I think you are right

I didn't watch the older versions. The new one is not that good. Indeed the appearance of the new Anna Karenina can't live up to the imagined beauty of the character in the book. But I think Knightley played well. I think Anna is exactly the kind of person we see in the movie, she is highly confident about hereself but also sensitive to the treatment of the society.

Lincoln can be boring, it's directed like a history text book. A lot of hard facts and little drama. Tommy Lee Jones is the only one that provided some cimametic effects to the movie.

Both movies attract old people, I believe most of them are over 50. So don't go to the movies if you are under 50, you'll feel out of place :-)