American Sniper

[El Héroe Oscuro]

I just saw the movie earlier today and was wondering what people thought about it, as well as any afterthoughts on the Clint Eastwood directed movie.

 

[Chikara]

I saw it the other day, and I left the theater fighting back tears. It really was a great movie. Bradley Cooper did a spectacular job and I'm glad more people are learning who Chris Kyle even was, what he did, and(spoilers if you don't know the story)

Spoiler:

how tragically his life ended

I've read multiple articles by people who fought in Iraq, and they all said American Sniper is the most accurate representation they've seen of what it's actually like other there.

If it loses Best Picture to stupid Into The Woods, I'm going to barf all over the place. As much as I love her, Meryl Streep already haaaaaas enough awards, dang.

 

[maccrash]

If it loses Best Picture to stupid Into The Woods, I'm going to barf all over the place. As much as I love her, Meryl Streep already haaaaaas enough awards, dang.

Into the Woods is not up for best picture. (;

and I haven't seen this and I don't really have any immediate plans to but if it does win best picture then I'm going to cry because there are at least four films up there that deserve it so much more and I find it supremely hard to believe that this would best any of them.

 

[Chikara]

Into the Woods is not up for best picture. (;

WHOOPS, I was sure it was, guess I confused it with another category. Then yeah, American Sniper is sure to win.

 

[tittlemouse]

$90M domestic on its opening weekend is insane not only is this $3M less than Guardians of The Galaxy the previous all time record for January was Ride Along's $42M from last year. I have a feeling this could be a surprising 2014 domestic winner (It was open in a small selection of cinemas for Oscars at Xmas)

And this is just the start not even one of the biggest 20 films this year its going to be a unreal year box office wise

 

[acatfrommars]

It was a good movie, but it doesn't strike me as spectacular. Bradley Cooper did a phenomenal job portraying Chris Kyle, and the story was good but nothing in it made me be like "damn, this movie is great". There were a lot of god action scenes though, and the emotional scenes were played well. The ending was so sad, I wasn't expecting it. It pissed my roommate and I off for a couple of days. :c

 

[Rogue planet]

Into the Woods is not up for best picture. (;

and I haven't seen this and I don't really have any immediate plans to but if it does win best picture then I'm going to cry because there are at least four films up there that deserve it so much more and I find it supremely hard to believe that this would best any of them.

It'll win, but not because it's done anything groundbreaking (because it hasn't). Because it fits in with the narrative that American soldiers are the 'good guys' and are the only ones capable of feeling emotion; and that shooting middle eastern women & children is a positive thing.

 

[Lizardo]

Because it fits in with the narrative that American soldiers are the 'good guys' and are the only ones capable of feeling emotion; and that shooting middle eastern women & children is a positive thing.

I've been wary about this movie for just that reason: that's it's ultimately jingoistic nonsense about what was, in reality, an illegal war fought on a lie. While I haven't seen it, and don't plan on seeing it, the fact that this film has become a magnet to the "'Murica!" crowd doesn't really bode well for me. I also don't like what I've heard about how it portrays the war in Iraq or anything about the real life Chris Kyle at the center of it all. But I haven't seen the movie, so my impressions could very well be wrong.

 

[Sir Codin]

https://libertariangaming.org/?p=1750

Yeah, fuck American Sniper.

 

[El Héroe Oscuro]

It was a good movie, but it doesn't strike me as spectacular. Bradley Cooper did a phenomenal job portraying Chris Kyle, and the story was good but nothing in it made me be like "damn, this movie is great". There were a lot of god action scenes though, and the emotional scenes were played well. The ending was so sad, I wasn't expecting it. It pissed my roommate and I off for a couple of days. :c

So what did you think was missing to make it a spectacular movie in your eyes?

 

[Nihilego]

all I've heard is that it's pretty much feeding the idea of "America good elsewhere bad" to people. I heard someone (Seth Rogen?) describe it as propaganda if I remember correctly. with the use of spoilers as appropriate can someone tell me about why it's being taken that way?

