In a radio interview Tuesday on the Kevin Barrett Show, [former political analyst for Ronald Reagan, Barbara] Honegger stated that filmmaker Ben Affleck might one day be hanged for war crimes and treason – not only for Argo, which she said is designed to pave the road to war on Iran, but also for his role in the 2001 film Pearl Harbor, an earlier intelligence operation designed to pave the road to the 9/11 “New Pearl Harbor.” According to Honegger, Affleck – like his character in Argo– appears to be a covert operator posing as a filmmaker.

Somebody please swing by Josh Hartnett’s place. It’s been a while since anyone has heard from him. (Press TV)

And then we will have two sides to the story.

Details are sketchy at this time, but the film is supposedly titled The General Staff and will begin filming early next year. It’s not known exactly what claims will be disputed, but, considering it’s a “response,” there will probably be more than a few different takes on the facts stipulated in the American film.

Argo was a source of embarassment for Iran, so it’s probably a safe bet that there’s a state-sponsored agenda here, good, bad, or otherwise, so it will be interesting to see how the facts are addressed.

And of course, Ben Affleck probably won’t be reprising his role in the film, but considering that the film took place in Iran in the 1970′s, that probably doesn’t mean there will be any fewer beards in the production.

The twenty-five films that edged Argo out all fall in the documentary or Pixar trying to make more money category with Finding Nemo 3D ranking at #8 and Monsters, Inc. 3D ranking at #16. Which begs the question: why the Hell did newspapers run reviews of films everyone saw a decade ago? The storytelling didn’t change, it just poked out more.

Pixar should re-release Argo as a documentary in 3D. It would clean up.

While directors such as Jon Favreau and Peter Berg have recently made big names from themselves turning from gritty fare to overblown blockbusters, it doesn’t seem fitting that Ben Affleck would chase down that path when he has had such a promising career with crime thrillers and the upcoming political thriller Argo.

But maybe he likes money much more than I give him credit for. Details at 11.

In Argo, Affleck plays Tony Mendez, a CIA “exfiltration” specialist tasked with a ballsy plan to pull six American hostages from Iran. The film is based on a true story, which means that they probably did some research to make Affleck look like this hairy lion of a man, and didn’t just pick this look to make him appear like an ass.

If you’re digging this look (you’ve got two eyes and a heart, don’t you?), then get excited for future looks at characters played by Alan Arkin, John Goodman, Bryan Cranston, and Kyle Chandler. The fake beard guy that’s assigned to this film will be earning his money through blood, sweat, tears.

I hope the beards get rescued safely.

It was announced over the summer that the screenwriter and the director of several Harry Potter films, Steve Kloves and Yates, would adapt King’s post-apocalyptic doorstop across three sweeping films. However, Yates lacks the hunk status so the intent is to now replace him with the guy from Gigli. Affleck, who is currently directing the hostage drama Argo, has two films under his belt as of this moment. Argo will make it three. He seems like a strange pick for a genre project like this. First of all, it’s massive. Secondly, it doesn’t take place in Boston. Can he find as much success with the Maine accent? (Deadline)

Argo follows the rescue of several hostages who were under the guise of scouting a film in Iran. Ben Affleck recently announced that he would be playing the head of the operation, Tony Mendez. John Goodman and Alan Arkin will co-star.

It would appear Cranston is getting his Hollywood on with roles here and in the upcoming big-budget John Carter (formerly of Mars). But he’ll always be Walter White to us. Or the dentist from Seinfeld. But definitely not the dad from Malcolm in the Middle. (Variety)

Ben Affleck objectively decided that he was the best man to star in his next directing project, Argo. He will play Tony Mendez, the CIA operative tasked with extracting six American hostages from Iran in 1979. He thought it was the smart move because he was going to be near those locations anyway, directing everyone for that movie. (Variety)

Nicole Kidman will be joining Lee Daniels’ The Paperboy as a woman who develops a penpal relationship with a man on death row. She will be replacing Sofia Vergara, but considering the timing of Tobey Maguire‘s departure from the project last week, let’s all just pretend that she’ll be filling in for him. It’s funnier that way and not altogether improbable. (THR)

