Did you see American Sniper or planning on going?

[yeoman6987]

I admit I did see it.....sold out crowd in my showing. Not sure why everyone is flocking to it. It was a great movie but it just sort of came out of nowhere. My theater was not prepared for the outpouring and had to add showings on Friday and Saturday.

31 votes, 1 pass | Time left: Unlimited
	Yes
	8 (26%)
	No
	23 (74%)
	1 DU member did not wish to select any of the options provided.
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[FarPoint]

1. I won't support NRA- GOP pandering...

Feeds the faux patriotism mantra into frenzy...

[aikoaiko]

2. I'll wait for it OnDemand.

[Fred Sanders]

3. Does it have a scene of Eastwood talking to any empty chair, then I will watch it?

And he needed a Teleprompter for that disastrous performance....now he is making movies?

[Algernon Moncrieff]

6. I think that the attendees were expecting this

[Fred Sanders]

9. I love satire.

[bigwillq]

4. Saw it before it came out.

Had a "screeners copy" Thought it was pretty good but not great. Bradley Cooper was outstanding.

[Algernon Moncrieff]

5. Unless it's animated or massively effects/action driven, I wait for Redbox

I made an exception last year for Alexander Payne's "Nebraska"

[woolldog]

7. I've seen it.

Found it boring and not well made.

[Lurks Often]

8. Probably wait for the DVD

since I so rarely go to the movies

[Logical]

10. No way, glorify killing. And more rah rah USA bullshit. nt

[benz380]

11. I read it made Joe Biden cry. nt

[NaturalHigh]

12. No, but I really don't go to many movies.

If my wife or one of the kids gets it on demand one of these days I might watch it.

[TheKentuckian]

13. I thought it was good and didn't find it to glorify much of anything but maybe one man's character

while painting him as certainly flawed and in some important ways oblivious but well intentioned and idealistic to the point of tunnel vision.

Seemed to me the story of foolish idealisim, becoming addicted to Hell, PTSD, families pushed to the breaking point, more Hell, more PTSD, only being whole and functional in Hell, becoming broken, finding a way back, and ending up dead from a bullet from another broken soul he was trying to help in his way.

I've seen comments saying it romanticized the Iraq war, those folks must have a different concept of romance, looked awful and soul crushing to me.

I've seen comments calling it an NRA commercial and I don't get that either. It did certainly have guns in it as would be unavoidable in making a movie about the subject matter.

[Beaverhausen]

34. Nice to hear from someone who has seen it

Lots of assumptions here.

I heard it's really good and I plan to see it.

[JonLP24]

48. I'm more against the glorifying of Chris Kyle than anything else

Anything less including that he was conflicted is inaccurate to the myths he gave himself and told many lies.

The opening of the film depicts Kyle killing a pubescent boy and his mother as they attempt to throw a grenade at American marines. “The woman forced him into a situation where he had to make a choice,” said Taya of the incident. “Either he lets these marines die or he swallows his heart and says I’ve got to do this. It hurt him, but either he does it or someone else has to get on the gun.”

http://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/dec/16/bradley-cooper-american-sniper-not-political

This bothers me considering 3 out of 4 Iraq war recipients dived on a grenade to absorb the blast and not aware a "woman & a child" presenting a prisoner's dilemma while forgetting the third option. There are much better & truthful stories to choose from but they picked the one guy that views himself as a Rambo and forgives him.

A movie like Jarhead nails the boredom aspect but fails miserably in other ways such as the wide open nothingness which surrounds them but old time Marine who served in the Gulf War says the inaction part is accurate. However, choosing the lying sociopath an inspiration for a Hollywood movie is troubling.

[Katashi_itto]

14. Will pirate, I wont waste money on a fake hero

[Rhinodawg]

15. Great , great movie.

[alcibiades_mystery]

19. Was it the Muslims getting killed you loved about it

Or was it the Muslims getting killed?

[Fearless]

16. I don't see pro-military industrial complex movies.

[yeoman6987]

17. Then you can freely see this movie

Nothing pro-military industrial complex at all. It is a raw truth of what it is like in war and not in a pretty way. Go see it and then comment cuz you will have a different opinion.

