The MacGuffin

In honor of the release of Rise of the Guardians, Spencer and Greg discuss Alec Baldwin.

Spencer and Greg examine survival movies, discuss cross-dressing in film, and give their DVD picks of the week.

Like many pop culture junkies, I’ve followed the tales about the ups and (plunging) downs of the development of the Spider-Man musical on Broadway. Arguably ridiculous premise; record-breaking budget; actors getting injured; a seeming lifetime spent in previews; the interesting creative combination of director Julie Taymor—whose impressive Broadway credits include the incredibly huge hit The Lion King—and musicians Bono and The Edge, who, despite long careers in music, had never worked on a stage musical. Then, in March, there was the departure/ousting of Taymor from the production. The show had its official opening this past Tuesday, which Taymor attended, and she has only now begun speaking about her experience and frustrations with the project, as detailed in this article from yesterday’s New York Times. In what I’m sure is just a coincidence of timing (ahem), last night’s episode of Law & Order: Criminal Intent was a riff on the Spider-Man situation, with some murder thrown in for good measure, of course. I didn’t watch, but word is that the depiction of the Taymor character was less than flattering.