The news traveled so fast that Ben Affleck was taking over for Christian Bale for the Superman vs. Batman superhero movie — the kind of movies Hollywood just can’t seem to tire of making.
it almost broke Twitter. At the same time, on NPR, John Horn took over for Kim Masters to talk about what a crippling failure this summer has been for many of the Big Dumb Movies that are supposed to bring them in in droves. The story? Many adults turning out for better films like Mud, Fruitvale Station, Before Midnight, Blue Jasmine (might be the highest grossing film of Woody Allen’s career), and The Butler. Will the studios take notice, they ask? Doesn’t look like it. Superhero movies now more than ever!
From the looks of it, Affleck is winning all of the important players, and the pawns too, on the chess board. Best Picture Oscar, Gone Girl with Fincher, and now, giant superhero movie tent pole?
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Well, I liked him in To the Wonder – he had maybe 5 lines. Perhaps Batman will be likewise as quiet.
Glad to see America’s 9-year-olds have a hot topic to debate. And you’ll never believe who will be directing the next My Little Pony adventure!
Сomment from Roman Volobuev, famous Russian critic:
«As usual with Snyder, no one appreciates underlying beauty of this decision due to its obvious outer idiocy. It has been long-term geek fetish – alternative “Batman” with Eastwood, and because Afflec is a new Eastwood, there you go».
Well, David Fincher cast him as the male lead in Gone Girl. Consider that in the last three films Fincher has directed (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The Social Network, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo), his three leads (Brad Pitt, Jesse Eisenberg, Rooney Mara) have received Oscar nominations for their performances. I wouldn’t underestimate this casting in the slightest.
I have no idea what Fincher has to do with this Man of Steel sequel.
However maybe now someone will get my point.
Fincher, nominee
Pitt, nominee
Eisenberg, nominee
Mara, nominee
Affleck, two time winner
Nope? Still doesn’t make a dent? The point is the man has the most clout going right now. Why throw it away with a joke movie? I’ll assume a lot of you didn’t see Man of Steel and therefore don’t know how bad it was and why I’m complaining. He should just be directing so he can get at least a Best Director nomination, which I’m sure they think they owe him at this point. But no. Put on Batnipples. See if I care. 😛
Geez everyone is going to pounce on every clip, every trailer, every teaser, every photograph.
I’m just going to wait to see what happens. Although I am honestly bemused by the spectacle #Batfleck has become after just thinking it was just another piece of movie news albeit more interesting than average.
Reading between the lines, what I’m getting is this – Man of Steel was not a strong enough film artistically or commercially to merit a straight sequel.
So, in a somewhat desperate move, they’re attempting to do a Marvel-esque hybrid film to save face or kill off existing contracts. At least Affleck will bring the personality. Henry Cavill played superman as a borderline aspie.
If RDJ was willing to do Avengers, CB should have done this. His is a twisted ego.
@Ryan Adams
I don’t know how often you check your “moderation” folder, but just giving you heads up about mine :p
I’d say Affleck is a solid choice. As for comic book flicks – I enjoy them. I think they should involve more female characters (X-Men is all about the X-women, save Wolverine) as comics are generally soap operas with superpowered individuals – think of Luke and Laura as Cyclops and Phoenix. And this year, the movies that tanked weren’t based on comics books – The Lone Ranger, White House Down, Pacific Rim, and… (okay, RIPD is based on a comic, but to me looks like a MIB ripoff). I’d like to see Warner Bros. introduce Wonder Woman. She is in Superman’s league in terms of power and she’s a classic hero. In the DC Universe, she is considered the best fighter there is, better than Batman (she’s an Amazon after all). It may all be pretty lame right now, but once studios move away from origin movies, there is the potential for so much more, especially when they get the balls to introduce female superheroes as more than just a one-of on the team (Black Widow).
I find this such lazy casting. Nothing against Affleck as I find him as a talented filmmaker minus Argo and I am a huge fan of Gone Baby Gone as well as The Town but I had hoped they would be a little more imaginative with their casting of Batman as Nolan did when he casted Bale.
When I say Daredevil is superior on all levels to Batman, I mean the characters themselves.
Like, ugh… he did mess up Daredevil (superior on all levels to Batman, for the matter), now he’s up to be Batman.
