Oscars 2013: Ranking This Year's Best Pictures

by Mike Reyes

1. Argoargo-pgaInitial Impression: If the impression wasn't clear before, I am a sucker for good historical films. We were lucky we got three good ones this year, and this was one of my most anticipated. I'm also a sucker for Ben Affleck directed films, particularly ever since I saw him blow the doors off of directing Gone Baby Gone. I'm not going to lie, seeing the trailer for this one had my hopes up in the stratosphere. In his short run as a director, Affleck has grown leaps and bounds in his technical prowess. With each move he makes, he draws more and more attention to his work, and he brings the accolades right behind it. The fact that this was Affleck's first foray into historical storytelling was also intriguing, simply because historical stories are a different bread and butter from fictional stories. You can't change the ending on history unless you're Quentin Tarantino, and even then it was in jest. You need to stick to the details if you're making a historical film, and if you take liberties they still need to fit somewhat plausibly into the framework of reality. Argo was either going to be really good or really cheap. The Verdict: This is it. This is the big ticket winner, the movie that not only matched expectations but also exceeded them. Ben Affleck, for being on his third film, has stuck the landing and managed to cross the bridge between fictional and non-fictional storytelling. He takes so many successful components of other awards films (ensemble casts, stories based on past historical exploits, a look that reflects the period the film is set in) and melds them into one successful product. What's also so great about Argo is that we're not only treated to performances from actor's he's previously used (Titus Welliver and Victor Garber, for starters), but we're also treated to performances from legends like Alan Arkin and John Goodman; all of which prove that Affleck is truly an actor's director. While it's mostly a historical picture, it's also a slightly funny look at Hollywood politics and real life politics co-mingling towards a common end. Instead this time, it wasn't in the name of propaganda...it was in the name of rescuing innocent lives. Affleck's film not only trumps the Best Picture field for this year, but it's also his ticket to stay on the A-List. What do you think of this ranking? Share your thoughts below.

Contributor
Contributor

Mike Reyes may or may not be a Time Lord, but he's definitely the Doctor Who editor here at What Culture. In addition to his work at What Culture, Mr. Reyes writes for Cocktails and Movies, as well as his own personal blogs Mr. Controversy and The Bookish Kind. On top of that, he's also got a couple Short Stories and Novels in various states of completion, like any good writer worth their salt. He resides in New Jersey, and compiles his work from all publications on his Facebook page.