This year could have been a wash for Clint Eastwood, who swung and missed with his big-screen musical Jersey Boys this past summer. But then, all of a sudden, Eastwood dropped a surprise Christmas release into Oscar season: the Iraq war drama American Sniper, starring Bradley Cooper as the most lethal sniper the U.S. military has ever employed. The most notable time Eastwood snuck a movie into December at the last minute it was his eventual Best Picture winner Million Dollar Baby, and while it’s too soon to say whether history can repeat itself, this harrowing trailer for American Sniper is a damn good place to start.
