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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)
Recent Comments
- baby showers on The Day The Earth Stood Still (2008) -vs- The Day The Earth Stood Still (1951)
- virility ex trial samples on Without Limits (1998) -vs- Prefontaine (1997)
- polo factory store on Wreck-it Ralph (2012) vs. Toy Story (1995)
- courtney on Brave (2012) -vs- Mulan (1998)
- Elvin Hence on POTC: On Stranger Tides (2011) -vs- POTC: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003)
- All Natural Male Enlargement on Without Limits (1998) -vs- Prefontaine (1997)
- Edward on The Thing (2011) -vs- The Thing (1982)
- http://thoughts.blewblew.com/ on Without Limits (1998) -vs- Prefontaine (1997)
- male enhancement system on Without Limits (1998) -vs- Prefontaine (1997)
- vårdföretag on The Tiersky Top Ten, 2012
Author Archives: Sarah Harding
Life of Pi (2012) vs. Slumdog Millionaire (2008)
Life, as they say, is a journey, and that’s never so clear as when watching a life story unfold in the hands of a masterful film director. In Life of Pi, the voyage is both literal and symbolic, as the title character is forced to traverse the high seas under Grimms’ fairy tale-like circumstances that must be seen to be — well, if not believed, then at least experienced at a deep level. At the same time, the young, Indian lead character, a devoted spiritual seeker, undergoes an intense inner journey as well.
Slumdog Millionaire, the multi-Academy Award winning 2008 film, similarly explores a young, Indian’s life journey as he navigates the Dickensian streets of Mumbai, constantly relying on his wiles to survive, while also seeking love and, ultimately, fabulous wealth and the respect he deserves. Continue reading
Posted in Adventure, Awards, Drama, Romance, Thriller
Tagged Adil Hussain, Ang Lee, Bengal tiger, best-selling novel, Danny Boyle, Dev Patel, Freida Pinto, India, Irrfan Khan, life story, lifeboat, Mumbai, orphan, police, shipwreck, Suraj Sharma, Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?, Yann Martel, youth
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Chasing Mavericks (2012) vs. North Shore (1987)
Earnest young hero struggles to master a sport and is aided by a gruff and/or reluctant mentor. Yeah, we’ve seen it before, again and again, from Rocky to Hoosiers to Karate Kid. But there must be something we love about the formula, right? Something that speaks to the human spirit, embodied in a young athlete trying to rise above his limitations to achieve something greater than anyone thought possible.
Here, the sport is surfing, which means each of these two competing films, Chasing Mavericks, which premieres this weekend, and 1987’s semi-cult-classic North Shore, has the opportunity to inspire and humble us with nature’s awesome beauty. Of course, it’s just as likely that each might drive non-sports fans like me crazy by drowning us in a tidal wave of movie clichés. Continue reading
Posted in Action, Drama, Romance, Sports
Tagged Curtis Hanson, Elisabeth Shue, Gerard Butler, Gregory Harrison, Jay Moriarty, Jonny Weston, Laird Hamilton, Matt Adler, maverick waves, Michael Apted, Nia Peeples, surfing, surfing phenom, waves
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The Odd Life of Timothy Green (2012) -vs- Foster (2011)
When I first saw the trailer for The Odd Life of Timothy Green, it seemed so quirky and original that I was surprised to learn it had a perfect Smackdown opponent waiting in semi-obscurity to face off against it. Foster, released in 2011 but only seen by a handful of people — most of them probably in London art houses — is so similar to Timothy Green in concept that I began to question the latter’s provenance. (As it turns out, Timothy is not a recast Yank version of Foster but an original script by director Peter Hedges, from a story by Ahmet Zappa, one of Frank’s kids.) Both films are gentle fairy tales that examine family relationships. Both involve children, who magically appear when they are most needed and manage to teach their troubled adoptive parents a thing or two about love and parenting. Both fathers are in jeopardy of losing their jobs, which the magical children in their lives are also able to help them address. And both are full of hokey life lessons, yet surprisingly are able to touch audiences in a genuinely heartfelt way. Continue reading
Posted in Comedy, Drama, Family, Fantasy, Smackdown News
Tagged Ahmet Zappa, CJ Adams, Common, Dianne Wiest, Hayley Mills, Ioan Gruffudd, Jennifer Garner, Joel Edgerton, Maurice Cole, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Toni Collette
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People Like Us (2012) -vs- The Descendants (2011)
Location, location, location. When it comes to dealing with broken families and the secrets that enshroud them, it makes no difference whether you live in La-La Land or blue Hawaii. Reconnecting with the family members you’ve ignored or the one you never knew existed is hard in either case, even if you’re Chris Pine. Yep, George Clooney, too.
