The MacGuffin

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. This time Allen and Brandi share their top 5 tearjerkers.

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.

With 2011 officially in the books, it’s time once again to look back and reflect on some of the best films that have come out in the past year. As with all movie writers, coming up with a list like this is usually expected, but also damn near impossible. To me, reading and writing these types of articles are only beneficial in spreading word about titles that really had an effect on me, while stirring up debate between those who strongly agree with my choices, or vehemently disagree. No one list is ever truly definitive; what is considered great to one may not register the same way to another. The only real truth is that 2011 had a wide range of very interesting and fascinating films, and just like every year, there’s always a good handful worth noting.

I think Top 10 lists are fun. Many critics write beleaguered sorts of “I don’t really want to be doing this and it’s stupid and rankings are meaningless” disclaimers at the beginning of their lists. Ugh. Look, it should go without saying that any list (or review) is a reflection of the writer’s personality and their un-duplicate-able individual experience. If you’ve read the rest of my writing this year, you will not be shocked by my list. What I’d like to say before I dive in I don’t consider to be a disclaimer, but just necessary context: the films I didn’t/couldn’t see that are on my mind anyway.

Spencer and Greg discuss Joseph Gordon-Levitt in advance of 50/50, look back at Rachel Weisz’s career for Dream House and give their DVD picks of the week.

EXT. BUS STOP – MORNING

Two adults in their mid-twenties, one man and one woman, stand at a bus stop. The man wears a white T-shirt with the word “courier” printed in black across the chest. The woman, dressed in business-casual clothes, finishes applying lip gloss to her lips, caps the gloss, and nests it back into her purse. The man walks over to the bus schedule, glances at it, then stands next to woman like the schedule was a way of entry to getting close to his female commuter.

My mind has just been blown.

Inception (2010), the latest film from writer-director Christopher Nolan, is a mind-boggling exercise of epic proportions.  Not since David Lynch’s Mulholland Dr. (2001) has a film left me so utterly speechless; I do not even know where to begin with this review.  The film is a combination of all the best parts of The Matrix (1999), Memento (2000), Dark City (1998), and the television show Lost, put together in one spectacular whole.  This is a film that will remain with you for days, trying to put all the pieces together.  Even now, hours after watching the film, my mind is still racing, wanting to learn more. It is a film that must be seen to be believed.

***WARNING: MINOR SPOILERS BELOW***