ARGO - Worth Every Penny

POSTED BY: SHINYGOODGUY
UPDATED: Thursday, February 28, 2013 00:51
VIEWED: 6047
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SHINYGOODGUY

Wednesday, February 13, 2013 9:22 PM

Saw Argo the other night and now I get why it's gaining momentum in the awards department, it is a brilliantly made movie.

Ben Affleck intelligently captures the essence of the Hostage Crisis of the Jimmy Carter era (circa 1979-1980). It is taut, concise and well directed and organized. He doesn't miss a beat. It is both tense and funny all in the right places.

Affleck paces this movie like a Swiss watch, precise and deliberate, but at no time does he leave out the emotion of the characters, from the Washington offices of the CIA, to the protest-filled streets of Iran, it was as though he meticulously and painstakingly tinkered with each scene as the story unfolded. I'm surprised he didn't get an acting nomination for his role as the main character, Tony Mendez. Affleck was flawless, one of his best performances since Shakespeare in Love.

This movie is so good that by the end you want to stand up and cheer, despite the fact that our government nearly botches the rescue. To me, there was only one very tiny minor flaw towards the end of the movie - the airport scene (but I will not spoil it), like I said it was a very minor flaw in an otherwise brilliant film.

Affleck is so good he has won Best Director awards from: BAFTA, Critics Choice, Golden Globes and Director's Guild of America, among others, and deservedly so.

I smell an Oscar win, mainly because this movie started gathering steam after the first awards show of the season, and it hasn't slowed since. I haven't seen Lincoln yet, but so far, Affleck and company have been steamrolling over the competition. Don't count him out.

Next: Zero Dark Thirty

SGG

THESOMNAMBULIST

Wednesday, February 13, 2013 10:53 PM

Hey Shiny!

For once I can read one of your reviews as I've already seen the flick in question. Hurrah!

What a superb film! Did you notice how they mirrored that scene when they storm the embassy with the archive footage of the time? I've not seen that done before. I was really impressed.

So far all three Afleck directed films I've seen I've really enjoyed. Who'd have known he would become such an accomplished director. I like the fact he's not 'showy' with the camera. He focus' on the points of the story and lets the scene do the work. He appears to not care about having a 'schtick'. He just gets on with telling the story.

Wonderful acting all the way through and great to see Alan Arkin being allowed to shine.

Afleck is my choice to undertake the difficult Episode VIII of the next set of Star Wars trilogies.

:D

°...Well here I am.°

ECGORDON

Wednesday, February 13, 2013 11:10 PM

I still haven't seen it but have not heard or read one bad thing about it, so I'll likely catch it on DVD soon since it comes out on the 19th I believe.

This year might be the most embarrassed the Academy could possibly be, because the guy who is raking in all the awards from everyone else was not even nominated for Best Director. I'm not sure if that means Argo has more of a chance at Best Picture or not.

They damn well better not give the Oscar to Les Mis.

SUASOR

Thursday, February 14, 2013 5:52 PM

Excellent flick, very well done. The only flaw I could detect was early on when they gave some "history" of the revolution that portrayed Iran as the victim of Western imperialism. That totally left out the fact that Iran has been the neighborhood bully for thousands of years and hasn't changed much. What the Iranians hate the British for most is preventing Iran from taking Arab oil, or anything else the Arabs had that was worth grabbing in the past 200 years. Iran was more angry about the Turks, but the British drove them away in 1918 and the US got the Russians to back off in the late 1940s. For anyone who knows the region well, trying to portray Iran as a victim is just, well, unsettling. But aside from that brief burp, the rest of the movie was brilliant.

JO753

Thursday, February 14, 2013 9:52 PM

Thanks for the history; I wuz thinking we were clearly the bad guyz. I gess we were only murkily the bad guyz in this case.

I liked the movie. Seemed a little uneventful to me but thats kuz I had just finished a Marvel Movie Marathon.

----------------------------
DUZ XaT SEM RiT TQ YQ? - Jubal Early

http://www.nooalf.com

WHOZIT

Thursday, February 14, 2013 10:07 PM

"Argo" will be punished by the Academy, "Lincoln" will sweep and "Life of Pi" will get a couple of hand outs. They have to learn not to mess with the mighty Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, they're like the Great and Powerful OZ.