Affleck is a competent director (nothing from another world, mind you) and just an average actor, capable of some notable performances (Hollywoodland, Chasing Amy) when given a candy role. But he’s going to face Cavill, who DID impress as Superman, and has to remove his Matt Murdock/Daredevil from our collective consciousness.
But seriously, watching him as DOUBLE Oscar winner, is completely excessive. Specially since neither of his wins (Good Will Hunting, Original Screenplay & Argo, Picture) is specially deserved, and at the price of way more talented competitors.
My 2 cents.
I think modern family go this one correct, Meryl streep would have been a better choice for batman
http://www.midnightreview.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/tumblr_m6iz3ljsCl1qaphbxo1_500.jpg
Affleck’s got that All-American Jawline…which means he hasn’t got a very interesting or characterful face.
Josh Brolin would have been a far better choice.
But, oh well, this is coming from someone who won’t be seeing this movie, anyway…I’m just fed up with superheroes for now…
Whatever excitement I had for this release which was pretty high to begin with has immediately vanished when this casting news broke. Total bummer.
Didn’t Affleck do a superhero movie and was a complete failure at it? I just have to laugh. But then again I don’t watch these movies (exception being Nolan’s) so I really could care less, I just find it hilarious…
The filmmakers said they were looking to create a middle aged Batman for this reboot…they got one. He looks charming, doesnt always sound charming, but only the filmmakers have seen the script and maybe when they read those pages, they totally envision Affleck as their Dark Knight.
I remember thinking Heath Ledger was going to be a total disaster when he was announced as the Joker, but at that point, I was comparing him to Tim and Jack’s version; Heath’s Joker was a completely different version and easily fit the role written when all was said and done
Has no script yet
…Back in July Snyder said he was currently developing the story with David S. Goyer, who would later pen the script…even if there is no script, they know how the movie will play out…
PROBABLY know how it will play out…
I haven’t read all the comments here yet — because, honestly, it’s not that important to me. If I never see another Batman movie in my life, I’ll be fine. So if it turns out this was a disastrous choice then I’ll just skip seeing it.
But has anyone else been blunt enough to point out how weird it might feel when Affleck is wrapping up a trilogy of Batman-related films in 2022 at the age of 50?
Most actors are ready to turn over these kinds of roles to the next generation as they approach 40. Affleck will be 43 when Man of Steel Meets Man of Kevlar premieres.
I’m sure that’ll have to be acknowledged and probably played for laughs. Great, just great.
Has Affleck become more superheroic-looking than this since 2006?
“The Dark Knight Returns is set in a dystopian near-future version of Gotham City. Bruce Wayne is 55 years old and has retired as Batman; and levels of crime are rising.”
That’s the blurb for the comics on which that next film is supposed to be based so my best guess is Affleck will be all right!
ok then, so it’s The Incredibles. I can roll with that.
As if Gotham hasn’t already always been dystopian. But that’s alright. Slather on enough hyperdsytopia and I’ll be there.
I didn’t even care about this movie before, but now I’m intrigued. Let’s wait until we see this before lashing out. Snyder might actually make a good film for a change!
I’m not lashing out. I’m just not excited. I don’t even care enough anymore to be skeptical.
If it’s good, it’s good. If it’s awful I won’t have to see it.
Wasn’t talking about you particularly, just the general negative and cynical reaction on the Twitterverse and Interweb.
Thanks for getting me up to speed on the future direction they’re taking. Seriously, you had me at dystopia.
I’d like to see a dystopian re-imagining of just about any movie ever made. Juno, Finding Nemo, Mary Poppins, you name it.
Remember I’m the guy who thought The Artist could have been a truly great movie if only Valentin had really blown his brains out.
Also, Snyder said about Affleck: “He has the acting chops to create a layered portrayal of a man who is OLDER and WISER than Clark Kent and bears the SCARS of a SEASONED crime fighter but retain the CHARM that the world sees in billionaire Bruce Wayne. I can’t wait to work with him.”
Methinks they know what they’re doing…
More “super-heroic”? Now we have hard evidence why the red panties have been discontinued.
