The State of the (Film) Union
The Oscars debates are alive and well this year.
One of the most talked-about films of this Oscars season is “American Sniper,” which — despite a $90 million debut weekend at the box office — is receiving mixed reviews from critics, including Grantland’s Wesley Morris.
“I feel like there’s a second half to the movie that is only hinted at,” Morris said. “The intent is to complicate the automatic urge to turn a guy like [Bradley Cooper’s character] Chris Kyle into a hero … and the thing the movie sets out to do, it just doesn’t achieve, I think in part because the script isn’t that good.”
Watch the trailer for American Sniper here:
Morris acknowledges that Hollywood has a diversity problem, saying the Academy needs “to actively invite people of color.” But, he says, it’s not the sole issue surrounding the nominations. He points to the release timeline of the film “Selma.”
“Selma opened on Christmas Day. It went wide on January 9. This is not really enough time to enter the collective cultural consciousness,” he said. “It gives people who thought Selma was a possible Oscar front-runner time to mount a campaign against it.”
Watch the trailer for “Selma” here:
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