The MacGuffin

Spencer begins a new segment called Film Therapy with the help of MacGuffin team member Allen as well as friends of the show Aaron Mason (Grapes of Rad) and Aaron Roden (Air-Raid).

Topics include: movie theater behavior, book to film adaptations, the lack of creativity on television, problems that could be solved in a single sentence, and films we can’t help but watch.

Howard Hawks was never shy about exploring similar ideas in multiple films—Rio Bravo and El Dorado being the best example—but in one instance, he remade a film almost word for word only seven years after the original was released. Ball of Fire versus its musical remake A Song is Born: which film is better? Read on to find out; it’s time for another Double Feature Showdown!

It doesn’t seem that long ago that James Cameron released his behemoth Titanic (1997) upon the unsuspecting public. I say unsuspecting not because he wasn’t well recognized—quite the contrary. At that time, Cameron was one of the world’s most popular genre directors, having a string of huge successes behind him. In gaining those successes, he reinvented the spectacle and bombast of the blockbuster. Films like Aliens (1986) and Terminator 2 (1991) set a new standard for special effects, and simultaneously set an expectation for achievement and personal competition within the mind of its creator.

Spencer ventures off into the world of audio-only podcasting with the help of MacGuffin team member Allen as well as friends of the show Aaron Mason (Grapes of Rad) and Aaron Roden (Air-Raid).

Topics include: the future of Clerks, look back 15 years after the release of Titanic, the future crop of stars in Hollywood, how do you watch TV these days, the Dark Knight Rises rating, and a look at the potential new Dr. Horrible.

With the passing of Whitney Houston, I thought we could journey back to 1995 and discuss a more modern women’s film, Waiting to Exhale. I tend to focus on women’s pictures of earlier decades simply because the films marketed towards women during the ’30s, ’40s, and ’50s were generally more interesting and complex than the tepid romantic comedies that are made now. Released almost twenty years ago, Waiting to Exhale is notable not only for being about women, but for its mostly black cast, including a pre-trainwreck Houston. For our younger readers, there was a time when Whitney was not a reality television joke; she used to be considered a pretty classy lady. I was too punk rock at the time to listen to her music, but I could respect the artist. I could respect the DIVA.

The MacGuffin covers Emerald City ComiCon 2012. We are joined by a series of guests to talk con highlights, web series, and podcasting.

Starting off by catching up with Aaron Roden from Air-Raid, we share some con experiences. Then we speak to members of JourneyQuest, The Collectibles, and Job Hunters to talk about their web series. Finally, we talk to Ron Richards from iFanboy about the challenges of podcasting.

This episode can be played online via the flash player below or it can be downloaded from here. It is also available on iTunes, Stitcher, and Zune.

Though there was a resurgence of vocal Muppet devotion with the release of last year’s film The Muppets, one can’t really call that a “comeback.” Pretty much everyone I know has always loved the whole spectrum of Jim Henson’s creations, and millions upon millions of children have grown up and continue to grow up watching the original Sesame Street and its multiple international versions. Heck, I still like to watch Sesame Street sometimes. There is pure joy and sincerity in just about every Muppet production, and that draws people in.

I’ve only been to Seattle’s Emerald City ComiCon (ECCC) a few times, but from my point of view, this was clearly the biggest that I’ve seen so far. A convention that celebrates comic books, video games, sci-fi film and television, and just about everything within geek culture, the sheer number of people that come each year has grown exponentially from when I first went. Just to give a bit of insight: I went to this year’s convention with my cousin (who was there for the first time). Around noon we went out of the convention center to grab some lunch. As we made our way down the escalators to the ground lobby, the entire area was completely filled with people. Apparently, ECCC sold out this year, and a whole crowd stood around asking people passing if they could buy their badge for the day. I held on to mine as if it were a golden ticket.

Barry Levinson’s 1991 film Bugsy being close to forgotten is somewhat believable when you look at some of the other movies that came out that year: JFK, Thelma & Louise, The Silence of the Lambs, Beauty and the Beast, and Prince of Tides, to name a few. All are now deemed classics in their own right, or at least have many feverish supporters. Bugsy gets left out more often than not, and that is a shame. It has everything you want in a gangster movie: the sense of danger, the glamorous lifestyle, and great performances, especially Warren Beatty as Bugsy.

Year in and year out, whenever I am revising my worst-of list, I usually notice that the majority of the filth is made up of someone’s poor definition of comedy. Though I certainly have a standard for what I consider to be a good movie, I am open to watching a good-bad-movie every now and then. Cheesy science fiction and horror will always have a place for well-intentioned irony, as proven by years of the successful heckling of Mystery Science Theater 3000. But for me, a bad comedy is unbearable and unwatchable under any circumstance. What makes it worse is that a lot of the time these movies are not only tolerated, but genuinely enjoyed by less-than-discerning general audiences. Films like last year’s Jack and Jill or The Hangover 2 were box office successes and further proof of the end of civilization.