Movie Terminology-The MacGuffin

A MacGuffin (or McGuffin/macguffin) is a plot device in a movie that captures the viewers attention and drives the plot in a work of fiction. It is the thing in the movie that causes the characters to do or say anything to obtain it. It can be money, fame, survival or something completely unexplained in tangible terms. All we, the audience, know is that the characters must have it. It can start out at the beginning of the movie as the main plot mover, take a back seat during the middle of the movie and either come back with a vengance or be completely forgotten about in the final act of the film. It depends on the movie. MacGuffins usually show up in thrillers but can show up in other genres as well.

The term is believed to have been popularized by director Alfred Hitchcock during a lecture at Columbia University in 1939. He said: "(We) have a name in the studio, and we call it ' The MacGuffin.' It is the mechanical element that usually crops up in any story. In crook stories it is almost always the necklace and in spy stories it is almost always the papers."

Here are some famous examples of a MacGuffin:
~the meaning of "rosebud" in Citizen Kane
~the briefcase in both Pulp Fiction and Kiss Me Deadly
~the element unobtanium in Avatar
~the most famous MacGuffin of them all-the Maltese Falcon

Now! Go find your own MacGuffin and go see a great film!

The Guard

I saw an advertisement for this movie on a British website and thought, "Dang it! I will have to wait for this to come out on DVD before I get to watch it!" Yet another funny movie from overseas that I won't get to see for months and months until it makes it to DVD/Blu-Ray. Why don't I have a personal jet?!!! So, imagine how happy I was that The Kentucky Theatre scored a copy of it for a week. Yay!!!
This movie stars Brendan Gleeson (if you don't know his name, just trust me when I say you've seen him!) who should be in every single GOOD movie that gets made these days. He plays Sergeant Gerry Boyle, a cop, in a small Irish town who, along with a cop from Dublin and an FBI agent (played by Don Cheadle), have to investigate an international drug ring bringing millions of pounds worth of drugs into the tiny town via the harbor that is there.

Sergeant Boyle is a salty small-town cop who has run the city his own way for a long time. When the FBI comes to town to investigate the drug smuggling ring, he doesn't really have a lot of positive things to say all of which he makes clear in a briefing between the FBI and the Irish Guarda. However, as the movie progresses and Boyle gets deeper into the investigation, he realizes that the FBI agent is the only person he can trust and they must work together.

Gleeson, as usual, turns in a stellar performance as Sgt. Boyle. He is cranky, salty, crass and somewhat loveable. You can see so many underlying emotions as he works through the case and interacts with the locals. He is most definitely one of my favorite actors and I really liked him in this movie. Don Cheadle as FBI agent Wendell Everett also turns in a fantastic performance. His straight-laced and by-the-book agent does not mesh well with Gleeson's Boyle and makes for some entertaining exchanges.

The Guard is written and directed by John Michael McDonagh. He is the brother of In Bruges director Martin McDonagh. Maybe someday they will pull a Coen brothers on us and do a movie together! That would be something to see!

The King's Speech

The King's Speech is one of those movies that makes you want to stand up and cheer when you watch it. Colin Firth plays King George VI (Queen Elizabeth's dad) or "Bertie" to his close friends and family. The movie picks up around the time his father passes away and King George's brother, King Edward VIII, decides to abdicate in favor of living his life with American divorcee Wallis Simpson. Seeing as King Edward has no children, King George is the next in line to be king. He shows all the makings of a monarch. But there is just one tiny hitch in his ability to be the confident and intelligent king that he needs to be-he has a stammer. He delivers a speech at the beginning of the movie that absolutely breaks your heart. He has to give a speech to hundreds and hundreds of people both in person and broadcast on the radio. The look on his face as he approaches the microphone is of absolute fear and dread. His wife, played by Helena Bonham Carter, feels every bit of pain that her husband endures by speaking in front of his audience. She decides that she is going to get help for him. This help comes in the form of Lionel Logue brilliantly portrayed by Geoffrey Rush. Logue's techniques are very odd and sometimes infuriate Bertie. However, the results speak for themselves (so to speak). Bertie improves. As his country faces the upcoming Second World War, King George VI takes his place as monarch and delivers a declaration of war against Germany.

