Next Monday night’s New York Film Festival debut of Steven Spielberg‘s Lincoln is unexpected, for sure, and the bravest thing that Disney marketing has done on behalf of this Tony Kushner-scripted film. Before this moment Disney has been presenting a cautious if not timid face to the world, particularly in its decision to take the AFI Fest’s closing-night slot, which is only hours before the 11.9 opening.

So good on Team Disney — for the first time they are standing by their film with noticable pride and resolve. Because you know the New York blogosphere will not cut Lincoln any breaks, and that a lot of the wise guys are looking to get Spielberg-Williams any way they honestly can. (I’m not the only one.) And you know that N.Y. Post critic Lou Lumenick and his Lincoln tipster, “Guido Bazin”, will be on pins and needles to see if the crowd agrees or not with Guido’s 9.22 impressions of the film.

It burns me that Glenn Kenny and Kris Tapley will be seeing Daniel Day Lewis‘s Honest Abe by way of Walter Brennan and Matthew Modine before me, but them’s the breaks. I’ve asked to see the film, naturally, but they may have their own plans. It’ll begin to screen in LA next week