We finally watched American Sniper and neither were impressed. While it was well done, we thought it was over-rated. Lone Survivor was a much better film. Still, my heart goes out to Chris Kyle's family. What a sad way to die when you're helping a fellow Vet at a gun range. Then again, he was doing what he loved.
My wife has unfortunately become a movie critic from my discussions. She recognizes poor acting, poor dialog, poor story-line, plot holes, and even sometimes poor direction which is difficult for most critics to evaluate.
She also sees poor editing, and like me, gets tired of the shaky camera that portend to show real life. Uh, does anyone ever move their head so quickly when talking to a real person? We watched a movie the other day where we had to turn if off because of the camera shaking about and almost made us sick.
Again, smaller non-action movies sometimes can be the best. Think "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" romantic comedy or a "Beautiful Mind" thoughtful drama. Yeah, I know, Russell Crowe is liberal. Sorry, I choose to ignore their politics, as I did in his movie "Cinderella Man", as I did in Sandra Bullock's film "The Blind Side".
Transformers suck as do many other lame CGI movies! Ghostrider was probably the worse in recent years. Can't believe that Peter Jackson had to continue with the Hobbit crap. Lord of the Rings trilogy was awesome, but this Hobbit stuff is the same ole with the same ole big epic battles. Pfft.
That said, Tom Cruise action movies usually work, whether Mission Impossible or sci-fi like "Oblivion" or "Edge of Tomorrow". He may be a flake, but he is also the most under-rated actor in Hollyweird and he chooses great scripts - think "Jerry Macquire". Like Bruce Willis, he is always watchable...plus he has the cojones to do most of his own stunts.
There are so many sci-fi novels, novelettes, and short stories that could fuel Hollywood for years to come. But no, they insist on remakes and sequels like Planet of the Who Gives a Crap About Apes or Superman is back AGAIN! or physically impossible Avengers complex CGI crap.
I think that if Arthur C. Clark's, "Childhoods End" were ever adapted to the big screen with a good director, it could be a box office smash. It is an original huge story about the future of mankind with a twist ending. Yes, it's about aliens landing on Earth, but it is nothing like you've seen or read. Another well done sci-fi movie was, "Knowing". It pulled you in from the start and the ending was thoughtful and hopeful for mankind's existence. Plus, it was a mystery, which I love.