American Sniper is based off the story of Chris Kyle, a
decorated member of the US SEALS and the most deadly sniper in US
history. Played by Bradley Cooper and directed by Clint Eastwood; the
exceptionally long movie (174 minutes) is a very dramatised sequence based off
the autobiography written by Chris Kyle before his death in 2013.
Clint Eastwood certainly knows how to direct a good movie
and Bradley Cooper played the role very well. It’s a harrowing and gritty story
with some rather disturbing scenes, but as a war movie, it has to be taken with
a few spoonfuls of salt. Many aspects of the movie are not reflections of the real
events and the issue that audiences who haven’t read his book may be led to
believe incorrect details is a real concern. For movie purposes, I understand
the need to make the movie capture audience’s attention, but I felt more could
have been done to distinguish between fact and fiction. It causes the movie to
sway very hard towards being a propaganda
piece.
Otherwise, the movie is actually very good and despite its
marathon length it’s not difficult to sit through.
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Warm Bodies is a new spin on the modern zombie movie. With
humans sheltering away behind massive walls, the zombies wander the city, but
they are not as dead as we thought. They’re still alive in a dead kind of way,
trying to find some sense of place in their new world. Still driven to eat
people, a zombie named R departs for the city with a group of other zombies
including his closest ‘friend’ played by Rob Corddry. When they attack a group
of young scavengers, R sees a girl named Julie and falls in love. He protects
her from the others and tries to find a way to make things work, craving the
need to try and find his humanity again. Little does he know, the time they
spend together is changing everything they know about the world.
On paper, Warm Bodies is probably one of the corniest movie
ideas you could think of, but the movie is itself is so unique that it is now
right up there with my favourites. It’s not a perfect movie by far, with some
mediocre acting, superficial supporting characters and a few inconsistencies.
However, the movie just lays on so much charm it becomes sickly sweet with
optimism and romance. It’s well paced and was gripping all the way through,
with a good lather of humour.
Akin to the quality of Shaun
of the Dead, Warm Bodies brings new ‘life’ to the paranormal romantic
zombie comedy genre. Did that exist before?
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