Lincoln

The year is 1865 and the United States of America has been involved for the last four years in the bloodiest conflict in its short history: the Civil War. Both the Confederate States and the Union are exhausted and ready to end the war and enter into a time of peace. To reach an agreement for peace, however, is not an easy task. The South wishes for slavery to be continued if they are to be let back into the States, while President Lincoln and the Union wishes for slavery to be abolished. While President Abraham Lincoln tries to persuade the South to surrender and be let back into the states, he also tries to get a new amendment passed in Congress: the 13th Amendment in the hopes to kill two birds with one stone.

Lincoln is without a doubt a masterpiece. Daniel Day-Lewis is amazing as President Lincoln. When I first saw pictures of him in character before the film arrived in theaters, I had to do a double-take because I was totally taken off guard at how much he looked like the 16th President. The film is a bit slow at times, especially during the scenes where Congress is arguing about whether or not to pass the 13th Amendment, but despite that the entire film is phenomenal. It was interesting to see a different side of President Lincoln. Whenever you hear about him in a history book or on the History Channel you almost always only hear about his time as President and never about his family life. Lincoln shows us his devotion to his family in the midst of all his political troubles. The film also suggests that President Lincoln resorted to not-so-honest methods of passing the 13th Amendment: he hires a few lobbyists to persuade Congressmen to vote in favor (although he forbids them to outright bribe the voters with money).

I'm not normally a historical fiction kind of guy when it comes to films, but Lincoln is one of the best historically based films I've seen in recent years. I wouldn't be surprised if Daniel Day-Lewis was nominated for an Academy Award for his role as the 16th President.

Life of Pi

Pi Patel is on his way to Canada with his family and a group of zoo animals to make a new life in North America when a storm rocks the ship they are traveling on and makes it capsize. At first Pi rescues several of the animals and places them on a life raft with him: an orangutan named Orange Juice, a hyena, a zebra and a Bengal tiger named Richard Parker. One by one the animals die off until only Richard Parker and Pi are left on the raft. Pi Patel must learn to control the tiger and also find water, food and shelter if they are to survive their ordeal.

Going into Life of Pi I didn't know what to expect. The previews made it seem like it was basically a remake of Castaway with a Bengal tiger. Life of Pi is much more than that. It is a deep philosophical and almost spiritual film which focuses its attention on the importance of faith and believing that you can accomplish anything. The film never goes so far as to say which religion or belief system to follow; it has a more Universalist feel to it. Pi himself says that he is a Hindu, Muslim and a Christian. The film itself is absolutely breathtaking. My favorite scene is about halfway through when it is night time and Pi meets a humpback whale. The whale is feeding on a group of krill and out of the blue leaps over the boat that Pi and Richard Parker are seated in. I have never been a big fan of 3D, but I saw Life of Pi in 3D and it was one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen onscreen since Avatar. Some people may or may not get turned off from the spiritual and philosophical content, but I highly recommend it.

Argo

It's 1980 and tensions are high in Iran as protesters are furious over their former leader taking asylum in America. The citizens want their leader to be returned to Iran so that he can stand trial for perceived crimes against the nation. As tempers start flaring many protesters begin to make their way to the American embassy to take everyone there hostage. During the takeover six embassy employees make an escape and take refuge in the home of the Canadian embassador. The American government must find a way to get into Iran and extract the six embassy workers unnoticed. Ideas are thrown around until one man named Tony Mendez comes up with an idea: make a fake movie and have the six people pose as a film crew with Mendez as their agent. It's not the best idea ever, but everyone agrees that "...this is the best bad idea we have by far". And so Tony Mendez makes his way into the middle of a war zone to bring back the American citizens alive.

Argo is a rare movie which has received nothing but great reviews that for once I completely agree with critics. Even though I kind of figured out they would get out of Iran alive since this is based on a true story, Argo still had tense moments that had me on edge for the majority of the film wondering if they really were going to make it. Ben Affleck shines as Tony Mendez and also as the director. I've yet to see a movie with Ben Affleck I haven't liked. John Goodman and Alan Arkin were great as the comedic relief with Goodman as the make-up artist and Arkin as the producer. I ended up seeing Argo at least 2-3 times I liked it so much. I will most likely get it when it comes out on DVD. It was another of my favorites for the year.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

Peter Jackson brings us back into Middle-earth about 60 years prior to the event of The Fellowship of the Ring where we meet Bilbo Baggins as a young Hobbit living a quiet life in the Shire. That tranquility is shattered when an unexpected visit from a certain well-known wizard named Gandalf leads Bilbo on the adventure of his life. Bilbo is recruited by Gandalf to assist 13 dwarves on their quest to take back their homeland in Erebore, now called the Lonely Mountain, from a dragon named Smaug. It is on this journey that fate is set in motion to ultimately lead to the finding of the Ring and the re-emergence of Sauron in The Lord of the Rings.