[JonLP24]

55. The raw truth presented is questionable at best

Not to mention it whitewashes Chris Kyle's own claims which a portion of proceeds will be used to pay Jesse Venture in a defamation law suit of all things.

Descriptions start of with the presentation of a woman & child & either shot or risk comrade deaths by allowing the grenade to be thrown when in reality 3 out of 4 Medal of Honor award winners didn't live to receive them because they dived on the grenade to absorb the blast to save comrade deaths.

In my experience, the only time I saw children they waved at us which I have no idea why but there were many stories of kids throwing rocks which was told with the expression of contempt for the rock throwers. The raw truth includes many US troops labeling the citizens Hajis & small shops set-up by locals as Haji shops & TCNs did all the grunt work while facing the majority of the bigotry while receiving the smallest checks. Raw truth would include labor exploitation of third country nationals from India, Nepal, Phillipines, countries in Africa among other sources which the Department of Defense was behind the unjust & unethical labor practices but I doubt that sort of raw truth would sell here.

I should give Generation Kill a shot because I value David Simon's approach in reality & humanization rather than 'white hat' vs 'black hat'. The movie Traitor told some raw truth which is unlike the recent Iraq war movements inspired by books with questionable claims such as WMD in 'Lone Survivor'.

[m-lekktor]

18. I saw but it but didn't think it Oscar worthy. nt

[yeoman6987]

20. I don't think it will get an Oscar win

I think this was a movie that was supposed to make around 10 million and for some reason has gone on to be a hit. Nobody saw this coming. They were wondering if it was going to beat Titanic and Avatar on the news this morning. I think that is a bit exaggerated on the part of the news casters but it will certainly make a lot of money.

[Bluenorthwest]

25. It cost just under 69 million, so they were expecting way more than 10. Certainly outpacing

expectations of course. I don't think it will win either.

[RandiFan1290]

26. lol

[Beaverhausen]

35. Why would a Clint Eastwood film not make money?

why do you assume it wasn't supposed to be s hit?

[alcibiades_mystery]

46. This thread doesn't work unless AS was an "underdog" with "surprise appeal" on the part of "everyday

Americans."

Nobody was expecting it to make any money, but that's only because they were liberal Hollywood types! Instead, it's gonna be the biggest box office draw like EVER, and people were cheering in the aisles of every theater of America this weekend blah blah blah.

The whole sell here is so stupid that it hardly bears mentioning, but everything these people do has to be "underdog" and "overcoming the forces meant to suppress us."

It's so tedious.

[Paladin]

21. Sounds like the huge business "Patton" did in the 70's, during the Viet Nam war.

Anybody who claims this is a peace-loving nation has their head up their ass.

[Bluenorthwest]

30. 'Patton' was one of the things that made me certain I'd never allow myself to be drafted.

I was far too young to be, but that vacuum loomed for males at the time. The film did not make war look good, nor appealing. It made Patton himself look both brilliant and mad. Which he was.
My father, who was in the war, said it was the first honest movie he'd ever seen about any war hero. He thought Patton was a bad leader, good at the battle, bad with those who must fight it which he found unacceptable.
That huge flag and that profane, extremely certain madman addressing the camera at the opening was for me at that time a very subversive and powerful image.
Message: wars are run by profane madmen who use the flag as their personal set piece.

[Paladin]

37. Francis Ford Coppola did a hell of a job on that "Patton" screenplay.

And of course George C. Scott was amazing. I remember the movie did weeks and weeks of SRO business in my home town, just a few miles from a big college campus where there was at least one big anti-war rally a week. Strange times. One of my favorite uncles was a lifer in the Army back then; I asked him if he'd seen the movie, and he said "Hell no I haven't seen it. I had to fight for the sonovabitch."

[edgineered]

22. NONBHN

Not only no but hell no

Just guessing that those carrying popcorn will be outnumber by those carrying other things. Don't care to get popped, so to speak even if it were an accident.

[Baclava]

23. yes, it was a good movie

should have made one about a woman - Lyudmila Pavlichenko - real life Soviet WWII sniper hero - 309 confirmed kills against the Nazis

[Raine1967]

62. This is an interesting piece from Smithsonian magazine:

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/eleanor-roosevelt-and-the-soviet-sniper-23585278/?no-ist

I'm no fan of war, but I agree with you. It would be wonderful to see a movie made about this woman.

