American Sniper

dlbpharmd · Posted: Mon Jan 26, 2015 1:30 pm Post subject: American Sniper

This movie is outstanding! It tells the story of Chris Kile, a Navy Seal who pulled 4 tours in Iraq. The battle sequences are tense and realistic. I'm not a huge fan of Bradley Cooper, who plays Kile, but I'll give him credit for this role. He deserves the Oscar nomination for Best Actor.
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Zarathustra · Posted: Fri Jan 30, 2015 1:37 pm Post subject:

I can't believe you haven't gotten any responses for your thread. I haven't seen it, but I intend to take the family this weekend. The controversy over the film is pretty hilarious and sometimes outrageous. This could easily go in the Tank, but I won't take it in that direction here. Glad you enjoyed it.
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Remain faithful to the earth, my brothers, with the power of your virtue. Let your gift-giving love and your knowledge serve the meaning of the earth ... Do not let them fly away from earthly things and beat with their wings against eternal walls. Alas, there has always been so much virtue that has flown away. Lead back to the earth the virtue that flew away, as I do-back to the body, back to life, that it may give the earth a meaning, a human meaning. -Nietzsche

michaelm · Posted: Fri Jan 30, 2015 2:19 pm Post subject:

dlbpharmd · Posted: Fri Jan 30, 2015 3:15 pm Post subject:

Damelon · Posted: Sat Jan 31, 2015 2:56 pm Post subject:

It is very good. I saw it last weekend. I've read reviews that state that it is basically a western set in the Middle East. I think that is pretty close to the mark. Chris Kyle's sense of duty, very much like the hero of a western, very much underlies the movie.

Most of the group that I went with didn't care for the ending, but I thought the movie doesn't work without the last 15 or so minutes. It was just a shoot em up otherwise. It's the first movie I've ever been to where 95% of the audience sat through the credits, for the credits finish the story.
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But the fact that some geniuses were laughed at does not imply that all who are laughed at are geniuses. They laughed at Columbus, they laughed at Fulton, they laughed at the Wright brothers. But they also laughed at Bozo the Clown. ~ Carl Sagan

Obi-Wan Nihilo · Posted: Fri Feb 20, 2015 7:50 pm Post subject:

Cooper is exceptional and Eastwood hits all the right notes. Must see
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"There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." - PJ O'Rourke
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"Men and women range themselves into three classes or orders of intelligence; you can tell the lowest class by their habit of always talking about persons; the next by the fact that their habit is always to converse about things; the highest by their preference for the discussion of ideas." - Charles Stewart
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"I believe there are more instances of the abridgment of the freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations." - James Madison
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Hashi Lebwohl · Posted: Tue Feb 24, 2015 7:45 pm Post subject:

I haven't seen it but the plot sounds a lot like that of "Nation's Pride", the fake movie set inside the plot of Inglorious Basterds--a sniper who is filled with a sense of duty makes his country proud by killing the enemy.

Of more interest here is that the trial of his killer is still happening in Stephenville, a mere 1.5 hours away.
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No matter how thinly you slice it, it's still bologna.

What is the secret of Zen? Burn all your Zen books.

If you can't handle losing then you don't deserve to win.

Obi-Wan Nihilo · Posted: Tue Feb 24, 2015 9:01 pm Post subject:

Hashi, perhaps you should not speak about facts of which you are ignorant. You and Seth Rogen are quite mistaken, in my opinion. There is nothing cartoonish or whimsical about blowing away women and children to protect others they are trying to kill.
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"There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." - PJ O'Rourke
_____________
"Men and women range themselves into three classes or orders of intelligence; you can tell the lowest class by their habit of always talking about persons; the next by the fact that their habit is always to converse about things; the highest by their preference for the discussion of ideas." - Charles Stewart
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"I believe there are more instances of the abridgment of the freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations." - James Madison
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Hashi Lebwohl · Posted: Tue Feb 24, 2015 11:08 pm Post subject:

I said the overall plot; I never said I knew the specifics of the story. In fact, I couldn't care less about this guy's story. He is a sniper so his job is to kill people and sometimes that means killing people he might not want to kill. If he didn't want to do it then he could have quit, not signed up for that service, requested a transfer, or whatever else. If you want to be a sniper then you kill whomever you are told to kill regardless of your personal feelings.

There wasn't anything cartoonish or whimsical about Nation's Pride, either. I maintain my opinion.
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No matter how thinly you slice it, it's still bologna.

What is the secret of Zen? Burn all your Zen books.

If you can't handle losing then you don't deserve to win.

Obi-Wan Nihilo · Posted: Tue Feb 24, 2015 11:34 pm Post subject:

Obi-Wan Nihilo · Posted: Wed Feb 25, 2015 12:40 am Post subject:

And noted that you either can't recognize campy farce, or can't distinguish it from reality.
_________________
"There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." - PJ O'Rourke
_____________
"Men and women range themselves into three classes or orders of intelligence; you can tell the lowest class by their habit of always talking about persons; the next by the fact that their habit is always to converse about things; the highest by their preference for the discussion of ideas." - Charles Stewart
_____________
"I believe there are more instances of the abridgment of the freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations." - James Madison
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