American Sniper
The real story of Chris Kyle, US Navy Seal and sniper, is remarkable. He was credited with 160 kills in the Iraq War, more than any sniper in US military history. In Clint Eastwood’s depiction this is a man with strong moral convictions, who believes he is defending his country and shows no regret as he skilfully picks off militant after militant who present a threat to his colleagues.
The Water Diviner
Now how best to describe this directorial debut of Russell Crowe… A pretentious hotchpotch or a melodramatic mishmash?
Connor (Crowe) is the water diviner, an Australian farmer with the gift to find things deep under the soil. At his farm, he uses this rare skill to find water in drought-stricken Victoria. When his three sons join the battle of Gallipoli in 1919 they die amongst thousands of other ANZAC soldiers. Guilted into action by his wife, Connor travels to Turkey to use his special skill to find the bodies of his sons so he can bring them home for a proper burial.
Fury
Fury is visually very impressive. Technically speaking, the cinematography, editing and soundstage are excellent, and seeing this on a big 4K screen with 7.1 surround is fantastic. Lots of pin sharp scenes whilst the thumping of shells is all around you.
’71
Jack O’Connel is the strong lead in ’71. He plays a British soldier, Gary, expecting to be stationed in Germany, but instead his unit ends up ‘helping’ in Belfast. Early in his deployment he accidentally gets separated from and then abandonded by his unit in a Belfast ghetto, leaving him to find a way to survive amongst ‘the Troubles’.