“American Sniper, ” directed by Clint Eastwood
David Denby reviewed “” in the magazine, calling it “both a devastating war movie and a devastating antiwar movie.” Richard Brody called it “a in the deepest and most classical sense of the term.” In 2013, Nicholas Schmidle wrote about, the sniper whose best-selling autobiography served as the basis for the film.
Credit
In its 2015 Oscar nominations, revealed this morning, the Academy showed much love for “Grand Budapest” and “Birdman, ” which led with nine nominations each; less for “Selma, ” which was nominated only for Best Original Song and Best Picture; and none for, who received no nod for her dramatic turn in “Cake.” Richard Brody, , observed that there are no big studio productions among the eight movies up for Best Picture, which he takes as evidence that “drama is doing very well, showing audacity and distinctiveness in an age of independent production.” Here’s a look at our past coverage of this year’s Best Picture nominees.