Movie Review: American Sniper

Over the weekend, I saw American Sniper. I got to the theater a few minutes before it started, and boy was that a mistake. Almost every seat in the entire theater was taken, so I had to sit in the very front and slump down in the seat and crane my neck to see the giant screen which was mostly straight above me. Luckily, the movie was so compelling I forgot myself.

The movie is based on the real-life story of Chris Kyle, a highly-decorated Navy SEAL who served four tours in Iraq and became the most lethal sniper in American military history. Normally, you would think that a movie about his war experience would be a traditional summer blockbuster that would come out around the Fourth of July. It would have lots of explosions, lots of big battle scenes, have generic and gruesome violence.

Well, director Clint Eastwood took that story and made a movie that focuses on how war changes men. The contrast between Kyle in combat and at home is the real story. With each successive tour, Kyle withdraws further from his wife and family, unable to escape the battlefield. Kyle has not so much of a character arc as a character circle.

You see Kyle near the beginning of the film as a relatively green solider, albeit a Navy SEAL. After graduating from sniper school, he's asked something like "What will you do when you have a real live person in your crosshairs?" and his response is essentially that he hasn't thought about it, but he just hopes that he can do his job when that time comes.

And do it he does. In his first assignment he's forced to decide whether or not to shoot a mother and son who are possibly attacking some Marines. It's clear that he doesn't want to shoot them, but once he does, he doesn't dwell on it too much beyond commenting on how evil they were.

Over the course of the movie, he is drawn deeper into the fighting, both physically and emotionally. The pull for Kyle is not killing the enemy so much as it is protecting the Marines on the ground. The successive tours of duty are interrupted by brief stints back at home. However, it's clear that "home" for Kyle has become the battlefield and the men that he feels a duty to protect.

At one point, he's with his wife, and they're driving somewhere. He's zoned out and not really listening to her complain about how weird he's been acting. She confronts him and accuses him of not being making time for his family. His response is telling. He says that all the stuff at home can wait, but the soldiers over in Iraq cannot wait. He feels the obligation to be on the battlefield protecting the men on the ground so strongly, it's a waste of his time to be at home "driving to the mall" as he puts it, while men are dying.

Ultimately, Kyle escapes from the whirlpool of the war after killing an enemy sniper. As he flees the swarming Iraqis that had his position surrounded a giant dust storm overwhelms the entire area in what is clearly metaphor for the fog that has been surrounding Kyle the entire time. He's running to catch up with the Humvee that will take him home, running from the whirlwind of dirt, death, and blood that is trying to catch him. He eventually makes it inside the safety of the Humvee, but not before dropping his rifle in the dirt, leaving it behind. It was the bookend to a scene in the first few minutes of the film, where a young Kyle is admonished by his father "Never to leave your rifle in the dirt." Kyle never leaves his rifle in the dirt until he leaves it forever.

The movie is about how PTSD affects men, how war brings it about, and how it can be overcome. You see Kyle's PTSD manifest itself in sounds. In one situation, Kyle hears an air wrench at a quick-oil change place that takes him back to a drill used to kill a child. Later he hears a playful family dog  takes him back to a rooftop in Iraq where he had an encounter with a vicious dog.

Eastwood and Cooper masterfully work together to show how the war affected Kyle without having Kyle really even talk about it. Circling back to what I said about the "character circle" (see what I did there) Kyle ends up back where he starts. By the end of the movie, Kyle finally is able to get the war behind him and can enjoy his family and peacetime again. He's not an emotional victim of the war and he's not a chest-beating killer with insatiable blood-lust.

In many ways, Kyle reminds me of Dick Winters, who went through WWII, and then wanted nothing more than to claim a small plot of land and live out the rest of his life in peace. Both men went through war, excelled at it, were changed by it, but eventually left the military and retuned to peace.

Even if you were against the Iraq war and think President Bush is horrible, try to compartmentalize that and focus on what is actually in the movie. It's not a political movie. It's not a justification for the war, and it's not an indictment of the war. Eastwood pointedly avoids the entire issue because it's irrelevant to the story he's trying to tell.

My only criticism is that I would have liked to see more, but I think Eastwood was constrained by time limits. I'd love to see what was left on the cutting room floor.

Five Stars.

Jim Beam Single Barrel Review

One of my Christmas gifts was a bottle of the newer single-barrel Jim Beam that was released just last year. Basically, this bourbon is different from regular Jim Beam (white and black label) in that Jim Beam's distillers only use the absolute best barrels for aging this particular bourbon. The result is a bourbon that is probably the smoothest Jim Beam I've ever had.

There is mild bit of warmth that you expect from a bourbon, but it's not a lot of heat, and it's certainly not a "burn". If you like your bourbon comparatively mild, you'll like this. I'm not a master taster, so I can't tell you about hints of vanilla or hints of whatever.

