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Recent Posts
- 42 (2013) vs. Remember the Titans (2000)
- Admission (2013) vs. About a Boy (2002)
- Oz the Great and Powerful (2012) vs. The NeverEnding Story (1984)
- Dark Skies (2013) vs. Dark Skies (1996)
- Oscar Wrap-Up 2013
- A Good Day to Die Hard (2013) vs. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)
- Oscar Smack-a-thon!
- The Tiersky Top Ten, 2012
- Smackdown Smacks Down the 2013 Oscar Nominees
- Broken City (2013) vs. City Hall (1996)
- Men of Steel (Smackdown’s Superman Smashup)
- Les Miserables (2012) vs. The Fugitive (1993)
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- Sometimes it is really difficult to find a fun craft for kids of all ages. It can be particularly tough when you have a wide range of ages. Finding a project that is interesting for older kids that have more coordination and ability and yet simple enough on Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (2012) -vs- Time After Time (1979)
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- instant loan on X-Men: First Class (2011) -vs- X-Men (2000)
- Florida Aurora on Mamma Mia! (2008) -vs- Hairspray (2007)
- courtney on Brave (2012) -vs- Mulan (1998)
- Elvin Hence on POTC: On Stranger Tides (2011) -vs- POTC: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003)
- Edward on The Thing (2011) -vs- The Thing (1982)
Author Archives: Joe Rassulo
Wreck-it Ralph (2012) vs. Toy Story (1995)
When we Baby Boomers were kids, our toys had lives of their own to us. Now that our children are young, it’s their video game characters that seem real to them. So, having once cherished my Davy Crockett coonskin cap and toy rifle, it was easy for me to see poetry in Toy Story’s Woody, a child’s inanimate cowboy doll by day, and a fretting, insecure, full-blooded character, when no one was looking at night.
My 10-year-old son Jack never had a doll like Woody to play with, but he did grow up with video games and movie characters, including Mario and Luigi. So naturally, Disney, which teamed with Pixar to bring us Toy Story, has jumped into the breach with a similarly themed movie for the Millennials. The new film, Wreck-It Ralph is also about the secret lives of children’s play-things once humans are out of the way. And the same John Lasseter who skyrocketed to prominence as Toy Story’s writer-director is overseeing Ralph as executive producer. Continue reading
Posted in Adventure, Animated, Comedy, Family
Tagged 3D animation, Adam Carolla, animation, arcade, Buzz Lightyear, Disney, Don Rickles, Ed O'Neill, enemy, hero, Jack McBrayer, Jane Lynch Sarah Silverman, John C. Reilly, John Lasseter, John Ratzenberger, Mindy Kaling, Tim Allen, Tom Hanks, toys, video game, Woody
3 Comments
Ice Age: Continental Drift (2012) -vs- Ice Age (2002)
In 2002, in the wake of Shrek and Monsters, Inc, 20th Century Fox launched what was soon to become one of its most successful children’s franchises, Ice Age. With few expectations and little fanfare, it became a surprise worldwide, animated hit, rivaling both those other films, if not in total box office, then certainly in audience loyalty. Its two subsequent sequels, Ice Age: The Meltdown (2006) and Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (2009) proved that unquestionably.
This week, Fox launches Installment 4, Ice Age: Continental Drift, and what was once a total surprise is now laden with great expectations. Unlike the original straight-ahead journey of our unlikely, but charming heroes, Manny (Ray Romano), Sid (John Leguizamo) and Diego (Denis Leary), along with the indomitable prehistoric squirrel, Scrat, and his acorn, audiences are hoping and expecting this new outing to be nothing less than extraordinary. Continue reading
Posted in Adventure, Animated, Comedy, Family, SummerSmack
Tagged Aziz Ansari, Denis Leary, Goran Visnjic, ice, Jack Black, Jane Krakowski, Jennifer Lopez, John Leguizamo, Joy Behar, Nicki Minaj, Patrick Stewart, Peter Dinklage, prehistoric, Queen Latifah, Ray Romano, sabertooth tiger, Scat, sequel, squirrel, Wanda Sykes
1 Comment
The Secret World of Arrietty (2010) -vs- The Borrowers (1997)
The Smackdown Prior to Harry Potter, Mary Norton’s cherished, 1952 novel The Borrowers was a prime example of a children’s book that had as much to say between the lines as in them. For those new to that original work … Continue reading
Posted in Comedy, Family, Fantasy
Tagged anime, based on novel, Borrowers, children's story, Disney, Japanese, John Goodman, little people, Mary Norton
2 Comments
The Way We See it: Joe Rassulo on the Oscars
The Artist is this year’s most talked about and most overrated film. Yes, it’s charming and filled with lovely, touching performances and indelible moments of black and white reveries of movies and times past. It is a wonderful homage to an era long gone. Its obvious relevance to today is its theme of technology leaving many obsolete in its wake. There’s a familiar resonance to the despair many feel in today’s technological storm, which has left so many jobless and even homeless. But the film touches on that theme in a broad, superficial way. “Modern Times” it is not. It’s a singular, gimmicky, almost-silent film that works on every level except one of true substance. And, I believe, a best picture of the year should do more than charm. Continue reading
Posted in Awards, Awards 2012, Commentary, Joe Rassulo, News, Oscar
Tagged Academy Awards, awards, blockbuster, book adaptation, box office, film, Gregory Peck, Hollywood, John Wayne, Katherine Hepburn, matinee, Oscar, review, Super Bowl
8 Comments
Margot at the Wedding (2007) -vs- The Squid and the Whale (2005)
The Smackdown If you think your own family life is rough and you’re looking for a way to feel better about yourself, man, do I have a couple of films for you. Both come from writer-director Noah Baumbach who, with … Continue reading
Posted in Coming of Age, Drama, Family, Indie, Joe Rassulo
1 Comment
Thoughts on the Dark Night
There have been many ridiculous and meaningful thoughts thrown out there about the “dark night” of Friday July 20. Violence, gun control, terrorism and insanity notwithstanding, they all probably make some sense after a few drinks and a lot of inherent frustration and anger about the apparent randomness of the recent violence in a Colorado movie theater.
Still, there are some things that bear mentioning. Continue reading →