Blu-ray Review: ‘Argo Extended Edition’

Article first published as Blu-ray Review: ‘Argo Extended Edition’ on Blogcritics.

By now, most lovers of cinema have seen last year’s Academy Award Winner for Best Picture, Argo. Based on the true story of CIA specialist Tony Mendez (Ben Affleck, who also directed the film) and his plan to sneak American diplomats out of Iran during the hostage crisis of 1979 with the help of Hollywood players, it boasts an impressive cast and a compelling story. Now, just in time for the holidays, Warner Brothers has released the Argo Extended Edition.

For those who haven’t seen it, at the start, Iranians attack the American embassy and take a bunch of people captive. A small handful escape and hide with a friendly dignitary. With the noose closing in, and the American government unable to sanction an official rescue, Mendez comes up with the ingenious idea to fake a movie being shot in the area and get the sextet out of danger.

Now, Iran is keeping a close watch on visitors from the U.S., so with the help of Lester Siegel (Alan Arkin in an Oscar-nominated role) and John Chambers (John Goodman), filmmakers in L.A., Mendez sets up a Canadian production with an actual script and full cover identities for each of the people stranded. Then, he himself sneaks into Iran, makes it look like he’s actually scouting locations, and smuggles them back home.

It’s an unbelievable story of courage and ingenuity, one that is inspiring and inspired. Even with the outcome certain, viewers are sure to be kept on the edge of their seat as the tense situation plays out. Yes, some liberties are taken to build suspense, but in general, Argo is about real people, which definitely makes it easy for the movie to make viewers care about what’s happening.

Besides the aforementioned actors, the cast also includes Bryan Cranston, Victor Garber, Tate Donovan, Clea DuVall, Kyle Chandle, Chris Messina, Kerry Bishé, Zeljko Ivanek, Titus Wellivar, Scoot McNairy, Rory Cochrane, Bob Gunton, Richard Kind, and more. It’s a very impressive call sheet, and together, they act the hell of of Argo, delivering some really authentic performances. Combined with an Oscar-winning script, it’s a heck of a movie.

The presentation is fantastic in Blu-ray high definition. The detail is excellent, especially in darker scenes, with rich layers. The soundtrack is great, too, with a full surround effect and a nice mix between background noise, dialogue, and score. It’s definitely on par with most recent releases of modern, big budget films, which are quite good.

As the set title implies, this cut of the movie is longer, about nine minutes more than the version released in theaters. Most of the fresh material concerns Mendez’s relationship with his family. This is nice, perhaps not completely necessary, but still welcome.

Better is the wealth of extras that are included with the Argo Extended Edition. There’s a hardcover book about the production with some neat photos, a CIA ID card for Mendez (as he looks on screen), a map of Tehran so you can better track the setting, and, my favorite, a poster for the movie-within-a-movie.

There are three features exclusive to this disc. One shows the real CIA honoring this operation as part of the agency’s fiftieth anniversary. Another looks into how Affleck brought the various elements of the piece together into this finished product. The third is a mashup of the catchphrase “Argo fuck yourself,” used over and over again in the movie. Besides all of this, a number of previously-released bonuses are present as well. There’s a picture-in-picture to compare what really happened with the film, an audio commentary for the theatrical cut, interviews with Jimmy Carter, Tony Mendez, and others, and a discussion with the cast. Affleck talks about why they shot Argo in Istanbul, documents used for the mission are examined, many of those actually involved in 1979 give their perspective, and more. Basically, it’s a really nice mix of stuff about the movie and insight into the real events.

All of this makes Argo Extended Edition a really nice set. What’s included is pretty much all useful and interesting, without the fluff some releases use to beef up their extras list. Not to mention, all of the additional physical material packaged with the discs, are pretty cool, too. For a fan of Argo, this seems to be the definitive edition to have.

Argo Extended Edition is available now.

Neil Patrick Harris only bright spot of The Oscars

Wow, what a disappointing Academy Awards!  Gone were the performances of the Best Song, past winners presenting to new winners, and even the tribute song seemed a little short.  Where was Farrah Fawcett in there?  Overshadowed by Michael Jackson again!  The winners really had few surprises.  All of the acting categories went to who was expected, even it was the disappointing Sandra Bullock.  The Hurt Locker took far more awards than it deserves, especially Best Director.  James Cameron created a whole new camera system and spent ten years making Avatar, single-handedly launching 3-D movies into newfound popularity, and he gets snubbed?  Even if the plot of his blockbuster was only so-so, he deserved the Director award.  Avatar did take a few awards, and it was nice to see Star Trek get one, even if it was just makeup.
The hosts continued the snoozefest.  Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin have wicked chemistry!  Have you seen their Saturday Night Live rivalry?  Why, then, did they just stand around and make mostly dumb jokes?  I was excited when it was announced they were doing the show, but wholly disappointed in what they did.
The biggest, best thing at the Oscars was Neil Patrick Harris.  Star of How I Met Your Mother and Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along-Blog, Harris recently hosted both the Emmys and the Tonys, among other things, and was tapped to open the show with a big number.  Is it clear to anyone else he should have taken the full duties?  His star has never been higher.  He will appear in the Joss Whedon-directed episode of Glee this spring, and then starring in the Smurfs movie, as well as doing a sequel to the internet smash hit Dr. Horrible.  Why not NPH?  despite being snubbed at the Emmys, he has massive popularity.
Oh, well.  There’s always next year.  If anyone is still tuning into the Oscars by next year.  Ratings have been on an overall downward trend for years, and last night’s lackluster performance will only drive them lower still.

Crazy Heart a good, solid film

I don’t know what I was expecting when I went to see Crazy Heart yesterday, but I was certainly touched and moved by the story.  The film stars Jeff Bridges as Bad Blake, a washed up country singer / songwriter who now plays gigs in bars and bowling alleys.  At a gig in Santa Fe, he meets Jean (Maggie Gyllenhaal), an aspiring young reporter who knows quite a bit about him.  Although he is easily old enough to be her father, and usually sleeps with a different woman every night, the two form an almost instant attraction and soon become involved.  And no, there is no cheating.  That would be too easy. Jean has a four year old son, though, (the adorable Jack Nation) and she doesn’t want to fall in with another bad guy.    She tries to start slow with their involvement, but after Bad falls asleep at the wheel, she brings him into her home to take care of him and things begin to really heat up.  She does have one rule: don’t drink in front of her son.  Easier said than done for Bad, who is an alcoholic.
I won’t spoil anything further, as there are a few twists, and the plot is not quite predictable.  Full of great, old style country music, the film itself is a character.  Lovable, yes, but hopelessly flawed.  And despite the best of intentions, things won’t always go right.  But there are plenty of charming things in this story, not just depression.  Colin Farrell shows up as Bad’s former protege, now a superstar.  Though he has far surpassed his mentor, he clearly still looks up to Bad, and wants to do right by him.  Robert Duvall plays Wayne, Bad’s best friend, a bartender.  When Bad is at home, he plays at Wayne’s place.  With these guys behind Bad, you know immediately that no matter what he does, deep down he’s a good guy deserving of love and friendship.
I highly recommend this film.  Although I couldn’t call everything in it original, it didn’t fall into the expected traps, had something to say, and definitely invoked a few emotions before the end credits roll.  Bridges and Gyllenhaal are both up for Oscars for their roles, deservedly so, and one of the songs is also nominated.  The song and Bridges already won their categories at The Golden Globes, and the movie has plenty of other nominations and wins already.  Let’s hope it gets a couple more.