Erik Bates: “It was ok.”

I'll probably catch a lot of shit for this.

My biggest point of confusion and upset isn't that it didn't win the Oscar, it's that it was nominated in the first place. That is the conspiracy, in my opinion.

Overall, the acting was decent, but the cinematography and script felt like an upscale Lifetime movie of the week.

The success in the box office notwithstanding, there is not enough artistic merit to justify it winning an Oscar, let alone be nominated for one.

Look at the box office earnings from 2014. If we were going to base the Oscars on that, things would look much, much different. Monetary success does not equal artistic merit.

− March 14, 2015 • more by Eriklog in or create an account to reply

Scott Hardie: Traitor! Go live in China!

I haven't seen the film, but the outpouring of support for it seems not to be based on its artistic merit (let alone entertainment value -- isn't it pretty grim?), but to be based solely on allegiance to its perceived patriotism. There were many communities in America where attendance of the film at least once was as effectively mandatory as going to church and rooting for the local team. The people who felt that way were enough to give the film some obligatory Oscar nominations, but they were not enough to outnumber the liberal voters in giving it any wins beyond one technical award. − March 17, 2015 • more by Scott

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write your own review of American Sniper


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