Something to watch tonight: Wednesday 28 January

Argo (Affleck, 2012)

Long-time readers of this newsletter (and its preceding blog) will know that I have a tendency to go on at length about my trip to the Telluride Film Festival in 2012.

As accredited media, I was entitled to go to the pre-opening night mystery screening at the Chuck Jones — Ben Affleck’s Argo:

Chuck Jones’ Theater is a converted convention centre ballroom with interior design by the great animator himself – walls covered with amusing recreations of famous paintings using the great Warner Bros cartoon characters. Jones was a regular here at Telluride until he became too frail to travel and this year we are all celebrating his 100^th birthday. In early years, he designed the festival poster and his characters adorn the lanyards of all attendees.

Argo was briefly introduced by Mr Affleck himself, who told us that we were the first paying customers to actually watch the film: “I know you didn’t actually pay, but you know what I mean.”

I’ll review it properly when it hits NZ cinemas – don’t want to peak too soon – but suffice to say that Argo is one of the most satisfying Hollywood pictures in years. It’s a tense geo-political drama which at the same time works as hilarious Hollywood satire and an against-the-clock thriller. Affleck has really hit his straps as a director and the sharp script by Chris Terrio should be receiving some gongs at awards season. That’s an unqualified “recommend” from me.

This is from my eventual review of Argo in the Capital Times of 31 October 2012:

Near the end of 1979, the new hardline rulers of Iran – incensed by the US government’s support for the previous despot – stormed the embassy in Teheran and held the occupants hostage for over a year, long enough to wreck President Jimmy Carter’s attempt at re-election and to define American relations with the Persian Gulf for another thirty years. That side of the story is relatively well-known. The secret story of the six embassy staff who escaped, hid in the Canadian ambassador’s house, and were then spirited out of the country disguised as a Hollywood film crew? Not so much.

Thanks to the recent declassification of the CIA and State Department files, the weird and wonderful story of Argo can be told, and – this being a Hollywood story about a Hollywood story – it gets a bit of a punch-up to make sure none of the entertainment potential is wasted. So now, Argo is “inspired by a true story” rather than “based on a true story” and it is also the smartest and most entertaining Hollywood picture for grown-ups this year.

Directed by Ben Affleck (who also stars as Tony Mendez, the CIA agent who hatched the plan), Argo is simultaneously a political drama with some smart things to say about the US engagement with the Middle East, a bitchy Hollywood satire with plenty of gags about the vanity and delusion of the movie business and a tense ‘race-against-the-clock’ thriller that is executed as well as anything by William Friedkin. While 40-year-old Affleck shows that he now has the chops to compete with the very best, it is Chris Terrio’s script that is most likely to win a naked gold dude come Oscar-time.

That turned out to be an incomplete prediction. Terrio did indeed win an Oscar but so did supporting actor Alan Arkin, editor William Goldenberg and producers Affleck, Grant Heslov and George Clooney when it took home the prize for Best Picture.

Also reviewed in that Capital Times column: French comedy The Intouchables (so successful that it was remade in India, Spain and the US), local horror-comedy Fresh Meat (directed by Danny Mulheron), harrowing documentary abour gender-cide, It’s a Girl, Andrea Riseborough and Clive Owen in a thriller set in Northern Ireland, Shadow Dancer, P.J. Hogan “shambles of a film” Mental:

Like an Ocker Mary Poppins, this house-keeper unleashes their inner strength and their vital personalities, wreaking havoc on the conservative community. The film is a mess (which I think is partly the point) but the saving grace is the cast, all of whom – LaPaglia, Collette, Gibney, Kiwi Kerry Fox and American Liev Schreiber – get a moment or two to show us what they can do. Schrieber’s Aussie accent is the best by an American that I’ve ever heard.

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Where to watch Argo

Aotearoa: Streaming on Prime Video or ThreeNow (free with ads)

Australia: Streaming on Prime Video or HBO Max

Canada: Streaming on Prime Video, Paramount+, Crave or Starz

Ireland: Streaming on Prime Video

India: Streaming on HotStar

UK: Streaming on Prime Video

USA: Digital rental