HAHAHA, ‘Dennis’.

Ben Affleck is the name on everybody’s lips this week after the phenomenal success of Argo at the 85th Academy Awards. But what do you really know about the critically acclaimed director? Not a lot past that scathing Team America song, we’ll bet…

Another serial killer flick

Erm… Can he act?

BFF: defenders of the weak, trumpeters of the down-trodden, makers of wild, unsubstantiated claims and lovers of Ben Affleck. That’s right. It’s a heady mix.

Taking up direction duty for first time since his impressive debut, Gone Baby Gone, Ben Affleck makes his second contribution to the ever expanding sub-genre of Boston crime films. Giving a romantic charm to a story of master criminal versus determined cop that Michael Mann would be proud of, it follows the plight of bank-robber Doug MacRay. Desperate to get out, but hopelessly locked in, will Doug get the girl like Will Hunting, or bite the dust like John Dillinger? Most importantly, will he ever get to leave The Town?

The lunatics are taking over the asylum, or that’s what Martin Scorsese’s impeccably crafted psychological thriller would have us believe. But then perception and reality are completely blurred in this 1950s-set mystery, adapted by screenwriter Laeta Kalogridis from the best-seller by Dennis Lehane (Mystic River, Gone Baby Gone). But sadly, for all its style, Shutter Island is a largely predictable and pedestrian yarn, elevated by a superior cast.

Frankly, it’s about time. It’s been over a decade since Ben Affleck and Matt Damon received their Oscar for Good Will Hunting, and what have either of them really done since then? The duo are set to re-team for The Trade, a tale based on the true story of two Yankee pitchers in the 1970s who caused a scandal when they were discovered to have swapped wives.