I awakened with Lincoln every morning and thoughts about him every night. I still miss him Hes the most interesting person I know.

Doris Kearns Goodwin in Team of Rivals

My Thanksgiving was spent in a megalopolis big enough to have first run features and I took full advantage of that to partake in a daily movie all week long. I havent had so much cinematic fun since I left Los Angeles, one of the movie capitals of the world.

So, I thought I might indulge you this week with some thumbnail reviews of a couple of the movies that caught my attention. Its been awhile since weve had such an array of quality films coming all at once; but, as is always the case, movie makers know that not only is the holiday season a great time to catch families needing entertainment but a movie shown closer to Oscar time gets better treatment at the awards ceremony.

Life of Pi (Directed by Ang Lee)

First and foremost, do not be tempted to think of this as a movie for children despite its PG rating and the appearance of animals. On the contrary, of all the movies I saw last week, this one was by far the most disturbing. On the surface its the tale of a boys survival after a disaster at sea takes down the entire ship, crew and his family as well as the caged animals they have been transporting to Canada. (Pis father, a zoo keeper in India, has decided to move the family and knows he can sell the animals for more in North America.)

So, right off the bat, you know there is going to be a horrendous catastrophe. If you are an animal lover like me, even imagining this chaos will be heart-rending. Seeing the actual unfolding of the storys set-up for the real tale begins in the lifeboat Pi shares with Richard Parker, the Bengal tiger is excruciating.

But before things go sideways, in fact, from the first moment the titles appear, one can see the cinematography is going to be incredible. (I did not see the movie in 3-D but you could catch it that way at Astoria Gateway.) Its almost as if when Pi begins his long, leisurely slide into hallucination, we slip along with him, dragging our hands through the phosphorescent sea and watching as tiny creatures swirl and dance in the lustrous blue.

Artist Alexis Rockman is responsible for the whimsical and eerie biological fantasies that inhabit the aquatic depth as Pi drifts and this segment of the film I do wish Id seen in 3-D. Without revealing too much more of the plot let me just say that the acting is superb, the story is powerful and the film is a visual feast. I just wonder what Lee wanted our take-away to be? I left the theatre with a deep melancholy.

Skyfall (Sam Mendes)

Everyone is allowed a few guilty pleasures and Bond Movies (or the Bourne series, take your pick) are mine. We all have our favorite Bonds and, for me, Daniel Craig ranks up there close to Bond-royalty Sean Connery. I liked Craigs craggy, profligate demeanor in this, unbelievably, the 23rd Bond flick. His Ive-seen-it-all-and-I-could-care-less attitude seems to balance out the ever more extravagantly violent shenanigans.

It starts with the obligatory chase sequence, requiring overturned fruit carts in the market, and proceeds to a Tintin-like extreme rooftop motor-cross before moving seamlessly onto a speeding train and river precipice. Fantastic! we know immediately were back in Bondlandia.

Then there is the incomparable Dame Judi Dench in her thirteenth appearance as M, 007s boss, whose steely-eyed gaze and fierce pride carry her through the vengeful wickedness perpetrated by the blonde and creepy turn-coat agent Raoul Silva, played by Javier Bardem. (I love an older woman secure enough to be seen as-she-is without tons of make-up clouding her beauty.)

There are creepy bad guys! There are sexy women! There is death and destruction! Not to mention cool locations, tons of explosives, and a few plot twists. Some of the characters even show a little vulnerability this is, after all, the 21st century. So, needless to say, if you like Bond movies, youll love his one. I did.

Lincoln (Steven Spielberg)

One of the most serious of the seasons films is a recasting of Doris Kearns Goodwins hefty book about Lincoln, A Team of Rivals. The film, written by esteemed playwright Tony Kushner (Angels in America) focuses not on the Civil War or Lincolns assassination stories we hope every school child knows but zooms in for the gritty detail of the couple weeks of politicking that led up to the passage of the 13th Amendment that made slavery illegal. (The Senate passed the amendment in April of 1864 but were in the dog days of winter in 1865 and the House is a mangier crew.)

As Spielberg comments in a Smithsonian article (by Roy Blount Jr., November 2012), I did not want to make a movie about a monument. I wanted the audience to get into the working process of the president. So although not every conversation in the film can be taken literally, as Kushner says, The rule was that we wouldnt alter anything in a meaningful way from what happened. Were given a window into our own history.

As if to mimic the Bond opening, the first scenes of Lincoln are the most violent, depicting a murderous melee between Black and Confederate regiments. (We return to the battlefield only once, just prior to the Appomattox surrender.) The remainder of the movie is shot in the shadows of smoke-filled rooms. The arm-twisting carried out most magnificently by James Spader as Nashville lawyer W.N. Bilbo nearly overwhelms the compromising but both combine to complete the deed. Through all, Lincoln is shown to be a forceful leader, his homespun ways skillfully camouflaging his formidable political acumen.

Everyone called Daniel Day-Lewis Mr. Lincoln or Mr. President on the set; he stayed in character throughout the filming. Hell likely be a favorite for best actor. Sally Field, as Mary Todd Lincoln, is perfect. When she falls to her knees in her hoop dress in an intimate argument with Lincoln the man, you feel the massive weight of her civic responsibilities crushing her.

I agree with Anthony Lane (The New Yorker, Nov. 19). The movie is two scenes too long. Lincoln ambling down the hallway on what will be his last night out, should have been the closing shot of the movie… The lofty, stooping figure heads away from us, with his back to the camera, but he doesnt get any smaller as he goes.

Redux

I also adored Cloud Atlas I saw it twice and would watch it again. And Argo (Ben Affleck), a true story about a Hollywood sci-fi production scam that saved six American diplomats during the Iran hostage crisis is a thriller. The plot is so wacky if it werent true no one would believe it.