Rosario Dawson will be starring in an indie drama with a decidedly non-indie cast. Fire with Fire, the story of a man who enters the witness protection program, only to lash out against the men threatening him will also star Bruce Willis, Quentin “Rampage” Jackson, Josh Duhamel, 50 Cent, Vincent D’Onofrio, and Vinnie Jones. The indie spirit is alive and well, folks. (Variety)

Finally, David Strathairn will join Steven Spielberg‘s star-studded Lincoln, hitting theaters just in time to qualify for the 2013 Oscars. He will play Secretary of State William Seward to Daniel Day-Lewis‘ Honest Abe. Sally Field will also star as Lincoln’s wife, Mary Todd. (Deadline)

No one said that rescuing hostages was going to be easy, but no one said that it had to be this complex either. Ben Affleck’s Argo is based on the 1979 hostage rescue mission in Iran. The government claimed the diplomat taken hostage were actually a film crew scouting locations for a film called Argo. And that’s the story of the ACTUAL film  called Argo. It’s possible that Affleck’s film could also be a ruse, but contemplating that makes my head hurt, so we’ll ignore that possibility.

In order to get their hostages back, they needed some legitimacy, so they hired real-life make-up artist John Chambers (Goodman) to sell the whole affair to the Iranian powers that be.

Goodman joins Alan Arkin in the film, which requires the cast to live together in squalor for two weeks to get their heads right for their roles. Take that, rich, famous actors! (Variety)

This isn’t the first time that Hollywood has taken a stab at the material. It was once set up at Sony Pictures with Star Trek’s Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci on scripting duties. When they couldn’t figure out how to make the plot make any damn sense, it was scrapped. Then, it was successfully put on the screen in France and that’s what brought it to the attention of Affleck. Which is all well and good, but what I’d really like to see is a French version of Star Trek. (Deadline)

'The Company Men' Trailer: Ben Affleck Gets Sh*t-Canned

Arkin will play Lester Siegel, a Hollywood producer and O.S.S. vet who’s said to be “equal parts bookie and rabbi.” Sounds like one of my relatives. (Variety)

6 photosJessica Chastain

However, “experimental” is a pretty vague descriptor. How experimental did it get? Will the film feature Rachel McAdams and Rachel Weisz throwing oatmeal at one another’s asses? (Please say yes.) Doubtful. What it is likely to show is Ben Affleck staring out over a wheat field for an entire soundless, 11-minute shot. Then again, he has a knack for weaving large, existential questions into his narratives and Tree Of Life does feature dinosaurs so maybe Malick will surprise with something totally out of left field. I’m picturing a mopey downer of a film when suddenly – surprise! – ninjas. (24 Frames)

Gatsby still has Leo DiCaprio, Tobey Maguire, and Carey Mulligan commited, and Isla Fisher is in talks to play Tom Buchanan’s mistress, Myrtle, so they’re not hurting for star power, but I was actually really looking forward to Ben Affleck hamming it up as an upscale jerk, a type that we haven’t seen him in since he was cast as the proprietor of Fashionable Male way back in Mallrats.

I feel really sorry for the casting director of The Great Gatsby. Where are you supposed to find a rich asshole in Hollywood on short notice? (Deadline)

DiCaprio is playing Gatsby, Maguire will play Nick Carraway (the book’s narrator), and Carey Mulligan will play Daisy Buchanan, a woman torn between her love for Gatsby and her boorish husband, Tom Buchanan. Ben Affleck has been approached for Tom, and if cast, Fisher will play his mistress. This is odd casting. Myrtle wasn’t this hot or young in the book. I saw her as more of a Christina Hendricks, but Fisher is a welcome addition to this cast. The only way to settle this is to have those two fight it out in my mind. To the Jelly Pit!! (THR)

Ben Affleck is in talks to join Warner Bros’ new version of the literary classic I somewhat remember from high school english class. He would play the wife of Daisy (Carey Mulligan), Tom Buchanan, a guy who really loves the white race. He’s, like, the white race’s biggest fan. Affleck would join Leonardo DiCaprio as The Gatman and Tobey Maguire as Nick Carraway.

