The MacGuffin

Another Top 5 segment from The MacGuffin. This time Allen and Edward share their top 5 Oscar robberies.

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.

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

This segment is also available on Stitcher and iTunes. 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.

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

This segment is also available on Stitcher and iTunes. 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.

Spencer and Greg discuss Leonardo DiCaprio in advance of J. Edgar, talk about the inconsistency of dual roles for Jack and Jill and give DVD picks.

Being a parent comes with many (maybe too many) responsibilities. Near the top of this list is properly educating your child about cinema. At least, it’s near the top of my list. My father introduced me to movies when I was a kid, and when my daughter was born I looked forward to doing the same for her. Here was a blank slate! She hadn’t had her views and education warped by those whose knowledge was small and opinions were simply wrong. I was very excited.

King of Marvin Gardens

Around Christmas time last year, I picked up a copy of the Criterion Collection’s box set “America Lost and Found: The BBS Story.” It wasn’t until just a couple weeks ago that I finally sat down and watched King of Marvin Gardens, starring Jack Nicholson, Bruce Dern, Ellen Burstyn, and Julia Anne Robinson. Directed by Bob Rafelson, who was coming off the critical success of Five Easy Pieces, King of Marvin Gardens takes a different look at the male psyche in modern America. The story centers around two brothers (Nicholson and Dern) and the nature of their relationship.

In September 1995, another serial killer film was released. Two cops, one about to retire, the other new to the big city—sounds about as cliché as they come. The killer has a theme that he follows. The dark and spooky trailer has lines such as “this is not going to have a happy ending.” The director had one previous film under his belt, which was the third (and least favorite) of a film franchise. It didn’t really add up to much on paper. But onscreen, it was an understated masterpiece.

Amongst cineastes, be they as famous as Roger Ebert, or we mere mortals on this website, it has become de rigueur to trash the new trend of 3D film. The industry is pushing everyone toward putting on sometimes unwieldy glasses while staring at a potentially headache-inducing flicker in the desperate hope of getting audiences back into the theaters. Meanwhile, the TV manufacturers are touting more and more 3D-enabled flat screens, trying to drive sales.

Production companies love this new model for a couple of reasons. They tack on exorbitant fees to tickets prices, making an evening at the movies cost a family of four up to $100. Blu-ray 3D DVDs with current technology are extremely difficult to copy, which cuts down on the rampant Internet piracy of video. Also, let’s face it, Hollywood will always be about business. Getting us to pay more money for anything is simply attractive to them.

Many vocal critics have pointed out the downsides of the medium itself. The 3D projection process produces a dimmer picture, making everything underlit and gloomy. Improper refresh rates on TVs create images that cause considerable eye strain. And multiple 3D standards (Digital 3D, IMAX 3D, Real 3D) cause consumer confusion.

Another MacGuffin Film Podcast Top 5′s segment. This time Ben and John share their top 5 horror directors.

All Points Bulletin:
Be on the lookout for a small, bald, gold man. He is 13 and 1/2 inches tall, weighs 8.5 lbs, sexual organs seem to be absent, tends to stand very still, constantly wielding a crusader’s sword, and is made of gold plated britannium on a black metal base. He is wanted for a list of crimes against the art of film that spans over 83 years. Consider him to be armed and dangerous.