Argo - Trailer

Ben Affleck's third outing as director is Argo a bit of a Hollywood farce, a bit of a political drama and incidentally based on a true story. 

His debut, Gone Baby Gone was a good story well told that deserved to be seen more. His sophomore effort, The Town, was a smart mix of action, drama & interesting characters that almost made it to the Oscar race. The 70s setting of Argo should fit his unfussy, thoughtful storytelling well, and means that, at the very least, there will cool suits and cool beards. 

On another note, John Goodman seems to be cornering the market for playing period Hollywood film producers. 

Oscar Casualties - Best Actor

These guys coulda been contenders:

Ryan Gosling - Blue Valentine

One of the best actors currently working, super talented Ryan Gosling deserved a nomination for his raw & uncompromising performance as Dean - showing all his potential & creative charm but never shying away from the volatile, self-indulgent nature that will drive his wife to desperation. It seemed that Gosling & Michelle Williams would either be nominated together or over-looked together. As it turns out, she made it in, he didn't. The movie is very much about both of them, but perhaps Michelle Williams has the more sympathetic character arc, and more heartbreaking moments. Williams' nomination has put the film on the map, but both performances will go down as classics. 

Robert DuVall - Get Low

The other actor who seemed to battling it out with Ryan Gosling for the 5^th slot was veteran Robert DuVall, as Felix Bush, an eccentric, difficult old man planning to attend his own wake in bittersweet period fable Get Low. DuVall has legendary performances to his credit in Apocalypse Now, The Godfather, Tender Mercies & The Apostle, to name just a few, and hasn't been nominated since 1998's A Civil Action. At the start of the season, he was considered Colin Firth's only real competition to win Best Actor, but the film didn't do as well as hoped, and DuVall soon fell off the radar. Hope he finds another baity role soon.

Leonardo DiCaprio - Inception & Shutter Island