Macguffin

In The Bank Job, the macguffin was a set of photos supposedly showing the Princess having a beach affair; given the circumstances, the man involved would likely have been Bindon. ❋ Unknown (2010)

It is what Alfred Hitchcock called a "macguffin," a central plot-moving device. ❋ Unknown (2008)

'Tales' attempts to bridge the gap by making the "macguffin" into a semi-sentient protagonist; in theory, we'll work up sympathy for Simon Garth and his plight as a zombie, enough so to get us through stories that jump from city to city as the amulet changes hands. ❋ Unknown (2008)

Oz, I don’t think the aliens really qualify as a macguffin, that is really more a vehicle to drive the plot in thrillers and tends to be ambiguous. ❋ Unknown (2008)

Wow, I had never heard of the word "macguffin" until today .... and I have encountered it twice. ❋ Unknown (2009)

The great Alfred Hitchcock used the word "macguffin" to describe that object, the pursuit of which drives the plot of the story forward. ❋ Unknown (2009)

Ironically, “RocknRolla” had a b-i-i-i-g macguffin: a painting that drives the entire plot (and we never get to see), and it still sucked. ❋ Unknown (2008)

However, I believe it is the subtle way in which Cameron introduces this to the audience that it works for the audience as a believable macguffin despite the name. ❋ Unknown (2010)

First, and less importantly, the Big Secret proves to be a macguffin. ❋ Unknown (2008)

An ensemble cast of gangsters, lowlifes, thugs, and junkies are all after a “macguffin” (this time: a painting we never actually the face of). ❋ Unknown (2008)

In response to the question of what macguffin would work for a fifth Indy flick how about: "INDIANA JONES and The Spear Of Destiny" ❋ Unknown (2009)

Posted on September 28, 2009 5:17 PM invertebrae and yes, the appearance of bran's assassin, and the macguffin of a dagger which catelyn brings to king's landing, they DO help reveal a big plot element brewing to the south. but still........ ❋ Unknown (2009)

As a result, the movie feels contemplative, though there are no real twists to the plot until the very end, when the macguffin is exposed. ❋ Fred Perry (2009)

The plot macguffin largely involves the protagonist looking to punch his mistress in the stomach. ❋ Unknown (2009)

Don't get me wrong, Anna Torv is fine as Olivia Dunham, but Abrams and company missed a great chance to break from current genre stereotypes; by casting Dunham as an employee of series macguffin Massive Dynamic, and instead wrote her role as just another gun-toting chick-in-a-suit. ❋ Chuck Wells (2009)

Still, the authorship heresy is more than a macguffin. ❋ Unknown (2007)

Without that attachment, the reader can lose interest especially as "macguffin-based" stories can start to feel a little similar after a while, since everyone generally wants the object for the same reasons. ❋ Unknown (2008)

Interviewed in 1966 by François Truffaut, [Hitchcock] illustrated the term "[MacGuffin]" with this story: It might be a Scottish name, taken from a story about two men in a train. One man says, 'What's that package up there in the baggage rack?' And the other answers, 'Oh that's a [McGuffin].' The first one asks 'What's a McGuffin?' 'Well' the other man says, 'It's an apparatus for trapping lions in the Scottish Highlands.' The first man says, 'But there are no lions in the Scottish Highlands,' and the other one answers 'Well, then that's no McGuffin!' So you see, a McGuffin is nothing at all. ❋ Laser Potato (2005)

The [suitcase] in [Pulp Fiction] is a [modern] example of a MacGuffin. ❋ Soma616 (2006)