american sniper

In most years, January tends to be the most boring month of the year for the box office. This is where Hollywood typically sends the movies in which it has the least faith. This is the dumping ground, the place where movies go to die so the studios can concentrate on their Oscar campaigns. However, thanks to ‘American Sniper,’ this January has bucked every trend. It may technically be a 2014 release, but Clint Eastwood’s war film has made the first chunk of 2015 interesting, shattering expectations and threatening to become the highest grossing film of last year in only a few weeks.

I doubt there are many people who have seen "American Sniper" and believe every detail is 100 percent accurate. After all, this is a movie trying to condense many years into two hours. But how much of Chris Kyle's story presented on the big screen is true, and how much was created for dramatic effect?

Once again, Clint Eastwood's "American Sniper" broke records in its second weekend out. The film, starring Bradley Cooper, only saw a drop of around 32 percent -- much lower than the standard film.

The end credit sequence from the Oscar-nominated "American Sniper" contains actual footage used by TV news stations of the fallen Texas hero's funeral procession.

Not everyone is crazy about "American Sniper." Michael Moore and Seth Rogen have both come out and taken a few shots (no pun intended) at "American Sniper." While this might be offensive, it's not very surprising.

Craig Morgan wasn't too happy with a recent tweet from comic actor Seth Rogen, and he took to social media to let it be known.

A lot of people are going to act like they didn’t see the enormous success of ‘American Sniper’ coming, but the signs were all there. On top of the promising limited release numbers, there was the awards buzz. On top of that, there were the names of director Clint Eastwood and star Bradley Cooper. On top of that, the subject matter of the film is inherently attractive to the same category of moviegoer that makes Christian-themed films into massive hits. ‘American Sniper’ had one doozy of a weekend, but it’s not that surprising.

I wonder if Chris Kyle was a Clint Eastwood fan. ‘American Sniper’’s marketing materials describe Kyle as “the most lethal sniper in U.S. history,” but before his military career, Kyle was a cowboy. He wore a hat and boots, and even carried a six-shooter. Eventually, he gave up the cowboy life and decided to serve his country. He was a gifted marksman and trained to be a Navy SEAL. But even as a soldier, Kyle never lost that cowboy swagger—or that sense that someone has to venture out into the frontier and protect the American way of life. That’s what Kyle learned from his father—who raised him to be a “sheepdog,” a watchful protector in a world of sheep and wolves—and from watching violent Westerns like the ones that made Eastwood a major Hollywood star.

"American Sniper," the critically acclaimed film based on the autobiography of the same name by Odessa native Chris Kyle, is up for a Best Picture Oscar.