They have to make the characters age because the only audience that’s interested is aging. I’m sorry I’ll miss the last installment when Bruce and Clark are in their 80s and sharing a unit at the home. The final conflict can be a kind of Amour Redux where the outcome is determined by a well-placed pillow. There won’t be a dry eye in the house.
The fact that this is trending higher than any real topics is laughable – really shows our priorities. You can compromise with my privacy, shoot the kid next door and poison the planet, but don’t fuck with my fanatsies.
They have to make the characters age because the only audience that’s interested is aging
There is absolutely no evidence to support this. I know the comics superheroes is not your thing, but how long have comics and movies based on superheroes been around? I bet they will be here at least another run like the one we’ve had so far.
At least none here is saying all comics fans must be repressed fascists and of at least questionable politics like I’ve read elsewhere lately.
I’m sure there is (evidence that the target market is aging), but I’m not sure where to find it. I’ll work on that.
(God, it’s hard to focus with you dressed like that, Dr Moreau!)
I don’t mean to stop you from finding good evidence or even making a proper theoretical case as I’m sure you’re more than capable of. I myself just base my opinion on my experiences and the people I know and what’s obvious to everyone. No surveys of projections found here :). But here’s how I see it. Though before I briefly try to explain/demonstrate the longevity of superhero movies and anticipate their continued success in the long run, let me just clarify that I don’t intend to discuss their quality as films, their technical merits, their importance in cinema history or lack thereof, and stuff of that sort unless you want me to later on.
So, in my opinion it all comes down to three pretty basic features of superheroes. First, the fact that Superheroes represent “good” and fight “evil” means parents -or most of them anyways- will always be cool with their kids getting into them from an early age (as they probably did themselves). Second, they are extraordinary beings with extraordinary powers and/or abilities so most kids regardless of intelligence (dumb & smart) and social status will find them cool, and clearly, most people never outgrow this fascination. Will they find other shit cool as well? Yeah sure, but superheroes will always remain one of their preferred ways of amusement. Three: all superheroes are at a basic level just templates –even with all their backgrounds, history, mythology, intricacies, etc, you can always update them by giving them modern personalities, modern dilemmas and preoccupations, make them speak the current lingo, dress them with costumes that appeal to the sensibilities in turn, get the hottest-newest-most-talented actors to play (or voice) them, etc, etc, so that way they never feel like something from another time.
Even as this current 18-35 male demo gets into their 40’s, 50’s and so on, their 5 year-old counterparts are already being “recruited” by the TV animated series of their time. I mean that’s how it happened to me anyways. Take X-Men for instance. I didn’t get into X-Men because of Bryan Singer’s movies. I got in via X-Men: Evolution, my older cousins got into them because they watched X-Men, and the kids of these very days are getting into it by whatever iteration Marvel has currently installed in the Kids Channel. In fact Marvel/DC already get an insane proportion of their profits directly from this Young Market of videogames, toys, deals with fast-food places, animated series, etc, not to mention every one 6-year-old who drags his two uninterested parents to see THE AMAZING SPIDERMAN (2012) and who, later on, asks for the DVD.
In fact, the amount of people who get to like superheroes by actually reading Comic Books is a minuscule portion of the hordes of males -and their GFs- who end-up buying tickets at the multiplex. I mean, because being into superheroes (casually, mildly, or intensely depending on who you are) is a much more engrained part of global pop culture than being into westerns, or horror films, or robots, etc. Your parents would have to make a conscious effort for anyone -boys mostly I concede- not to get touched by at least one of them. It’s both an almost basic and easy taste to develop, they’re just too cool. Who in their childhood gave a shit about IRON MAN or THOR? This generation of moviegoers must have become “fans” of them as adults and just because almost all the Marvel movies were at least decent, good and a few were great. This massive audience doesn’t consist of extreme fans or a subculture of awkward nerds. Those known as fanboys must represent <5% of the total box-office these movies amass. Nah, most everyone already is fertile soil for new seeds (GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY) to flourish and take root (AVENGERS) provided they’re healthy seeds, and please forgive the analogy. My point is –so as long these conditions and the dynamics that JAWS and STAR WARS brought to the cinema stick around, Superhero movies aren’t going anywhere.
