Escape to the Movies: Argo

[RandV80]

So...wait....Here comes the Boom gets a recommendation?

Compared to the other movie, yes. That doesn't actually mean it gets a recommendation. Think of it this way.

Do you want me to hit your arm with a 3 pound hammer, or a 1 pound hammer?

Yeah pretty much. I had the misfortune of winning a draw that my girlfriend had me enter to the premiere night of Won't Back Down. They can squeeze some touching moments in but overall there's nothing really heart warming about it, unless you consider rallying up a an angry loud Tea Party like mob to fight against and overthrow their schools teacher union which is the primary reason why their kids are going to end up in jail rather than going onto college. And yes, despite the recent occupy protest with thousands of college grads in debt and unemployed the movie still backs the only long term goal for these elementary school kids is to get into college. No alternative routes, no actual planning on what to do there, just graduate high school and get into college then your set.

And I don't know, while part of the message is about school children in poor neighbourhoods not getting an opportunity, I thought in the States that was more of a Ghetto thing? In this movie they talk about being a poor neighbourhood but it all actually seems very middle class. Rather than have the guts to bring an actual ghetto home/school life to screen it feels like it's been designed that they're just barely poor enough to be somewhat believable but not too much to upset the target suburban mom audience.

Just a horrible movie overall.

 

[Darth Sea Bass]

I still have trouble getting my head round ben affleck as maker of good movies.

 

[Steve the Pocket]

When I started seeing ads for this movie, I remembered having read about the mission back when it was first declassified, although I don't remember where. The Jack Kirby thing rang a bell.

And did Bob not-so-subtly claim this movie was too good to win an Oscar?

I haven't seen the film, but it helps to know that the Shah wasn't just an American ally, he was installed by America. Iran had a functioning democracy until 1953, when the democratically elected assembly decided to raise the price of Iranian oil. The CIA sent a guy named Kermit Roosevelt II with a briefcase of cash and funded a coup by the Iranian army officer, who declared himself Shah (king).

*sigh* The more things change...

 

[TheSchaef]

It's not Aye-Raaaaan.

It's Ih-Rahn.

Fucking Americans.

Well, we have a president who enunciates "Pockeestahn" so I think it's a wash.

In the meantime, is anyone other than me a little spooked that a notoriously ridiculed actor like Affleck turned out to be someone who could choose some good stories and direct them very competently?

If he had foregone the effort to coattail Matt Damon and gone straight into directing after Good Will Hunting, we might be talking about him these days in the same breath with David Fincher and Martin Campbell instead of Luke Wilson and Vin Diesel.

 

[Callate]

They're making a CG "Peanuts" movie?

Clever snark escapes me. That's just awful.

 

[RJ Dalton]

May see this one.

It took me a moment to realize what the Charlie Brown upset face was about, been I did, I could only say ". . . Oh, no . . ."

 

[LordLundar]

Was initially excited about this film, then very wary when it appeared to be dismissive of the Canadian contribution, but Affleck set things straight [http://www.ottawacitizen.com/entertainment/Argo+director+Affleck+says+Canadian+diplomat+Taylor+hero/7375980/story.html] so I'm back to excited.

Yeah, It's a nice change where the biggest declaration of inacurracy is "my role was more important than presented".

 

[Furrama]

Is it me or is it getting hard to find Bob's movie reviews on this site?

Also: NO. YOU LEAVE CHARLIE BROWN ALONE.

No one making movies today is really going to get Schultz across very well. Although seeing Miyazaki (a few years ago) doing an animated sequence of Snoopy's imaginary adventures would perhaps be interesting. But... the Lorax guy? No. NO. You messed up Seuss twice, you don't get another.

 

[Strain42]

I remember hearing that the Ice Age guys were making Peanuts rather than the Despicable Me/Lorax guys.

I could be wrong. I'd actually be more excited if Illumination was making it rather than Blue Sky. (though I guess the founder of Illumination did work for Blue Sky at one point, so I guess it's not really wrong)

Either way, I'm not really looking forward to any sort of Peanuts reboot.

Scott Kurtz really said it best

Good Grief

it's a perfect phrase for the way I?m feeling about new Peanuts content in a post Schulz world.

Charles Schulz always insisted that only he could draw Peanuts. I know this because it said so in his obituary.

Nobody is trying to draw new Peanuts comic strips. The daily syndicated feature, which still runs in papers, consists of reruns. But last year, Boom Studios released a new Peanuts comic book that features brand new stories written and drawn by not Charles Schulz.

And now there?s news of a new feature length animated movie, by the makers of Ice Age. That?s right. I said the makers of Ice Age. The new movie, we?re being told, will be scripted by Craig Schulz and Bryan Schulz, who are Schulz?s son and grandson. We?re being told this because why? That?s good news? That means it?s going to be okay?

