In Theaters: Argo ***1/2

Remember when all of you people were like "Ben Affleck sucks," and I was like "No he doesn't, he's just chosen some really bad roles."  Then, you were all like "Whatever, dude, Ben Affleck is a joke, stop trying to convince me otherwise," and I was like "Shutup, dude.  Your mom's a joke..."

I bet you all are feeling pretty silly right about now.

Argo is Affleck's third directorial effort after Gone Baby Gone and The Town.  So far, he has amassed a record that the vast majority of filmmakers in Hollywood would kill for.  And, along the way, he's become one of Hollywood's go-to directors for high-quality movies aimed at adults.  I think it's safe to say that he'll be longer remembered for his skills as a director than as an actor.  Indeed, on all counts, I'd say he has a great chance to be his generation's Clint Eastwood.

In Theaters: Trouble with the Curve ***

Let me make one thing clear up front: I'm a pretty big Clint Eastwood apologist.  I've got a Clint Eastwood coffee-table book sitting in my living room that I look through at least once a month.  For a while, I actually had my wife considering Eastwood as a middle name for our child (don't tell me that wouldn't be awesome, because it would).

So, I have a tendency to over-like many of his movies, ignoring flaws and providing rationalizations along the way.  I do this with regard to both his acting and his directing.  That being the case, I really can't be trusted to provide an objective assessment of Clint's work (yes, I call him by his first name).

But, even so, I didn't really love Trouble with the Curve, but I liked it. Truth be told, there's not much wrong with this movie.  It's not going to win any awards, but it's a pleasant enough way to spend two hours.

Best of 2011: #7 Rango

This was a strange film. 

Let me try to describe it for those who haven't seen it.  Imagine that Coen Brothers took over Pixar, then watched a bunch of Clint Eastwood movies while eating some bad pizza and then wrote down the plot to the dreams they had that night.  The movie resulting from this hypothetical dream-script would likely resemble Rango.