The New England Patriots spent this past weekend earning a spot in the Super Bowl. But many more patriots went to the movies and propelled “American Sniper” to a record-setting January box office weekend.
In doing so, they officially declared war against the likes of Michael Moore, Seth Rogen and so many liberal, peace loving, pot-smoking A-listers and Hollywood suits who, since the 1970s, have had an ambivalent, if not disdainful relationship with war movies in general, and American patriotism in particular. “American Sniper” has now given Red State (and, yes, even some Blue) moviegoers the green light to enjoy a movie with a genuine hero who served his country and fought in a righteous war.
It’s about time. With few exceptions, American servicemen couldn’t catch a break in movies. They were depicted as either inhuman or damaged beyond repair. Bravery disregarded, their service unappreciated, they returned to their country broken, drunken, and friendless. Even worse, the cause that sent them to foreign battlefields was deemed senseless. By the time the closing credits rolled, neither heroism nor flag-waving was possible. Audiences were sent home revolted by what men in uniform were asked to do.
Remember these films? “The Deer Hunter,” “Coming Home,” “Apocalypse Now,” “Platoon,” “Born on the Fourth of July,” “Full Metal Jacket,” and “The Thin Red Line” — Hollywood classics that typified the “war is hell” motif and the indictment against America that its wars, especially in southeast Asia, squandered lives and traumatized veterans who would never be able to re-integrate themselves back into society.
This wasn’t always the case in Hollywood. During its Golden Era, from the 1930s up until these Vietnam War screeds, American soldiers were glamorized as larger than life heroes in such films as “Battle of the Bulge,” “The Guns of Navarone,” “Midway,” “Patton,” “PT 109,” “The Dirty Dozen,” and “The Bridge on the River Kwai.” With World War II as their backdrop, America’s overseas involvement was regarded as noble, its military courageous, its cause unimpeachable. More recently, the honor and duty of a “Saving Private Ryan” fit this bill, too. Soldiers returned home to ticker tape parades, not alcohol treatment facilities. And they lovingly embraced their wives rather than being unable to look them in the eye.
Many of the post-9/11 films have been faithful to this impulse to morally indict America’s military. Derisively referred to in the industry as “sand movies,” these films—“In the Valley of Elah,” “Green Zone,” “Redacted,” “Jarhead,” and “The Hurt Locker — were all box office disappointments. “Zero Dark Thirty” and “Lone Survivor” were exceptions, but in each of these films the cause was just, the enemy clear and the resolve unwavering.
This love affair with “American Sniper” can be explained as a coming out party for American patriotism, courtesy of an unlikely source — Hollywood. It is the very best example of a good old-fashioned, unapologetic, kick-ass pro-American war movie. Bradley Cooper, portraying Navy SEAL Chris Kyle, is a marksman who fires sure shots and pulls no punches. His job is to protect his fellow combat soldiers and avenge his country that was attacked on 9/11.
The film reclaims the good versus evil storylines of cowboy westerns that Clint Eastwood, the film’s director, knows something about — finally restored to wartime settings after decades of Hollywood’s war against the war movie.
In simplifying the message, America is, once again, a force for good, which must be refreshing to many given this administration’s halting efforts to wage a war on terror, and its general distaste for fighting the good fight.
Michael Moore and Seth Rogen can snipe all they want about Clint Eastwood’s latest film. Should they foolishly show up at his house, it will make his day. Meanwhile, Americans are voting at the box office, resoundingly patriotic and grateful that Chris Kyle once stood watch on the wall in defense of his country.
