Hollywood Friday: Civil War drama 'Lincoln' vs horror 'Mama'

Steven Spielberg offers a cinematic vision of President Abraham Lincoln's battle to outlaw slavery in 'Lincoln'.

Spielberg acknowledged the pressure of bringing to the big screen one of America's most revered political figures.

Two-time Oscar-winning actor Day-Lewis portrays Lincoln as a charismatic, gifted wordsmith and an often quietly determined, skilled politician who risked his popularity to gain enough votes to pass the 13th Amendment - which outlawed slavery - in the US House of Representatives during the final months of 1865.

The dialogue-heavy film offers an inside look at the often dry legislative process, and how Lincoln's push for the anti-slavery amendment could have jeopardized the end of the Civil War.

Without re-enacting much of Lincoln's famed speeches, the film plays up the importance of Secretary of State William Seward (David Strathairn) and liberal congressman Thaddeus Stevens - in another performance, by Tommy Lee Jones, already tipped as an awards contender.

A playful, elegantly made little horror film, 'Mama' teasingly sustains a game of hide-and-seek as it tantalizes the audience with fleeting apparitions of the title character while maintaining interest in two deeply disturbed little orphan girls.

'Mama' represents a throwback and a modest delight for people who like a good scare but prefer not to be terrorized or grossed out.

Prologue shows a distraught father, apparently devastated after a financial setback, driving his tiny daughters up snowy mountain roads to a vacant small summer house in the woods.

'Mama,' a Universal release, is rated PG-13 for violence and terror, some disturbing images and thematic elements.

'Mama' stars Jessica Chastain, sporting tattoo and a haircut that's somewhere between Joan Jett and Liza Minnelli.