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MacGuffin Spotlight
Double Feature Showdown – A Stolen Life vs. Dead Ringer
Some movies beg to be compared; others demand to go mano-a-mano. Who am I to resist this challenge? It turns out Bette Davis made not one, but two, movies where she plays twins: A Stolen Life and Dead Ringer. In both movies, one twin dies…
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An Appreciation – L.A. Confidential
“Off the record, on the QT, and very hush-hush.” So says reporter Sid Hudgens (Danny DeVito) at the end each of his articles in the tabloid paper Hush-Hush. While Sid works as a supporting character in Curtis Hanson’s masterful crime drama L.A. Confidential (1997), his…
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An Analysis – Confessions of a Twilight Watcher
Ok, fine. I admit it. I watch the Twilight movies and enjoy myself. I know I should be ashamed, but I’m really not. (That is a horrendous lie. Whenever my friend Sarah outs me on Facebook, I get all snippy with her. She just has…
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An Analysis – Best Picture Academy Awards and the Test of Time
The annual festival of Hollywood-types congratulating each other for their ability to play make-believe really well while flaunting a garish display of uniquely American excess is rapidly approaching. Of course I’m talking about the annual Academy Awards. As a concept, and looking at the amount…
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An Analysis – Oscar Predictions
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…
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MacGuffin Roundtable #22 – My Week With Marilyn
The MacGuffin crew discuss My Week With Marilyn, from director Simon Curtis and starring Michelle Williams & Kenneth Branagh. This roundtable features special guest Aaron Roden from The Air Raid Podcast. This episode can be played online via the flash player below or it can…
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For The Ladies – A Letter to Three Wives
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…
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Bird Watching – Lena Dunham’s “Tiny Furniture”
As the tagline says: Aura would like you to know that she’s having a very, very hard time. The main character of the indie comedy Tiny Furniture (2010)—played by writer-director Lena Dunham—has just graduated college with a major in film theory, moved back in with…
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