10. Argo

Dir: Ben Affleck
Cast: Ben Affleck, John Goodman, Bryan Cranston

Again this was a film I was really looking forward to seeing and I wasn't disappointed (apart from a few annoying people in the audience which nearly ruined it but didn't - although the film may have been higher in the list?).  Ben Affleck has certainly made a brilliant comeback from the little blip he had a few years ago, he  is brilliant as a director (see also Gone Baby Gone and The Town) and in this film he proved again that he can act!  The film is based on a true story.  In 1979 the American embassy was taken over by Iranian revolutionists and most of the workers in there were taken hostage.  Six people (played by Scoot McNairy, Clea DuVall, Tate Donovan, Rory Cochrane, Christopher Denham and Kerry Bishe)  managed to escape and made their way to the Canadian embassy in an effort to flee the country.  The CIA got involved and agreed to help them get out of there.  An exfiltration expert, Tony Mendez (Ben Affleck) comes up with a wacky, random plan.  He and a few other CIA agents and people in the industry will go to Iran under the ruse they are scouting places in the country in order to make a movie called, Argo.  They will pretend the people they are trying to help escape are part of the cast and crew.  The group have fake passports and new identities that they have to memorize in an effort to get out of the country.

The film has you on the edge of your seat for almost the entire time, the tension is heightened by the knowledge that you know this actually did happen and owing to when it happened and my age (and also avoiding written spoilers) I had no idea how it ended.  I think the film plays better if you don't.  It was certainly a courageous thing to do and it was excellently acted and played out.  The Oscar buzz is justified.