AMERICAN SNIPER (movie review) at FORCES OF GEEK

Bradley Cooper stars in the Clint Eastwood directed American Sniper. A sure-shot for Oscar winner, with a total of six nominations, this heartbreaking war picture astounds with it’s scale.

From hearing the sniper’s heartbeat quicken to the plucked the heartstrings on the home-front, the true life story of Navy Seal Chris Kyle’s life brought to the big screen may be a crowning accomplishment for both Cooper and Eastwood. The story unfolds between tours as ‘The Legend’ returns home and Kyle is forced to adjust to civilian life and the effects of the thousand-yard stare of a true American hero.

Sienna Miller costars as Taya Kyle — Chris’ wife forced to stay at home and raise kids while her husband — the greatest sniper in the world — agrees to multiple tours fighting the War in Afghanistan.

Eastwood and Cooper were highlighted in two of my favorite films of last year, Jersey Boys and Guardians of The Galaxy. These movies, one a musical and the other a comic book action romp could not have been more different a movie than we are given with American Sniper.  

Sniper marks the first time these strong leading men worked together, and markedly this is a very serious film and shift in tone for both.

As a director, Eastwood has been taking audiences on a more introspective and serious ride in his later years with movies set in the present day like Million Dollar Baby, Gran Turino all the way back to Mystic River to name a few. He’s taken on the horrors of war with period pieces Iwo Jima and to some extent in J. Edgar.

By basing this film on the autobiography of Chris Kyle (American Sniper: The Autobiography of the Most Lethal Sniper in U.S. Military History - with Scott McEwen & Jim DeFelice), the realism is ramped up to such intensity that only seeing the film in theaters will do it justice.

From the accuracy of the SEAL sniper training to the small moments at home where men can not express feelings or emotion about doing their job abroad will chill you to the bone.

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JERSEY BOYS - (movie review) - at FORCES OF GEEK

Produced by Clint Eastwood, Graham King, 

Robert Lorenz

Screenplay by Marshall Brickman, Rick Elice

Based on Jersey Boys by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice

Directed by Clint Eastwood

Starring John Lloyd Young, Erich Bergen, 

Michael Lamenda, Vincent Piazza, Christopher Walken

John Lloyd Young stars as Frankie Valli in the Clint Eastwood directed movie Jersey Boys, based on the jukebox musical of the same name.

This retelling of the origin of the Four Seasons flips from being Goodfellas to Bye Bye Birdie, adds a bit of previously unknown dangerous element to the pop groups’ origin, and offers another outlet for Eastwood’s directorial oeuvre. 

The talented cast are triple threats in the classical show-biz way, and the romantic notion of cutting a record and shopping it around to labels is illustrated in the musical as the quartet finally gets a name and a ‘sound’.

Told partially by having each of the members of the Four Seasons break the fourth wall and narrate the story, we start out with Vincent Piazza (Boardwalk Empire) as founding member Tommy DeVito. His criminal activities, black market dealings and revolving door at the state prison make for a very Henry Hill intro to the movie.

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