Lincoln review

 Number 836 on the top 1000 films of all time is Steven Spielberg's biographical period-drama 'Lincoln.'

The year is 1865. The American Civil War is coming to an end. President Abraham Lincoln (Daniel Day-Lewis) is desperately trying to pass the thirteenth amendment so he can formally abolish slavery. Will he succeed? A sprawling ensemble cast includes Hal Holbrook, David Costabile, Tommy Lee Jones, Sally Field and Joseph Gordon-Levitt.

As I'm sure you're sick of hearing by now, I don't like period dramas. They are neither interesting or engaging. their huge casts only serve to complicate or confuse things. And, by their very nature, they're so lacking in conflict, the writers have to really struggle in generating any type of narrative tension. It's not like a thriller where there's a murder to be solved or the will-they, won't they trope, you have in romance films.

Lincoln only cemented this belief further. For me, it was unengaging, uninteresting and difficult to follow. The overly-large cast only made things more confusing. I'm sure it was just me and my short-attention span, but I did struggle in differentiating the different characters after a while.

Daniel Day-Lewis won his third acting Oscar for his role. But I'm going to be controversial and say that I don't think this role was Oscar-worthy. Compared to his magnificent performance in There Will be Blood, his performance here was very average. This is true especially by Day-Lewis standards. Unlike with There Will Be Blood, I don't think I can pinpoint one exact moment where I thought "yes, that's why Day-Lewis won this Oscar. I think Denzel Washington in Flight, who was also Oscar-nominated, was just as good if not better.

All the President's Men review

 Number 325 on the top 1000 films of all time is the biographical political-drama 'All the President's Men.'

In 1972 Washington DC, five burglars are caught breaking into the headquarters Democratic National Committee within the Watergate Office Building. Reporters Bob Woodward (Robert Redford) and Carl Bernstein (Dustin Hoffman,) from the Washington Post are assigned to investigate the case. But they soon unravelling a conspiracy theory that goes all the way to President Nixon himself.

The Watergate Scandal was no doubt one of the biggest political fiascos of the twentieth century. After all, it did bring down Richard Nixon. To this day, he is the only American president to resign.

It was also incredibly complicated. The film was equally complicated. I've watched it twice and I feel I need a massive cork board with red string to understand all the little intricacies and nuances. Not to mention the endless litany of names that are all connected to the conspiracy theory. From Sloane - the treasurer for the Committee to Re-elect, to Colson - Nixon's special counsel, to Hunt - one of Colson's employees, the list was veritably endless.

Despite this, 'All the President's Men,' is still quite watchable. Considering much of the film is Woodward and Bernstein either talking on the phone or furiously typing on typewriters you do question how much drama could this possibly generate. The answer is a lot. The tension always remained high.

In slow-burn dramas that are low on spectacle, it is vital that you have a strong cast. With Dustin Hoffman and Robert Redford as the leads, that was certainly the case here. They were engaging as the two journalists thrown together to solve the case. Not believing Woodward to be experienced enough, he is paired with the time-tested Bernstein. The two journalists started as rivals, but ended as allies and friends.

I would also give a quick shout-out to Hal Holbrook who played Deepthroat - a mysterious man who became Woodward's key confidential source. We know nothing about this character except for his propensity to have conversations in shadowy car parks, but Holbrook still made him very interesting. I've only seen Holbrook in his older years, so it was nice to see him as a younger man.

All the President's Men is certainly a complicated and long film. Low on spectacle, it would be easy to dismiss it as dull. But there was enough tension bursting under the surface to make this slow-burner an interesting enough watch.