No word yet on how closely this adaptation will tie-in with the NES game. (Deadline)

And how does one who has burned his studio bridges get a hold of their sweet, sweet money? By hiring the hottest talent of 1997, of course. Smith is hoping that Matt Damon and Ben Affleck will agree to cameo in his “final” film.

Studios would be crazy to not want to give Smith his projected $15 million budget. This movie has all the trappings of a hit. A) it’s based on a Warren Zevon song. B) it’s described as “a love letter to Canada.” C) Seann William Scott passed on it. D) Kevin Smith is involved. (MTV)

So Affleck’s got his pick of Hollywood’s finest projects, including one called Argo. Set in 1979 Iran, it’s based on the real life story of a group of US diplomats who were disguised by the CIA as a sci-fi movie crew, in order to escape the Iranian occupation on the American embassy. That sounds pretty cool. Sort of like State and Main meets Ishtar, only not like that at all.

The following news may shock and amaze you, but George Clooney is attached to produce this political drama, because it ain’t a political drama unless it’s a Clooney-brand political drama. Writer Chris Terrio (Heights) based the film on an article in Wired magazine. That’s why the end credits sequence will show you how to hack a Nintendo DS to play iPhone fart apps for no particular reason. (Collider)

Affleck is said to be seriously considering helming the true story of Abscam, a workout video that promised but failed to give 1993 Americans rock hard abs in just seven minutes. Oops. No. Abscam was actually the FBI’s 1980 undercover operation to root out corruption in Congress. It was devised by the world’s best con man (natch), and led to eleven convictions. And we all know what happens to Congress guys in prison now, don’t we? That’s right. They take away their C-SPAN privileges.

If there’s one thing Affleck has learned is that he needs to be more choosey when picking projects, so this is far from a lock. With Oscar buzz growing, it is likely he’s biding his time. In related news, J.Lo continues to suck. (Deadline)

Another year has come and gone, and yet we’ve accomplished nothing with our pathetic little lives. Then again, how can any mere mortals expect to grow while living in the shadow of Hollywood celebrities. Year after year, their amazing exploits cause me great joy. But at the same time, the fact that I will never know such fame and fortune brings great sadness.

How did these Hollywood types get to be so great? I’ll tell you how. Unlike me, who wanders through life like a moron, they set goals and they stick to them. And with New Year’s Eve only a day away, we thought we’d ask the stars about their resolutions for 2011. Surprisingly, despite our last-minute request and total lack of clout, they all agreed to participate. Enjoy.

Brett Ratner - In 2011, I’m finally going to get around to reading some X-Men comics. My assistant says the characters have some really interesting back stories.

Ben Affleck – This year, I’m expanding my horizons. No more movies set in Boston. I hear Worcester is nice.

Charlie Sheen - My resolution is to make 2011 the year Charlie Sheen goes back to doing comedy.

Mel Gibson – Make less phone calls, get more blow jobs. Also, work on the rose garden.

Jerry Seinfeld - I want to make $75 million dollars without doing much of anything. Oh wait, I did that in 2010. I’m such a lucky asshole.

Natalie Portman – My goal is to give birth to a child, thereby beginning my body’s slow but inevitable fall to Carrie Fisher level frumpy-ness.

Wesley Snipes – This year, I’m getting my taxes done early.

Ryan Reynolds – Hopefully I’ll luck out and meet a girl with a perfect set of tits.

Larry King – I’m finally going to have sex with my boyhood friend, Sandy Koufax, and then die.

Ryan Seacrest - Kill Dick Clark. Kill Oprah. Gain total control over the media. Suppress all gay rumors.

Director: John Wells

Cast: Ben Affleck, Tommy Lee Jones

Synopsis: The story centers on a year in the life of three men trying to survive a round of corporate downsizing at a major company – and how that affects them, their families, and their communities.

The Company Men is a movie you want to see if you want to see Hollywood superstars portray the plight of the common man. No matter how hard you’ve had it during the economic crisis, it’s got to make you feel better that Ben Affleck, or at least a character he’s portraying, knows what you’re going through.