She visited with President Franklin Roosevelt, becoming the first Soviet citizen to be welcomed at the White House. Afterward, Eleanor Roosevelt asked the Ukranian-born officer to accompany her on a tour of the country and tell Americans of her experiences as a woman in combat. Pavlichenko was only 25, but she had been wounded four times in battle. She also happened to be the most successful and feared female sniper in history, with 309 confirmed kills to her credit—the majority German soldiers. She readily accepted the first lady’s offer.

She graciously fielded questions from reporters. One wanted to know if Russian women could wear makeup at the front. Pavlichenko paused; just months before, she’d survived fighting on the front line during the Siege of Sevastopol, where Soviet forces suffered considerable casualties and were forced to surrender after eight months of fighting. “There is no rule against it,” Pavlichenko said, “but who has time to think of her shiny nose when a battle is going on?”

The New York Times dubbed her the “Girl Sniper,” and other newspapers observed that she “wore no lip rouge, or makeup of any kind,” and that “there isn’t much style to her olive-green uniform.”

In New York, she was greeted by Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia and a representative of the International Fur and Leather Workers Union, C.I.O., who presented her with, as one paper reported, a “full-length raccoon coat of beautifully blended skins, which would be resplendent in an opera setting.” The paper lamented that such a garment would likely “go to the wars on Russia’s bloody steppes when Lyudmila Pavlichenko returns to her homeland.”

But as the tour progressed, Pavlichenko began to bristle at the questions, and her clear, dark eyes found focus. One reporter seemed to criticize the long length of her uniform skirt, implying that it made her look fat. In Boston, another reporter observed that Pavlichenko “attacked her five-course New England breakfast yesterday. American food, she thinks, is O.K.”

[Arcadiasix]

24. Like every other movie wait for the blu-ray

[HERVEPA]

31. Watching a movie at home and one at the theater are hugely different experiences.

I feel sad for those whose don't get the wonder of seeing a movie at the theater.

[Arcadiasix]

40. No whining kids, no one on phones, popcorn way cheaper

[HERVEPA]

49. :-(

[Hassin Bin Sober]

59. I only attend big sci if stuff with special effects.

Everything else can wait for home viewing.

When we go to the theater, we prefer the new theater with reserved seats and a bar. Icon Theater in chicago. It's a little more pricey but worth it.

[EX500rider]

61. Have to agree....

....that's why i bought a HD digital projector ($230 on Amazon) and a 9 ft x 6 ft screen (homemade with hotel blackout curtain) with a 1,000 watt 6 speaker surround sound system (bought used at a pawn shop for $80) set up in my living room. (the screen rolls up to the ceiling when not in use)...with a Bluray player it's almost like being at the theater...the great 5.1 sound makes a big difference, so does speaker placement and adjustment.
Now I have to watch all my fav movies over again on the big screen! And repurchase a lot of DVD's on Bluray since you really notice the difference when you enlarge it that much....sigh....thank god used Blurays have come down a bunch on Amazon. i get some for a penny + $3.99 shipping. With a Bluray rental being $2.14 at Redbox plus I have to drive up to pick it up and drive back to drop it off I just wait till it gets cheap on Amazon...for just a $1.86 more it's easier & I own the movie!

[Starry Messenger]

27. Thanks no. I lived through the war propaganda.

I don't need to pay to relive the Bush slaughter.

When are you going to see Selma?

[yeoman6987]

41. I know I have to fit that in some how

It will be gone from the theaters soon. Most movies last about 4 weeks so it has about two weeks left. It has only made 20 million so far. Hopefully tomorrow will increase it some.

[B Calm]

28. How many people did this guy kill?

[glasshouses]

43. I think over 160

[B Calm]

58. Damn, I wonder how he could sleep at night without nightmares.

[leveymg]

29. I'll go to Selma.

Not forking over $14 to see anything that even remotely glorifies unjust wars and those who fight them.

[whatchamacallit]

32. Mass murdering psychopath, celebrated

by a right wing douchebag director. What liberal wouldn't want to see that?

