Movie: The Theory of Everything

Eddie Redmayne's amazing physical transformation as Prof. Stephen Hawking is reason enough to see this biographic movie. Redmayne manages to convey both the darkness of suffering a potentially terminal illness as well as the will and optimism involved in becoming, perhaps the most famous scientist of our time. It is a snapshot of almost 50 years, so it doesn't necessarily always explain how ground breaking his work is; but the movie is not so much about his work but about his life. It's an amazing biopic that thoroughly deserves the plaudits it has received.

Movie: American Sniper

Throughout the film, many characters ask the protagonist "why are you doing this". Chris Kyle, played by a very bulked up Bradley Cooper, never provides a satisfactory answer. American Sniper is not the stereotypical war movie, it is more like the propaganda film within Inglorious Basterds. It puts up a killing machine as a hero, but never explores why he is killing, other than the suggestion that it is to serve and to protect his fellow soldiers. 

But this portrayal leads to an equally interesting alternate. If soldiers are there just doing their masters' bidding - is it not the same as the very "savages" they are fighting? After all, the other side is probably doing the exact same thing - their movie about Mustafa - the Olympian sniper would probably be just as heroic and one sided. 

The victors often write the history; hence it is the American Sniper that is heroic and dies an untimely death. In an alternate universe, there maybe a similar  movie about Mustafa. And neither movie make great movies - just wonderful propaganda pieces.