'Lincoln' Was Overrated

The movie, not the president.  Just want to make that clear.  If you are a history buff or just happen to adore the films of Steven Speilberg, go right ahead and sit through the plodding three hour epic.  

In the likely case that you are neither of the above, here’s a helpful tip. Just go see another movie at a megaplex, get there early and pop your head into a showing of Lincoln about an hour before it ends.  You’ll get to see Daniel Day Lewis’s Lincoln slow drawl his way through a few anecdotes, as well as experience the electrifying scene where the Thirteenth Amendment is passed.  High tail it outta there before the family travels to Ford’s theater because, face it, you know what’s happening next.  Boom.  You just saved yourself two and a half hours and a cool $10.  You’re welcome. 

Despite the glacial pace of ‘Lincoln’, this was a good year for movies people. Out of the nine films nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards this year, seven of them are well on their way to becoming bonafide hits; five have hit the 100 million mark at the domestic box office, and two are well on their way.  Therefore, chances are that you saw at least one of them, and there was a good chance that you liked it.   

The past year also appeared to mark an era where people were willing to go to the movie theater and spend lengthy periods of time sitting in the dark with strangers.   Most of the films nominated this year are longer than two hours.  Fun fact, if you combine all of the running times of the films this year together it adds up to over 20 hours of film time.  That’s almost one entire day.  And that’s not even including ‘find a parking spot/wait in line for tickets and popcorn/advertisement/preview’ time. 

This is where I tell you that you have less than three weeks to see all 20 hours of those movies before Oscar night on February 24^th.   But don’t you fret my friends, it’s also where I promise to crack out the rest of my tips on what is worth your valuable time and what is not. Because I am crazy enough to have seen them all.  Apparently I have no life.  That’s ok though because I adore movies, and have a soft spot in my heart for the Academy Awards.    

To avoid this post being super lengthy, I have decided to break the categories up into several posts over the next few weeks.  In the interest of time, I hope to have the post on the Best Picture nominees up by mid-week. 

In the interim, I would love to hear your thoughts on the Oscar night telecast.  Overrated?  Exciting?  An amazing excuse to heckle celebrities from the comfort of your couch?  All of the above?  Discuss.