Movie Look Back: American Sniper

When I write movie reviews, I prefer to write them with some sort of broader context. Movies are never seen in a vacuum, therefore discussing the film beyond the film can be helpful. When I initially reviewed American Sniper, I bunched it with another 2014 “prestige” war film, Fury, and called it the death of war films in cinema. Obviously I was being hyperbolic, but since Black Hawk Down, there hasn’t been a straight forward war film I’ve enjoyed- especially one regarding any of the Gulf wars. I was not a fan of American Sniper and I expressed my dislike of the film in my review. I saw the film Friday night of its release and posted my review of the film soon after. Since then, for better or for worse, discussion of the film blew up.

First things first, I stand by my negative review. What other people have thought and Box Office success doesn’t change my feelings and thoughts of the film. The only thing that has changed is my knowledge of what everybody else thought about it. That being said, I have had weeks to reflect on the film which allows me to speak more concisely and accurately. Writing a review after watching a film can turn the review into a jumbled mess, but days and weeks pondering the film allows me time to gather and collect my thoughts.

The biggest fault with this film is Clint Eastwood’s direction, in particular his need to film things quickly and under-budget. Eastwood is notorious for not filming multiple takes and for purposefully excluding scenes from the script. The perfect embodiment of how Eastwood films his movies is the fake baby controversy that dominated your Facebook news feed for a day. Eastwood had intended to use a real baby, but when neither of the child actors to play the baby were available, he used a fake baby. The use of a fake baby was obvious to me as I pointed it out in my initial review, and it would have been noticeable to Eastwood had he looked at his dailies and what he shot. However, since Eastwood doesn’t like to reshoot and Sienna Miller and Bradley Cooper did a good job in that scene, Eastwood said "Eff It" and left that scene in his film.

2015 Oscar Preview: Best Actor

THE NOMINEES:

- Steve Carell (Foxcatcher)
- Bradley Cooper (American Sniper)
- Benedict Cumberbatch (The Imitation Game)
- Michael Keaton (Birdman)
- Eddie Redmayne (The Theory of Everything)

WHO SHOULD BE HERE: Jake Gyllenhaal (Nightcrawler)

I get so incensed whenever I see this category and I don't see Jake Gyllenhaal's name listed. He was so fucking good in Nightcrawler that every acting performance this year (and especially those in this category) is ruined for me because it's not as good as Gyllenhaal in this film. Seriously. his biggest "problem" for not getting a nomination is that Nightcrawler is a film that speaks to Generation X and Millennials and the voting branch of The Academy is full of old farts who still wish Gone With The Wind was playing at the cinemas. Truthfully, I should stop expecting this branch as a whole to start making correct decisions, but I unfortunately care too much and snubs like this unnecessarily upset me to no end. Jake Gyllenhaal gave the greatest acting performance since Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight and gave a performance no other actor could do. Gyllenhaal not only had to have you root for this villain he plays but suck you into a pretty twisted tale and make it believable.

I'm just glad someone else is on my side in this imaginary war.

Click here to read my full review of Nightcrawler

6 Recent Oscar Nominees Who Were Nominated In The Wrong Category

We live in an era full of category fraud where "Orange Is The New Black" can be considered a comedy and where "True Detective" is a TV program and not a mini-series. We live in an era where Steve Carell in Foxcatcher has the same percentage of screen time as J.K. Simmons in Whiplash but the former is considered a Lead Actor but the latter is a Supporting Actor. We live in an era where Whiplash is considered an adapted screenplay because it was adapted from a scene from its own script.

Category fraud is more rampant at the Emmy's because the TV shows themselves can determine what category they choose to place themselves in. With the Academy Awards, studios can just campaign for a particular category but ultimately it is The Academy themselves that determine which category to place movies and actors into. There have been instances where a studio will campaign for one category and been placed in another. Therefore, in theory, category fraud shouldn't exist at the Oscars. Unfortunately, it does. Here are 6 Recent Oscar Nominees Who Were Nominated In The Wrong Category.

