Everyone remembers where they were when they first heard that President Abraham Lincoln had been assassinated. I was in third grade, under the creepy Catholic tutelage of Sister Hermina (she refused to die!), and the lesson on Lincoln’s presidency had come to dramatic and shocking conclusion. Granted, those aren’t the words I would have used to describe it at the time, but I do recall feeling frustrated, confused, and angered at the tall, bearded man’s death. So why open a film review with a reference to a grade school history lesson? Because the film in question, Robert Redford’s The Conspirator, feels like a two-hour lecture on some of the very same material. Viewers learn about the coordinated assault against Lincoln and two members of his cabinet, the capture and conviction of those responsible, and their subsequent hangings for the crimes. While the material here is more detailed than the lesson taught by zombie nun it’s also presented dryly, without any real energy, emotion, or drama, and very much in the spirit of a made-for-television movie. It doesn’t help matters that Redford uses his directorial lectern to include some incredibly unsubtle and politicized comparisons to our own modern day battles between personal freedoms and national security.

Robert Redford has directed a movie starring James McAvoy, Robin Wright Penn, Kevin Kline, Tom Wilkinson, Danny Huston, Stephen Root, Colm Meaney, Toby Kebbell, and Evan Rachel Wood. That should be enough to cause excitement. The Conspirator tells the story of the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln and the ensuing police action and trial of the conspirators – including Mary Surratt, who became despised by an entire country. She was guilty until proven innocent. Check out the intense trailer for yourself:

Kevin Carr breaks down the week’s releases, looking at Inglourious Basterds, Shorts, and Post Grad.

Kevin welcomes Neil back to the Magical Studio in the Sky from his emergency “gender re-clarification” surgery in the Netherlands. Neil celebrates his return by not seeing any movies, even though he wanted to see Inglourious Basterds.

It’s hard to tell from the trailer, but it looks like Post Grad might move beyond simple comedy to explore the frustration of graduating college without any job prospects.

Boyfriends and husbands may need something to get them through it, but their girlfriends and wives are going to love this movie.

In general, I try to avoid any movie with the word “Sisterhood” in the title. Be it traveling pants or divine Ya-Ya secrets, the s-word in the title is a red flag to me that it will not be my cup of tea.

Variety is reporting today that Bledel has signed on to star in Fox Atomic’s college comedy Ticket to Ride, which is being directed by Vicky Jenson (Shrek, Shark Tale).