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Author Topic: American Sniper Terry Lynn-Stevens Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1081 From: Toronto, Ontario, Canada Registered: Dec 2012 posted 01-20-2015 01:49 AM                     After the unbelievable open weekend and the very high praise and buzz, I really wanted to see this movie sooner than later. Clint Eastwood movies have been pretty poor the last ten years but seeing that I want to see as many Oscar nominated films as possible before the awards, I gave the movie a shot. Presented on the 90 foot screen at the Toronto Scotiabank in IMAX laser. American Sniper is Clint Eastwood's best film in the last 10 years. All the scenes that take place in the United States are vintage Eastwood style, it's the war scenes that look nothing like an Eastwood film from the past. I thought Bradley Cooper was very good in his role, it clearly is Cooper's best work to date and it is Oscar worthy for sure. Sienna Miller was also very good, before the movie I had no idea who she was or what she has been in but she was good. Sound editing and sound mixing is where this movie shines. War movies are usually solid for sound and Sniper does not disappoint. The dust storm is the highlight of the sound design. The screenplay was good and there was some pretty good editing in this film. There is a pretty cool editing technique in the early stages of the movie where the film starts off in Iraq and then cuts to some background story in the United States only to come back full circle to the conclusion of the Iraq scene which was started 30 minutes earlier. I know there has been some controversy about the movie glorifying the lead character as a hero and such. I did not find that the movie gloried the lead character or sniper's at all. What I drew from the film was that the Iraq War was a tragedy and a very unfortunate event that had some serious implications and consequences. The lead character was a victim of the Iraq war and consequences to him and his family were serious. I did not think he was hero or made out to be one in any way. The movie could very well win best picture this year thanks to the enormous box office its getting as well as the tremendous buzz. I don't think it was the best film of the year but it certainly is in the top 5. I think it is possible that Bradley Cooper will win for best actor.  |  IP: Logged Jarod Reddig Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 513 From: Hays, Ks Registered: Jun 2011 posted 01-21-2015 11:32 AM                     So what was your impression of the picture quality with the laser projection?  |  IP: Logged Leo Enticknap Film God Posts: 7474 From: Loma Linda, CA Registered: Jul 2000 posted 01-21-2015 03:25 PM                        It's old school Hollywood craft skills at their best: the script, acting, direction and pacing, cinematography and audio are all done extremely well, the result being an entertaining, engaging and thought-provoking movie. It did not fall back on the crutch of CGI to cover up core weaknesses: in fact, there was only one scene which used VFX heavily that I noticed (the sandstorm evacuation). I don't want to go too far into the politics of this, but Seth Rogen's comment that this resembled a Nazi propaganda film of the sort Tarantino parodied in Inglorious Basterds really annoyed me, because it showed that he hasn't bothered to watch any actual Nazi propaganda films. Tarantino, on the other hand, clearly did when he was researching Basterds. Tarantino's "film within a film" Nazi military epic spoof, Stolz der Nation, appears to be a send-up of the 1945 film Kolberg, the central message of which is that scorched earth and everyone dead is a more worthy and honorable alternative to living to be defeated. The deaths depicted in American Sniper (the American ones, at any rate) were suffered for very different reasons, whether you agree with them or not.  |  IP: Logged Jonathan Goeldner Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1360 From: Washington, District of Columbia Registered: Jun 2008 posted 01-21-2015 10:04 PM                     for a 59 mill budget they couldn't afford a "real" baby ...  |  IP: Logged Terry Lynn-Stevens Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1081 From: Toronto, Ontario, Canada Registered: Dec 2012 posted 01-23-2015 09:57 PM                     quote: for a 59 mill budget they couldn't afford a "real" baby ... [Wink] I read baby one got sick, the back up bady didn't show, so Clint Eastwood said hell with it, use a fake baby.  |  IP: Logged Jarod Reddig Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 513 From: Hays, Ks Registered: Jun 2011 posted 01-24-2015 02:26 PM                     Comments on the laser projection???  |  IP: Logged Leo Enticknap Film God Posts: 7474 From: Loma Linda, CA Registered: Jul 2000 posted 01-24-2015 07:23 PM                        $59m is pretty frugal by the standards of Hollywood blockbusters these days.  |  IP: Logged Mike Blakesley Film God Posts: 12767 From: Forsyth, Montana Registered: Jun 99 posted 01-24-2015 11:03 PM                        Pretty frugal? It's downright cheap! No wonder Clint can pretty much make any movie he wants. We watched this today and it delivered on all fronts. By the end, the constant snipering got pretty numbing but I suppose that was the desired effect. I was surprised they didn't show more title-cards at the end telling what happened to other people in the movie, especially his brother. Good action all around, especially Bradley Cooper. I guess I haven't seen all that many of Clint Eastwood's directorial efforts to pick out a recognizable "style" of his, but this movie doesn't waste a beat. As mentioned, the sound mix was terrific. Really good use of the surrounds. The only complaint I had was the trumpet sound at the end seemed kind of grating to me. But that's a minor quibble. I liked the way the ending credits rolled in complete silence. Side note: We've had near-sellout crowds to it since we opened it on Friday and what's amazing is, even though it's drawing an older audience, the "bathroom traffic" is minimal throughout the movie. That means the audience is riveted! Four out of five stars from me. I liked Gran Torino much better than this, but as a modern war movie, this is about as good as it gets.  |  IP: Logged Buck Wilson Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 894 From: St. Joseph MO, USA Registered: Sep 2010 posted 01-25-2015 07:50 PM                     It's been ridiculously busy here, too. Full weekend sellouts, even selling out some evening shows through the week last week.  |  IP: Logged Mike Blakesley Film God Posts: 12767 From: Forsyth, Montana Registered: Jun 99 posted 01-28-2015 12:37 AM                        Everybody talks about the "fake baby." I've even seen it mentioned in Entertainment Weekly. It's a possibility that damn fake baby could undermine the movie's Best Picture chances.... boy, Clint would be kicking his own butt if that happened! Oh wait, this is CLINT we're talking about. He probably wouldn't give a crap.  |  IP: Logged Leo Enticknap Film God Posts: 7474 From: Loma Linda, CA Registered: Jul 2000 posted 01-28-2015 11:06 AM                        If it does, then the Oscar electors have got their priorities wrong. I remember showing Selma and American Sniper at AFI. Selma looked to me like the promising debut from someone attempting their first full-scale A-movie feature. But, as you'd expect from any first-time director, there were significant rough edges: pacing glitches, some casting decisions that I'm guessing she might have done differently with the benefit of hindsight (Tom Wilkinson's American accent - ouch!), some pacing stutters: nothing to ruin the show, but it clearly wasn't Best Picture material if you were looking at it from the perspective of filmmaking craft skills. She's a very promising talent who I'm sure will be a serious Best Director contender in a few movies' time, but she's not there yet. American Sniper, on the other hand, got absolutely everything right. I have to confess to not noticing the fake baby, but if that's enough to convince someone voting in the Oscars to pass this one up in favor of one of the other nominees, they've got their priorities wrong IMHO. That having been said, Selma's budget was only $20m, which (adjusted for inflation over the years) but be nearly a record low for a movie that is in serious contention for multiple Oscars.  |  IP: Logged Terry Lynn-Stevens Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1081 From: Toronto, Ontario, Canada Registered: Dec 2012 posted 01-28-2015 11:53 AM                     quote: Leo Enticknap I have to confess to not noticing the fake baby, but if that's enough to convince someone voting in the Oscars to pass this one up in favor of one of the other nominees, they've got their priorities wrong IMHO. I didn't notice it either, not sure why you are confessing, there is nothing to be embarrassed about, I was really into the movie not to notice certain things. The fact that people and the media are actually talking about it is just amazing. It is such a silly thing to report in the news. I am also stunned at how many people (public figures) who are commenting on the movie yet they have not see it. It is stunning to me, Noam Chomsky is the latest who somehow links the mentality of Kyle to America's drone war, he hasn't even seen the movie yet.  |  IP: Logged Mike Blakesley Film God Posts: 12767 From: Forsyth, Montana Registered: Jun 99 posted 01-28-2015 12:35 PM                        I didn't notice it either. The media just likes to trumpet stuff that is randomly funny or entertaining; it's been happening since time immemorial.  |  IP: Logged Jonathan Goeldner Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1360 From: Washington, District of Columbia Registered: Jun 2008 posted 01-28-2015 12:42 PM                     quote: Mike Blakesley Oh wait, this is CLINT we're talking about. He probably wouldn't give a crap. apparently a lot of folk weren't too pleased in thinking that Clint was the right choice to direct 'Jersey Boys' either - he didn't give a crap then too.  |  IP: Logged Lyle Romer Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1400 From: Davie, FL, USA Registered: May 2002 posted 01-29-2015 05:45 AM                     This was a fantastic piece of filmmaking and was great in a "Schindler's List" kind of way. It wasn't "entertaining" but it was a great look into the realities of war and the life of a man willing to risk his life for his country. I also liked how the movie explored the different mental states of soldiers from the "just doing my job" types to the "wondering what they are doing there" types to the "on the edge of sanity" types. I thought that Clint Eastwood did a great job in creating tension and keeping the viewer engaged when, in reality, most of the movie was repetition of similar scenes (since that's what a war is like). All of the acting was great. I highly recommend it. I saw it at the Frank Theatres Delray Marketplace in Delray Beach, FL on their "FDX" screen. It's a 60 foot common height screen with proper masking and features Dolby Atmos. Projector is a Barco but I can't tell if 2k or 4k (not that it mattered for this film). The Atmos mix was really good on this film. During the war scenes, it really added to the realism that gunshots would emanate from a "spot" instead of a wall. The mix also showed off how stupid Barco's Auro 11.1 channel layout is. Some of the most realistic parts of the mix were when shooting was heard behind the audience as the camera was taking us (with Chris) off of a rooftop, for example. I will give the best testimonial that Dolby could ever get about Atmos. My wife, who can barely tell the difference between mono and 5.1 digital (I'm exaggerating, but only a little) commented on the sound afterwards. She said, "that sound system was awesome. When the baby was crying, I thought there was a baby in the theater." I wish that Atmos would catch on so that I didn't have to drive 30-45 minutes to hear it at one of 2 equipped auditoriums in South Florida. One glitch that I heard for the first time. When the "unfold" trailer came on, it wasn't in Atmos at first. It then went silent for a few seconds and then finally the Atmos kicked in. I assume it was an issue of the CP-850 glitching on the format change. It was interesting that apparently the Dolby Atmos trailers are recorded in PCM audio as well.  |  IP: Logged

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