Argo

I like Argo a lot. It took awards after awards, I was sure they have a reason, and after I saw the movie, I understood why. The movie is flawless and it is a good movie. It is “based on a true story”, it wasn’t the true story. I read that after presenting the movie at the Toronto Film Festival, the Canadian critics were upset for glorifying the CIA instead the Canadian Ambassador who helped so much. Discussions, nothing more. The Canadians had the credits for twenty years. Khomeini is dead, fatwa’s are prescribed, see Salman Rushdie’s story of how he pissed of the guy.

Ben Affleck directing

Who said Ben Affleck is a douchebag, is a douchebag himself. I know most rumors of him being dull are from the times he dated Lopez, but she was only glamorous, nothing abnormal in that. JLo is a very talented actress, like all Leos. It’s natural for them to be the center of attention, constantly. Their native unsureness makes them to crave attention and praises. The movie is a masterpiece, not the best I’ve seen in my life, but the best for this awards. It seems a very tough competition because, except Amour who should have remained in the Best Foreign Movie category, all the others are good, really good, and I don’t have to be Oscarized with Haneke. Argo is flawless. It’s fiction. It’s beautifully made. George Clooney, knows where to stick. Ah, by the way, it seems George Clooney speaks like a douche most of the time when not filming, otherwise he’s one of the great living talents at Hollywood. He’s the icon.

Argo Fuck Yourself

When I saw the entrance to Teheran’s Bazaar, I felt I know it. I’ve never been to Teheran, but I used to live in Istanbul, so in the Bazaar, I knew it’s Istanbul. Now, I mean today, I dug a little and found out that almost all of “Teheran’s” exteriors were filmed in Istanbul, and what was showed specifically of Teheran, were zooms from the plane. Also, what was stated as being Istanbul, was obviously Istanbul. Mendez meets a CIA agent at Istanbul’s Hagia Sophia before going to Iran, and obtained an Iranian visa from the Embassy in Istanbul.

The bunch from Argo in Tehran – Istanbul

Grant Heslov says, he heard Istanbul referred to as the “crossroads of the world”, but until you’re there, you don’t realize how beautiful it is. The history of the city is profound and it’s everywhere you turn. They had a very ambitious schedule in Turkey, and it all went off without a hitch, thanks in no small part to the local people. “Istanbul was definitely the right place to shoot“, he continues. Affleck was impressed by Hagia Sophia because it was a church, then a mosque and it’s now a museum, so it “truly represents an intersection of cultures”. The American Embassy assault was filmed in Bakırköy.

Argo – DVD cover

The cast is as follow: Ben Affleck as Tony Mendez, Bryan Cranston as Jack O’Donnell (seems to be a superior of Mendez), Alan Arkin as Lester Siegel (a made up character for the sake of this movie, and another nomination for Arkin), John Goodman as John Chambers (the special consultant in all this filming hoax). The next six are the escapees: Tate Donovan as Robert Anders, Clea DuVall as Cora Lijek, Christopher Denham as Mark Lijek, Scoot McNairy as Joe Stafford, Kerry Bishé as Kathy Stafford, Rory Cochrane as Lee Schatz. The list continues with another hundred characters of whom the most representative are Victor Garber as Ken Taylor (the Canadian Ambassador), Kyle Chandler as Hamilton Jordan (an official who plays in Zero Dark Thirty as well, nice, remarkable), Chris Messina as Malinov (probably CIA, I don’t remember him), Željko Ivanek as Robert Pender (now this is unforgettable, a Slovenian specialized in this kind of roles, he was CIA or State Department, whatever, superior of superior), Titus Welliver as Jon Bates (small fish in CIA), Bob Gunton as Cyrus Vance (United States Secretary of State), Philip Baker Hall as Stansfield Turner (Director of Central Intelligence).
Directed by Ben Affleck, Produced by Grant Heslov, Ben Affleck, George Clooney. Screenplay by Chris Terrio, based on The Master of Disguise by Antonio J. Mendez and The Great Escape by Joshuah Bearman. 120 min, a clean 8 imdb rating, which takes it out of top 250.

The Featurette is not bad at all. The movie is the new Oscar. I wouldn’t be unhappy if any of the others will win (except Haneke’s Amour, of course).

[All pics are from imdb.com]

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