The MacGuffin

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

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.

If there’s one thing I hope I’ve done with this column so far, it’s show that though the overall percentages may be very skewed toward male filmmakers, there are many, many interesting projects out there being made by women. The numbers are getting better all the time, too—for this list of my five anticipated projects, I really had a hard time narrowing things down. Creating excitement and buzz for these films before they’re released is almost as important as seeing them when they are, so if I can contribute to that just a little bit, I’ll be a happier person.

What’s Brandi been watching?

In the theater:

I didn’t get to see Super 8 this past weekend, but after hearing such positive things about it, I decided to squeeze it into my busy Tuesday, treating myself to dinner and a movie. There I sat, buttered popcorn and Cherry Coke in hand (yes, that counted as dinner), ready to let a new summer adventure classic entertain me. I was very pleased that the film lived up to the good reviews. I love a band-of-kids-on-an-adventure film when the child actors are good, and this batch is universally great. I was already an Elle Fanning fan, but she’s marvelous here making the distant, unhappy girl into a very sympathetic character. I also loved the core friendship between Joe (Joel Courtney) and Charles (Riley Griffiths). Add in the darling pack of weirdos they run with, and it’s endlessly entertaining.

Man, beautiful people get to have all the fun, especially if they are wealthy beautiful people.  They get to wear the best looking clothes, they get to go to the most beautiful places on earth, stay at the trendiest hotels, and eat the best kind of food.  It’s not classy enough to just drink champagne, but rather they sip champagne.  They hang out on trains that ride out along the countryside and wear fine jewelry that’s worth as much as a home in the suburbs.  They get what they want when they want it, all while having a good time.  Now, it’s said that good looks and money can’t buy you happiness, and that is true, but at the very least you can afford to pretend that you can!

Salt (2010), the latest summer blockbuster starring Angelina Jolie, is an insulting excuse for an action film.  The movie defies any kind of logic, suspense, emotion, or excitement, I actually felt anger coming out of the theater.  While watching it, I tried to find some redeemable element to keep me from walking out in the middle of the movie, and the only thing I could come up with was that I had already spent my money.  I was so surprised at the lack of quality here, being that there was a ton of talent involved, especially amongst the lead actors.  However, as good as everyone here has been in previous films, there was no way they could’ve saved this film.  This will go down as one of the worst movies of the year.

**WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD (But honestly, you should keep reading and save yourself from having to watch this movie)**