This movie is one of my favorites that I've watched this year. Colin Firth is wonderful as the King, Geoffrey Rush is wonderful as Logue, and Helena Bonham Carter is wonderful as Queen Elizabeth. Their acting is so acute and in tune. Firth's stammer makes you want to help him read his speeches. You just feel for him as he fights to get out his words and you get frustrated when he gets frustrated and you are happy when he's happy. You feel for the Queen as she watches her Bertie struggle and you feel the tension of Bertie's subjects as they wait for him to trip on his words. Geoffrey Rush's subtle approach to Logue makes you hope that he can help the king. His even-tempered manner and his easy-going attitude gently coaxes Bertie into revealing more and more of himself so that Logue can help him and you see a friendship form between the two men that would last them the rest of their lives. Derek Jacobi, Jennifer Ehle, Michael Gambon, Guy Pierce, and Timothy Spall round out the cast and also turn in fabulous performances. Spall's Winston Churchill is worth the price of a movie ticket alone. If Firth, Rush, and Bonham Carter are overlooked for any major award this season, then it is only because the people doing the nominations are lacking in the ability to determine what a fine performance looks like.

Tron Legacy

I loved the first Tron movie. It blew my little eight year old mind. I loved "The Grid" and the costumes and just how cool that movie was in general. Computers weren't in peoples' homes like they are now. Computers were used in offices of forward-thinking business owners who could plop down a ton of money to buy a computer. Even then, some still balked at it because they liked all the triplicate paperwork. So, a movie about computers and the programs manifesting themselves as people-as real things was just-well-cool!!! My classmates and I talked and talked about Tron. It is one of those movies that you put in your "Childhood Favorites" category that you still love to watch. So, when talk started about a Tron sequel, I was excited. I thought that they could do a lot with all the computer technology that exists today and make one really kick-ass movie. Especially with Flynn AND Bradley coming back!!! So finally the day arrives-I am going to see Tron Legacy!!!!!! The theatre darkens, I put on my Disney Real 3D glasses, and I am thinking that the first movie was WAY better. I liked this movie. I really did. It just wasn't as good as the original. I was expecting it to be thrilling and exciting. I was expecting Flynn and his son to go through the Grid on Light Cycles and kick some booty with Clu right on their heels. I wanted a thrill-a-nanosecond sort of experience. I didn't get that. I thought that the story lacked just a little. It was too easily set up and they payoff wasn't that great. I saw a lot of potential in this movie. You have Flynn and his son Sam, you have Dillinger's son Edward, Jr., you have Bradley. The possibilities were endless. I just felt that while the action sequences were great and Michael Sheen was awesome as Castor, the story was a little bit flimsy. I felt like Bruce Boxleitner wasn't given enough to do, Cillian Murphy literally had two lines in the movie, and Jeff Bridges basically channeled The Dude. Also-the 3D was fine but you don't have to really watch it in 3D to get the true Tron experience. I don't know, while I enjoyed the movie immensly as a "popcorn flick" I wouldn't go and label it a great film. I probably will watch it again when it comes to the discount theatres because it is a fun movie. Who knows? Maybe another viewing might change my mind.

Get Low

The new Robert Duvall movie Get Low is one of the finest movies I've seen in a long time. It is about a man named Felix Bush (Duvall) who wants to plan his funeral but wants to be there for it. So, with the help of the local funeral director and his apprentice, Felix has a "funeral party" and invites anyone with a story about him to the party to tell it. There is just one tiny catch-the stories that the townspeople have are not exactly, well, flattering. Felix lives alone way out in the woods and is the subject of much gossip. When he ventures in to town to talk to someone about his funeral, he is met with stares and whispers. Felix has a past and everyone in the town has their own idea as to exactly what he did, where he'd been, etc.

This movie reminds me why I love acting so much. The cast is stellar. I know for a fact that Robert Duvall is a great actor. I've seen him in tons of things. It isn't a secret. However, watching him play Felix is a master lesson in subtlety. Felix is a deep character and could easily fall into the abyss of despair and be played as a stereotypical mean old man, but Duvall brings this subtle light to him. You don't know what has happened to him in his life and whether he was responsible or not, but you want to care about him. Duvall makes him serious, funny and touching all at the same time without losing Felix's edge. The supporting cast of Get Low makes Duvall's already fabulous performance shine that much more. When you are surrounded by good actors, you look even better and this is no exception. Sissy Spacek plays Mattie, a kind widow who has moved back home and knew Felix from back in the day. Bill Murray plays Frank Quinn, the funeral director/proprietor of the town funeral parlor. Lucas Black plays his apprentice. Gerald MacRainey plays the town pastor. Bill Cobbs (one of the best character actors ever) plays an old friend of Felix's. I honestly couldn't imagine anyone else playing these parts. They are all wonderful. Director Aaron Schneider allows his actors to take the time they need and manages to gather a series of moments that are quiet and reflective and genuine. You leave the movie absolutely satisfied. There is a perfect balance between comedy and drama that is completely natural and never feels forced nor does it feel like it is manipulating your emotions as the viewer. This movie is just a lovely piece of cinema that is real and true and genuine.

