Agreeing With Affleck

My Playboy subscription ran out a month or two ago, four years or so after first joining (after the Tara Reid issue, and after I was told I might have a shot at writing for them). I let it run out because it hadn't gone anywhere for a while - the writing was no longer up to par, and the girls you can surely get off the web anyway. I miss the one-square comics, though.

But I would probably would have liked a hard copy of this recent Ben Affleck interview, which had this interesting tidbit about my city:

I met Morgan Freeman, which was great because I was able to ask him to work for free when we did Gone Baby Gone. We shot The Sum of All Fears in Montréal, and it almost killed me. That town never closes. The food is amazing, the drink is amazing, the girls are gorgeous. It’s not a place to focus on your work.

As a guy whose three books are stalling and whose debut CD is still unreleased (though I've added singles for Rumours and All Round Us to the ever-expanding web music offer), I can vouch it's a hard city to concentrate in. It's also quite inspiring. Catch-22.

Defending Batfleck, Part 2

Instead of writing a full column about Ben Affleck being chosen to be the next Batman and the internet going aflame, I half-assed included it in my Top 10s last week. I threw Christian Bale a (well-deserved) sucker punch while I was at it, because the most-overrated actor of his generation always should take hits.

Jordan Walter at FHM went all-out, though, as you can see here.

A few highlights:

On Daredevil:

But look at it from his point of view. He was paid a ton of money to dress up, fight crime and get it on with Jennifer Garner – nobody in the world would turn that down. 

Yes, it was bad but, it was probably loads of fun to do.

Don’t hate the playa.

On Gigli:

If your superhot girlfriend asks you to star in a film opposite her, you do it. No matter how shit the film is.

He didn’t make this for us. End of argument.

On Bale:

Sorry? Christian Bale was the worst thing about the recent Batman movies. He was overacting, didn’t look like he was having fun and had the most continuity defying yet consistently annoying voice ever committed to celluloid.

The great thing about those Batman movies were Christopher Nolan’s jawdropping set-pieces, Anne Hathaway and awesome people like Heath Ledger, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Tom Hardy, Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine. And the Bat Pod.
Never the Bale-meister.

 I'd substitute Gordon-Levitt for Gary Oldman, but that's just because I'm a man of taste.

Walter also goes on about how Ledger was also decried by the internets when he was picked to be the Joker. Good stuff.

This Week's Top 10s

Top 10 Songs:

10. MISERY BUSINESS, Paramore (2007)
9. CAME BACK HAUNTED, Nine Inch Nails (2013)
8. CALIFORNIA'S DARK, Tom Morello a.k.a. The Nightwatchman (2007)
7. WORLD KEEPS TURNING, SuperHeavy (2011)
6. MIRACLE WORKER, SuperHeavy (2011)
5. LEAVE BEHIND, Martha Wainwright (2012)
4. FOUR BLACK SHEEP, Martha Wainwright (2012)
3. DRAG ROPES, Storm Corrosion (2012)
2. DESPAIR, Yeah Yeah Yeahs (2013)
1. YOUTH WITHOUT YOUTH, Metric (2012)


Top 10 Ben Affleck Movies:

10. THE TOWN, Ben Affleck (2010)
9. JAY & SILENT BOB STRIKE BACK, Kevin Smith (2001)
8. GOOD WILL HUNTING, Gus Van Sant (1997)
7. ARMAGEDDON, Michael Bay (1998)
6. HOLLYWOODLAND, Allen Coulter (2006)
5. BOILER ROOM, Ben Younger (2000)
4. DAZED AND CONFUSED, Richard Linklater (1993)
3. ARGO, Ben Affleck (2012)
2. DOGMA, Kevin Smith (1999)
1. CHASING AMY, Kevin Smith (1997)

The new Batman generally doesn't get a lot of love from movie buffs, and I've been among the many who have derided his talent. However, I do feel the backlash of hate he's received since Warner Bros. picked him as the back-up superhero in the upcoming Superman sequel was exaggerated, especially since Christian Bale wasn't spectacular either - and I couldn't find enough Bale films/roles I liked enough to make a top-5. Also, Affleck wasn't bad enough to not make Chasing Amy and Dogma amazing movies.

Sure, his list of flops and god-awful films read like a step-by-step of what not to do for acting schools (Gigli and Daredevil top the list, but I'd also add Paycheck, Pearl Harbor and Changing Lanes in there for sure), but it was still rather easy to find 15 films I liked, and cull a top-10 from it.

Granted, the lot of these are worthy of 7/10 grades, but it beats the shit of of Bale's top-5, save perhaps The Machinist.

Note: I haven't seen 200 Cigarettes.