I finally saw Argo the other night. It was still playing at the E Street Cinema in downtown DC.

And it was good.

I hadn’t seen any of the Oscar nominated films at that point, but I did see the awards and knew that Argo had won best picture and, having finally seen it, I had to ask, ‘was this a mediocre year for film?’

Because Argo is not a best picture winner, least ways not in any sort of a halfway decent year for movies. While watching it, I was enjoying myself, but whenever my mind went to that best picture prize, all I could think of was the eminently superior spy flick of a year or so back, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, which not only didn’t win best picture, but possibly wasn’t even the best filmed version of the novel.