Seth Rogen Causes Stir with “American Sniper” Tweet
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“American Sniper” – Warner Bros/American Roadshow(NEW YORK) — Clint Eastwood’s movie American Sniper is making headlines, and not just because it’s set a box office record. The film, starring Bradley Cooper as the late Chris Kyle, the most lethal sniper in U.S. military history, has come under criticism from some who believe it glorifies a killer.
The controversy surrounding the Oscar-nominated drama intensified when Seth Rogen tweeted on Sunday, “American Sniper kind of reminds me of the movie that’s showing in the third act of Inglorious Basterds.” He was referring to a fake Nazi propaganda movie about a German sniper that was shown in the Quentin Tarantino flick.
Rogen — no stranger to controversy himself, given his role in The Interview — insists his tweet was not meant to slight the movie. He clarified Monday on Twitter, “I just said something ‘kinda reminded’ me of something else. I actually liked American Sniper. It just reminded me of the Tarantino scene.”
“I wasn’t comparing the two. Big difference between comparing and reminding. Apples remind me of oranges. Can’t compare them, though. But if you were having a slow news day, you’re welcome for me giving you the opportunity to blow something completely out of proportion,” he continued.
Filmmaker Michael Moore has also addressed American Sniper on social media following reports that he criticized the movie. Moore had tweeted that his uncle was killed by a Japanese sniper in World War Two and that “snipers aren’t heroes.” But in a follow-up Facebook post, he stated his tweets were unrelated to American Sniper, writing that he “didn’t say a word” about the movie and had instead commented on “what I was raised to believe about snipers,” in light of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.
Moore then proceeded to share his thoughts on American Sniper, calling Cooper’s performance “one of the best of the year.” But, he added, “too bad Clint gets Vietnam and Iraq confused in his storytelling. And that he has his characters calling Iraqis ‘savages’ throughout the film. But there is also anti-war sentiment expressed in the movie.”
“And there’s a touching ending as the main character is remembered after being gunned down by a fellow American vet with PTSD who was given a gun at a gun range back home in Texas — and then used it to kill the man who called himself the ‘America Sniper,'” he wrote.
Alluding to Martin Luther King, Jr.’s assassination, Moore concluded, “I think most Americans don’t think snipers are heroes. Hopefully not on this weekend when we remember that man in Memphis, Tennessee, who was killed by a sniper’s bullet.”
American Sniper earned an estimated 105.3 million dollars during the four-day holiday weekend. It made 89.5 million from Friday through Sunday, a record total for a January weekend.
The film is nominated for six Oscars, including best picture and best actor for Cooper.
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