The MacGuffin

In honor of Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, Spencer and Greg discuss Robert Downey Jr. Then they examine threequels and give DVD picks of the week.

Spencer and John look at series finales in honor of Harry Potter, consider the importance of the release date, and give DVD picks of the week.

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.

Eraserhead is the first feature length film from writer/director David Lynch, who has brought us Blue Velvet and Mulholland Dr. While I have heard great things about both of those films and Mr. Lynch in general, this was the first of his movies that I took the time to watch. If I only had one word to describe this movie, it would be bizarre. One type of movie that I am always a huge fan of is bizarre, but this film took it way over the edge. It took the weirdness so far that it distracted from the plot which there was not much of anyway. David Lynch has gone on record as saying that no one has ever gotten the true meaning of the film and that he likes it that way.

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