Affleck Catches Flak for Being the Next Guy to Don the Cowl

Last week it was released that Ben Affleck signed a deal with Warner Bros. Studios and is going to be replacing Christian Bale as The Caped Crusader. The information was released that he would first star along side Henry Cavill in what Zack Snyder has only referred to as "Superman vs. Batman". Since this information has been released, Affleck has been catching a lot of heat from fans of the Dark Knight Trilogy, who believe that Affleck is the wrong person to be portraying one of the most famous pop culture icons of all time. Social Media sites such as Twitter and Facebook has been blowing up over this controversy. Personally as an outside observer who does not like to voice my opinion online... I'm going to take my first shot here and jump on team Affleck.

  

Despite having a rocky period of unease in the early 2000's with films such as Daredevil. Affleck has had an incredibly successful career. With his newer groundbreaking films such as Argo, and The Town, and some of his older classics like Goodwill Hunting, and Dazed and Confused, Affleck has continually showed success not only as an actor but as a director and producer. The Town is one of my favorite action/crime film of all time. The gritty dark style and compelling performances by Jeremy Renner and Affleck really make you have a invested interest in the characters and what happens to them.

Along with my current enjoyment in watching most Affleck films, I recently saw an article on the website buzzfeed that really caught my attention. The portrayal of the Joker by the late Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight was in my opinion is some of the best character acting I have ever seen in my life. However, before his role as the Joker, Ledger was mostly known for playing the romantic male lead in films such as 10 Things I Hate About You, and A Knight's Tale. When it was announced that Ledger was going to play the Joker, many people believed that he was poorly cast. In fact there was many angry tweets saying that there was no way a "gay cowboy", could play the joker. For those of you who like surfing the web you should check out this buzzfeed article.

At the end of the day there is no denying that Christian Bale really did put a face on the image of Batman, like no one has before. Regardless, his performance is going to be a tough one to follow up, and while I am not one hundred percent sure that Affleck is going to nail the performance of Bruce Wayne, all I am saying is that he is a very accomplished person in the film industry and people should give him the benefit of the doubt.

Boston's "Big Three"

When watching the Red Sox game the other day I couldn't help but notice that the Boston "big three" when it comes to movie making were in attendance. Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, and Mark Wahlberg were all in the stands during opening day at Fenway Park. Those three hold a special place in Boston's heart. They have always made movies about Massachusetts (Good Will Hunting, The Town, The Fighter), and they never forget that they were all originally from different suburbs of Boston.

I have to admit that my personal favorite out of the three would have to be Affleck. That really has nothing to do with him as a person, because I like all three, but more because I think that it's amazing that Affleck writes, produces, and acts in his movies. Movies such as "Argo" and "The Town", Affleck  did all three of those and those movies are known as some of the best to come out in recent years. I watched "Argo" for the first time last weekend and wasn't disappointed. The story itself is remarkable, but the movie is also well made and Affleck is great as usual.

Wahlberg and Damon are no slouches either. "Ted" is a comedy phenomenon, and the fact that Wahlberg and Seth MacFarlane (from Connecticut which is basically Massachusetts), decided to shoot the film in downtown Boston just adds to the humor for people from the city. Damon hasn't done as many films in Boston as Affleck and Wahlberg, but he still will always have "Good Will Hunting" to fall back on.

Maybe people in Boston care too much about the fact that Mark and Donny Wahlberg can be found court side at a Celtics game once a month, but people enjoy seeing these huge stars back home. I hope that Damon, Affleck, and Wahlberg continue to make movies in the Boston area. I think they realize that people from Boston do appreciate the fact that they return home to make these blockbusters. Hopefully 2013 leads to big things for Boston's "big three".