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Daniel Day-Lewis is Spielberg's Lincoln

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Deadly Cyclone

Pride of Iowa State
Chichikov said:
Good thing Lincoln is from the 19th century.


Taken?
Really?
He did nothing there.
I can see someone says it's because Schindler's List.
I don't agree with that as I think he was quite bad in that film, but at least there was some meat in that script, at least there's something to discuss.
But Taken?
He just shouted and punched people.

Well, in my Lincoln move semi-based on Lincoln Force from Giant bomb, Liam Neeson would play throat punching Lincoln with his trusty sidekick Jack Bauer. Let the shouting and punching commence.
 

ToxicAdam

Member
I know what Lincoln did and was involved in was a compelling story, but Lincoln himself? Not so much.

I'd much rather see a Teddy Roosevelt biopic. Infinitely more drama, action and a greater wealth of material to draw upon.
 
RustyNails said:
John Proctor (The Crucible, during Salem witch trials, 1690s)
Hawkeye (Last of the Mohicans, sometime around 1750s)
Bill Cutting (Gangs of New York, 1850s)
Archer (Age of Innocence, 1870s)
Daniel Plainview (There will be blood, late 1890s-1900s)

Although not strictly 18th century, he has always been cast as American historical characters for a long time. I simply wanted something new for him.
:lol
 

John Dunbar

correct about everything
xbhaskarx said:
DDL will do a great job obviously, but Spielberg will find a way to fuck it up, like he usually does.

The film will end with Booth jumping from behind a curtain, shooting at Lincoln and a miniature American flag coming from the pistol
 

Trurl

Banned
Neeson looks like George Washington, not Lincoln.

I'm just glad to hear that this movie hasn't been abandoned.
 

Dr. Strangelove

I'M COOCOO FOR COCO CRISP!
Snowman Prophet of Doom said:
It's hard for me to believe that people consider Neeson a great actor. DDL is a much, MUCH better choice, but with Spielberg at the helm, I'm not exceedingly hopeful.

Young Mr. Lincoln will likely remain the best Lincoln movie.
I came in here to champion Young Mr. Lincoln, Henry Fonda and John Ford, but I see Timber and Snowman beat me to it. Good show, boys.

PS: Ford > Spielberg
 

Chichikov

Member
ToxicAdam said:
I know what Lincoln did and was involved in was a compelling story, but Lincoln himself? Not so much.
Have you read the book?
It doesn't really focus on Lincoln life all that much, it's mostly a story of his presidency.
If done right, this will make The West Wing look like... eh, The West Wing looks like shit on its own, but you get my drift.
(Aaron Sorkin defense force, assemble for thread derailment duties!).

ToxicAdam said:
I'd much rather see a Teddy Roosevelt biopic. Infinitely more drama, action and a greater wealth of material to draw upon.
No doubt his life will make an awesome movie.
In fact, it can probably make a few awesome movies.
 

Get'sMad

Member
John Dunbar said:
The film will end with Booth jumping from behind a curtain, shooting at Lincoln and a miniature American flag coming from the pistol

then cut to the present day with a shot of people visiting the Lincoln Memorial.
 

Blader

Member
Snowman Prophet of Doom said:
It's hard for me to believe that people consider Neeson a great actor. DDL is a much, MUCH better choice, but with Spielberg at the helm, I'm not exceedingly hopeful.

Young Mr. Lincoln will likely remain the best Lincoln movie.

It's hard for me to believe that people can even type something like that.
 
I can't wait to see what Lewis is going to do with this role!!!

This is a challenge worthy of his prowess :D :D :D :D :D

Speevy said:
Remember DDL did that stupid musical, so he can't choose the best ones always.

He was just branching out! He is the last actor I would suspect to do a musical but he did it anyway because he wants to be challenged. It's not about the paycheck at all which is why he is the best actor around.
 

Zeliard

Member
Blader5489 said:
It's hard for me to believe that people can even type something like that.

Snowman's the same guy who thinks Ellen Burstyn's performance in Requiem for a Dream is mediocre. :p
 

JayDubya

Banned
John Dunbar said:
The film will end with Booth jumping from behind a curtain, shooting at Lincoln and a miniature American flag coming from the pistol

No, Booth will have a flashlight (anachronism be damned).
 
Blader5489 said:
It's hard for me to believe that people can even type something like that.

I once saw him described as Lurch from the Addams Family, and frankly, that strikes me as an accurate assessment; it works sometimes (see: Batman Begins), but he's not much in the way of dramatic gravitas.
 
Anyone want to shop the facial hair here?
mOEoN.jpg
 
Neeson is a great actor and I really like him but Daniel Day Lewis is absolutely perfect for this role and is the superior actor.
 

Zeliard

Member
Snowman Prophet of Doom said:
I once saw him described as Lurch from the Addams Family, and frankly, that strikes me as an accurate assessment; it works sometimes (see: Batman Begins), but he's not much in the way of dramatic gravitas.

This is rather misguided.

Neeson, no dramatic gravitas? Why do you think he's so frequently cast in wise mentor-type roles? Because when he speaks, people listen, and that goes for everything from Star Wars to the scene in Taken when he's threatening the kidnappers over the phone.
 
Zeliard said:
This is rather misguided.