I can tell you that it's a good-workmanlike bourbon. If you're looking for a good go-to bourbon that's a step above what Jim Beam has regularly offered, this is a good buy. Its retail price of $34.99 is certainly higher the usual price point of the basic Jim Beam (about $15) so it's clear this is a step up in what you spend. All in all, I'd say it's worth the money, but this isn't a bourbon you're going to save for years.

If you're a bourbon fan that has shied away from Jim Beam as a "mass bourbon", I would suggest trying this single barrel offering. You'll be pleasantly surprised.

Ken Levine's Criticism of Mad Men

Quick, which character from Mad Men are you cheering for? Is that a tough question?

I really like Mad Men, but I agree with Levine's thoughts here. The show is really becoming a collection of horrible characters. Mrs. Permanent Press and I were discussing it after the last episode. It's just a story full of people that we hate. Where are the people we're supposed to be cheering for? I dislike all of these characters.

The first few years were phenomenal television. I loved it so much I almost took up smoking...But then things started to shift. Betty, who season one was my favorite character, became such a hideous bitch I now expect her to wear a coat made of Dalmatians. Still, almost everybody else had some redeeming qualities (although I’m still looking for Pete’s). Peggy was adorable, Roger provided comic relief, Joan advanced in a man’s world using both her brains and bra, and then there was Don Draper...Why should I care anymore about this miserable soul?  Because he gets to his front door, slumps down to the ground, and feels sad?  At one time there were glimmers of humanity, moments when he would exhibit surprising kindness. But not anymore. Not this season.

Levine hits the nail on the head, if you ask me. Think about it: Every story has a character that you somehow are cheering for, or you're on their side, or you understand why they do bad things. In Mad Men, they don't have a character like that anymore. (For me, anyways.)

If you like Mad Men, you'll really want to read the whole thing.

Should we care about these people?

Springfield Armory XD(s) Review

In an earlier post, I mentioned that I would be doing a review of my new Springfield Armory XD(s). Someone finally reminded me that I hadn't done my review yet, so here ya go, campers.

The Springfield Armory XD(s) is a subcompact .45 ACP semi-automatic handgun. As soon as you take it out of the box, you can tell the XD(s) is clearly intended to be used as a concealed carry gun. At it's widest point, it's only one inch thick, and it fits very nicely into the palm of your hand, and it's fairly light. When you wear it on your hip and throw on a jacket, it simply disappears.

However, all of this compactness and conceal-ability requires you to make some compromises. In a similarly sized Glock 19 (ok, maybe the Glock 19 is a little bigger) you get a 15 round magazine. However, you're getting 15 rounds of 9mm in the Glock, whereas the XD(s) is giving you .45 ACP. Unfortunately, you're only going to get a magazine capacity of 5 rounds of the .45 ACP in the standard mags. Springfield does make a 7 round magazine for the Xd(s), but good luck actually finding one. I'm not sure if you've heard, but there's a little bit of a run on magazines and ammo these days.

In any event, the point is that you're going to be sacrificing magazine capacity for conceal-ability. But that's why God created spare magazines, and he said "let them be plentiful".

As for function, the little XD(s) is great. The first 50 rounds that I put through it were made in Hungary under the label "RWS". Yeah, I bought some Hungarian-made ammo. It's really hard to find ammo these days. Anyway, here's what I bought:

So, I go out to the range and put a box of this Hungarian ammo through the little XD(s). There were seven of what I would call "light-strikes". That means I pulled the trigger, and the gun went click. That's bad, because it's supposed to go BANG! 

I ejected the round (after waiting the safe time) and looked at it. The bottom of the round (where the striker hits the cartridge to ignite the primer) had a small dimple in it, like it's supposed to. However, it didn't go off. Strange, right? I put the same round back in the chamber and then fired it again. Every time the round fired on the second attempt. Very strange.

At first, I chalked it up to the Hungarian ammo. I mean, what do they know about making ammo in Hungary, right? However, I did a little research and it turns out that Springfield ships the XD(s) in a condition where they are not really ready-to-go out of the box. They put a bunch of grease and stuff down in the channel where the striker is, and it kind of gums up the works. So, I did a detail strip of the gun, pulled the striker out and examined it. There was more gunk and grease on there than I would have expected, so I cleaned it off real well, cleaned the whole gun, and lubricated all the rails and other areas that needed to be lubed.

After that, I've put about 250 rounds through it of various types of ammo, and it's been 100%. I haven't had any failures of any kind whatsoever. All I can tell you is that if you're thinking about getting an XD(s), don't  be scared of the stories you hear about the "light strikes". The gun just needs to have a little cleaning before you take it shooting. It also likes to be well lubricated because all the parts fit together so tightly. (That's what she said.)