 

[Her]

all I've heard is that it's pretty much feeding the idea of "America good elsewhere bad" to people. I heard someone (Seth Rogen?) describe it as propaganda if I remember correctly. with the use of spoilers as appropriate can someone tell me about why it's being taken that way?

the film is basically saying 'soldiers are humans too :) they have feelings, emotions! this one soldier doesn't like killing people but everyone in the middle east is evil so it's justified.'

 

[Livewire]

Oddly enough, I didn't get a whole lot of the propaganda bullshit vibe from AS. It's an accurate depiction of the horrors of war - Kyle is tormented by PTSD and guilt during pretty much the entire movie, but the film doesn't do a good job of countering the "Muslims are savages" mindset and it does wade into really morally ambiguous territory and imply that since this is war, you need to do your job, whatever that job is -

Spoiler:

Which in some cases was shooting a child that was walking towards a US convoy with a Russian grenade.

What really kept it from being great was the leaving out of all of the less-scrupulous aspects of his character, especially all the crazy shit he claimed to have done. If they had done that, then Kyle and his story is a perfect metaphor for Iraq and the war. He saves dozens and dozens of US soldiers' lives as a sniper, but is an incredibly flawed person - an alcoholic and a manipulative liar tormented by the horrible things he saw, and sometimes did, under the guise of "doing his patriotic duty". Part of his PTSD manifested in trying to help other war vets, and it did eventually get him killed. You keep that narrative in and you have a much deeper , albeit more controversial, story and tone. That's the way they should have told the story and didn't, so that's why you see the propaganda and embellishment cards getting played I think. It's less genuine, thematically.

 

[TaintedBeing]

Man, I loved that movie. It was pretty cool.

 

[Shining Raichu]

I loved the plot, but I couldnt stand the main character. He actually made me hate Bradley Cooper which isn't possible.

Also until it ended I had no clue it was based on a true story so when it faded to black and that writing came up on the screen telling us what happened I burst out laughing and was given many dirty looks.

 

[tittlemouse]

At this point this is pretty much a lock for best domestic movie of 2014 since its ahead of Mockingjay into its 4th weekend and earning more money. I thought it was a pretty good movie but not #1 material certainly prefered Lone Survivor (even though its title ruined the film) and Fury

Kind of ironic hes mentioned as the most deadliest sniper yet there's a British sniper who has more kills but just dosent want the fame.

 

[Pinkie-Dawn]

I haven't seen the movie, but I have seen /tv/ and RLM ripping this film apart for its propaganda messages against Muslims (/tv/ even posted a couple of actual tweets being anti-Muslim while praising this film) and oscarbait moments. This is why Interstellar should've been nominated for Best Picture.

 

[maccrash]

This is why Interstellar should've been nominated for Best Picture.

if you're gonna rail against this film for being Oscar bait, I wouldn't bring up Interstellar being snubbed as a counterpoint. (; that one's melodramatic as all get-out, and the last forty minutes or so were a total attempt to tie everything together in the most over-dramatic way possible. I sure as fuck loved it when I was watching it but the more I think about it, the more nonsensical and catered to the masses it seemed. sorry, I sound like a douchebag writing that probably. I love you.

 

[tittlemouse]

if you're gonna rail against this film for being Oscar bait, I wouldn't bring up Interstellar being snubbed as a counterpoint. (; that one's melodramatic as all get-out, and the last forty minutes or so were a total attempt to tie everything together in the most over-dramatic way possible. I sure as fuck loved it when I was watching it but the more I think about it, the more nonsensical and catered to the masses it seemed. sorry, I sound like a douchebag writing that probably. I love you.

I would love The Imitation Game to win best picture since its the most enjoyable out of the films but its probably a lock for Boyhood if not than The Theory of Everything

 

[maccrash]

I would love The Imitation Game to win best picture since its the most enjoyable out of the films but its probably a lock for Boyhood if not than The Theory of Everything

isn't Birdman favored at this point? (I could be wrong, it might still be Boyhood, I'm not sure) regardless, I hope Birdman wins; it was my film of the year.