22nd August 2013. One Hollywood Reporter article changes the face of movies for the foreseeable future, showing the aim of a major franchise and highlighting the unsavoury side of fanboyism. Ben Affleck, then in the process of finding somewhere to put all the plaudits, both written and award based, hed received for his acting-directing-producing job on Argo, was Batman. Brilliant. Starting with Robert Downey Jr.s comeback and Heath Ledgers posthumous Oscar in 2008, superhero movies had slowly become more acceptable works and now were at a point where even the hottest actor would attach himself to a project. Or rather: Ben Affleck, star of the abominable triple whammy of Pearl Harbour, Daredevil and Gigli, was Batman. Terrible. Hes a talentless hack who ruined one of Marvels greatest heroes; why are they letting him destroy an icon? Will he be awesome or will he prove all those burned by his shaky decisions following an early career Oscar for writing Good Will Hunting? Who knows, but for now we can say Afflecks appointment as Batman in the expansive Man Of Steel sequel has been one of the most divisive news stories this year; disappointing reaction, yes, but too polarising to be a disappointing story. As 2013 gets summarised into ten amazing and ten terrible (although there could be a lot more) movies across the internet, I'm going to take a look at ten things we learnt this year I think we can all agree are disappointing. No fan boy exaggerations here please.
