'Argo' winning big

Review by Amanda Gorlewski

On "Oscar Sunday," "Argo" took home the top award of Best Picture. "Argo" is a dramatic thriller based on the book "The Master if Disguise," by CIA operative Tony Mendez.

The movie is about 50 U.S. embassy staff members taken hostage in 1979, six of whom were able to escape and hide in the home of the Canadian ambassador. The U.S. State Department finds out and tries to figure out ways to get them home safely. Mendez, played by Ben Affleck, comes up with the idea to create a fake movie and shield the six within its production.

"Argo" received seven Academy Award nominations and won three. It won Best Film Editing, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Picture Oscar awards. Affleck directed this film, which he co-produced with George Clooney and Grant Heslov.

"Argo" was different from the other movies nominated this year. It was different because people did not know what to expect. In the other movies nominated, people knew what was going to happen. They already had an idea of how things were going to turn out. Having the audience not know what they were going to see next brought something unique and different to "Argo."

During the award season, "Argo" took home many awards. It won Best Film at AFI Awards, British Academy Film Awards, Critics Choice Awards, 70^th Golden Globe Awards, Nevada Film Critics Society, Producers Guild of America, San Diego Film Critics Society, St. Louis Film Critics and the Cesar Awards. It was not surprising that the movie took home an Oscar, too.

Some were not sure if "Argo" was going to take home Best Picture for a while because Affleck was not nominated for Best Director. It is not common at the Oscars that a movie would win if the director is not nominated or did not even win. This was the first time that a picture won like this since 1989.

With Affleck not being nominated, it really helped his chances. It helped him and the movie get noticed even more. While people watched the movie get more and more awards, it just proved that it is worthy for the Academy award. Many would not want the movie to go unrecognized for how brilliant it was.

The only thing that I thought was surprising about Oscar night was that Michelle Obama was a presenter. She was the presenter for Best Picture where she told Affleck, Clooney and Heslov that they won. It just seemed out of place because you never see the first lady at a movie show.