The MacGuffin

In honor of the release of That’s My Boy, Spencer and Greg discuss fathers & sons in film.

Who really enjoys school? I wasn’t a particularly good pupil, and it really shows the determination of the Scottish education system that I can I perform any type of mental arithmetic or have the ability to spell. School always felt like a static, sterile environment, void of imagination. The point of interest during my formative years was the school’s desperate attempt to inject life into their teaching by using the television programme Ghostwriter.

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, in many ways, is a response by Spielberg and Lucas to the critics that were less than impressed with Temple.  They drew away from the dark themes of the second movie, and followed the structure that made Raiders so successful.  Many elements from the first film returned for this one: the colorful supporting characters, the religious MacGuffin, and those darn Nazis.  Indy’s back-story was further developed, with his father playing a major role.  And of course, there was the action, this time amped up to an 11.  With all these elements in play, Spielberg and Lucas created a slam-bang action adventure, and made what some consider to be the best film of the series.

Spencer and John Portanova, of Adler and Zenith, share the MacGuffin Podcast’s Top 25 Sequels. The list was inspired when Spencer and John discussed Empire magazine’s list of the top 50 sequels in Episode 13.

Here is the final List:
25. Gremlins 2, Kill Bill 2, Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Khan
24. National Lampoons Christmas Vacation
23. Breakin 2
22. The Road Warrior
21. Bourne Supremacy
20. Rocky 3
19. Friday The 13th: The Final Chapter
18. Die Hard With A Vengence
17. Star Trek
16. Clerks 2
15. Lord of the Rings: Two Towers
14. Casino Royale
13. Toy Story 2
12. Spiderman 2
11. X2
10. Back To The Future 2
9. Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade
8. Star Wars: Return of the Jedi
7. Lord of the Rings: Return of the King
6. Silence of the Lambs
5. Godfather 2
4. The Dark Knight
3. Aliens
2. Terminator 2
1. The Empire Strikes Back