When I heard that they were making The Hobbit into a movie I was ecstatic because it is one of my favorite books. My happiness waned a little when I heard it was being turned into a trilogy instead of just a two-part deal. The book is so short that I didn't think there was enough that Peter Jackson could stretch out into three parts. I felt a little better when I heard later that Jackson had inserted parts of The Silmarillion into the film. The result is a fantastic thrill ride that is sure to make die hard fans of Tolkien and The Lord of the Rings happy. Peter Jackson even got several people who were involved with the original trilogy to come back for the prequel: Frodo, Gandalf, Saruman, Elrond, Galadriel, the older version of Bilbo, and of course Gollum/Smeagol. Overall I was happy with Peter Jackson for returning to Middle-earth and recreating the same atmosphere as the original trilogy. Some have expressed concern that The Hobbit is more kid friendly, so it lost some of its appeal. That argument is somewhat crazy because if you know anything about the book then you'll know that the book itself is more light hearted than the original trilogy and also geared more towards kids. In that regards Peter Jackson stays true to the nature of the book. The movie does feel a little stretched at times due to the (almost) three hour length, but it's worth every second. I can't wait until the next two parts come out.

Jack Reacher

Jack Reacher is a ghost. He has no credit card, no identification and no cell phone. There is no possible way for anyone to track him unless he wants to be found. So when a man named James Barr is accused of murdering five people and asks for Reacher, the police are at a loss of how to contact him. Then out of the blue Jack shows up and as a result the prosecutor tries to hire him as a consultant. This attempt raises another issue: Jack Reacher believes that Barr is without a doubt guilty because of his violent past. Jack agrees to help thinking it'll be an open-and-shut case. However, as he digs deeper into the murders, he uncovers a mystery that will prove to be lethal for everyone involved.

Jack Reacher is a brutal action-filled movie that at times is a little painful to watch. I am actually a bit surprised that it didn't get an R rating. The first ten minutes alone might be disturbing for some viewers who may have flashbacks of recent events in the news such as the Sandy Hook Elementary murders. Reacher is a man with nothing to lose, and he shows little to no mercy when it comes to bringing certain people to justice (or at least his form of justice). I would recommend this movie to anyone who wants a good action flick with a good story and a couple decent twists. Tom Cruise as the title character is a near perfect fit. Seeing him in this movie reminded me why he is one of my favorite actors.

That being said, I would also recommend people exercise caution before taking their kids to see this. Because of the brutality of some of the scenes it may or may not be detrimental for kids to see Jack Reacher. I honestly would recommend kids under the age of 15 to not see it, but it is entirely up to the parents.

Les Miserables

The worldwide phenomenon known as Les Miserables is brought to the big screen for the second time in a musical adventure telling the story of love, forgiveness, and mercy among the residents of France. Jean Valjean is a former convict who was thrown into prison for stealing some bread to give to a little boy. After Valjean is released he tries to find work among the towns in the area, but no one offers any assistance to the ex-convict. Instead they shun him and even at times physically abuse him. Fortunately Valjean eventually comes across a priest who has pity on him and offers Valjean food, water and a place to rest for the night. Despite the priest's kindness towards him, Valjean returns to his stealing nature and swipes some silver items from the priest. He is soon caught and brought back to the priest to return the silver and then be taken back into prison. It is at this point in which Valjean has the concept of forgiveness and grace revealed to him. The priest not only tells the authorities that he had given Valjean the silver, but that he had forgotten the most important pieces. When the authorities leave the priest he tells Valjean that he must use the silver given to him to become an honest man. Wrought with grief over what he had done, Valjean vows to make a difference not only in his own life, but in the lives of others around him. He rips up his parole papers and sets out on a journey of redemption.

I had really high hopes for Les Miserables because it is one of my top three favorite musicals ever, however after watching it with my family I felt a little disappointed with the result. For starters Hugh Jackman and Russell Crowe were not very good singers; some of the others did ok from a staying on key standpoint, but they lacked the power behind the voice to do their parts justice. I felt like the passion of the resistance and the pain of losing one's loved ones was virtually non-existant save for Anne Hathaway as Fantine and a 12 year old kid who becomes a vital part of the revolution. I almost wondered if the director went for popular actors to draw people in instead of getting performers who could act AND sing. Anne Hathaway's song near the beginning of the musical was phenomenal - if she doesn't at the very least get an Academy Award nomination for her part then something is wrong with whoever votes on the Academy Awards. She deserves it. Unfortunately, for me her amazing voice was not enough for me to care for the film as a whole. I was expecting to feel pain at Fantine's situation, anger at the death of a couple of characters, and get a feeling of sympathy towards the revolutionaries. Those feelings were not apparently meant to be, because I left the theater feeling nothing. This was the most disappointing thing about Les Miserables.