From MacGuffin to MacNuffin ... Mark Steyn

Steyn Online ^ | 12 Mar 2014 | Mark Steyn

[Rummyfan]

So the other night I saw the movie Non-Stop, because who doesn't enjoy watching Liam Neeson kill large numbers of people for a couple of hours? Unfortunately, it was set on a transatlantic jet flying a mere couple of hundred passengers to London, and he doesn't even get to kill all of them. So it was a bit small potatoes after Taken, where he kills approximately 30 per cent of the population of Paris, and Taken 2, where he kills approximately 40 per cent of the population of Istanbul, and, between the two pictures, kills approximately 70 per cent of the population of Albania. My favorite line in Taken 2 was Liam Neeson's advice to his daughter in an emergency:

Go to the US Embassy. You'll be safe there.

It opened the week after Benghazi.

[FreedomPoster]

Ping

[BroJoeK]

"McGuffin" -- that's a new word for me.
I like it.
We should learn to use it more often, explains a lot about Democrat political nonsense.

Thanks to Mark Stein, cogent and acute as ever!

[Carriage Hill]

Taken? Taken II? Missed those; checking Netflix...

[Flick Lives]

"McGuffin" -- that's a new word for me. I like it.

Not to be confused with a "McMuffin", which I suppose could be a "McGuffin"!

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

The most recognized Macguffin had a movie named for it. The Maltese Falcon.

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

I saw Taken II (under mild duress). Hated it. At least the Macguffin in that one was Islamist hatred of the west.

[saganite]

Taken is definitely worth watching. Taken 2, not so much.

[Carriage Hill]

There’s even a Taken 3, sans Liam Neeson.

I’ll be watching Taken 1 today; holding off on 2 & 3, for now.

[BroJoeK]

"Not to be confused with a "McMuffin", which I suppose could be a "McGuffin"! "

;-)

[BroJoeK]

"The most recognized Macguffin had a movie named for it. The Maltese Falcon."

And here is the word, directly from the master himself:

What is a McGuffin?

[ArtDodger]

Roadside memorials where people have died serve several purposes. One being to remind people, especially the young, to drive a bit more carefully or their accident site might be a reminder for others to drive carefully. Have to disagree with Steyn on this one. I can see if the memorial is gaudy or improper. We have a place here near Winchester where 5 teens died in a car wreck, the wooden crosses decayed and were gone after the decades. 30 years ago, another 5 kids died in the same spot. The crosses are fresh (and the road has been straightened out).
Now plastering your loved ones name on the back window of your truck is gaudy. I am having it down for my goldfish, Swish, as a joke.

[unseelie]

“McGuffin” — that’s a new word for me. I like it.
Not to be confused with a “McMuffin”, which I suppose could be a “McGuffin”!

Perhaps in the projects?

[Bigg Red]

Yeah, new for me, also, but I like Steyn’s word “MacNuffin” much better.

[Bigg Red]

Actually, “Taken” is one of the few movies the husband and I have seen in recent years. The only reason I wanted to see it was because someone said on here that the left was having a hissy because there were mohammedans as bad guys. It was actually pretty good. But I won’t be giving Neeson any more of my money now that I know what a drooling leftist he is.

[Bigg Red]

Roadside memorials where people have died serve several purposes. One being to remind people, especially the young, to drive a bit more carefully or their accident site might be a reminder for others to drive carefully. Have to disagree with Steyn on this one.

***
Same here. I have seen some that are over the top, but if they are just on a highway and not in some homeowner’s view, I don’t see the harm to motorists who are hurtling past them.

Not interested enough to look it up, but perhaps the one Steyn is referring to is much larger and/or intrusive.

[Carriage Hill]

Good enough reason to rent it; thanks.

[Noob1999]

bfl

[JLS]

Mark Steyn ping.

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Thanks for the ping FreedomPoster