The MacGuffin

Spencer interviews director Matt Piedmont and writer/producer Andrew Steele from Casa de mi Padre.

This segment is also available on Stitcher, iTunes and YouTube. The audio version can be downloaded directly from here.

Also, be sure to check out our review of Casa de mi Padre from SXSW.

In honor of The Hunger Games, Spencer and Greg discuss child deaths in film. Then they discuss the theme of “one vs. many,” and give DVD picks of the week.

It’s not a new idea to say Hollywood is unoriginal. Everything old is new again, as everything is either a sequel or a remake. One of the most popular approaches is to convert TV shows into movies. Generally, they have been turned into over the top comedy (like Starsky & Hutch) or overly dramatic fare (like Miami Vice), with neither approach replicating the tone of the original series. With 21 Jump Street, the original tone of the show might still be off, but the movie strikes a good balance between being approachable to the original audience as well as a new generation.

Another Top 5 segment from The MacGuffin. Inspired by the film 21 Jump Street, Allen and Brandi share their top 5 TV-to-film adaptations.

This segment is also available on Stitcher, iTunes and from here. After you’ve watched the video please vote in our poll and share which one you think is the best.

It is not often you get to see true creativity coming out of Hollywood. Very few people have enough leverage to be able to do whatever they want regardless of how outrageous the idea is. Following his success in film and the massive success of his internet venture Funny or Die, Will Ferrell seems to have reached that level. Otherwise, the idea of him starring in a film in which he only speaks Spanish, as he does in Casa de mi Padre, never could’ve happened.

It is not often that you are lucky enough to see when filmmakers really hit their stride. In my opinion, the Duplass brothers have done just that with their latest film, Jeff, Who Lives at Home. I have enjoyed their previous films, but everything finally comes together for me here.

In honor of 21 Jump Street, Spencer and Greg look at TV-to-film conversions. Then they examine the topic of sibling filmmakers and give DVD picks of the week.

To describe Drew Goddard’s new film The Cabin in the Woods as David Lynch-ian is putting it mildly. The film takes the premise of a simple slasher film and eschews all the conventions in the process, creating something unlike I have ever seen before. Any comparisons to other films would be stretching it.

“88 minutes of terror”…a great tagline, but there is more to the film Silent House than an effective marketing campaign. The film marks the theatrical return of directors Chris Kentis and Laura Lau, who were last seen in theaters nearly a decade ago with their breakout hit Open Water. Times may have changed since then, but the team still knows how to put together a captivating product.

Another Top 5 segment from The MacGuffin. This time Allen and Brandi share their top 5 directorial debuts.

This segment is also available on Stitcher, iTunes and YouTube. The audio version can be downloaded directly from here. After you’ve watched the video please vote in our poll and share which one you think is the best.