Citizen Rules...Cinemaesque Chat-n-Review

Director: Ben Affleck
Cast: Ben Affleck, Bryan Cranston, John Goodman
Genre: Biography, Drama, History

If you're looking for an action packed, thriller suspense...skip this movie! If you watched the trailer and think this is going to be an edge of your seat film, thing again!....Argo is a slow paced, biography drama, it's not a thriller. It's an introspective look at an inside CIA plan to extract six Americans trapped in Tehran, during the Iranian hostage crisis of 1980. These six Americans are hiding in the Canadian embassy and the Iranians are looking for them, but not sure of their whereabouts.

The movie follows an actual secret plan that the CIA came up with to get the hostages out of the country by using an elaborate ruse which was, a cover story of a Hollywood producer scouting a location for a new sci-fi film in Iran. With the trapped Americans as 'part' of the movie production team, with fake credential and everything.

This sounds like your typical Hollywood blockbuster but director Ben Affleck, does a pretty decent job here of making this feel like an authentic CIA operation. He avoids all the pitfalls that would have made this just another action-suspense-thriller. I liked the casting, the pacing, everything was top notch except how the ending was done. I can't tell you what the ending is and what happens is factual. What I didn't like was the pacing. Affleck for the end sequences went Hollywood with cliche moments in attempt to build excitement.

But if you can overlook the last few minutes, this film tells an amazing story of a low point in America's history, when another country, Iran took and held over sixty American hostages for 444 days. The repercussions of this event still shape U.S. foreign policy today.

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Director: Penny Marshall
Cast: Tom Hanks, Geena Davis, Lori Petty, Madonna, Rosie O'Donnell
Genre: Comedy Drama Sport
Length: 2h 8min

Synopsis: During World War II many of the professional baseball players have enlisted, leaving a shortage of players. There's talk that the professional baseball games will be shut down for the duration of the war. Then a promoter, Jon Lovitz, comes to a small farm town and recruits two sisters to join the first female baseball league. The new women's baseball league has an uphill battle to earn respect from the fans and from their drunken ex-ball player turned manager, Tom Hanks.

Review: You don't have to be a baseball fan to like this movie. I liked it, as you get a nice drama based on real events with some light comedy, but not silly-slapstick comedy. It's a fun film and hey, not only do you get Madonna as a bad girl ball player (if figures), you also get Rosie O'Donnell as her loudmouth friend (it figures!)...I liked Geena Davis and Tom Hanks in this but Lori Petty really stills the show and third base!

The film was directed by Penny Marshall of Laverne & Shirley fame. Many of her family members and friends make brief appearances in the film. Shirley (Cindy Williams) sadly was not in the film.

I thought Argo was an interesting movie, but it was kind of slow, and I think it's a bit overrated. It's worth seeing it once, but it's not the kind of movie that I would watch again.

I thought Argo was decent, but not great. Love A League of Their Own.

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I usually enjoy most baseball movies, but for some reason, I've never had an interest in seeing A League of Their Own. I think it's because there are just too many actors in it that I don't like, (Madonna, Rosie O'Donnell, and Jon Lovitz).

Yup, Argo was slow and not great. I wouldn't watch it again, but I would watch A League of Their Own again.

That is strange! I would thought for sure you seen and loved this movie. I was just reading the trivia and Madonna was a real pita on the set.

Still, I think it would be right up your alley, GBG, having some idea of the kinds of films you like.
It really is a nice movie, and if you don't like the folks you mentioned, you've got the performances of Geena Davis, Lori Petty & Tom Hanks to take your mind off it.

I think she'd rather she a baseball movie with guys Maybe Kevin Costner?

I have it on DVD because I found it at a garage sale for under $1 and it sounded like my kind of movie, but I just never got around to watching it once I read the cast list.

Both of you are usually good judges of what movies I'll like, so I'll have to give it a try.

I never cared for Bull Durham (not that I really gave it a chance.)
I'll take Major League any day - probably my favorite baseball movie.

Even my parents liked it - and they don't like anything. (They're still upset over Clark Gable saying "damn" on screen.)

It wasn't really idea of the girls team that turned me off, just the actual cast. But yes, Field of Dreams (with Costner), The Rookie (with Dennis Quaid), and Bang the Drum Slowly (with Michael Moriarty and Robert De Niro) are some of my favorite movies.

Bull Durham was good, but Field of Dreams was much better.

I don't care for Baseball and still really liked the film, so that's saying a lot.

Madonna and Rosie O'Donnell, only have a few lines ( I don't like them either but they were OK in the movie). Jon Lovitz is only in the beginning, I like Lovitz.

The film revolves around Geena Davis, Tom Hanks and Lori Petty. All the women had to be able to play baseball well., before being signed for the movie. And the actresses all do there all ball playing. They also play in real historical stadiums.

Pay close attention to the guy who dances with Madonna in the road side bar.

Ha!

Okay, it sounds like the three people that I don't like aren't the focus of the movie, so I'll try to find time to watch the movie this weekend, (hopefully).

I don't follow any professional sports, yet I love sports movies.
Not sure how to explain it except that sports movies are usually allegories or metaphors for things that are way beyond sports.

Good for you GBG, let us know how you liked it. I hope you do.

Captain, I don't follow sports either, I'm usually not drawn to sports movies, but when I've watched them, they've been pretty good.

Hey, I seen an old submarine movie last night and thought of you. Hellcats of the Navy (1957) with Ronald Reagan as a WWII sub commander and Nancy Davis as his girl. I hate to say this but gawd was she homely. He should have stuck with Jane Wyman.

A lot of sports movies aren't really about the actual sport. They're more about the people and whatever is happening to them outside of the game. Sometimes the sport is just a background.