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Reviews
American Sniper (2014)
Somewhat Entertaining but Brutally Dishonest
Great action movie but unfortunately there's barely a shred of historical accuracy to this film. It somehow links the embassy bombings in Kenya and 9/11 to the Iraq War, then skips a few more years to show Al Qaeda in Iraq. It completely leaves out the fact that Al Qaeda took over Iraq and now runs most of it THANKS to the Iraq War. It leaves out the fact that "wmds" were the reason we went to Iraq and this later turned out to be a manufactured reason. In reality, Chris Kyle basically installed ISIL in power in Iraq. Does that still make him the good guy? The movie shows him as a "victim" and essentially all Iraqis are evil or faceless. This is basically just a war propaganda movie along the lines of something North Korea would release - but better special effects.
Selma (2014)
Good Acting but Unfortunately Inaccurate
David Oyelowo played a spectacular MLK. The drama was good and it kept me entertained...like The Expendables. The movie was strongly fictionalized, unfortunately tarnishing its historical accuracy. This would have been a great movie even if it had stuck to the historical record but for Hollywood reasons (sensationalism; promoting racial discord; etc) the writer actively "reimagined" LBJs relationship with MLK to promote the idea of MLK fighting on all fronts - even against the all-powerful President who stands in his way. In fact (with plenty of recorded phone conversations, and MLKs words to back it up) LBJ and MLK worked closely in tandem to orchestrate the Civil Rights Act in '64 and Voting Rights Act in '65. This is not even debated - it's known and well recorded and understood. The fact that the film presented the opposite of the truth in this regard - for box office sales no less - is unfortunate indeed. For those who turn to Hollywood for history lessons they will see an entertaining movie but learn very little.