When the 11-year-old Willie Lincoln died in the White House in February of 1862, his parents were inconsolable. Lincoln did no official work for three weeks — a president in the midst of a civil war. Mary was deemed by some to have gone insane. While the president slowly began to accept that his son…
THOUGHTS ON “LINCOLN” (2012)
Just about any film will have its strengths and weaknesses, but some of these I never expected from veteran Spielberg. Its main strength lies in the acting. Daniel Day-Lewis is, unsurprisingly, fantastic as Abraham Lincoln. He humanizes the president that we are all too familiar with as a piece of money or a stone face…
REVIEW: THE CONSPIRATOR (2010)
Robert Redford is usually an immaculate storyteller but this film was far too caught up in political history lessons to really find an emotional center. The story is an engaging one. Sadly the screenwriter is no better than the writer of the book Manhunt. The research writer managed to make the 12-day chase for Lincoln’s assassins…
REVIEW: THE INFORMANT! (2009)
Based on a memoir/novel/autobiography of a whistleblower at a large chemical company, The Informant! is a quirky comedy that avoids the pitfalls of most similarly-tilted films. Matt Damon plays the protagonist, Mark Whitacre, an uncomfortable chemist at Archer-Daniels-Midland (ADM). He is working to solve a problem with one of their components when he stumbles upon…
Good Word: Catafalque
Usually I write about words that I have heard, maybe even used, but was just more interested in their past. In this case, I was completely taken aback. I had never even heard of catafalque. In my head, I presumed it was derived from French and I guessed it was pronounced ca-taffel-kay. I read it…