The MacGuffin

Awkward.

Near the end of 2011 I started perusing top ten lists to see if there was anything that I hadn’t heard of that might be interesting. On a TV list I had I saw Awkward., a show about a young teenage girl named Jenna (Ashley Rickards). Now, my first instinct was that this was simply a slightly more mature teenage show, still in the vein of teen shows on Nickelodeon or Disney Channel. In many ways it is, but a big difference is it actually addresses real issues.

In this latest art house action thriller, Haywire, director Steven Soderbergh returns to some familiar stylistic territory while simultaneously adding to a growing subgenre. The story is rather basic when it comes to the plot; a black-ops special agent for a private security firm is double-crossed after pulling a job and seeks out revenge. Since Soderbergh is such an interesting and dynamic filmmaker, he takes a rather tired plotline and revitalizes it with style and character. Last year director, Nicolas Winding Refn did a similar (and even better) job of stylizing a retro concept with the film Drive, and pumped life into a seldom-sought-after genre of the art house action thriller, especially in a time of mega-budgeted, fantastical epics such as superheroes, transforming robots, and kung-fu-ing sleuths of Scotland Yard—all of which provide many grandiose explosions.

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.

After directing one of the most entertaining horror films of the last decade (The Descent), Neil Marshall was added to the list of directors I wanted to keep my eyes on. It seemed inevitable that he would get plenty of opportunities in Hollywood after the success of that film. That opportunity came in the form of Doomsday, and while that film was a feast for the eyes, it was too unbalanced to really enjoy. Thankfully, it seems that Marshall has returned to his roots and stepped back from the world of polished Hollywood films, and once again made a gritty genre film that leaves you thinking.

In modern society, technology has made privacy something of a rarity. Even if you choose not to participate in the hubbub of social networking and other various internet activities, chances are something about you is somewhere online. Privacy is something society has cherished for a long time. The option to intermingle with others but be able to always retreat to where one is not seen by anyone is to some societies just as important as it is an enigma to other societies. In privacy is where we can be who we feel we really are, without the judgment of others; where we can indulge the desires we feel might be deemed shameful by the people around us. In artist-turned-director Steve McQueen’s latest film Shame, he turns the camera’s eye on this concept and what happens when the privacy we rely on to indulge ourselves is stripped away.

Matthew Vaughn’s X-Men: First Class (2011) does everything you would expect in a summer blockbuster featuring super heroes and super villains. It’s actually kind of surprising the level of accomplishment that the movie reached, given the well-reported rush that the production went through. Think about it like this: Vaughn was not brought in as the film’s director until only about a year ago. To think that he was able to jump aboard this project and in about twelve months’ time produce a well-made movie is a borderline miracle, even though we can clearly see evidence of its quick assembly. However, the film is a highly enjoyable entertainment, bringing the series back to form after the disappointments of X-Men: The Last Stand (2006), and X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009). I, for one, welcomed it with open arms.

Lately I’ve been trying to make sure I’m caught up on the big films of 2011. That means for this week’s column you’ll see an abundance of summer sequels. Some of these enhanced characters we had met before now continue their stories in new and interesting ways. Others…not so much.

Another MacGuffin Film Podcast Top 5′s segment. This time Brandi and Allen share their top 5 underrated actors and actresses.

Brandi Sperry: The scene: Brandi and Allen are about to watch Jane Eyre. Brandi’s quite excited, being a fan of the novel and having put the film on her most-anticipated list of 2011. Allen…doesn’t seem to know what Jane Eyre is, exactly.

Allen Almachar: That’s because Allen has admitted to not being a reader. But even though he hasn’t read the novel, that doesn’t mean he can’t appreciate a good movie. A “good movie” being the key term here.

Jane Eyre is one of the most often filmed books in English literature. This Gothic tale of a girl’s upbringing and inner strength is a classic. While most famously filmed before by Robert Stevenson with stars Orson Welles and Joan Fontaine, there is a new version just being released.