Hot-take (or the Virtue of Ignorance)
In the age of social media, “hot take” articles incite outrage and polar, ideological opinions on movies no one has seen, influencing the way moviegoers perceive films.
In the age of social media, “hot take” articles incite outrage and polar, ideological opinions on movies no one has seen, influencing the way moviegoers perceive films.
Shortly before becoming the biggest box office draw of 2014, a rare feat for a war movie made for adults in a day and age when movies about superheroes, robots, wizards, and vampires dominate, Clint Eastwood’s American Sniper was also the most talked about and heavily debated movie of the 2014 winter season. It polarized …
If only sheep, wolves, and sheepdogs roam this Earth as Chris Kyle’s (Bradley Cooper) father informs him early on in American Sniper, then Clint Eastwood’s film represents the cross-breed of the hound and sheep – a creation perplexed as to who it is, its identity betwixt and between the protector that it wants to be and …
One week removed from the Oscar nominations, we’re still recovering from #OscarsSoWhite-gate, and the consensus seems to be that if only the Legos were white instead of yellow they would’ve been nominated after all. But really the conversation has started to move toward Hollywood rather than the Oscars, and how as a whole institution we …
2015 is finally here and so are the Oscars and actual Awards Season. No more of this speculation and hype machine stuff around movies that haven’t come out yet or guilds that haven’t had their say. Oscar voting ends today, January 8, and nominations are revealed bright and early on January 15, one week from …
In a brief moment of creative boldness in The Theory of Everything, a young Cambridge student Stephen Hawking, played by Eddie Redmayne, ponders over a theoretical concept while pouring milk into a cup of tea. As the white milk swirls in blackness of the tea, the scene suddenly moves in reverse, the swirling moving backwards …
After unsuccessful forays into musicals and political biopics with Jersey Boys and J. Edgar, Clint Eastwood returns to more traditionally masculine material usually associated with his filmmaker persona. With American Sniper, he tackles the drama and real-life accounts of Navy SEAL sniper Chris Kyle, but as compelling as the on-the-ground combat is, the real story worth telling is largely ignored for the pyrotechnics.
As the end of the year approaches, the number of question marks in the Oscar ranks continues to sink lower. This past week, Selma, American Sniper, The Gambler and A Most Violent Year all dropped at AFI Fest, leaving only movies like Unbroken (still presumed to be a front-runner in a crowded field), Exodus: Gods …
In the same day that the first images for the film are released, the initial trailer for Clint Eastwood’s American Sniper has been released, showcasing Bradley Cooper as Chris Kyle, the most lethal sniper in US Military history. Kyle recorded 160 kills during his campaign before writing his best selling memoir of the same name. …