The massive audience to be tapped into will always be available. And frankly, even as many people whose opinion I respect continue to prognosticate the impending doom of the status quo, personally I don’t believe for second the current dynamic changing in the short-term. I for one don’t consider the critical and commercial failure of any given title (e.g. GREEN LANTERN, a terrible movie), or another not being the success we were anticipating (e.g. MAN OF STEEL, far from good), or MUD making bank as evidence of the decline of blockbusters, tentpoles, sequels, or Superhero Movies. As long as the movies deliver (THE AVENGERS, IRON MAN 3, DARK KNIGHT TROLOGY, X-MEN: FIRST CLASS, etc) the mob will beg them to take their money. I’m part of the mob.
RE: My avatar: In allegory to the recurring theme of this season of another inevitable Meryl Streep nomination. Marlon Brando as Dr. Moreau is the kind of performance for which Steep gets nominated to the Academy Award for Actress in a Leading Role as of late (like the last decade?). Based on the trailer for AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY, it’s clear we’re in for yet another one of those. I bet Brando only got ridicule, but I can’t certify.
Love the logic behind the avatar, Bryce.
(god, I hope these links work)
THIS
and THIS
and THIS
I won’t re-analyze because the links explain all in great detail, but just to point out a few facts:
1 – it’s a cycle for a particular demographic – which is aging.
2 – technology is available NOW to create a product that is enticing
3 – it is prohibitively expense to produce and a failure seriously jeopardizes companies in a fiercely competitive market.
4 – original material has been rehashed too frequently in “reboots”
5 – the cycle has peaked; the source material mined to the point of redundancy
My father read Superman from its beginnings until the 1940s, but lost interest as an adult. Same for me, except for my interested in movies, and these films have played a major part in the industry lately (and ONLY lately, as features). Younger relatives say, “what else is there?” and go to the movies far less frequently than either my father or I at the same age.
Nothing is forever – westerns and musicals have burps in popularity now and again, but nothing like what they had in their heyday. Genres – as trends – are generation-specific.
OK, the links don’t work, so here they are to cut and paste, if interested:
http://www.infographicsinspiration.com/superhero-movie-statistics/superhero-movies-infographic/
http://www.overthinkingit.com/2012/07/31/peak-superhero-avengers-batman-statistics/
http://howtomarkettome.com/2012/07/25/the-dark-knight-rises-and-the-superhero-generation/
Insightful reads! Thanks 🙂
I tend to still think the same 😛
I’m kind of predicting THE AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON to be even more successful at the box-office than its predecessor and have similar critical success 90%+ on rotten tomatoes, no THE DARK KNIGH kind of raves but still another triumph for Joss Whedon. I just don’t see the current elementary schoolers (still considered millennials?) not buying movie tickets to see the next generation (reboots) of superhero movies throughout their teenage years and beyond. I’m pretty biased tho 🙂
Dang I need to give the smileys a break
I agree. that was the second thing that crossed my mind….
I still don’t understand a lot about this issue. Bale didn’t return for the role because he is tired of playing it, or because he ask for to much money? In this case, Affleck will be pay less????? But I agree with KT: somehow, Warner is grooming Aflleck to be the studio next Eastwood, of course in a future far way.
This is just Sad! I’m still hoping this is a sick joke on WBros. part.
Say it ain’t so joe!
And Brown University gave Ben Affleck an honorary degree. BAHAHAHA What a joke.
I think the studio politics at Warner Bros. is very interesting. They are grooming Ben to be their new Clint Eastwood. I wonder if anyone knows more.
(Another) Japanese trailer for Diana:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-vioxYLyqkE#t=85
Oscar Scene at 1min 18sec.
Oh my, this is so much better in Japanese, thank you! Naomi does a lot of running in there, if she doesn’t get the Oscar she can still try the Olympics 🙂
I second the motion on the Japanese. Leave it in for all version across the globe!
Seriously, I don’t know if this movie is going to be more like “The Queen” or “The Iron Lady” (or smth else altogether), but in both cases the lead actress won the prize anyway… It would be the third time in less than 10 yrs that an Actor wins an Oscar for playing a member or spouse of the Windsor family (Mirren, Firth, Watts?), and I’m already waiting for the Prince George movie.