While films centered around intense emotion and family dynamics are nothing new, they’re a rarity in these days of car chases, alien invasions and spandex-clad superheroes. Our contestants — People Like Us (2012) and The Descendants (2011) —are both about confronting those issues most of us would rather ignore. Both films are aimed at actual grown-ups — another rarity these days — and each looks at serious issues in distinctly different ways. Continue reading
Posted in Comedy, Drama
Tagged accident, affair, Chris Pine, coma, daughters, Elizabeth Banks, estate, family, George Clooney, Hawaii, Los Angeles, melodrama, Michelle Pfeiffer, Olivia Wilde, relationship, Shailene Woodley
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Brave (2012) -vs- Mulan (1998)
Once upon a time, animated princess movies were populated by passive heroines waiting to be rescued by noble but bland princes. Disney has made strides toward addressing this anachronism, giving us, among other notable efforts, Mulan (1998), which features a different kind of female lead, one whose strength, cleverness and courage — not her looks or brawny boyfriend — save the day. Of course, the company has long relied on female protagonists of every stripe, dating back to its first animated feature, Snow White, and running the gamut through Bambi, Cinderella, The Little Mermaid, and on and on. Rival studio Pixar, on the other hand, has never featured a girl or woman in a lead role — until now. Continue reading
Posted in Action, Adventure, Animated, Family, SummerSmack
Tagged Archery, Billy Connolly, Bravery, China, Curse, Dragon, Eddie Murphy, Emma Thompson, George Takei, Harvey Fierstein, Kelly Macdonald, Kevin McKidd, Luck, Matchmaker, Ming-Na, princess, Scotland, Training
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John Carter (2012) -vs- Avatar (2009)
In the genre of 3D outer space shoot-’em-ups, there are two ways to go: Either you’ve got your humans ruthlessly exploiting oddly shaped locals on some distant planet, or vice versa. John Carter chooses the less common scenario, an Earthling being used and abused by aliens for their own purposes, while the defending champion Avatar presents a classic story of corporate greed morphing into cultural affinity. Continue reading
The Grey (2012) -vs- The Edge (1997)
When it comes to high profile, scenery-chewing actors lost in the wild, Mother Nature sure can be a bitch. In The Grey and The Edge it’s Man vs. Nature, Man vs. Man, and Actors vs. Script. It’s survival of the fittest, Smackdown-style. Continue reading
Red Tails (2012) -vs- Men of Honor (2000)
A 1925 Army War College study concluded that “blacks are mentally inferior to the white man, by nature subservient… cowardly… and therefore unfit for combat.” The men on whose lives Red Tails and Men of Honor are based set out to disprove that, but they need a leader, someone like Cuba Gooding Jr., who if he wants to, can gleefully shout, “Show me the equality,” and get people to take notice. Damned if Cuba doesn’t take the assignment to make those old, white, Army and Navy dudes look like racist fools! Continue reading
Posted in Action, Biopic, Drama
Tagged airmen, combat, NavyWorld War II, racial, Tuskegee
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Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol (2011) -vs- Quantum of Solace (2008)
What’s a spy to do when he knows what’s right and his government disagrees? His only option is to go rogue. Whether that spy is the urbane James Bond or the decidedly more American Ethan Hunt, the result is the same—action, action and more action. Continue reading
The Sitter (2011) -vs- Adventures in Babysitting (1987)
It’s hard work being a babysitter in Hollywood. Instead of settling the kids down for a night of movies and TV dinners, you’re more likely to be stalked by a sadistic killer (Halloween), have a heart attack (Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter’s Dead), endure increasingly threatening phone calls (When a Stranger Calls) or find yourself trying to rescue your charge from the Goblin King (Labyrinth). Continue reading