"Lincoln"

An epic movie looking at one of the greatest Americans, and Directed by Steven Spielberg in a real labour of love.

The Civil War is raging and Lincoln is under from many quarters to bring an end to the War that has cost so many lives. But he has another that he wants to win, the battle to free those from slavery. He is many votes short from achieving victory for the Slavery abolition. So engages a team to talk with the Undecided voters, and see if they can be swayed.
A deal could be made to end the Civil War, and some have promised to give their vote to end slavery if War is brought to an end, but Lincoln believes that should he end the War, those who have spoken against ending Slavery will vote differently when the time comes, thus he wants to find a way to end Slavery first.

The film opens on the battle fields, with many US soldiers being killed at the hands of other US Soldiers. We see Lincoln addressing some troops, trying to keep morale up. And from here we see the start of his long and difficult journey.
We also see Lincoln the family man, both he and his wife Mary still mourning the loss of their Son, though still with one elder Son hopefully to practice law, and a younger Child Son. Robert, the elder, feels he is letting down his fellow Country Men by not having signed up for his duty. This is something he is keen to rectify, and whilst Lincoln is happy for his Son to follow what he wishes to do, Mary is mortified, and does not want to have to bury another Son. Naturally this leads to tension between the two of them.
The film does concentrate on a specific time frame within Lincoln's life, and I suppose for some it seems like the ultimate history lesson, and though it may come across like that, there is a lot that can be learnt from it. I did not know about Mary Lincoln's mental instability, also that they lost a child so early in life. The film will not be for everyone, indeed during the screening I was at, five people of varying ages walked out at different times.

But what you are going for is to learn about the man, why he is so admired as probably the Greatest American President, the attention to detail, and knowing that you are watching a film made by some of the best practitioners of the art of film-making.

One cannot help feel sorry for both Tommy Lee Jones and Sally Field, as I suspect that in any other year, their performances as Thaddeus Stevens and Mary Lincoln would have garnered them additional Academy Awards, but I feel that this time round, there is only going to be one Oscar Winning Actor from the film, and that is of course Daniel Day Lewis, who will make Oscar History, and it would be very well deserved. He is well known for the lengths he goes to when he is in character, and this is no exception. Hard to believe that originally playing the part was that other towering Irish actor, Liam Neeson. It has to be said that the similarity between Day Lewis and Lincoln is quite remarkable.

On the whole a great film about a great man, with a great performance at the heart of it......8 out of 10

"Men In Black 3"

The dynamic duo of Agents K and J are back, once again doing battle against a variety of alien beings.

All round nasty piece of work 'Boris The Animal' has escaped from a Prison located on the moon. Having made his way to Earth, he uses a device to time travel back to the Sixties, and change history, which involves his killing Agent K. The timeline is therefore altered, and Agent J is baffled as to why he cannot locate Agent K. Having discovered from new Department Head Agent O that K died 40 years ago, he realises that he must undertake the same journey as Boris but allow the original outcome to take place, so that K will be alive in the present day.
There are some other scenes involving their apprehending Aliens, and dealing with big blobby creatures which provide much humour in the film.
Also as ever there is an excellent level of both make-up and visual effects in the film. The 3D element is also quite decent.

Reprising their roles Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones are excellent as Agents J and.K. New additions to the team include Emma Thompson as Agent O, who does seem to include a love interest for Agent K. But by far the main new addition is Josh Brolin as the younger Agent K. He perfectly recreates the character of K, even down to a near perfect voice of Tommy Lee Jones.
There is a big finale which certainly delivers, and a nice little delve into the past history of both main characters which is beautifully done.

Having not been a fan of the original movie, and not having seen the second, I was pleasantly surprised as to how much I enjoyed this third film, and it shows there is plenty of life in the franchise yet........8 out of 10.