People really need to calm down about this. It hasn’t even been 24 hours, and I am sick of hearing about it. Everyone is so ANGRY over Affleck’s casting. Sheesh. I actually saw a Facebook status last night that said, “I need to watch Schindler’s List to cheer up.” All the fanboys need to take a chill pill.
and, of course, Henry the Horse, dances a waltz.
Dunbledore vs Gandalf in this, too?
Clever Fab 4 insert, Burns
There appears to be a major split happening in the industry – and the movie-going audience – between big, studio-backed tent pole productions and the more serious filmmaking. The former is in danger of collasping under its own weight while the latter seems to be succeeding in spite of itself.
Affleck is a smart guy. He’s keeping a foot planted on both sides. The core audiences for each, for the most part, are not the same.
That Twitter is afire with controversy over this is bizarre, and it appears that “Tent-polers” have more of a problem with Affleck as Batman than the other side.
Batman is not Lear. He’ll be fine. He might not bring the maturity to the role that John Hamm could have, but I’ll bet he’ll look pretty damn good in the suit and mask.
And, yes – the real concern here should be over Snyder, not Affleck.
That Twitter is afire with controversy over this is bizarre
I thought it was pretty obvious and can’t believe no one involved saw it coming. I could seriously write all day about why this is wrong but it seems so self-explanatory. Seriously. Everyone just sit there and imagine Ben as Batman. In the suit. Trying to be serious. About Gotham. ‘Cause it has to be in Gotham. Metropolis is just a bunch of dust after MOS. You don’t see how that has the potential to be mocked severely?
The tent -polers you speak of are the younger generation I assume. They enjoyed MOS because it was actiony. They liked watching a city smash for 40 minutes or more. They like cartoonish special effects apparently. I don’t really consider these people movie fans. They just wanted to see Superman fly around. Otherwise there was nothing to that “film”. Nothing.
The guy who starred in Gigli and Survivng Christmas and made the mistake of being a five timer on SNL right after Justin Timberlake is going to be perfect for the Man of Steel sequel. That’s the problem. He’s setting himself up for all the bad press. It’s the next morning and #BetterBatmanthanBenAffleck is still the #1 trending topic followed by “Ben Affleck” and “Daredevil”. Really not good news. Oh the fact that everyone’s interested might mean a big opening weekend, but that was going to happen anyway right? All I see is new reputation damage that he doesn’t need. Let’s all hope that I’m wrong.
I don’t even think it’s a year ago people in my home state were desparate for this man to run for the Senate. From the Great State of Massachusetts… Senator Batman. *sigh* I can see the jokes coming a mile away. Who lets him do these things? If he really insists on continuing to act he should consider doing a Jekyll and Hyde type role. He’d be a natural at this point.
I mean my favorite actor is Val Kilmer. I know the damage that Batman can do. The director is all important. Christopher Nolan, yes. Joel Schumacher, no. Zack Snyder? God help us.
This would be an actual cartoon movie.. can’t even bother to imagine how ridiculous and comic Affleck would look in that getup.
I really wanna know whose dick he is sucking at Warner Bros. This is just completely wrong. And it seems that the studio doesn´t care at all about the fans. I am sad now.
It’s funny how everyone reverted back into “Affleck is a joke” mode the minute this news broke. It’s like it was 2006 all over again, which just proves that people respect Affleck the director….Affleck the actor, not so much. In a limited role he’s just fine, but as Bruce Wayne/Batman? Trying to follow Christian Bale? Keep dreaming.
Bruce/Bats is a tricky role and not even Bale fit it perfectly but Affleck is just too light of an actor to pull this off. I worry that DC is trying to rip off Marvel by essentially making Batman into Iron Man — ditch the grim Bruce Wayne and make him a fun-loving billionaire playboy like Tony Stark. Ironically, if you told me that Affleck was playing the Dick Grayson version of Batman, I’d actually be much more on board.
I’ll be much more enthused if we hear sometime next year that Affleck is taking over as director and Snyder is out.
Congrats to Ben Affleck. Comeback complete.
I am glad that Gotham’s Dark Knight is someone with Oscar pedigree, but the year is 2013. Isn’t it time the cowled crusader’s performance be from someone who has won an Oscar for ACTING? I would greatly prefer, for example, the Oscar-winner Kate Winslet (The Reader, Titanic) for the role.