Bobby Walker (Affleck) gets laid off in a round of corporate downsizing. While he deals with the humiliating routine of job hunting, Gene McClary (Tommy Lee Jones) tries to stick it to the man from the inside. Gene was Bobby’s boss and he thinks it’s wrong what the CEO James Salinger (Craig T. Nelson) is doing but his noble values are lost on the money men.

It may sound like I’m being facetious about Ben Affleck representing the common man’s drama. I actually think that’s classic Hollywood. Show us our best and put him through the worst so we know he can come out the other side. Sharp dialogue represents all the emotions and points of view one can have in that situation. We need the Ben Afflecks of the world to whittle these themes down to palatable entrees.

How Bobby and his wife Maggie (Rosemarie DeWitt) react to the situation is human. So, it’s not smart. They try to keep acting the same in a different world. They don’t adjust to the new situation. Bobby keeps spending and trying to ride on confidence. Maggie tries to keep it a secret and hope this goes away soon. I know it’s hard, but avoiding the sacrifices doesn’t work.

For the first part of the movie you see how people just don’t react to each other. Bobbie and Maggie defend themselves and talk at each other. Bobby just has to cling to his lifestyle and Maggie just can’t explain why scaling back could be supportive and not scary. Right or wrong, it’s good drama. It shows some hard questions not getting asked because they’re just too scary. Then when it’s too late, it’s even scarier to face them.

It’s still a mellow movie. It’s not too heavy. This isn’t medicine. It’s just provocative and sympathetic. The characters ultimately make some interesting decisions and surprising alliances. The resolution is ultimately humbling, in a good way. We should examine what we take for granted. The moment Bobby finally realizes what his children need from him should impact all viewers, whether they’re parents or just caring people. Written and directed by John Wells, The Company Men does remind me of the sort of direct, relatable drama he packed into episodes of ER.

Along the way, little moments resonate. The frustrations of a qualified executive stuck in a hackneyed employment are embarrassing to the whole corporate structure. Watching Bobby face insulting and demeaning offers is infuriating. Pride is a huge issue but there’s humor in his angry reactions. It’s cathartic, but still sad. He’s just angry and helpless. Telling someone off doesn’t take any power back.

The corporate side is a very strong counterpoint to Bobby’s story. Gene’s efforts are valiant and it puts a face to the frustrations at an executive level too. His life isn’t great just because he’s still employed, but there’s also only so much he can do. It’s a complicated machine, and the film puts it in simple human terms, but they’re still valid. Salinger’s plan to maintain his stock value while devaluing the company is pretty noteworthy. It certainly doesn’t invalidate my distrust for the relative value of stock investments.

In conclusion, I have it good. I get to be an entertainment journalist. I sympathize for people who have the circumstances portrayed in The Company Men. I hope my review represents you well.

Director Darren Aronofsky is on the list of possible diectors for Christopher Nolan’s upcoming Superman project, Heat Vision is reporting. Aronofsky joins a group that already includes Duncan Jones, Tony Scott and Matt Reeves.

But with Aronofsky in the running, there is also talk that another director has been ruled out…

Ben Affleck, who is soaring afte The Town became both a critical and commercial hit, and who actually played superman (or at least the man who became known for him, George Reeves) in Hollywoodland, took a meeting about possibly taking the job, but has apparently moved on to other things.

Something tells me that Affleck moving on to other things before hearing back from the producers is a lot like me moving on with my love life before hearing back from Salma Hayek…or those lawyers, of hers. (Empire Online)

The Town is filled with juicy actor soliloquies and detailed action sequences, but they are heinously pieced together in a by-the-numbers dramatic plot laden with one mushy romance.

From the action-packed prologue we think that we will be in for a ride through the criminal and FBI robbery division world of the Charlestown neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. Yet after the opener, the movie rolls downhill into a story about Charlestown townie bank robber Doug MacRay (Ben Affleck emoting with smirks, scowls, and sad watery eyes), who should really get the hell out of Boston before he ends up dead or in prison. MacRay shares this fate with his fellow bank robbing partner Jim Coughlin (Jeremy Renner in another intense performance) while finding love with a recent bank teller hostage Claire Keesey (Rebecca Hall) and being pursued by the frumpy FBI robbery agent Fawley (Jon Hamm showing that he is far more comfortable playing Don Draper than this sexless, boring-ass of a crusader here).