Neeson, no dramatic gravitas? Why do you think he's so frequently cast in wise mentor-type roles? Because when he speaks, people listen, and that goes for everything from Star Wars to the scene in Taken when he's threatening the kidnappers over the phone.
Yeah, that's a fairly misguided thought. Neeson has a tremendous on-screen presence. He overshadows every other guy in the screen and chews up the scenery like no other, similar to DDL. Neeson and DDL together on-screen though, that would really be something.
 
Zeliard said:
This is rather misguided.

Neeson, no dramatic gravitas? Why do you think he's so frequently cast in wise mentor-type roles? Because when he speaks, people listen, and that goes for everything from Star Wars to the scene in Taken when he's threatening the kidnappers over the phone.

He's good in roles that require a person to be stiff and slightly wooden (again, Batman Begins). When the role actually requires any sort of emotional range or expressivity, he's rather pedestrian (see: the "I could have saved more" scene from Schindler's List). The fact that he's cast frequently is not really proof that he is a good actor and is sort of an appeal to popularity; John Wayne was cast in a whole bunch of movies, but it was almost always more about his persona and what he represented than about his actual acting ability.

Edit: And there's a vast chasm of difference between Neeson and DDL. DDL has a ton of acting ability and can really disappear into a role, while Neeson pretty much just has one setting. Sometimes that setting works, and sometimes it does not.
 

John Dunbar

correct about everything
RustyNails said:
Yeah, that's a fairly misguided thought. Neeson has a tremendous on-screen presence. He overshadows every other guy in the screen and chews up the scenery like no other, similar to DDL. Neeson and DDL together on-screen though, that would really be something.

It's called Gangs of New York.
 
Snowman Prophet of Doom said:
He's good in roles that require a person to be stiff and slightly wooden (again, Batman Begins). When the role actually requires any sort of emotional range or expressivity, he's rather pedestrian (see: the "I could have saved more" scene from Schindler's List). The fact that he's cast frequently is not really proof that he is a good actor and is sort of an appeal to popularity; John Wayne was cast in a whole bunch of movies, but it was almost always more about his persona and what he represented than about his actual acting ability.

Edit: And there's a vast chasm of difference between Neeson and DDL. DDL has a ton of acting ability and can really disappear into a role, while Neeson pretty much just has one setting. Sometimes that setting works, and sometimes it does not.
Have you seen 5 minutes of Heaven?

Five_minutes_of_heaven.jpg


John Dunbar said:
It's called Gangs of New York.
Oh right.
 

John Dunbar

correct about everything
HiResDes said:
Whoever they hire is going to have to wear elevator shoes, or be shot from a very low perspective right?

Lincoln was 6'4, Day-Lewis is 6'2. Like it matters what they do.
 

Zeliard

Member
Snowman Prophet of Doom said:
He's good in roles that require a person to be stiff and slightly wooden (again, Batman Begins). When the role actually requires any sort of emotional range or expressivity, he's rather pedestrian (see: the "I could have saved more" scene from Schindler's List).

I guess we just have to agree to disagree on that point, since I thought that specific scene in SL when he receives the engraved ring was quite touching. The scene in question: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wObpzdaqz4Y. If anything hurts that scene it's some of the writing, since the dialogue doesn't flow that naturally, but I think Neeson otherwise did a fine job with it.

Snowman Prophet of Doom said:
The fact that he's cast frequently is not really proof that he is a good actor and is sort of an appeal to popularity; John Wayne was cast in a whole bunch of movies, but it was almost always more about his persona and what he represented than about his actual acting ability.

I'm saying that he's frequently cast in mentor roles, which by their nature demand some gravitas on the part of the actor to be effective. He's become recognizable in the role, yes, but he wouldn't have worked there in the first place if he wasn't a commanding actor.

Snowman Prophet of Doom said:
Edit: And there's a vast chasm of difference between Neeson and DDL. DDL has a ton of acting ability and can really disappear into a role, while Neeson pretty much just has one setting. Sometimes that setting works, and sometimes it does not.

I wasn't attempting to compare the two, just defending Neeson. I think DDL is the best modern actor out there and he will knock this one out of the park, as usual.
 
Chichikov said:
It's from the guy who wrote Munich, which I didn't quite mind, but man, he took so much liberties with reality and common sense in this movie.
Goodwin's book (which is completely unfilmable by the way) deserves better.

The casting is obviously perfect.

What liberties are you referring to exactly? From what I remember Kushner's script was pretty damn close to Jonas' book - excluding how the Mossad agents had been trained. The script for Munich is actually an example of a brilliantly written script - which is why I had been waiting for this movie for so long.

Anyway I can't believe this is finally happening. And whilst DDL is going to be fucking awesome, it really is an absolute shame that they're not using Neeson for the role. Would have loved to have seen him re-team with Spielberg.

Maybe Steven was waiting for Neeson to drop out after all this time?

Either way I look forward to it.

So is this going to be Spielberg's other project whilst concurrently working on Robopocalypse? Or will we see Robopocalypse delayed? I'm obviously hoping for the former.
 

Blader

Member
Scullibundo said:
So is this going to be Spielberg's other project whilst concurrently working on Robopocalypse? Or will we see Robopocalypse delayed? I'm obviously hoping for the former.

Lincoln is supposed to shoot before Robopocalypse.
 
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