The MacGuffin

Another Top 5 segment from The MacGuffin. This time Allen and Brandi share their top 5 letdowns.

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You’ve got to be kidding.

While there’s still a little more than a month and a half left in the year, and a good handful of movies left to be released, I’m going to go out there and say with confidence that Jack and Jill, the latest comedy starring Adam Sandler, is the worst movie of 2011. By a mile. Hell, by two miles. Not since Salt (2010) have I walked out of a theater being so thoroughly upset by how silly and stupid a movie was. This is an unfunny holiday comedy that can barely live up to the description of “mediocre.” It does not give the audience—or itself—any kind of respect. There were times where I wanted to turn to the person next to me and ask how they could possibly stay in their seat throughout the duration of this mess. This movie does not deserve a bad review.

What’s Brandi been watching?

In the theater:

I didn’t get to see Super 8 this past weekend, but after hearing such positive things about it, I decided to squeeze it into my busy Tuesday, treating myself to dinner and a movie. There I sat, buttered popcorn and Cherry Coke in hand (yes, that counted as dinner), ready to let a new summer adventure classic entertain me. I was very pleased that the film lived up to the good reviews. I love a band-of-kids-on-an-adventure film when the child actors are good, and this batch is universally great. I was already an Elle Fanning fan, but she’s marvelous here making the distant, unhappy girl into a very sympathetic character. I also loved the core friendship between Joe (Joel Courtney) and Charles (Riley Griffiths). Add in the darling pack of weirdos they run with, and it’s endlessly entertaining.

Man, beautiful people get to have all the fun, especially if they are wealthy beautiful people.  They get to wear the best looking clothes, they get to go to the most beautiful places on earth, stay at the trendiest hotels, and eat the best kind of food.  It’s not classy enough to just drink champagne, but rather they sip champagne.  They hang out on trains that ride out along the countryside and wear fine jewelry that’s worth as much as a home in the suburbs.  They get what they want when they want it, all while having a good time.  Now, it’s said that good looks and money can’t buy you happiness, and that is true, but at the very least you can afford to pretend that you can!

Spencer and John look back on the world of film during the summer of 2010, revisit Grindhouse in advance of the release of Robert Rodriguez’s Machete, and give their DVD picks of the week.

Salt (2010), the latest summer blockbuster starring Angelina Jolie, is an insulting excuse for an action film.  The movie defies any kind of logic, suspense, emotion, or excitement, I actually felt anger coming out of the theater.  While watching it, I tried to find some redeemable element to keep me from walking out in the middle of the movie, and the only thing I could come up with was that I had already spent my money.  I was so surprised at the lack of quality here, being that there was a ton of talent involved, especially amongst the lead actors.  However, as good as everyone here has been in previous films, there was no way they could’ve saved this film.  This will go down as one of the worst movies of the year.

**WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD (But honestly, you should keep reading and save yourself from having to watch this movie)**

Spencer is joined by guest host Brandi Sperry to take another look at the summer movie season, share some of her guilty pleasure/dealbreaker films, and give DVD picks of the week.