More after the jump…

The neighborhood of Charlestown like other current Boston-centric movies The Departed, The Boondock Saints and Mystic River are filled with your tough blue-collar characters. Here they only seem to be in passing. We do meet a wheezy old florist named Fergus ‘Fergie’ Colm (the legendary warbling English actor Peter Poslethwaite), who runs the Boston black market and a young barfly mom (Blake Lively), who will one day become the Amy Ryan character of Gone Baby Gone. They show up with brute words and moments, but only to push the story forward.

With Affleck serving as the director and co-writer, the same problems occur as with his last Boston project, Gone Baby Gone.  He seems very equipped to direct the action sequences with a very detail eye that infuses the story with energy while giving his fellow screen actors “great look at me” moments (the best being from Renner, Lively, Postlethwaite and Chris Cooper as his imprisoned father), but as a writer, he can’t construct a screenplay that can piece these exceptional moments together without gluing them with your typical crime drama plot. Affleck knows the words just not the music.

The movie keeps going with more shootouts and tying up loose ends that seem tact on only to give Affleck and Hall’s boring love story more screen time. The ending montage seems like an odd melodramatic piece from the Shawshank Redemption than from the rest of the movie’s hardboiled story.

The Town has some great stand-alone performances and moments to show off but they’re not given a solid cops and robbers movie to strap themselves into.

Grade: C-

In this month’s issue of Interview Magazine, Ben Affleck tosses questions at Blake Lively, who stars in his latest directorial effort, The Town. She gave answers and stuff, but more importantly, there are hot pics of her locked in a holding cell! In a publication where the visuals usually come second to the copy, I’m surprised they printed a spread that makes you totally forget what reading is.

Check out the pics of Blake after the jump…

Hey, here’s the poster for Ben Affleck‘s Bank Rob Town – Population: Bankrobbers. Did you know that there are 300 bank robberies a year in Boston? It’s true. OR, SO THE TRAILER FOR THE TOWN WOULD LIKE YOU TO BELIEVE.

I’ve actually checked the FBI crime stats for the past 10 years. On the low end it’s 140 per year, and on the high it’s 300 bank jobs per year (225 average)… for the entire Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Affleck cooked the numbers. If he had said "Greater Boston area" I’d let it go. Now I can’t.

Enjoy your nun dress, jerk. 

^{"I’m f..f…fired? Derp."}

Dammit Ben Affleck! We should have known better!! First, you won some of us over with Hollywoodland. Then, you shut up all the haters by directing the sh*t out of Gone Baby Gone. Which you then followed up by starring in the equally awesome-seeming The Town, which is directed by everyone’s new favorite director, Ben Affleck. And then you churn out this generic guy-gets-fired melodrama on our chests and destroy all your hard-earned goodwill. Mother was right! You didn’t change!! YOU’LL NEVER CHANGE!!!

WATCH THE TRAILER FOR "The Company Men" FEATURING TV’S "COACH" AFTER THE JUMP….

The Company Men Trailer – Watch more Movie Trailers

^{Miss New England 2008}

Attractive women in New England are few and far between, so when you meet one you had better jump on it. It doesn’t matter where you meet. The bar, the Market Basket, and the bank that you are currently robbing are all perfectly acceptable places to pick up a comely, young lass. And that’s exactly what Ben Affleck does in the trailer for his second directorial effort The Town.

In this daring sequel, Jeremy Renner plays Will Hunting and Affleck reprises his role as Chuckie, who are now bank robbers inexplicably (note to self: fact check this later). Chuckie meets Rebecca Hall during a robbery and develops an attraction to her, even though he’s got Blake Lively at home in denim cut-offs. Then Don Draper shows up and is all Mr. FBI Guy and there are a few shoot-outs and Slipknot masks. All in all, it looks really good! I’ll see it.

WATCH A MOODY MEDITATION ON WHAT DRIVES ONE TO STEAL, AND ALSO BLAKE LIVELY IN DENIM CUT-OFFS AFTER THE JUMP…

The Town Trailer – Watch more Movie Trailers