ARGO - Worth Every Penny

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

Monday, February 25, 2013 1:52 PM

Originally posted by ecgordon:

Quote:
Affleck may be a great director one day, but it's too soon to tell. He's only directed one film in which he did not act, Gone Baby Gone, and that one was just okay, fairly predictable. I've always wondered about actor/directors. They must have a very good assistant director to help out or else things could get overwhelming for them.

I would think acting and directing is the harder thing to do, so the fact that he's improved as he's gone along is impressive.

Gone Baby Gone, I thought was a very good film. As you say fairly predictable, but so are about 98% of films. Thereafter I thought the strength of it lay more with it's moral ambiguity. That was an interesting thing to sit through.

I too think it's too hard to tell if he's a great director or not. That label tends to fly around quite easily nowadays. However what I do like about him is his subtle approach and the fact that he doesn't have an identity or at the very least it's not 'showy'. Too many directors have a look that is stamped upon every project they undertake irrespective of the content. This is why I'd pick him for one of the up coming Star Wars films.

In terms of acting and directing it is very difficult. You need a fantastic crew behind you. Clearly he's managed this. I must check to see if he's used the same crew for all his films... Be interesting to see.

°...Well here I am.°

SHINYGOODGUY

Monday, February 25, 2013 2:18 PM

I was pleasantly surprised when it won, but my take on his film is that it was solid from start to finish pretty much. A good story that was told in a good way, no frills, just the story. There was emotion without melodrama, there was pace and timing that helped to drive the story.

Well, basically, what made it such a good film is how Affleck told the story. It was all-important to it's success. And yes, you chose wisely my friend. Usually, when an actor directs and acts in a movie, they hire a DP, Director of Photography or Assistant Director. A good DP is essential to the look of the film, and knows the technical side of it.

SGG

Quote:
Originally posted by ecgordon:
Well it won Best Picture, not that I care about that, but I guess I chose wisely by watching it last night. It is the only one of this year's nominees that I have seen, so I'll have to wait until later to say if it deserved it. While good, I wouldn't say it is a great film, but it was entertaining.

Affleck may be a great director one day, but it's too soon to tell. He's only directed one film in which he did not act, Gone Baby Gone, and that one was just okay, fairly predictable. I've always wondered about actor/directors. They must have a very good assistant director to help out or else things could get overwhelming for them.

TWO

Monday, February 25, 2013 4:44 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by SHINYGOODGUY:
. . . it was solid from start to finish pretty much. A good story that was told in a good way, no frills, just the story. There was emotion without melodrama, there was pace and timing that helped to drive the story.

I was told that Argo was a true story, but noooo! It is a movie "inspired" by a true story.

One of the actual diplomats, Mark Lijek, noted that the CIA's fake movie "cover story was never tested and in some ways proved irrelevant to the escape." The departure of the six Americans from Tehran was actually mundane and uneventful. "If asked, we were going to say we were leaving Iran to return when it was safer," Lijek recalled, "But no one ever asked!...The truth is the immigration officers barely looked at us and we were processed out in the regular way. We got on the flight to Zurich and then we were taken to the US ambassador's residence in Berne. It was that straightforward." - www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-21003432

Furthermore, Jimmy Carter has even acknowledged that "90% of the contributions to the ideas and the consummation of the plan was Canadian [while] the movie gives almost full credit to the American CIA...Ben Affleck's character in the film was only in Tehran a day and a half and the real hero in my opinion was Ken Taylor, who was the Canadian ambassador who orchestrated the entire process."