Overall, it's a great gun. I'm not as accurate with it as I am with a full-size 1911, but that's not totally unexpected. The overall length is only 6.3", so you're not dealing with much. (That's what she said.)

However, probably my biggest flaw in my shooting technique is my tendency to pull the trigger too hard. This causes my shots to go low and left about five inches at 10 yards. With the XD(s) being such a small gun, this error shows up very clearly. With a larger, heavier 1911, my same problem is lessened by the fact that the 1911 is heavier and bigger, so I'm not moving the gun as much. I still have the same flaw, but it's more obvious with the XD(s). However, in a critical self-defense situation at 10 yards being off by five inches isn't going to make me miss center mass. Having said that, I'm going to work on my shooting technique.

Other Features: There's no thumb-safety on the XD(s). However, there is a grip-safety, in the same style of the 1911. You can see the grip safety in the picture above. It's that little tab on the back of the grip. To me, the XD(s) seems like the folks at Springfield Armory tried to make their version of the Glock. It has that same safe-trigger deal like a Glock, and it's simple - like a Glock. Take down is actually easier (to me) than with a Glock. The sight picture is nice, and Springfield even gives you options for changing out the front sight if you don't like the red bead.

Overall, theXD(s) is a great carry gun if you want something chambered in .45 ACP. If you're looking for a range gun to just do precision paper shooting, this isn't your gun. This gun is intended to be carried all the time, and to pack a punch when you need it to. Although I'm a fan of 9mm, you really can't go wrong with .45 ACP.

 

Take care of lubricating and cleaning this little gun, and it will take care of you. Permanent Press officially endorses the Springfield Armory XD(s).

Red Dawn Remake

Hollywood: I'm disappointed in you. The remake of Red Dawn had the opportunity to be really cool. All you had to do was do the exact same story over, set it in the 1980s (again) and then throw in a cameo of one or two of the original cast members (as townspeople) and you would have a hit.

When you're remaking a cult classic, you have to stay close to what made the original movie great. It was gritty, dark, and was semi-believable. Not totally believable, but the Russians invading is more believable than the North Koreans. Yes, the same country that has rolling blackouts and cannot even launch missiles.

This new remake is more fast-action, digital effects than story. Oh, and on the topic of digital effects, I'm not just talking about explosions. The North Korean uniforms and flags are all digitally created, because they were originally Chinese, but were changed at the last minute so as to be able to sell more tickets in the international movie community.

Don't waste your time.

Review of Backwoods Quail Club

Last weekend, I went to the Backwoods Quail Club in Hemingway, South Carolina to shoot round of 100 sporting clays. I live in Columbia, so the drive to Hemingway is about an hour and a half – each way. When I arrived, the first thing you can’t help but see is the giant sign proclaiming the club to be the site of the 2013 US Open Sporting Clays Championships. So right there, you get the idea that it must be a pretty good place if they decided to have the host a major event.

On the way in, you drive past two skeet fields, a five stand, and another warm-up area. The skeet is lighted, so even after the sun goes down, you can still break some clays. (This is probably pretty handy now that it gets dark early.)

The sporting clays consisted of two courses - orange or green. We decided to go with green for no particular reason. The two courses are essentially together along a main road. Some stations are orange and some are green, but they’re all along the same path. This is a shot looking down the path. You can see shooting stations on either side. The lift in the distance has a trap on top of it that throws a bird upwards. I'm not sure what it's simulating, but it's a long shot.

The first station was supposed to be a fairly simple crossing report pair, but one trap didn’t work at all. It was not a good start for a place that was supposed to be hosting a national event. The next few stations were good and worked with no problems. On the 5th station we encountered this: 

Why yes, that is a trampoline. What is a trampoline doing at a sporting clays station? Well that’s exactly what I was wondering. After looking at the setup for a minute, it appeared to me that the trap was angled to throw the clay into the trampoline. Could that be it? Are these guys really bouncing clays off trampolines?

Yep. And it was pretty cool.

The course featured a variety of shots that went from fairly easy to very challenging. There were several stations with screaming fast crossers. I’m talking so fast you don’t have time to even really look at the bird – you just swing your gun and shoot instinctively. One station combined the fast crosser with a slow incomer that you had to wait on first, so it was more about tempo than anything else. You had to wait…wait…wait on the first, and then as soon as you hit it, the second bird crossed back the other way going fast. Really fun stuff.

Towards the end, the best station of the day presented itself. (Orange #13, I think.) It was a beautiful little pond with two outgoing birds: the first one went out away from you at a little bit of an angle, skimming a yard or two off the surface of the water. The second bird went high, heading for the tree-line. Shooting those as a true pair was fun. The best part about the low bird was watching all the pieces break and skip across the pond.

Overall, Backwoods Quail Club was a great place to break some sporting clays. The shots presented were interesting and moderately challenging. I ended up with a 71 out of 100.

