It has been quite some time since Spielberg has excited audiences – by my calculations, the last time was with his 2005 masterpiece Munich. Lately, it seems he is more interested in the producing side of filmmaking than the directing – although he now has The Adventures of Tintin and War Horse, neither of which excite me in the least, being released by year’s end.
Today though, I stumbled across a photograph that had me all excited. The photo, snapped by an onlooker, is simple: Daniel Day-Lewis eating out for lunch. But as you have already put together from the photo and the title of this post, this snapped picture has Day-Lewis sporting his best Abraham Lincoln beard – and boy, he looks awesome.
The long in the works Lincoln has evolved quite a bit over the past decade in which Spielberg said he was going to film it. Focusing on the last four months of President Lincoln’s life, it looks like the wait will be well worth it. Just to name a few of the other stars in the absolutely monster cast, the movie will include: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Tommy Lee Jones, James Spader, Lee Pace, Sally Field, Jackie Earle Haley (Little Children, Watchmen), John Hawkes (Winter’s Bone, “Deadwood”), Jared Harris (“Mad Men”), David Strathairn (Good Night and Good Luck), Walton Goggins (“Justified,” “The Shield”), Hal Holbrook (Into the Wild, Water for Elephants), Tim Blake Nelson (O Brother, Where Art Thou?), Bruce McGill, and Joseph Cross.
What do think? Will you miss the original idea of Liam Neeson as Lincoln or is Daniel Day-Lewis going to crush this performance? Will this be Spielberg back in top form or should we hold onto our britches before getting too excited?
While selling his wares at the local farmer’s market, Ned is approached by the local cop who gives Ned a sap story about a bad week that he needs unwinding from. He’s looking for a bit of pot and after some haggling, Ned gives in and offers the guy a bag-o-weed. The cop forces $20 on Ned before arresting him for the sale of narcotics. Oops. Ned heads off to jail where he spends eight glorious months working and making new friends. Upon his release he returns to the farm he shared with his girlfriend, a cookie cutter modern hippy who calls everyone “Dude,” to find that he’s been replaced by a guy even more clueless than he is. With his meagre belongings in tow, he heads to the city to bunk with his mother and to find some way to raise the $1,000 he needs to rent the chicken barn at the back of the farm all so he can be closer to his dog Willy Nelson who his girlfriend has, essentially, taken hostage.