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/jan/06/real-american-sniper-hate-filled-killer-why-patriots-calling-hero-chris-kyle

[BlueCaliDem]

33. I got my fill with a single photo of an American sniper at Clive Bundy's spread.

I refuse to glorify that by paying to see a movie glorifying snipers. It's also the reason I'll never watch "Rampage", which was pretty violent and what was also about an American sniper murdering people he didn't like.

Not sure why everyone is flocking to it.

Really? Might it have something to do with Americans' love (festish?) for and with guns and violence while hypocritically claiming to love peace and tranquility?

[B2G]

36. On my short list to see once the crowds die down. nt

[Rex]

38. Very remote chance of me seeing it. I don't go to the movies nor do I own a TVEE.

That's not to say it might not be on one year at a friends house and I watch it with them. So, maybe in a few years by chance.

[Contrary1]

39. No thanks. Seen too much of it already in the promos.

And reading a bit about this guy in real life is more than enough.

[Kaleva]

42. Didn't vote. As with all movies, I'll wait till it comes out on DVD.

[JonLP24]

44. Hell no

I'm sure Bradley Cooper gives a layered, terrific performance which I was a big fan of in The Place Beyond the Lines or it is faithful to the Chris Kyle story and rambo patriotism strikes me as the motivation behind this flick.

[glasshouses]

45. I'll wait till it comes out on DVD but yes I do plan on watching it

[WorseBeforeBetter]

47. I may add it to my Netflix queue, but probably not.

Subject matter of the film, and I'm starting to OD on Bradley Cooper.

[Gothmog]

50. I have zero interest in seeing this movie

[PasadenaTrudy]

51. This film is making hella money..why?

More than Black Hawk Down, The Hurt Locker...I think it's done an all time Jan. record. Like $90M. So why? Clint Eastwood? Not Bradley Cooper, he's not THAT big of a star

[EX500rider]

63. I haven't seen it...but if Eastwood did as good of a job as he did with "Letters From Iwo Jima"

...then it's probably very good.

[hack89]

64. Because it is a very well made movie

That appeals to a wide range of Americans.

[BillZBubb]

52. Not a chance.

No interest whatsoever.

[Cleita]

53. Maybe I'll watch it when it eventually makes it to TCM

or other free movie channel, but not before.

[Jackpine Radical]

54. Ick.

Being just now in the process of pulling my head out of criminal forensic psychology, & have no intention of sticking my head back into a sewer of psychopathy and general psychopathology.

[olddots]

56. I was hoping Paul Rubins would get the part

[atreides1]

57. Don't plan to see it

If I want to watch a movie about a psychopathic serial killer, with illusions of grandeur, I'll watch 'Silence of the Lambs' next time it's on TV.

It's a lot more entertaining and Sir Anthony Hopkins is much better actor...

[pecwae]

60. Saw it.

Thought it was a little slow in places. It wasn't a tight production.

[Raine1967]

65. Movies like this make me really miss Roger Ebert.

I really loved his reviews. They were thoughtful and honest and actually made me want to go to the movies based on what he said.

This one, however: I will wait until I can watch it at home. Honestly I know that the gunshots in the theatre will be too loud for me.

I don't think he is a hero or a villain, I suspect this person is somewhere in between, and for all his political faults, I like Eastwood movies.

[DCBob]

66. Just saw it. Well done but very disturbing.

For one, no mention that the Iraq had nothing to do with 9-11. So this poor guy killed alot people for nothing, imo. He certainly was a brave incredible soldier but had we had Democratic President at the time I doubt he would even have been put in that situation. Such a waste of lives on all sides.

[bigwillq]

68. A scene in Boyhood

saw one character tell his children that Iraq had nothing to do with 9-11. Go see it. Great film.

[6000eliot]

67. Never saw a single film about the "War on Terror," 9/11, or the Iraq War.

Never will. I can make up fairy stories myself that are much more pleasant and have no need to know what corporations want me to think and feel about these things.

[Ramses]

69. Not interested in a story about a guy who killed dozens of people and brags about it

classic American propaganda

[dissentient]

70. No, war movies are boring

to me. I can't think of one war movie that I liked. That is, one based on reality and real wars.

I'd much rather see an alien invasion type sci-fi movie if I want to see a movie with war action.

[Blue_In_AK]

71. You couldn't pay me to watch it.

I didn't watch Zero Dark Thirty, either.