I would recommend it to anyone interested in seeing some of what the low country offers for sporting clays. The clubhouse wasn’t fancy, but it was well stocked with gear, snacks, and drinks. The place is laid back and comfortable. Inside and outside of the clubhouse:

Front:

 I will definitely be going back. The only downside is that it’s 110 miles from Columbia.

Sporting Clays Review: Harris Springs

I wanted to take my dad out for some sporting clays for a Father's Day outing. We've shot around the midlands some, but I wanted to branch out a little. I found Harris Springs Sportsman's Preserve though the South Carolina Sporting Clays Association website and decided to give it a try.

Harris Springs Sportsman's Preserve is a wonderful little hidden gem located in Waterloo, South Carolina, not too far from lake Greenwood. From Columbia, you just drive up I-26 towards Greenville for awhile, and then head towards Greenwood. All in all, it took us about an hour and a half driving at a leisurely pace. On our drive up, we passed a BBQ place that indicated it was only open on Friday and Saturday, but that's a whole other post.

Arriving at Harris Springs, I was immediately impressed with the elegant simplicity of the place. The main lodge was filled with wonderfully soft leather furniture, and we were greeted by Mark Seay, who was wonderfully hospitable. There is an expansive deck with an immense outdoor fireplace, a guest house, and a group dining facility that looked perfect for a corporate retreat event.

As an aside, it's nice to have a welcoming atmosphere at a gun club when you're there for the first time. It's so easy for experienced shooters/gun club owners to view new guests with a standoffish or skeptical eye. At Harris Springs, we instantly felt welcomed and at ease. We were given a quick tour of the property, and then wished well as we headed out to start our shooting. It was evident that they really take their hospitality seriously.

Getting out to the shooting, the stations were well marked, solidly built, and the surrounding grounds were well maintained. The sporting clays course at Harris Springs isn't the toughest one I've been to, but it certainly had a few challenging stations. One thing that was quite nice was all of the different looks presented. One of my favorite stations was shooting from a tower with the birds crossing below you.

Station 7 at Harris Springs

In it's entirety, it is a wonderful sporting clays course. I think it is well-suited for a beginner or a group just looking for interesting shot presentations in a welcoming atmosphere. It's mostly report-pairs, and there aren't a great deal of long-range shots. Competition shooters would probably grouse about it being a "soft" course, but since I'm not a competition shooter, I thought it was great.

After shooting, we ended up back at the main lodge, and settled up. One of the interesting comments from our host was that Harris Springs didn't really focus on Sporting Clays. Having just shot the course, and being impressed with it's quality, I was a little surprised. Mark explained that the club's main focus was the great quail, turkey, and deer hunting they provide. With the sporting clays at such a high level of quality (and not being the main focus) I could only imagine how well the hunting is managed.

Overall, Harris Springs would be a wonderful place for any size group, it presents a comfortable and hospitable atmosphere, and the shooting facilities are quality. If the sporting clays are any measuring stick, the bird hunting there has to be amazing.

Howard Leight Electronic Earmuffs

I don't often review or recommend products, but these electronic earmuffs are so good, I had to.

I do a fair amount of shooting in my spare time - mostly pistol and shotgun. When I first started shooting, used those little disposable orange foam earplugs that you buy in packs. They do an OK job, but they get lost, get old, and aren't really that great.

I wanted to protect my hearing more, so I sprang for a set of regular earmuffs. They did a great job of noise reduction, but I couldn't hear any conversations or range instructions. I almost always go shooting with someone, and it's hard to talk when you're both wearing big muffs that deaden all sound. Also, if you've been to South Carolina, you may have noticed that it's hotter than hell. Nothing will make you sweat faster than wearing a set of big, clunky earmuffs in 100 degree heat.

After looking at about a million types of earmuffs, I decided to spring for the Howard Leight Impact Sport muffs. I wore them for the first time to a sporting clays CLE that had about 80 shooters. These muffs are AMAZING.

The trick is that they actually enhance low-level sounds (like conversations) and they deaden all loud sounds. Don't ask me how it works. All I know is that it works. I could hear my shooting partners putting the shotshells into their guns, and the mechanical "clicking" of each shell going into the shotgun was crystal clear, but the shotgun going off sounded like just a little "pop". Accordingly, I didn't have to constantly take them off and put them on. You just put them on - and you forget about them. They also weren't very hot, because they're slimmer than standard muffs. But here's the really cool part: they have an auxiliary jack for you to plug in your iPod.

That's right. You can listen to your iPod in stereo, while shooting. I'm not sure that you would want to do this, but if you were all alone, it would be pretty sweet to be popping off rounds to some tunes. In any event, these are the best hearing protection that I've come across, and I recommend them wholeheartedly to anyone who does any shooting or hunting. They won't break the bank, and they work.

Howard Leight Electronic Earmuffs