Oscars 2015: The Nominees (Photos)
Best Motion Picture of the Year: “American Sniper," “Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance),” “Boyhood" (pictured), "The Grand Budapest Hotel," “The Imitation Game" (pictured), “Selma" (pictured), “The Theory of Everything," “Whiplash”
Paramount/IFC/The Weinstein Company
Best Director: “Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance),” Alejandro G. Iñárritu; “Boyhood,” Richard Linklater (pictured); “Foxcatcher” Bennett Miller; “The Grand Budapest Hotel,” Wes Anderson; “The Imitation Game,” Morten Tyldum
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Best Animated Feature Film: “Big Hero 6,” Don Hall, Chris Williams and Roy Conli; “The Boxtrolls” (pictured), Anthony Stacchi, Graham Annable and Travis Knight; “How to Train Your Dragon 2,” Dean DeBlois and Bonnie Arnold; “Song of the Sea” Tomm Moore and Paul Young “The Tale of the Princess Kaguya” Isao Takahata and Yoshiaki Nishimura
Focus Features
Best Original Screenplay: “Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)” by Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Nicolás Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris, Jr. & Armando Bo; “Boyhood" by Richard Linklater; “Foxcatcher” by E. Max Frye and Dan Futterman; “The Grand Budapest Hotel” by Wes Anderson, story by Wes Anderson & Hugo Guinness; “Nightcrawler” (pictured) by Dan Gilroy
Open Road Films
Best Adapted Screenplay: “American Sniper” by Jason Hall, “The Imitation Game” (pictured) by Graham Moore; “Inherent Vice” by Paul Thomas Anderson; “The Theory of Everything” by Anthony McCarten; “Whiplash” by Damien Chazelle
The Weinstein Company
Best Foreign Language Film: “Ida,” (pictured) Poland; “Leviathan,” Russia; “Tangerines,” Estonia; “Timbuktu,” Mauritania; “Wild Tales,” Argentina
Music Box Films
Best Documentary Feature: "Citizenfour," "Finding Vivian Maier," "Last Days in Vietnam," "Salt of the Earth," "Virunga" (pictured)
Netflix
Best Film Editing: "American Sniper" (pictured), "Boyhood," "Grand Budapest Hotel," Imitation Game," Whiplash"
Warner Bros.
Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role: Steve Carell in “Foxcatcher," Bradley Cooper in “American Sniper," Benedict Cumberbatch in “The Imitation Game," Michael Keaton (pictured) in “Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)," Eddie Redmayne in “The Theory of Everything”
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Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role: Robert Duvall in “The Judge,” Ethan Hawke in “Boyhood," Edward Norton in “Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)," Mark Ruffalo in “Foxcatcher," J.K. Simmons (pictured) in “Whiplash”
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Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role: Marion Cotillard in “Two Days, One Night,” Felicity Jones (pictured) in “The Theory of Everything," Julianne Moore in “Still Alice," Rosamund Pike in “Gone Girl," Reese Witherspoon in “Wild”
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Best Actress in a Supporting Role: Patricia Arquette in “Boyhood," Laura Dern in “Wild," Keira Knightley (pictured) in “The Imitation Game," Emma Stone in “Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)," Meryl Streep in “Into the Woods”
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Achievement in Cinematography: “Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance),” Emmanuel Lubezki; “The Grand Budapest Hotel” (pictured), Robert Yeoman; “Ida,” Lukasz Zal and Ryszard Lenczewski; “Mr. Turner,” Dick Pope; “Unbroken,” Roger Deakins
Fox Searchlight Pictures
Best Costume Design: “The Grand Budapest Hotel,” Milena Canonero; “Inherent Vice” (pictured), Mark Bridges; “Into the Woods,” Colleen Atwood; "Maleficent,” Anna B. Sheppard and Jane Clive; “Mr. Turner,” Jacqueline Durran
Warner Bros.