The Expendables

Okay, so I admit that I am completely addicted to action movies. So what? Back in the 80s, they were the pinnacle of all things cool to watch and growing up in my hometown meant that you did not get to watch "films" you got to watch "movies". If things didn't explode every three minutes, then it didn't make it to the movie theater there. We had action stars coming out the wazoo!!! And even if you weren't an action star, you still wound up in an action movie somehow. So, needless to say, when I saw the very first trailer for The Expendables, I was PUMPED!!! I mean, come on!!! The cast list alone had me sold and ready to watch the movie immediately. Sly Stallone, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Terry Crews, Mickey Rourke, and a couple of standards in the action industry who made me want to cheer out loud when I saw them even though I saw them in preview and knew they were going to be in the movie. The plot centers around a group of guys who do the jobs that the CIA won't touch. When offered a job on an island, they decide to take it and then you know what happens-BOOM!!!! Lots of explosions and booty kicking for everyone!!! They would've scared Hans Gruber straight!! When the band of tough guys aren't out saving the world, they are at home. Stallone could have made them be all domestic-like with secret lives that their families knew nothing about, but instead, they are all dealing with some sort of complication in their private lives and that makes for more interesting character choices. Eric Roberts adds an evil tone as the mean baddie. You really want to punch him in his pretty face!!! His henchman is Stone Cold Steve Austin. And he is super mean!!! The look of the movie reminds me of all those action flicks from the 80s and the dialogue in some parts is tongue-in-cheek and lets you in on the fact that the cast are all aware of their action movie backgrounds. So-if you want to see all of your favorite action stars in one spot other than Spike TV, run out and watch The Expendables. I promise you that you will have a great time!!! Yippee-ki-yay, mother(well, you know the rest)!!!

Scott Pilgrim vs The World

Edgar Wright had me at "Shaun of the Dead." He wooed me with "Hot Fuzz." I pledged my undying love to him when I saw "Spaced." Now his new movie "Scott Pilgrim vs The World" is a love song written just for me. Okay-that is a little mellowdramatic. I just love Edgar Wright. Scott Pilgrim is a guy in his 20s who just wants to play gigs with his band and sort of date his younger girlfriend Knives Chau. Then, he meets his dream girl-Ramona Flowers. But of course, Ramona has, shall we say, a little baggage. This causes problems for Scott because her baggage comes in the form of EVIL EXES!!! (cue incidental music now) Scott must defeat each one in order to win Ramona's love. The movie is based on Bryan Lee O'Malley's graphic novel and he happens to be one of the writers of the screenplay. The movie is presented as a living video game of sorts. The special effects in the movie add so much atmosphere to this film. Wright could have played it straight and not have added any of the little touches and it would have been a fine movie but all of the little embellishments here and there really tweak the movie and make it extra fun to watch. I will give you this one warning, however. If you are older than Generation X, then this movie will most likely annoy you. Everything that adds to the life of the movie I can totally seeing as something to get on some peoples nerves. Gen X-ers and younger-unless you've had your funny bone removed, will giggle at least a little. For me, however, what makes this movie work are the actors. Michael Cera stars as Scott. He has this ability to play the "everyman" that you want to root for no matter what he does. Kieran Culkan plays his gay roommate Wallace who is a master text messenger and Anna Kendrick plays his meddling sister Stacey who is always getting her info from Wallace regarding her brother's life. Aubry Plaza plays Julie-the friend who knows everyone and works everywhere. Mary Elizabeth Winstead plays love interest Ramona Flowers and she is tough and has cool hair and Scott thinks she is awesome. Rounding out the cast is Jason Schwartzman, Brandon Routh (Yes! Superman!), Chris Evans, Mae Whitman, and a host of others who make this movie one of the most fun I've watched in ages. You should definitely go and see it!!!