Look, I?m a cartoonist, and while my comic strip is pretty retarded when compared to Peanuts, I care very deeply about the work and the characters that inhabit it. I love my wife with all of my heart but I don?t want her writing PvP. Nor my brother, who is probably the only other person on the planet who thinks about PvP as much as I do. I don?t have kids but if I did I would encourage them to tell their own stories with their own characters and not feel burdened to carry my flag. If I wouldn?t trust anyone else to get something as dumb as PvP right, how can we expect anyone else to get Peanuts right?

Dear America, it?s okay for things to die. It?s poetic and gives the work more meaning that there ISN?T more of it. We don?t have to keep making shit until we dilute it to a point where we fucking hate it.

Nobody else can make new Peanuts because Peanuts was an expression of everything that was Charles Schulz. It was him channeled through ink onto paper. Any new Peanuts content can only be dirivitive works. If Charles Schulz didn?t write and draw it, it?s not Peanuts. It?s a reasonable facimilie at best and an unreasonable one at worst.

End of argument.

I know that there are some cartoonists (Mork Walker, Dik Browne, Bil Keane), who worked with and groomed their sons to take over their comic strips. I have read nothing to indicate that this is what happened in the Schulz household. Ever. Everything I?ve ever read on the subject or heard from the man himself in interviews or talking directly to his widow was that the strip stopped when he stopped.

The man passed away hours before his final strip ran. I don?t know how more clear he could have been on the subject.

Stop. Making. More. Peanuts.

 

[Darth_Payn]

For those of you sad at the lack of Jack Kirby, you can see some of the artwork he did for the fake ARGO production here:
http://www.cracked.com/article_19458_the-5-most-badass-teams-famous-people-to-ever-join-forces.html
It's extra funny to think of those as 5 minute doodles of his, knowing what he could do when he really put effort into it.
Getting back on topic, I'm excited for this movie and applaud Ben Affleck for taking up directing, because he's been knocking 'em out of the park lately.

 

[Psykoma]

I know that a lot of canadian journalists are bitching about the canadian involvement being underplayed, even after the post-production fix that Affleck made.

But I'm still really excited to see this movie.

 

[Aureliano]

Argo: really, surprisingly good. Good enough that I have to stop and take a hard look at my longstanding hatred of Ben Affleck. The fact that this is likely not going to win an Academy Award just goes to show you that the Oscars generally aren't worth paying attention to anymore.

For some perverse reason I was also kinda interested in seeing the Kevin James movie. Glad to hear there might be some substance in it around the unavoidable fat jokes.

 

[RandV80]

When I started seeing ads for this movie, I remembered having read about the mission back when it was first declassified, although I don't remember where. The Jack Kirby thing rang a bell.

And did Bob not-so-subtly claim this movie was too good to win an Oscar?

I haven't seen the film, but it helps to know that the Shah wasn't just an American ally, he was installed by America. Iran had a functioning democracy until 1953, when the democratically elected assembly decided to raise the price of Iranian oil. The CIA sent a guy named Kermit Roosevelt II with a briefcase of cash and funded a coup by the Iranian army officer, who declared himself Shah (king).

*sigh* The more things change...

Making matters even worse the guy the US/CIA overthrew, Mohammad Mosaddegh, was neither militaristic or theocratic but rather academic and progressive. A quick summary from wikipedia:

An author, administrator, lawyer, prominent parliamentarian, he became the prime minister of Iran in 1951. His administration introduced a wide range of progressive social and political reforms such as social security, rent control, and land reforms.[4] His government's most notable policy, however, was the nationalization of the Iranian oil industry, which had been under British control since 1913 through the Anglo-Persian Oil Company (APOC/AIOC) (later British Petroleum or BP).

So Iran likely wouldn't be a theocratic state today if America didn't go in there and mess things up because they were going to cut into their oil profits.

 

[themyrmidon]

I want to hear more about Here Comes the Boom/Won't Back Down. Please tell me that's the intermission this week, or even better it's The Big Picture (I hate Schlocktober).

 

[Daria.Morgendorffer]

I remember hearing that the Ice Age guys were making Peanuts rather than the Despicable Me/Lorax guys.

snip

Peanuts, I'm not surprised about. Not that it should happen, I mean, they're still intensely marketable, and clean and safe for young audiences.

Someone wanna make some more Calvin and Hobbes, though (that's not Bill Waterston)? I WILL be the first on the picket line.

 

[Gilhelmi]

Historical Espionage thriller that is really good.

MUST GO SEE NAOW.

You know what, I am with you on this.

I was not going to go see it but now Bob has convinced me of its quality.