Actor Ben Affleck has impressed both critics and audiences with his two previous efforts as a director, 'Gone Baby Gone' and the excellent 'The Town.' Now the first TV spot for his new film, 'Argo,' has arrived just as the buzz on the film is starting to get really loud.

The spot is fast-paced and action-packed, and does a good job of selling in 33 seconds what is such a bizarre premise that you can't believe it actually happened: a CIA agent (Affleck) hatches a plan to smuggle six Americans out of Iran during the 1979 hostage crisis under the guise that they are members of the production crew of a sci-fi movie scouting for locations.

Meanwhile, the film officially premiered at the Telluride Film Festival in Colorado over the weekend, and the word is that Affleck has delivered not just his finest work yet, but a movie that could do some serious damage come Academy Awards time.

Slashfilm's Peter Sciretta called the picture "a near-brilliant nail-biting thriller...Ben Affleck’a smartest film yet as director," while the Hollywood Reporter labeled it "a crackerjack political thriller told with intelligence, great period detail and a surprising amount of nutty humor...one the major releases of the fall season.”

The raves have continued with Hitfix calling the cast (which also features John Goodman, Alan Arkin and Bryan Cranston) "one of the better ensembles in recent memory" and The Playlist bringing that little gold statue into the conversation by saying "this movie surges to the top of the current Oscar contenders list.”

It's also surging to the very top of our "can't-wait" list, although frankly it's been headed there ever since it was first announced. Look for more reviews out of the Toronto International Film Festival, and see what all the excitement is about yourself when 'Argo' opens on October 12th.

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