe? Turns out, the Nespresso Cafe was awesome. It’s basically a showroom for the Nespresso machine where you can have light fare while sipping on their fine espresso..and perhaps be enticed to buy a machine yourself.

So, you know we had to try it. Cafe Americano for me and a double espresso for M.

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Alsolincoln, we finally got around to seeing the movie Lincoln. There were no zombies, werewolves or killer turkeys–so I was skeptical going in. Turned out to be a great movie worthy of all of the accolades and hosannas it’s been getting. I’ll do a separate review of that experience. Here’s the conversation M and I had afterwards–

M: Well, we’ve been emancipated.
Me: It was touch and go there for a minute. I wasn’t sure the 13th amendment was going to pass.*
M: Now, to find the restroom.
Me: Don’t get ahead of yourself. We’re only equal before the law. It will take another movie or two before we can use public restrooms.

Before Lincoln started, we saw a special promo for Bates Motel – a new dramatic series on A&E. It’s a re-imagining of the relationship between a teenage Norman Bates and his mother but it’s set in modern times. I suppose it’s like Smallville but the premise is the making of a serial killer. I’m not thrilled about the modern setting (do we want to see a teenage Norman at a rave?) but I hope it’s successful.

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Afterward, we had dinner at Straits – a Singapore Restaurant and Lounge. The food was only okay. The service was meh.  Even if a place has great food, service has a great impact on a meal. For example, they didn’t bring out both appetizers together–one came out with our main dishes. While M’s main meal was sizzling hot, mine was only luke warm. Also, the waitress who came to get our drink order–only asked M. For a moment, I thought I was wearing The Ring and had turned invisible. When I was finally able to order a drink… Let’s just say the tea was not worth $4.50.

We ended the evening at a nightcap in a bar that overlooked the city. None of the pictures I took do it justice.

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Three Wishes for 2013

May nothing you cook or eat end up on #ThatPlate.

May the ratchet in your life be confined to viewing the foolishness of others online.

May you always be loving, kind and gentle to yourself.

Happy New Year!

cheers