The MacGuffin

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.

“…I coulda been somebody, instead of a bum, which is what I am”

Perhaps no other name in film acting is equated to that of an icon quite like Marlon Brando. He has been referenced and pointed to countless times, and his practice of the Method approach has become legendary. Brando has influenced actors who can be identified by their last names: Dean, DeNiro, Pacino, Nicholson. To say that someone is the “greatest” in anything is a hyperbolic statement, because an idea like that could never be truly measured. But it can be said that Brando, in his laidback, naturalistic, and even quirky manner of performance, helped transition screen acting to how it is seen in the modern day. You can even see the difference in approach in the films themselves, with other actors boldly gesturing against his more unorthodox style. That’s not to say that either is right or wrong, but one thing is undeniably certain: Brando stood out from the rest.

There are many movies that feature underdog characters, but very few are as good and as inspirational as (1976). Directed by John G. Avildsen and written by and starring Sylvester Stallone as the titular character, the film is a moving emotional journey about a no-name fighter who is given the miracle chance of becoming a world champion. But more than that, the movie is a story of a man who simply wants to be the best that he can possibly be. He wishes to crawl out of the depths that life has put him in and earn the self-respect that even he doesn’t feel he has. The movie is about so much more than just the final fight, and it is about more than just a fighter. It is about a man’s life; it is about that man trying to find his share of happiness, however small that may be.

What makes a film cool? And what does “cool” mean, anyway? It feels like a word that means a million things and nothing at the same time, but it’s a concept that’s constantly used to promote, review and defend a huge amount of Hollywood mainstream cinema. If you ever watch a Michael Bay interview, you’ll probably notice he doesn’t really talk about the basics that much—he’ll mention the script a bit, say the actors have done a good job, but you know he’ll tell you Optimus Prime doing The Ram Jam on Megatron will be the most awesome thing anyone will ever see. So why does “awesome” become so important? What does it even really mean? Is it just a more fan accessible and media appropriate way of describing spectacle? In a sense, it probably is, but how many big budget action/adventure films have you seen that supersede this type of spectacle over every other part of the production—the films that think looking and being “cool” is a perfectly suitable substitute for any attempts at characterization, narrative coherency or originality? And the worst thing is, they get away with it.

Another MacGuffin Film Podcast Top 5′s segment. In honor of The Town, Brandi and Allen share their top 5 film comebacks.