Though Kate “The Great” Winslet has never played a Bat-iconed vigilante before, she has proven herself capable of performing action (Titanic), weighty drama (Revolutionary Road), and comedy (The Holiday).
I can only wonder why WB did not make an aggressive public campaign to get Kate Winslet into the burgeoning DC Cinematic Universe.
Don’t ever change, Watermelons. 😀
I think this is a major error.
MAN OF STEEL made a lot of money but it was the worst thing I’ve seen in a while. Affleck grew up on the Christopher Reeve Superman movies just like I did. So he knows it. Especially since we can tell from his own direction that he knows what a good film is. Why he would want to connect himself to this at this stage of his career is baffling. He’s got all the respect coming from ARGO and he’s going to roll the dice on a project like this? Self-destructive imo.
If Christian Bale has done it for 50 or 60 million, I could see doing it not just for the payday but to block someone else from taking the role.
But I thought this was a twitter joke at first. No kidding. I like Ben Affleck. But he’s done a lot of stuff that’s pissed me off throughout his career and I take a tough love stance with him on the internet because I think he’s the type who’s susceptible to false flattery from those who’d love to see him fail. I want him to succeed and I hope he does but this looks like he’s walking off a cliff. I’m going to assume this whole thing was Matt Damon’s idea.
Between directing Live By Night and acting in Gone Girl he won’t receive the backlash you think he will unless the movie is truly bad. I think he’ll do a good Batman.
he’s not a a great actor- but we’re now talking about a zach snyder film- not a christopher nolan film… i’m fine with this. actually i would rather he focus on directing but whatever.
He’s following George’s playbook. Make a boatload of money being a superhero comic hero — get the back end the front end the merchandise end — and use that money to make the “little” indie movie.
After being criminally snubbed for Best Actor (Oscar), in Argo, now it looks like Affleck might be up for the competition again…………………………………….(not).
—
(Tell me you know I was just kidding about Argo Best Actor’s snubbing and all………….)
Anyway, seriously: I truly enjoy all those three films of which Affleck is in charge in directing. So, I hope he will continue working in that very area very soon.
I would have been pretty excited had it been for that matter……………………
PS: Someone has mentioned Lex Luthor…. Excusez-moi, mes amis….
Speaking for myself, no-one — moi at least — wants to see a super hero with inconceivable superpower fighting a mortal being so weak and sluggish who can’t even run 100 meters under, let’s say, 7 secs, despite his foe’s high IQ level. (Please come up with some equally mean, manipulative alien beings who can fly and kick ass like Superman…. Far better that way…. This is not the 80s [I’m in my […] 30s; this is not about different gen’s mindset.])
(Just seen the strange-avatar and automatically realized my blunder….) Sorry, Ryan and Sasha: I typed a wrong address that I don’t even know whether or not it exists….
(easy to fix!)
[Telepathically back to Ryan — my compliments]: (Thanks, Ryan. I’m now officially and completely attached to this trademark avatar of mine, mine alone…. xD I would sort of feel like something missing without it.)
I think Affleck will do fine as Batman. I am more concerned about how they are going to merge the 2 universes.
This isn’t Nolan’s universe, but the one Snyder started with ‘Man of Steel.’ Different Batman.
I haven’t found the wormhole between these two universes yet. To be honest, I’m not sure I want to pass through it when I do.
These two characters coexist in the same Universe in the books, so if the studio is wise, it might want to crib off those notes.
Thank you, Alex! I believe Sasha should explain herself. First, she calls Argo “perfect”. Then, she backslashes the film every time she can. Tell us, Sasha, if Argo is a perfect film (as you positively said) why are you so mad it won over Lincoln? Shouldn’t the Oscar award the best movies? I believe being called “perfect” is a pretty good compliment for a movie, one that testifies its quality (in the view of the person who called it) Or should we not take your word that serious?
Matthew McConaughey would be a great choice!
Oh please no. Affleck is a talented director, a very talentless actor
Would you have been calling McConaughey a talented actor 5 years ago or is it just because of his recent surge? He and Affleck are cut from the same cloth, talented startups that fell into type-casted romcom roles and are now experiencing come backs. They’re both good actors.
