REVIEW: AMERICAN SNIPER
I saw this film this past Saturday, which means I had no earthly clue that Clint Eastwood's American Sniper would pull in an unheard of $90 million. That's a better weekend than Dawn of the Planet of the Apes , The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies and 22 Jump Street , all blockbuster sequels with established franchises. What's the reason for this unheard of success? Patriotism: people love seeing films about American war heroes. Buzz: Sniper got six Oscar nominations last Thursday including best picture, actor and adapted screenplay. But most importantly: word of mouth. A movie can have great reviews and Oscar nominations, like The Hurt Locker , and nobody will see it until it sweeps the Oscars. But, if not for Bradley Cooper's performance alone, the film's mammoth box-office returns are well justified. The film largely chronicles the time Chris Kyle spent in his oversea tours, mostly in Iraq. After seeing the '98 embassy bombings on TV, Kyle, like a good Am...