The MacGuffin

Another Top 5 segment from The MacGuffin. This time Allen and Ed share their top 5 fight scenes.

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.

The beginning of Richard Linklater’s film Bernie (2011) states that the events that take place were based on a true story. “Uh huh,” I thought, “as ‘true’ as the next movie playing every other week in theaters.” But to my surprise, the story that we are presented with really did happen, in the small town of Carthage, Texas in the nineties. The characters that are in play really do (and did) exist, with a number of photographs and videos provided as evidence. Usually, these end credit montages showing the real people the movie is based on don’t always work for me, but it did this time. The people, the situations, and the implications of what was involved feel just exaggerated enough that I thought there was no way that this was an accurate portrayal. But it was. In fact, some of the very people in the movie play themselves, blending in so easily that you could almost call this a semi-documentary.

It is always nice to see filmmakers who have a passion for a project. There is a certain depth and appreciation for the matter that can be seen on the screen in the final product. After working to get the film made for nine years, you can see the hard work in Matthew Lillard’s directorial debut, .

With a light touch, the charmingly slight film Salmon Fishing in the Yemen is set against the backdrop of a seemingly impossible task. Ewan McGregor stars as Dr. Alfred Jones, a mid-level British government employee. While the very definition of a reserved stiff-upper-lipped Englishman, engaged in a very proper marriage to a banking executive, he is also an authority on fly fishing and salmon behavior. Meanwhile, the Prime Minister’s press secretary (played by the bullish and cynical Kristin Scott Thomas), due to some recent bad press from the war in Afghanistan, is looking for a bright fluffy human interest issue that her government can support. Culling through a backlog of possibilities, she comes across the request of a Sheikh Muhammed (Amr Waked) in Yemen who fell in love with fly fishing and wants to populate a river in his home country with salmon. He has petitioned help from a consulting firm, who have subsequently petitioned the government. Emily Blunt plays Harriet, the liaison working with McGregor’s character. She has a new budding relationship with a handsome soldier who is called into active duty and finds this project a useful distraction from his absence. So, together, the fish expert and the consultant are tasked with making this project work.

Year in and year out, whenever I am revising my worst-of list, I usually notice that the majority of the filth is made up of someone’s poor definition of comedy. Though I certainly have a standard for what I consider to be a good movie, I am open to watching a good-bad-movie every now and then. Cheesy science fiction and horror will always have a place for well-intentioned irony, as proven by years of the successful heckling of Mystery Science Theater 3000. But for me, a bad comedy is unbearable and unwatchable under any circumstance. What makes it worse is that a lot of the time these movies are not only tolerated, but genuinely enjoyed by less-than-discerning general audiences. Films like last year’s Jack and Jill or The Hangover 2 were box office successes and further proof of the end of civilization.

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.

There is an uncomfortable, eerie, and saddening feeling that runs throughout the course of the documentary Girl Model (2011). Directed by Ashley Sabin and David Redmon, the film examines the life of young fashion models as they embark on a strange and disconcerting trip that takes them from their home country to a foreign place where success and fame are apparently waiting for them. The harsh reality, though, is anything but that dream. When speaking of the world of fashion and modeling, one might think of flashing lights, bright runways, and designer clothing. This film, however, sheds all of the glitz and glamour to reveal something very unsettling, where certain people’s moral compasses are turned upside down, and where young girls get into situations that are beyond their understanding and control. It’s a film that’s effectiveness strengthens more after you have seen it, because you start to realize that it goes far beyond those that are portrayed.

Some movies beg to be compared; others demand to go mano-a-mano. Who am I to resist this challenge? It turns out Bette Davis made not one, but two, movies where she plays twins: A Stolen Life and Dead Ringer. In both movies, one twin dies and the other takes over her life. Each movie is great, but which one is better? Read on and see!

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.