“Argo is a perfect film — a tightly defined one. For the first time in what ought to end up being a promising career, Affleck is in complete command of the material — easily navigating over the necessary jumps — the set up, the conflict, the humor, the suspense, the conclusion. It works on a surface level, as a wildly entertaining thriller. It’s a movie about Hollywood so one might presume that you have to be a Hollywood insider to get the jokes. But you don’t. These are jokes about what the rest of the world thinks about Hollywood. That’s why they’re universally funny.
The truth is that you don’t even really have to dig deeper into Argo if you don’t want to. He had me at Led Zeppelin. But if you want to go deeper you can and that’s what elevates Argo from simple satisfying entertainment to an ultimately profound film about America’s place in the Middle East and ultimately in the world. But you have to be looking. One of Affleck’s gifts here is not overdoing that part of it. He lays out the breadcrumbs subtly, in case you might be looking for them — and if you are, you’ll uncover truths you might not have paid much attention to before. This is one of the things David Fincher does so well, which is why his films can be watched repeatedly and you find something new each time.”
I remember when you wrote that, Sasha … You didn’t explicitly write any snarky remarks about Argo in this short Batman update, but I just FEEL it whenever you mention Affleck even tangentially.
I’m totally behind your backing of Lincoln and appreciate how upset you are about Argo’s win, but just because Lincoln didn’t win, I don’t think that makes what you wrote about Argo when it came out any less true, and you wrote that after several viewings – a *perfect film.* I’ve spent the last few months doing thesis research on American films about/involving the Middle East, focusing largely on Argo, and I have to say that the movie holds up to a keen eye – something you yourself noted enthusiastically.
I just wanna know — has hindsight made you fully retract your earlier statements about Argo (which if it has, that’s totally fine, opinions are more than liable to change, as they should be!)? Or, EVEN though you still believe (probably rightly so) that Lincoln is a better film, can you say that you still agree with your earlier assessment (loving Lincoln and loving Argo are certainly not mutually exclusive…)? Either one is valid, I’d just love to know, especially since your commentary on Argo’s topical relevance as a “profound” film (which works in part because the movie was executed so well) was a small part of my motivation in choosing my thesis project, and a statement I wholly agree with, and it’d just, well, it’d be interesting to know.
I could get behind this actually, if I were the least excited about this movie.
———-might as well copy a comment I made at another site———–
Steps to be taken:
1) Fire David S. Goyer as screenwriter and ban him from overseeing shit.
2) Hire Max Landis to help with the script. Let Affleck help too, He’s already contributed to 3 pretty good scripts
2) Don’t let Nolan get his fingerprints on it too much. I bet he has his hands full with INTERSTELLAR anyways.
3) Get as much insight from Affleck as possible. He might have directed a mediocre piece (ARGO), but he’s proven to be a good director (GONE BABY GONE) and is actually pretty intelligent even if he’s not gifted at visuals and craft. I mean, contrary to a somewhat popular belief he’s not the new Michael Mann. But he might have some pretty good ideas in terms of storytelling.
4) Snyder, stick to the visuals
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OT: Did anyone hear that J.J. Abrams is shooting EPISODE VII on 35mm?? Huh yeah I know. Now I don’t trust Abrams at all, but this added to him saying they’re using practical effects alongside CGI pretty evenly makes me wonder if Abrams could finally make something really good. Hmm…
p.s. I did enjoy his STAR TREKS, the first one more than the second one.
All I’m saying is, they need to cast BRYAN CRANSTON as Lex Luthor.
LOVE IT!! Bryan is already Breaking-Bad(ass), and he’s already bald.
+1
Matt Damon as Robin. Jennifer Garner as Catwoman. Kevin Smith as Gordon. Getting my ticket. Nah I’m fine with this seriously. I’m sure many are outraged. I never understood the hatred for him. I hate some of his films and some of his performances. It isn’t an inspired casting choice like Bale was, but he’s a fine understated actor. The bigger problem will be Snyder’s direction and Goyer’s script, but he’s not a bad choice for Bruce Wayne/Batman. I still would have liked Jon Hamm. Oh well.
OH SHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
This is wrong on so many levels.
The only reasoning is that he’s getting paid a boatload of money…there’s no other reason….oh wait! He’s not a good actor. Perfect casting.
Hello, my name is Ben. I AM Batman!!
IDK, it could be pretty cool.