Day-Lewis won his third best actor Oscar for his portrayal of Lincoln, and he is deserving of the award. Despite his English roots, the actor disappears so thoroughly into the role that it’s hard to imagine anyone else – American or British – playing it. As depicted by Day-Lewis, Lincoln is a charismatic man who is quick with a story and a smile, but he’s also a fearless champion of his beliefs.
“Having 10 Best Picture nominees will allow Academy voters to recognize and include some of the fantastic movies that often show up in the other Oscar categories but have been squeezed out of the race for the top prize," AMPS President Sid Ganis said at a press conference. While the expansion of the Best Picture category at the Oscars allows for more movies to receive the recognition they deserve, it does not change the fact that the voters lean towards awarding similar themes and performances every year. They love dramas, lengthy historical epics, and tales of patriotism, controversy, and triumph over adversity.
President’s Day, or February 18th as the good people residing in Bhutan may call it, is a second-tier holiday. Most get the day off, a few buy a mattress and everyone else is looking ways to kill the time on a Winter day. No parades, no festival of lights, or even sparklers. What better way to honor the men (sorry ladies) that have served as the lone executive to the United States and spruce up the holiday than watching a movie with a President in the starring role?
The Pershing Center in Lincoln, Nebraska gushes with fans. They have eagerly gathered to support Lincoln’s No Coast Derby Girls – the local flat-track roller derby league. Parents attempt to control their rowdy children; sallow-skinned teenagers hold hands and kiss beneath fluorescent lights; burly men sip Budweiser from plastic cups, chuckling softly. Though rapt with curiosity, I am lamentably lost within this subculture and ashamed that my only exposure to the feminist sport remains “Whip It”—the 2009 indie flick directed by Drew Barrymore, which highlights banked track derby in Austin, Texas.
At the outset of Burma Sahib, the new novel by esteemed travel writer Paul Theroux, a woman and her husband aboard the ship Herefordshire take an interest in another passenger—a young man standing at the bow looking out to the sea. Who is he? Where is he going?
James Gandolfini as Tony Soprano presented a complex character who showed the full range of triumph and tragedy. Edie Falco as his wife Carmela and Lorraine Bracco as therapist Jennifer Melfi are other standouts who go through their own arcs.