How American Sniper and Fury Prove War Movies Are Dead

In 2014 we saw the rise of two "prestige" war flicks: Fury and American Sniper. Fury was released first from David Ayer. Ayer had just come off of End Of Watch and had one of the biggest movie stars in the world, Brad Pitt, in his movie. During the promotion of the film, it seemed like a shoe-in to eventually earn an Oscar nomination. However, as the release date neared and closer and closer and people starting seeing the film, Columbia Pictures switched gears and started to care more about box office success than critical success. As it turns out, that was the smart move. As of the writing of this post, Fury has made a little over $85,000,000 dollars and it was estimated it cost $68,000,000 to film. The film also has a whopping 78% on Rotten Tomatoes and exactly 0 Oscar nominations.

A few months later, Clint Eastwood's American Sniper was released at the tail end of Award Season. It surprised most "experts" by earning six Oscar nominations including Best Picture, Best Actor (Bradley Cooper), and Best Adapted Screenplay (Jason Hall). And while the film goes wide today and thus will garner more votes, it only has a 73% on Rotten Tomatoes.

While one film is an Academy player and thus will dominate more conversations within the zeitgeist and both films are set during different wars, I lump Fury and American Sniper together because they both suffer from the same problem: Is there any story left to tell regarding modern war films?

2014 Oscar Preview: Best Supporting Actor

NOMINEES:
- Barkhad Abdi (Captain Phillips)
- Bradley Cooper (American Hustle)
- Jared Leto (Dallas Buyers Club)
- Jonah Hill (The Wolf of Wall Street)
- Michael Fassbender (12 Years A Slave)

SHOULD BE HERE: James Franco (Spring Breakers)

Franco might not have gotten a nomination anyways because I can't imagine many people in the Academy even saw (or attempted to see) Spring Breakers, but since his performance as Oscar host a few years back was so bad, he's probably never getting a nomination again. It's a shame too, because when he actually tries and doesn't mail in performances, like when he portrayed the gangster Alien in Spring Breakers, he can be the best actor on the planet. James Franco has the acting chops to fill the void that Philip Seymour Hoffman has unfortunately left behind, but only if Franco continues to make bold and wonderful acting choices like he did in this Harmony Korine picture. James Franco is easily the best part of this pretentious film, and probably did some of, if not THE best, acting of 2013.

However, out of the actors that did have a legitimate shot, I think either Will Forte or Stacy Keach (mainly Forte) from Nebraska should be here. It's crazy to me to think that very few people other than Will Forte could have done what he did.

Who Is Hollywood's Best Young Actor Right Now?

Who is the hottest young actor currently working in Hollywood right now? I don't mean in terms of looks, I mean in terms of power and prestige. Who can get the roles and the movies THEY want to have made? Who is the actor the studios want to hire in their big budget films? Which actor will America see the movie that their in solely because said actor is in that movie? I set out to find that answer.

I choose eight of the biggest and most talented young actors currently acting and making big movies right now: Channing Tatum, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Michael Fassbender, Ryan Gosling, Justin Timberlake, Jeremy Renner, Bradley Cooper, and Chris Hemsworth. These are who I believe are the who's who of young actors right now. The real life Vinnie Chase from Entourage. These eight names were chosen solely by me and based on my own judgment. Of course I could have expanded this list further, but these eight names feels about right. The other actors I was thinking about were Chris Pine (Star Trek), Sam Worthington (Avatar), and Henry Cavill (Man Of Steel), but they just don't feel like they belong with the others. I feel these eight are the cream of the crop.

Actor's Oscar Chances From Silver Linings Playbook

Over the weekend I saw Silver Linings Playbook and I loved it. I think it is one of the best films of the year and currently it's #4 on my top ten list of films from 2012 (Full list to come out late December or early January). SLP was my 7th most anticipated fall movie from this season and it exceeded my expectations. This film is written and directed by former Oscar nominee David O. Russell and produced by the Weinstein Company so there is no doubt Silver Linings Playbook will be up for some awards within the next few months. The question now remains is "Which ones"? Here is my predictor of which actors have the best chance to earn an Oscar nomination from their work in Playbook.