The Americans never resisted the idea of playing a film crew, which is the source of much agitation in the movie. (In fact, the “house guests” chose that cover story themselves, from a group of three options the CIA had prepared.) They were not almost lynched by a mob of crazy Iranians in Tehran’s Grand Bazaar, because they never went there. There was no last-minute cancellation, and then un-cancellation, of the group’s tickets by the Carter administration. (The wife of Canadian ambassador Ken Taylor had personally gone to the airport and purchased tickets ahead of time, for three different outbound flights.) The group underwent no interrogation at the airport about their imaginary movie, nor were they detained at the gate while a member of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard telephoned their phony office back in Burbank. There was no last-second chase on the runway of Mehrabad Airport, with wild-eyed, bearded militants with Kalashnikovs trying to shoot out the tires of a Swissair jet. - www.salon.com/2013/02/18/why_argo_doesnt_deserve_the_oscar/

The Joss Whedon script for "Serenity," where Wash lives, is
Serenity-190pages.pdf at www.mediafire.com/two

ECGORDON

Tuesday, February 26, 2013 1:02 AM

One of my criteria for classifying a movie as great or not is, will I buy it to watch multiple times? The answer for Argo is no, I doubt I'll ever feel the need to see it again.

SHINYGOODGUY

Thursday, February 28, 2013 12:48 AM

Very good point, EC. The greatness of a movie is it's "legs" or longevity, Casablanca, most notably, falls into this criteria very well.

SGG

Quote:
Originally posted by ecgordon:
One of my criteria for classifying a movie as great or not is, will I buy it to watch multiple times? The answer for Argo is no, I doubt I'll ever feel the need to see it again.

SHINYGOODGUY

Thursday, February 28, 2013 12:50 AM

Yeah, thanks EC I found it much later on.

SGG

Quote:
Originally posted by ecgordon:
The reason you couldn't find it here is because my last response to you was in the "Your Oscar Picks" thread.

SHINYGOODGUY

Thursday, February 28, 2013 12:51 AM

My comment was strictly regarding Affleck handling of the material, not as to it's validity.

SGG

Quote:
Originally posted by two:
Quote:
Originally posted by SHINYGOODGUY:
. . . it was solid from start to finish pretty much. A good story that was told in a good way, no frills, just the story. There was emotion without melodrama, there was pace and timing that helped to drive the story.
I was told that Argo was a true story, but noooo! It is a movie "inspired" by a true story.

One of the actual diplomats, Mark Lijek, noted that the CIA's fake movie "cover story was never tested and in some ways proved irrelevant to the escape." The departure of the six Americans from Tehran was actually mundane and uneventful. "If asked, we were going to say we were leaving Iran to return when it was safer," Lijek recalled, "But no one ever asked!...The truth is the immigration officers barely looked at us and we were processed out in the regular way. We got on the flight to Zurich and then we were taken to the US ambassador's residence in Berne. It was that straightforward." - www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-21003432

Furthermore, Jimmy Carter has even acknowledged that "90% of the contributions to the ideas and the consummation of the plan was Canadian [while] the movie gives almost full credit to the American CIA...Ben Affleck's character in the film was only in Tehran a day and a half and the real hero in my opinion was Ken Taylor, who was the Canadian ambassador who orchestrated the entire process."

The Americans never resisted the idea of playing a film crew, which is the source of much agitation in the movie. (In fact, the “house guests” chose that cover story themselves, from a group of three options the CIA had prepared.) They were not almost lynched by a mob of crazy Iranians in Tehran’s Grand Bazaar, because they never went there. There was no last-minute cancellation, and then un-cancellation, of the group’s tickets by the Carter administration. (The wife of Canadian ambassador Ken Taylor had personally gone to the airport and purchased tickets ahead of time, for three different outbound flights.) The group underwent no interrogation at the airport about their imaginary movie, nor were they detained at the gate while a member of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard telephoned their phony office back in Burbank. There was no last-second chase on the runway of Mehrabad Airport, with wild-eyed, bearded militants with Kalashnikovs trying to shoot out the tires of a Swissair jet. - www.salon.com/2013/02/18/why_argo_doesnt_deserve_the_oscar/

The Joss Whedon script for "Serenity," where Wash lives, is
Serenity-190pages.pdf at www.mediafire.com/two

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