Coach Taylor is, unfortunately, not pictured here. But this is director Ben Affleck on the set of Argo yesterday in LA. He stars in the film as well which also features Alan Arkin, Bryan Cranston, John Goodman, and, yes, Kyle Chandler. It’s 1979. There’s a covert CIA rescue operation. (Is “covert” redundant when applied to the CIA?) Affleck is “Tony Mendez” who is in charge of the mission. Remember when dudes used to wear their pants like this? I’m trying to picture Jacek wearing his pants like this.

Anyway, following the success of The Town on top of the surprising strength of Gone Baby Gone, Ben is, as you know, now a very respected director who can attract top tier talent, not just in acting but in other areas of the production, including cinematographers, editors, and this time for Argo he has assembled an impressive team, all of which is contributing to even higher expectations for his third film. Which may be why he’s smoking again.

Ben said he quit 3 years ago. But it’s hard. I know it’s hard because I’ve had a lifelong sick ass love affair with cigarettes too and when the sh-t gets heavy, it’s so f-cking hard not to give in to that urge. I wonder if Jennifer Garner lets him smoke in the yard.

Speaking of Jennifer Garner, she’s on her way to TIFF for Butter next week with Hugh Jackman. And Blake Lively is on her way here too for her film Hick, her second year in a row. Remember last year when Garner hadn’t shown up to any The Town events but somehow made it Toronto because...she really, really wanted to support her husband. If he wasn’t shooting would Ben fly out to support her? It’s not his style, no, but I think he’d have a better attitude about it than Chris Martin. How ironic, that Gwyneth once called Ben a knucklehead and now her dickhead of a husband runs around like he’s doing something wrong whenever he’s supposed to be on her side. More on this later.


Photos from Bauergriffinonline.com