5) Chris Tucker- Best Supporting Actor

Odds Of Getting Nominated 1%

Pros: This is the first movie that Chris Tucker has been in since 2007's Rush Hour 3. Hollywood has been eagerly waiting for Tucker to finally return to the silver screen and he does so in dramatic fashion. Tucker plays a mentally ill patient who befriends Bradley Cooper's character and Tucker pops every time he is on screen.

Cons: First of all, he's not in the movie all that often. While his name appears in all the advertisements and commercials, he doesn't really appear in too many scenes. Plus, his character is not really integral to the plot or story. I enjoyed (and I'm sure so did many others) Tucker's performance but if his character wasn't in the film at all I don't think the final product of the film would be drastically different (or at all different). However, Tucker's biggest problem is that he'll be competing against a fellow co-star (more to come later).

4) Jacki Weaver- Best Supporting Actress

Odds Of Getting Nominated: 10%

Pros: For starters, Jacki Weaver is a woman. Normally sex shouldn't matter but it does when it comes to Oscar votes. Let me explain, there are not very many roles in Hollywood for women and even less juicy and Oscar-worthy roles for women. So the fact that Russell wrote a great supporting actress role (and Weaver does a really good job in that role) is already a big boost for Weaver. Weaver also has the benefit of prestige. Two years ago Weaver garnered a Best Supporting Actress nomination for a movie nobody had ever heard of (Animal Kingdom) and she might be able to parlay that nomination into another one here.

Cons: Weaver also suffers from a similar problem that Tucker has in the fact that she loses a lot of screen time to her fellow co-stars. While Weaver does have her "Oscar-worthy scenes" she still plays 4th fiddle (as we'll see below) in the film. Plus, Weaver's name doesn't appear in any advertisements for this film. You would think that because she has an Oscar nomination, this movie is a prime Oscar contender, and was written and director by a guy who also has an Oscar nomination that at ONE point during some part of the commercial the scroll "Oscar nominated actress Jacki Weaver" would have appeared on the screen, but alas it did not. Few scenes plus few promotions could equal bad news for Weaver.

3) Bradley Cooper- Best Actor

Odds Of Getting Nominated: 75%

Pros: Cooper is excellent in this film. Acting extremely well is the first step to getting nominated and this movie far and away showcases Bradley Cooper's amazing acting chops. Cooper benefits from an amazing script (as most Oscar nominated actors do) as well as benefits from playing a mentally ill person. There is an unspoken rule in Hollywood (or quite loudly spoken if you've ever seen Tropic Thunder) that if you play a mentally challenged person you're guaranteed to get an Oscar vote. Bradley Cooper plays a manic/depressive bi-polar who's prone to mood swings which is a "prime disorder" for Oscar voters. As Tom Hanks in Forrest Gump, Dustin Hoffman in Rain Man, and Sean Penn in I Am Sam (among others) have proven, playing a mentally ill character almost guarantees you an Oscar nomination. It also helps Cooper that this movie is excellent. SLP has a 90% on Rotten Tomatoes (and 90% among top critics) as well as an 81 on Metacritic. Cooper carries a great film which will go a long way for him.

Cons: The Best Actor race is always generally deep but 2012 seems even deeper than before. 2012 might be the deepest year for great films in my lifetime and with that brings along a super deep class of great actors. As of this moment, there are three spots that seem to be guarantee locks which is Daniel Day-Lewis for Lincoln, Joaquin Phoenix for The Master, and Denzel Washington for Flight. While this is a list I don't personally agree with (I would rank Cooper #2 behind Phoenix), it is not my vote that matters and this is a tough uphill battle for Cooper.

Even with those three "mortal locks" Cooper still has to compete with other great contenders. Hitfix's In Contention blog has Hugh Jackman (Les Miserables) and John Hawkes (The Sessions) garnering the last two nominations and that still doesn't include Ben Affleck (Argo) and Christoph Waltz/Jamie Foxx (Django Unchained), and Anthony Hopkins (Hitchcock).

With all that being said, the fact that Silver Linings Playbook is a comedy (at least a comedy in terms of awards voters) then I could see Cooper gaining momentum come Oscar time. The Golden Globes can heavily sway Oscar voters and the Globes, unlike the Oscars, split their awards into two categories: Drama and Comedy/Musical. Cooper's name will be thrown into the comedy ring while Day-Lewis, Phoenix, and Washington will be in the Drama category. Unfortunately for Cooper he will still have to compete against Hugh Jackman but if Cooper can win Best Actor at the Golden Globes then he can slingshot himself into an Oscar nomination.

