Monday, February 17, 2014

Gimme Five! Presidents Day


Looking for a film for Presidents Day? Here are a few classics.



The Crossing (2000)



It is Dec. 17, 1776. Hounded by superior British forces, his army decimated by disease, desertion and lack of funds, General George Washington (Jeff Daniels) faces the unthinkable: he is losing the war for American Independence. A week later, on Christmas Eve, Washington will make one of the most bold decisions in military history. Staking everything on a  surprise attack against a garrison of battle-hardened Hessian mercenaries, Washington sets out across the icy Delaware River.

The Conspirator (2011)




In the wake of Abraham Lincoln's assassination, seven men and one woman are arrested and charged with conspiring to kill the President, the Vice-President, and the Secretary of State. The lone woman charged, Mary Surratt, owns a boarding house where John Wilkes Booth and others met and planned the simultaneous attacks. Newly-minted lawyer Frederick Aiken, a 28-year-old Union war hero, reluctantly agrees to defend Surratt before a military tribunal. As the trial unfolds, Aiken realizes his client may be innocent and that she is being used as bait and hostage in order to capture the only conspirator to have escaped a massive manhunt--her own son.  With James MacAvoy and Robin Wright.

Lincoln (2012)

Steven Spielberg's Lincoln chronicles the final four months in the life of the man regarded as America's greatest President. Starring Daniel Day-Lewis in the title role, the story focuses on a defining moment in Abraham Lincoln's life - as commander-in-chief of a country in chaos; as a husband and father afraid of losing his own son to the war; and as a man guided by his conscience to end slavery. With the Civil War nearing conclusion, President Lincoln fights to convince Congress to pass a Constitutional amendment that will change the course of history. Facing fierce opposition, he wages a battle of strategy, persuasion, and political force to build a coalition out of his team of rivals.

Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter (2012)

Filmmakers Tim Burton and Timur Bekmambetov  bring a fresh and visceral voice to the bloodthirsty lore of the vampire, imagining Lincoln as history's greatest hunter of the undead.

Abe Lincoln in Illinois (1940)

Views Lincoln's life, from his early days as a young woodsman to his election to the presidency in 1860. Includes his first love with Ann Rutledge, his marriage to Mary Todd, his early law practice, and his debates with Stephen Douglas. Starring Raymond Massey and Ruth Gordon.




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