Zero Dark Thirty

The premise of this film is the hunt for Osama Bin Laden, the Finding of the man and the Killing of Osama Bin Laden.

The first few scenes of this film could have been removed, and the angst surrounding the necessity of water boarding would be gone. This film was removed from Best Picture category in most minds, because of the political controversy. Too bad, this was a superbly written, directed and acted film. The film stars Jessica Chastain and,essentially this film is about her character, Maya, and her ten year search for Bin Laden. The film pitches Maya against the rest of the CIA men. She has a conviction, 100%, that she has found Osama,and, of course, she is right.

Most of the film involves the search of the CIA, including the tracing down of leads that many Americans considered too obvious and in plain sight to be plausible. To Maya, however, that is the whole beauty of bin Laden's scheme. : It is wise to conceal something in plain sight. What takes imagination is to act on it. Maya is the new CIA, and she faces disagreement between the tried and true methods of espionage and her quicker, more intuitive approach.

The best of the film is the final reckoning that Osama has been found, the question that No one can be definitive that the compound is where the man really is. And, then, the decision to GO, made by President Obama. The flight to the compound, the raid, the killing and the final leg home. On the edge of your seat tension, even though we know the outcome. This was the real deal,,we saw the night vision binoculars in use, and felt the tension of the Navy Seals. Superb film, one of the best of the year.
Highly Recommended.

Synopsis: Focuses on the black ops mission to capture or kill Osama bin Laden.
Starring: Jessica Chastain, Jason Clarke
Supporting actors: Joel Edgerton, Jennifer Ehle, Mark Strong, Kyle Chandler, Edgar Ramirez, James Gandolfini, Chris Pratt, Callan Mulvey, Fares Fares, Reda Kateb, Harold Perrineau, Stephen Dillane
Directed by: Kathryn Bigelow
Genre: Drama, History, Thriller
Runtime: 2 hours 37 minutes
Captions and Subtitles: English Details
Release year: 2012
Studio: Columbia Pictures
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MPAA Rating: Rated R for strong violence including brutal disturbing images, and for language

Argo

It's a story so crazy it has to be true: when the American Embassy in Tehran was overtaken in 1979, six Americans managed to escape. They holed up in the Canadian ambassador's house, while the Canadian government and the CIA thought about how best to get them out. Enter Tony Mendez, a CIA op who's specialty is extracting people. Tony has a crazy idea, the "best bad idea" of the whole bunch: why not fake a Canadian film crew, scouting locations for a STAR WARS rip-off?

Ben Affleck has so far limited his directing career to intimate projects: GONE BABY GONE and THE TOWN, crime thrillers set in his hometown of Boston. What made both films so brilliant was how personal they were to the writer/director. Surprisingly, Affleck manages to bring this personal touch to ARGO: it's still an intimate film, centered around the people who made this grand scheme happen. And what a cast of characters we have: Affleck's Mendez, a solid performance, if not quite enough to anchor the film. (As evidenced by the film's second act, where the weight of the film is thrust onto Affleck's shoulders, and the movie flounders for a moment.) The supporting cast far outshines the star: Alan Arkin as a film producer willing to back the whole thing; John Goodman as a makeup artist with CIA ties; and especially Bryan Cranston, chewing his way through his role as Mendez's superior. There's also a whole host of cameos, in the great Hollywood tradition: Michael Parks, Bob Gunton, Richard Kind, Adrienne Barbeau, and others make blink-and-you'll-miss-it appearances.

This comes off not as a novelty, but as an act of love. Because ARGO isn't just a spy story; in a way, it's an affection note to Hollywood history. Screenwriter Chris Terrio gives us a multi-layered script full of all things movie lovers enjoy: action; humor; heart; allusions; intrigue. Basically all that's missing is the romance, but that's okay--this film is romantic enough, in the old tradition of great spy films, to suit anyone's needs. ARGO may not be a masterpiece; perhaps it's not even Affleck's best directorial effort (that's a matter of taste). But it's one of the best movies of 2012, a year filled with good titles, and it's sure to become a favorite for many film buffs.  - Customer Reviews

Based on real events, the dramatic thriller "Argo" chronicles the life-or-death covert operation to rescue six Americans, whichunfolded behind the scenes of the Iran hostage crisis.

Starring: Ben Affleck, Bryan Cranston
Directed by: Ben Affleck
Runtime: 2 hours 1 minute
Release year: 2012
Studio: Warner Bros.