The November 4th, 1979 takeover of the American embassy in Iran by students and other revolutionaries was front page news around the world as 52 American hostages were held captive. Negotiations were attempted and military strikes were considered, but the crisis didn’t end until well over a year later when they were all finally released. Lesser known, and in fact unknown to the public until 1997 when it was declassified, is the story of six Americans who escaped the embassy that November day to risk capture and possible execution as they awaited an unlikely rescue. It turned out to be a very unlikely rescue indeed. Argo is Ben Affleck‘s third film as director, and while it lacks the darkly emotional impact of Gone Baby Gone and the kinetic shoot ‘em up action of The Town it stands tall as his best and most entertaining film yet. Brilliant character actors swirl through the constantly surprising true story alongside wonderful period details, humor, humanity and the most suspenseful thirty minutes of the year.

Though Gillian Anderson is best known for her role as Dana Scully on The X-Files, the actress is also a classically trained thespian who has used her talents in such varied fare as the Bleak House mini-series, the Royal-focused series Any Human Heart, and at least two television takes on classic material – Moby Dick and Great Expectations. What we’re saying is, she’s not just Scully, but damn if Anderson doesn’t know her way around some good sci-fi, so it’s heartening news that she’s joined a very intriguing new project with just that kind of bent. Deadline Quantico reports that Anderson has joined Haley Joel Osment, Rufus Sewell, and Victor Garber in Richie Mehta‘s (Amal) new film, I’ll Follow You Down. While we don’t yet know too much about the film (and with its mysterious logline, it’s likely to stay that way), we do know that it centers on “a scientist, Gabriel (Sewell), who mysteriously disappears during a business trip, devastating his wife Marika (Anderson) and son Erol (Osment). Erol and his grandfather (Garber) years later make a shocking discovery about Gabriel’s whereabouts.” The film’s slim IMDb page adds to the mystery and intrigue – the plotline over there reports that the discovery is also “bizarre” (yow!) and “one that may bring him home” (ooooh!).

Remember when Ben Affleck, Alan Arkin, Bryan Cranston, John Goodman, Richard Kind, Scoot McNairy, Chris Messina, Michael Parks, Kerry Bishe, Kyle Chandler, Rory Cochrane, and Tate Donovan all got together to make a movie about a fake movie being made in order to rescue hostages being held in Iran? This trailer is one more slice of proof that Affleck knows what the hell he’s doing behind a camera, especially when it comes to the slightly funny world of serious issues. Instead of crime-riddled Boston, this time it’s the Iranian Hostage Crisis, a fake script called Argo and a crazy attempt at rescuing 6 people. It’s Ocean’s Eleven except the stakes are real, and they’re life-or-death. Check out the trailer for yourself:

Whether you watch it or not (or have even heard of it), Flashpoint is one of the best dramas (cop or otherwise) on television right now. Action, drama, a hint of comedy, great writing, it’s got it all, and it shows no signs of slowing down any time soon. The show features an amazing cast of TV hard hitters including Amy Jo Johnson, Enrico Colantoni and Hugh Dillon. Now in its third season on CBS (or second if you go by the CTV numbers), this Canadian import has proven to be a huge hit for both networks. Now having been picked up for two more seasons, one of which that has already completed production, it looks like a bright future is ahead for the program. I had the chance to sit down with the shows creators Mark Ellis and Stephanie Morgenstern to discuss what’s in store for the future.