Lincoln

Starring: Daniel Day Lewis, Tommy Lee Jones
Director: Steven Spielberg
Rating: ●●●●● - A Landmark

Lincoln is a great movie.
Expectations, to be honest, were high, given that we are talking about a movie directed by Steven Spielberg, with Daniel Day Lewis, about one of the most important and influential American presidents.
The movie is not however, a biopic, in the sense that the real focus of the movie is not Lincoln but rather the debate in America around the approval of the 13th amendment of the constitution that abolished slavery, a turning point in World's history.
It is not by chance that this movie has been made now with Obama president, because it represents the latest step in the Afro-American battle for equality, a process started with the approval of 13th amendment 150 years ago.
The movie requires a bit of historic preparation, and gives for granted that you already understand the context of the secession war and the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863.
As said it is not a biopic, but a movie about politics, and in this period when everybody complains about bad politicians (regardless of where you live) gives us one of the greatest examples of what being a good politician means.
In conclusion I want to highlight the immense performance of Daniel Day Lewis as president Lincoln, surly worth the Oscar.
Excellent movie, excellent acting performance.

The Impossible

Starring: Ewan McGregor, Naomi Watts
Director: Juan Antonio Bayona
Rating: ●●●○○ - Hopeful

The Impossible is a movie based on a the true story of a young family vacationing in Thailand as they struggle to survive and reunite in the aftermath of the devastating 2004 Southeast Asia tsunami.
That natural disaster was the probably the worst in history killing over 230,000 people in fourteen countries.
The beginning of this movie is incredibly similar to the first part of Hereafter directed by Clint Eastwood in 2010. In both movies we as spectators are submerged by the tsunami wave and struggle to get out of the flood.
Then while Hereafter moves on and develops other themes, The Impossible focuses on the experience of that tragedy, making you live the struggle for survival and the panic of losing your loved ones, it brings you there with all the drama.
Because of this The Impossible ends up being a powerful movie thanks also to the good interpretations by Ewan McGregor and Naomi Watts.
The only limit that I would find to this movie is that the story is a bit straight forward, without many surprises.
Perhaps after the shock of the tsunami wave, no one wants more surprises in this movie.

Les Miserables

Starring: Hugh Jackman, Russel Crowe, Anne Hathaway, Helena Bonham Carter, Sacha Baron Cohen
Director: Tom Hooper
Rating: ●●●●○ - Epic

The screen transposition of this successful London west-end and Broadway musical has been done in grand style.
The stellar cast to start with (which includes a couple of Oscar winners), with a great interpretation from the prestigious wolverine Hugh Jackman and his Aussie fellow, but fierce enemy on screen, Russel Crowe, and including also great performances by Anne Hathaway, Helena Bonham Carter and Sacha Baron Cohen (aka Borat).
Then the costumes and the setting in a unsettled France of the beginning of the 1800.
Finally the poignant and intense story derived from this classic of Victor Hugo.
All these factors make this film a great movie production.
But...
I suffer from a strange allergy that makes be rattle in agony when I see a movie in which the characters speak to each other singing.
In this movie all (or at least 99%) of the dialogues are sung, so for me it has been a painful 2hs and a half.
So if you like musicals, this will probably be your favourite movie ever.
But, if you suffer from my same allergy, make no mistake, see something else.

Life of Pi

Starring: Suraj Sharma, Irrfan Khan
Director: Ang Lee
Rating: ●●●○○ - Over-promising

After the Christmas break, I started the year with Life of Pi, movie transposition of the successful book by Yann Martel published in 2001, directed by Oscar Winner Ang Lee (Sense and Sensibility, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Brokeback Mountain).
The main feature of this movie are the images, the visual effects and a finally proper and skillful use of the 3D feature, the best since Avatar. So in case you wonder, yes this one is worthwhile watching in 3D.
The movie has a first part based in India which deals with the theme of religions vs. rationality which I find very interesting, though you have a feeling that you are missing out something compared to the book.
Then there is a second part about the kid and the tiger. This part is the one where images and the photography come in support of an otherwise slow paced section, which is the the core of the movie, the main central part.
Finally there is the conclusion, in which again, you feel that you are a bit rushed into. In the first part you are promised a story that will show you the existence of God (nothing less), but in the end I felt I was promised more than what has been delivered.
So this is a visually excellent movie, an inspiring story, with some pace issues here and there (derived from the difficulty of transposing a spiritual book into a movie) but overall a movie worth watching.