Best Makeup and Hairstyling: “Foxcatcher” (pictured), Bill Corso and Dennis Liddiard; “The Grand Budapest Hotel,” Frances Hannon and Mark Coulier; “Guardians of the Galaxy” Elizabeth Yianni-Georgiou and David White
Sony Pictures Classics
Best Original Song: “Everything Is Awesome” from “The Lego Movie," music and lyric by Shawn Patterson; “Glory” from “Selma” (pictured), music and lyric by John Stephens and Lonnie Lynn; “Grateful” from “Beyond the Lights,” music and lyric by Diane Warren; “I’m Not Gonna Miss You” from “Glen Campbell…I’ll Be Me,” music and lyric by Glen Campbell and Julian Raymond; “Lost Stars” from “Begin Again,” music and lyric by Gregg Alexander and Danielle Brisebois
Paramount Pictures
Best Original Score: “The Grand Budapest Hotel,” Alexandre Desplat; “The Imitation Game,” Alexandre Desplat; “Interstellar,” Hans Zimmer (pictured); “Mr. Turner,” Gary Yershon; “The Theory of Everything,” Jóhann Jóhannsson
Getty Images
Best Production Design: “The Grand Budapest Hotel,” “The Imitation Game," “Interstellar," “Into the Woods," “Mr. Turner” (pictured)
Sony Pictures Classics
Best Sound Editing: "American Sniper," "Birdman," "The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies," "Interstellar" (pictured), "Unbroken"
Paramount Pictures
Best Sound Mixing: “American Sniper,” John Reitz, Gregg Rudloff and Walt Martin; “Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance),” Jon Taylor, Frank A. Montaño and Thomas Varga; “Interstellar,” Gary A. Rizzo, Gregg Landaker and Mark Weingarten; “Unbroken” (pictured), Jon Taylor, Frank A. Montaño and David Lee; “Whiplash,” Craig Mann, Ben Wilkins and Thomas Curley
Universal Pictures
Best Visual Effects: “Captain America: The Winter Soldier,” Dan DeLeeuw, Russell Earl, Bryan Grill and Dan Sudick; “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes,” Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, Daniel Barrett and Erik Winquist; “Guardians of the Galaxy” (pictured), Stephane Ceretti, Nicolas Aithadi, Jonathan Fawkner and Paul Corbould; “Interstellar” Paul Franklin, Andrew Lockley, Ian Hunter and Scott Fisher; “X-Men: Days of Future Past,” Richard Stammers, Lou Pecora, Tim Crosbie and Cameron Waldbauer
Disney/Marvel
Best Live Action Short Film: “Aya,” Oded Binnun and Mihal Brezis; “Boogaloo and Graham” (pictured), Michael Lennox and Ronan Blaney; “Butter Lamp (La Lampe Au Beurre De Yak),” Hu Wei and Julien Féret; “Parvaneh,” Talkhon Hamzavi and Stefan Eichenberger; “The Phone Call,” Mat Kirkby and James Lucas
Best Animated Short Film: “The Bigger Picture” (pictured) Daisy Jacobs and Christopher Hees; “The Dam Keeper,” Robert Kondo and Dice Tsutsumi; “Feast,” Patrick Osborne and Kristina Reed; “Me and My Moulton,” Torill Kove; “A Single Life” Joris Oprins
Best Documentary Short: “Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1,” Ellen Goosenberg Kent and Dana Perry; “Joanna,” Aneta Kopacz; “Our Curse” Tomasz Sliwinski and Maciej Slesicki; “The Reaper (La Parka),” Gabriel Serra Arguello: “White Earth” (pictured), J. Christian Jensen
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See the nominees that have a shot at Oscar gold when the 87th annual Academy Awards airs Feb. 22 on ABC
Best Motion Picture of the Year: “American Sniper," “Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance),” “Boyhood" (pictured), "The Grand Budapest Hotel," “The Imitation Game" (pictured), “Selma" (pictured), “The Theory of Everything," “Whiplash”
Thane Rosenbaum, a novelist, essayist and law professor, is the author of numerous books of fiction and nonfiction, including the forthcoming "How Sweet It Is!", along with essays in such publications as in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Huffington Post, and the Daily Beast, among other national publications. He is a Senior Fellow at NYU School of Law where he directs the Forum on Law, Culture & Society. www.thanerosenbaum.com.