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| 105 year old director Clint Eastwood with American Sniper co-stars Sienna Miller and Bradley Cooper (One of them plays the sniper, not sure which.) |
American Sniper did extremely well at the box off this weekend which should make my mom happy. She loves following the career of Clint Eastwood the director as much as she loved Clint Eastwood the actor. She seems genuinely hurt when one of Clint's films doesn't do well (like Jersey Boys this past summer.)
There was some concern about the timing of American Sniper's wide release on the weekend before the day honoring the memory of Martin Luther King Jr who was killed... by a sniper.
And then there was stuff like this that someone collected and posted on Twitter:
One person on Twitter criticized this post, citing this was just picking a select few Tweets to paint an overall view of the movie and those who went to see it. I think the Tweets sampled above do not represent how most people actually saw American Sniper. Nonetheless, however prevalent such posts were, maybe it was just these four, the idea that any number of people can think this way is cause for concern. And particularly in the tense times we find ourselves in, it only takes one to act on such a feeling and lead to tragedy.
On to other things: I guess I could just Wiki the answer to how old Clint Eastwood is but I'm going to guess he's, what, 106, 107 maybe? Anyway, I think its awesome that Eastwood is still a productive filmmaker at an age when most people can barely get up to go see a movie.
If you're wondering where you might know Bradley Cooper from....
...he played this guy last summer.
Inexplicably, Guardians of the Galaxy is NOT up for a Best Picture Oscar.
Speaking of movies that came out this past weekend, Paddington arrived in theaters and naturally, at least 2/3s of the El family wanted to venture forth from the Fortress of Ineptitude to go see it, my wife Andrea and myself. Being diehard Whovians, we want to see Doctor Who star Peter Capaldi who has a small role in the film. My daughter Miranda is also a big Doctor Who fan but she's 14 now and way beyond seeing a film about a lovable CGI bear living in the big city.
Miranda's been pushing for us to go see Into the Woods which I guess I wouldn't mind seeing myself. Except about 15 years ago (more or less), Andrea and I went to see a production of Into the Woods performed by a college drama class. Everyone did an excellent job but if you have not seen the play OR the movie, be forewarned: about halfway through, shit gets real. It's all fairy tales flights of fancy then...damn!
I mean really: damn!
Oscar nominations were announced last week so let the speculating begin. Each year I make picks on who's gonna win what and I have a fairly decent record of accuracy despite almost never, ever seeing the nominated films in the theater. Basically I examine various print and online sources on who is expected to do what and I compile this data on a spread sheet where I....hey, don't judge me!
Last year I was doing OK with my picks until I stupidly picked Gravity over 12 Years a Slave for Best Picture. Hey, the spreads sheets showed the momentum was going Gravity's way. But I underestimated the power of white guilt.
Which is why I think Selma wasn't nominated this year. The Academy can't give a Best Picture award to, say, Grand Budapest Hotel, against a picture about an oppressed people fighting for their rights.
Hey, anybody wants to go see Mortdecai? No, I didn't think so.
OK, I'm done for today. See ya back here tomorrow with God knows what.
Until then, be good to one another.
And I am so glad my suffering amuses you.
Dave-El
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