Argo
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Tagline: Based On A Declassified True Story
The film critic Roger Ebert, who knows as much about film as anyone, has already anointed Ben Affleck’s third directorial feature, Argo, as the winner of Best Picture at the Oscars. “How do I know this?” he asks. “Because it is the audience favorite coming out of the top-loaded opening weekend of the Toronto Film Festival. Success at Toronto has an uncanny way of predicting the Academy’s favorite: namely, the Best Pictures of the last five years in a row: “No Country for Old Men,” “Slumdog Millionaire,” “The Hurt Locker,” “The King’s Speech” and “The Artist.”
Will Ebert be proved right? If the plot is anything to go by, quite possibly, seeing as we’re in “based on true events” territory, which tends to find favor with Oscar voters. On November 4, 1979, with the Iranian revolution in full swing, militants stormed the U.S. embassy in Tehran, taking 52 Americans hostage. Somehow, six Americans got away and made it to the Canadian ambassador’s home. The odds are that these hardy souls were only postponing a likely death, so the CIA “exfiltration” expert Tony Mendez concocted an audacious plan to rescue them. What does he have up his sleeve? Only the ludicrous notion that he’ll be able to convince the Iranian powers that be that the half-dozen escapees are actually part of a film crew, who are scouting locations for a sci-fi movie called – yes! – Argo.
And if he didn’t already have enough on his plate making the actual movie about the fake movie (albeit as part of a true story), Ben Affleck plays Mendez, which might also appeal to Oscar, who like to reward multi-tasking. Argo has certainly appealed to the critics as Ebert is not just in the business of making predictions but is a fan, labeling it “just plain a terrific film.” Entertainment Weekly concludes that “Argo is never less than wildly entertaining, but a major part of its power is that it so ominously captures the kickoff to the world we’re in now.” And The Daily Telegraph kicks off its review by noting that “Three films into his directing career, and Ben Affleck shows no sign of getting less good or slacking off with those serious mainstream movie ambitions. He’s set himself a thornily complex task in Argo and comes out with flying colors: it’s gripping, urgent, funny and weighty.” TIME’s Richard Corliss is a rare voice of dissent, yet still believes that “Argo is a solid but very ordinary film with patriotic and inspirational elements,” and acknowledges “that, yes, the Academy should probably save Affleck an aisle seat next Feb. 24.”
MORE: How Did Ben Affleck Go from Armageddon to Argo?
Seven Psychopaths
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Tagline: They Won’t Take Any Shih Tzu.
Mr. and Mrs. Friday Flicks remember Colin Farrell and writer/director Martin McDonagh’s previous collaboration, In Bruges, all too well, for we were in Bruges at the time it was being made, and still have the screaming sound of teenage girls ringing through our ears (thank goodness the movie was so enjoyable that it nearly made up for the shrieking).
The duo have teamed up again on Seven Psychopaths, though the destination has crossed the ocean to California. And in a similar vein to Argo, the world of film making plays a role. Farrell is Marty, a struggling Irish screenwriter, who just can’t make any headway with his script for Seven Psychopaths beyond the actual title. And so his best friend Billy (Sam Rockwell), who happens to run a dognapping racket – don’t worry, it will all make perfect sense – with Hans (Christopher Walken), attempts to cajole him out of his writer’s block with some surreal skits. That’s all well and good until a dog belonging to a gangster played by Woody Harrelson gets stolen. From here on in, if you will, the Shih Tzu hits the fan.
Seven Psychopaths seems to be getting close to five-star reviews. Variety gets the ball rolling but can’t fail to pass up the chance to slide in a slightly-barbed remark about McDonagh’s simplistic plot: “Ironically enough, the scribe’s apparent lack of any attempt to make a grand artistic statement could easily make this outing his most accessible project to date.” Empire is far more effusive in its praise for the director, concluding that he manages “a sleight of hand that much more experienced directors have struggled with and never pulled off as effectively as this.” And Entertainment Weekly is firmly in his corner, noting that “McDonagh has a fine time deconstructing movie genres in the SoCal sunshine,” even comparing him to the great Quentin Tarantino. You can see why: In so many ways, this movie seems like pulpy fiction.
LIST: Martin McDonagh: The Dark Master
NewsFeed’s Flicks Pick: A tough choice but if Roger Ebert says it’s going to win Best Picture, then Argo is good enough to be the Flicks Pick.