2) Robert De Niro- Best Supporting Actor

Odds Of Getting Nominated: 95%

Pros: Come on, he's Robert freaking De Niro. This is a man who has six Oscar nominations and one win. This man is a legend in Hollywood. De Niro would probably get an Oscar nomination without any voter actually seeing this film. It does help that De Niro has his first memorable role since Meet The Parents and stars in his first great film since Heat. De Niro plays a man with severe OCD (which helps his chances, see: Cooper, Bradley above) and there's a scene towards the end of the film where De Niro gives a big and heart-warming speech to Cooper that probably locked his nomination up.

Cons: The only way De Niro doesn't get a nomination is if 1) Silver Linings Playbook gets completely snubbed altogether like Drive did last year or 2) The Oscar voters see the truly deep field De Niro plays in and decide there are other worthy candidates. Truthfully, I think De Niro is guaranteed a nomination but I didn't give him a 100% chance because I left that solely for...

1) Jennifer Lawrence- Best Actress

Odds Of Getting Nominated: 100%

Pros: I have a theory about Meryl Streep. My theory is that she has a shit ton of Oscar nominations just because there are so few good movies in Hollywood with women in the lead role and Streep always gets first dibs of those roles. Streep is of course an amazing actress and deserves to get first dibs but the reason she has a whopping SEVENTEEN nominations is largely due to her gender. Of course talent and longevity play huge factors but the aforementioned De Niro- who has both in spades- only has six nominations. I'm not "ripping" on Streep because I'm sexist (in fact I think Hollywood is the sexist one for not making more movies with women at the center of it) but to prove a point. I think if you're a woman and you're in an "Oscar-worthy" role, you're guaranteed to get a nomination.

If you don't believe me, go back and look at past nominations in the Best Actress category. Ask yourself 1) Have you ever heard of the movie the actress starred in?, 2) If so, have you seen it? and 3) If you haven't seen it, do you have any desire to see it? While there will always be 1 or 2 movies every year you've seen and loved (Black Swan from 2010 comes to mind), chances are you answered "no" to all three questions the vast majority of the time. Go back and do the same for the movies that gave us Best Actor contenders. I bet that you will answer "yes" a helluva lot more times.

Now even with this theory in place, I don't mean to take anything away from Jennifer Lawrence who gave an amazing performance in Silver Linings Playbook. However, her great performance alone is not necessarily enough to get an Oscar nomination. The fact that Lawrence's competition is extremely weak (and generally this category is extremely weak) means we're guaranteed to see commercials in 2013 for Catching Fire starring Oscar-nominated actress Jennifer Lawrence.

Most likely, here is Lawrence's competition. Again, ask yourself the three questions I asked you before:

- Jessica Chastain (Zero Dark Thirty)
- Quvenzhane Wallis (Beasts of the Southern Wild)
- Marion Cottilliard (Rust and Bone)
- Emmanuelle Riva (Amour)
- Amanda Seyfried (Les Miserables)
- Kiera Knightly (Anna Karenina)
- Helen Mirren (Hitchcock) [Although she might be eligible only for Supporting Actress]
- Meryl Streep (Hope Springs) [She might get a nomination just because]

I'm sure there's more but the fact that I'm struggling to come up with more names and not names like "Halle Berry in Cloud Atlas"- stars who are eligible but give terrible performances and/or are in terrible films- tells you all you need to know about my theory.

I'm sure every year you can find five worthy Best Actress candidates but remember, Oscar voters are normal people too. It's hard to get nominated if no one has seen your work. I think the fact that Lawrence is in a great in a movie that Oscar voters will see helps her chances immensely.

Cons: None. I think even if Silver Linings Playbook gets completely snubbed in other categories Lawrence will still get a nomination because she did an amazing job, her pedigree (she was nominated for an Oscar in 2010 for Winter's Bone), and her lack of competition.
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