The MacGuffin

Well, what a weak year it has been. Not that there haven’t been movies and performances that I have liked, but nothing is easy to point to and say: “this is a great piece of cinema that deserve accolades and will be talked about years from now.” The Academy has done little to help here, with many random—and, in some cases, dismal—nomination choices. But still, they have to give these awards to someone. So, here are my guesses and personal choices for the Academy Awards.

Do you play video games, in particular first-person shooters? These include games such as Call of Duty, Battlefield, Halo, so on and so forth? I ask this because the connections between those kinds of games and the latest film Act of Valor (2012) had been swirling around by the time I got to view it. The similar traits are clear: military and armed forces deep in the middle of special operations, where men do courageous things in the midst of intense battle. I understand what directors Mike McCoy and Scott Waugh (along with writer Kurt Johnstad) wanted to do: present these individuals and come as close as they possibly could to reenacting missions that have happened in real life (an opening title screen says as much). However, while there is much to admire, from their intentions to the very people they put on screen, the film falters from a number of cinematic missteps, resulting in a film that feels all too much like an episodic, real-life version of a video game.

Another Top 5 segment from The MacGuffin. This time Allen and Edward share their top 5 Oscar robberies.

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.

In Albert Nobbs (2011), Albert (Glenn Close), is a waiter in a hotel in 19th century Ireland, and is very good at his job. He is dedicated, polite, and knows his place. He is also secretly a woman and, if exposed, could ruin be ruined. When a visiting painter, Hubert Page (Janet McTeer), ends up staying with Albert, she discovers her secret. Albert is horrified—until Hubert admits that she too is a woman pretending to be a man, and even has a wife and a home. Nobbs is flabbergasted that this could happen, and when Page insists that Albert can also have a life and a wife of her own, she turns her attention to a young maid at the hotel, Helen (Mia Wasikowska).

Spencer interviews Wim Wenders, director of the Academy Award nominated documentary Pina.

This segment is also available on Stitcher, iTunes and YouTube. The audio version can be downloaded directly from here.

Margret Thatcher is a controversial figure even to her admirers. She is the woman who stood up to the unions and communism. To her detractors, she was a brutal woman who put down workers and helped the rich get richer. Just on the history alone, this is a prime subject for examination in a film. So it is sad that there is so little to be learned about her in The Iron Lady (2011).

A year before he directed All About Eve, Joseph L. Mankiewicz made A Letter to Three Wives, which landed him the Oscar for best director and best screenplay. It unabashedly falls within the category of Woman’s Picture, as it deals with the nature of female rivalries and how they can affect marriage. Three women—Deborah Bishop, Lora Mae Hollingsway, and Rita Phipps—constantly compare themselves to Addie Ross, a longtime friend and rival. By doing so, the women cause the weaknesses in their marriages to grow until the possibility of failure seems likely.

Another Top 5 segment from The MacGuffin. This time Allen and Spencer share their top 5 non-Disney animated films.

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.

Spencer interviews actors Gil Birmingham (“Billy Black”) and Tinsel Korey (“Emily Young”) from the Twilight Saga series.

This segment is also available on Stitcher, iTunes and YouTube. The audio version can be downloaded directly from here.

Steve James, the filmmaker who made one of the best American documentaries in Hoop Dreams (1994), has returned with yet another great, fascinating, and engaging film in The Interrupters (2011). This time, his story deals with urban and gang violence among the youth in Chicago neighborhoods, so prominent that it has recently received nationwide attention. In a way, this film is more urgent than his previous one, as the lives involved struggle every day just to survive. It’s a heartwrenching tale of a few brave souls who take it upon themselves to step deep into this world—a world that so many have chosen to turn away from—and do what they can to prevent further tragedy from happening. We get a glimpse into what life is like for these young individuals, we learn names and stories of those that would normally be represented only by statistics. And because of that, James has made a film that every single person should see.