Argo (Ben Affleck)

[number8]

I'm fairly certain that this screenplay is nominated just because people fell in love with that pun.

[Irish]

I enjoyed this, for what it was. Mostly, I marveled at Affleck's ability, as a somewhat inexperienced director, to present a complicated storyline in such a straightforward manner. Plus, the sheer number of locations and setups is kinda staggering.

The whole "true story" bit -- and including the real-life photos during the credits -- seemed oddly defensive, as if Affleck was attempting to lend more profundity to his movie than it might have deserved.

If I have any kind of beef with this movie, it's that it is more about Big Historical Events than people, or any single story, and almost plays as a quasi-documentary (and might have played better as a pure documentary).

This is similar to "Zero Dark Thirty," in a way. I think both of these movies are well made, and entertaining, and worth seeing. But neither one strikes me as having depth, or breadth. For lack of a better word, they lack the heaviness and "epic" feel of something that might be called "Best Picture of 2012." To put it another way: I can't imagine anyone really wanting to see either of these movies more than once.

Fun fact: For the last five years, every winner of the Toronto Film Festival and ever winner of the Producer's Guild Awards has gone on to win the Best Picture Oscar.

"Argo" has won both of them.

[NickGlass]

Fun fact: For the last five years, every winner of the Toronto Film Festival and ever winner of the Producer's Guild Awards has gone on to win the Best Picture Oscar.

"Argo" has won both of them.

Sorry to be persnickety, but Argo did not win the TIFF People's Choice Award--Silver Linings Playbook did. Also, only two of the (highly dubious) TIFF People's Choice Award winners of the past 5 years have gone on to win the Best Picture Oscar (Slumdog and King's Speech, ugh).

For lack of a better word, they lack the heaviness and "epic" feel of something that might be called "Best Picture of 2012." To put it another way: I can't imagine anyone really wanting to see either of these movies more than once.

This, however, sounds like a Best Picture Oscar winner to me!

[Irish]

Sorry to be persnickety, but Argo did not win the TIFF People's Choice Award--Silver Linings Playbook did. Also, only two of the (highly dubious) TIFF People's Choice Award winners of the past 5 years have gone on to win the Best Picture Oscar (Slumdog and King's Speech, ugh).

That's not persnickety at all. Your post is accurate, mine wasn't. I was going off a tweet from Roger Ebert the other day, which pointed to a blog post he made last September predicting "Argo" as Best Pic winner based on its performance in Toronto.

I should have read more carefully. Thanks for the clarification.

PS: I'm tempted just to make up Oscar facts over the next month, spread them around, and see if anyone catches on.

PPS: Did you know that Jack Nicholson and Meryl Streep each won an Academy Award for Best Performance for "Heartburn" in 1986? It's the only time in Academy history that has ever happened.

[Grouchy]

Huh, I'm calling bullshit on this one. Inflated run-of-the-mill Great Escape bullshit. I love The Great Escape, don't get me wrong. But its claims to be a relevant "issue movie" are ridiculous. It's a big blowjob to the CIA and nothing more.

Affleck is a very good director, but both The Town and this, while well manufactured products, lack the interest of a truly ambiguous and compelling story like the one Gone Baby Gone had.

I was half-expecting the big inaccuracies, but the ones that bothered me the most were:
- That looks nothing like Jack Kirby's art.
- Looking at a picture of the real Tony Mendez, it seems like the perfect leading role for Luis Guzmán. I bet the movie would've been better with him.

[Grouchy]

Huh, I clicked "Yay" instead of "Nay". Can a Mod correct me on this?

I'm a stupid fast-clicking punk.

[EyesWideOpen]

Huh, I clicked "Yay" instead of "Nay". Can a Mod correct me on this?

I'm a stupid fast-clicking punk.

You can change your own vote.

[Grouchy]

You can change your own vote.

How?

[Thirdmango]

Huh, I clicked "Yay" instead of "Nay". Can a Mod correct me on this?

I'm a stupid fast-clicking punk.

I can't figure out how to change your vote from mod side. You may have to be a yay forever.

[Raiders]

I can't figure out how to change your vote from mod side. You may have to be a yay forever.

It will have to be done at the database level. Essentially changing his vote from a '1' to a '0'. Not sure if there is a mod for 4.2 to add the "change your vote" feature we had before.