'Zero Dark Thirty' and 'Argo' win top Writers Guild Awards

I always cringe when Hollywood tries to make a political commentary. They should stick with their foolish entertainment.

I haven't seen Argo, but I did see Zero Dark Thirty. I found it to be fairly lacking in political commentary. It was mostly the rather brutal 10-year investigation resulting the very brutal attack on the compound. I found the writing to be very objective, and quite well done, considering that it can't be that easy to make spy work sound exciting without going all James Bond on it.

As much as everyone loves to bash Hollywood, it doesn't always get it wrong. Advise and Consent, The Contender, All The King's Men, Dr. Strangelove, The Manchurian Candidate, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, The Candidate, All The Presidents Men, Frost/Nixon, MLK, The Year of Living Dangerously, Primary Colors and The Great Dictator are all some pretty good political films, to name a few.

I am always amazed at the adoration Lincoln gets.

“Lincoln,” a drama about President Abraham Lincoln’s fight to abolish slavery

In fact, he never raised a hand in the Civil War. And whatever he did to encourage the abolition of slavery (which I support of course), was over-shadowed by perpetrating a war in which over half a million people were killed.

I am not tempted to watch the movie "Lincoln", because I am positive the movie will be much too generous to him.

In fact, he never raised a hand in the Civil War. And whatever he did to encourage the abolition of slavery (which I support of course)...

Well, that's good to know.

Whatever Lincoln's motivations, he did press hard to end slavery. Republicans were founded with a very strong abolitionist stance. It is not surprising that he would have pushed so hard to end slavery. The question that is not really addressed in the movie was whether or not it was worth hundreds of thousands of dead and wounded to bring it to an end. Lincoln could have just let the South secede. They may have come back to the union a short time later as slavery was already becoming uneconomical. However, I doubt he really could have understood that at the time.

Lincoln's stand against slavery is very commendable and I can easily see why he is admired for ending such a brutal and inhumane practice. I thought the movie was good for what it was - a re-enactment of the political machinations that resulted in the Emancipation Proclamation.