SHINYGOODGUY

Friday, February 15, 2013 9:31 PM

Hey Sleepy,

Thank you for your positive words, but what I do is encapsulate my thoughts and motivations about the movie, I'm giving a short version. Partially because I'm so busy these days, but also because I'm an amateur, a lover of movies (as I believe you are as well). As part of my college curriculum I studied film and grew to love it even more, as the professor opened up my tastes for the medium (I once hated foreign films, ah youth!).

But nonetheless, you make some good points, Affleck has become stronger with each film he directs, Argo, by far, is his best and damn near a masterpiece. I truly enjoyed the way in which he told the story, it was, as you say, not showy and very much on point. I agree that he allows the scene to unfold quite naturally. I found it very organic, like drinking a glass of milk after eating a chocolate chip cookie. Of course, I remember those harrowing days.

He approached the camera work much like a narrator would in telling a story, subtle and with measured pacing. He definitely invoked the "less is more" approach, both in his camera work and in his acting. No schtick here.
Simple and concise, I was thoroughly engaged. Solid acting by the entire cast. You know, I never actually gave him a thought regarding the next Star Wars trilogy, but it sounds like a plan.

Talk to you soon,

SGG

SHINYGOODGUY

Saturday, February 16, 2013 1:05 PM

Hey EC,

I'm liking your post:

This year might be the most embarrassed the Academy could possibly be, because the guy who is raking in all the awards from everyone else was not even nominated for Best Director. I'm not sure if that means Argo has more of a chance at Best Picture or not.

Correctly stated. The Academy should be ashamed for not having nominated Affleck. The reason why exactly is not known, at least to me, for the snub, now that I've seen the film. Kudos to both him and Clooney for obtaining the rights to this material (that, I imagine, was the hard part).

Now I have not seen Les Mis, but I think the pre-Oscar buzz may have fizzled out once the movie was released. Critics were not too kind, which could kill any momentum (Old Mo) for any buzz for a film. It may have opened a crack in the door for Lincoln (which I have yet to see as well), to step through. Spielberg is a heavy hitter in Hollywood, that, along with the fact he hasn't won since Schindler, may factor in. Who knows, maybe Argo's awards success may influence academy members, then again, maybe not.

Tinsel Town is fickle. One thing I can guarantee is that next decent picture he makes he will get a Best Director nomination, that's how they work. It's artistic politics.

SGG

SHINYGOODGUY

Saturday, February 16, 2013 1:36 PM

Suasor,

"The only flaw I could detect was early on when they gave some "history" of the revolution that portrayed Iran as the victim of Western imperialism."

Given the theme of the movie, the well-known Hostage Crisis of 1979-80, and the not-so-well-known story of the 6 escapees, I thought the synopsis, although brief, fit to a T. Besides, in context, it was as accurate as the declassified facts would allow. The US Government did prop up and support the Shah (King) of Iran.

"During Mohammad Reza's reign, the Iranian oil industry was briefly nationalized under Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh before a US-backed coup d'état overturned the regime and brought back foreign oil firms,"

"other factors contributed to strong opposition to the Shah among certain groups within Iran, the most notable of which were the U.S. and UK backed coup d'état against Mosaddegh in 1953, clashes with Islamists, and increased communist activity. By 1979, political unrest had transformed into a revolution which, on 16 January, forced the Shah to leave Iran."

I remember when the Shah was granted asylum here in the US, due to so-called "medical reasons." It is curious to me why a nation that revolted against British Monarchy would support a Islamic Monarch. Nonetheless, the opening sequence to the movie did serve the theme of the story however distasteful to our current political sensibilities.

You bring up some interesting points about the "bullies" of the Mideast. In Iran's overall historical background spanning thousands of years, they may have been just that. The US Government, in their infinite wisdom, saw fit to contribute to a piece of that history. Was it to gain access to the untapped potential of the region's oil? I'm not smart enough to know the answer to that.

SGG

SHINYGOODGUY

Saturday, February 16, 2013 1:42 PM

Hey Whosit,

What was the fallout with the movie? I only heard bits and pieces, something to do with the laughable comments made by some of the Hollywood characters in the movie (namely those portrayed by Goodman and Arkin).

Do tell!

SGG

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