Bryce Zabel's MOVIE SMACKDOWN!

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008) -vs- Forrest Gump (1994)

Separated at Birth?

The Smackdown.  Walking out of "Forrest Gump" in 1994, I remember thinking to myself that they ought to make more films like it.  A decade and a half later they've done just that and it's called "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button."  Both touching films are huge accomplishments in story, direction, effects and general envelope-pushing that owe a common source for their originality to screenwriter Eric Roth.  This time he's gone back further in time from Gump's baby-boomer adventures to Button's that span the years from World War I to present day.  Both leading men are blank-slates who seem to end up (Zelig-like) in the middle of big events where their voice-over is used to lead us through the narrative.  The movies also take place in the South, share a female free-spirit love interest, a strong single mom, and folk wisdom "catch phrases."  Does "Button" build on "Gump" or is it just a pale imitation?  That's the Smack attack here.

The Challenger.  "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" owes its concept to the famous remark by Mark Twain that the best part of life comes at the beginning and the worst at the end, and a short story that F. Scott Fitzgerald made out of it in 1921.  The film takes just the essence, though, and tells a new story entirely.  Basically, it's about a baby born on the day World War I ends who is biologically a very old man and who grows younger day by day.  It's a wonderful "what-if" to contemplate, down to the possibility that Button (Brad Pitt) could meet the love of his life when he's an old man and she's a kid, have a love affair when they're about the same age, and then end up with her as an old woman taking care of him when he's just a child.  The scope director David Fincher brings to the screen is large: from its WWI beginning, the film takes us all the way to modern times and Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans.

Wall-E (2008) -vs- Toy Story (1995)

"Wall-E" DVD Release - November 18

The Smackdown.  "Wall-E" -- the last masterpiece to roll off the Pixar assembly line -- is out as a DVD/Blu-ray.  Remember when you first heard about this two-hour-long space-opera with barely any dialogue about robots who sift through garbage?  Who knew that it could one day step in the ring against the champion and have a real shot at victory?

So our Smackdown pits Pixar's lastest advancement in computer-animated awesomeness against the grand-daddy of them all, the first authentic feature-length computer-animated film ever, "Toy Story."  We all know the deal there -- toys come to life.  Done.  We're hooked. And ever since the film's first screening, we've been running out of our front doors shouting "To Infinity and Beyond!" as we left for work each morning.  So let's pit one set of talking inanimate objects against another set of sort-of-talking inanimate objects.  Let the best merchandise win!

The Challenger.  Way, way back, back before "Toy Story" was produced and Pixar was the animated behemoth that it is today, Andrew Stanton created Wall-E. A small, "short-circuit"-styled robot (whose name is actually an acronym for the phrase "Waste Allocation Load Lifter Earth-Class") Wall-E is the last of a line of robots left on Earth to clean up the mess we've made. Due to years of gorging consumerism, the planet has been left a giant trash-heap, too littered to possibly sustain life. In a grand gesture of social responsibility, the mega-conglomerate Buy 'N Large Corporation has encouraged humanity to take a 5 year "vacation" away from the planet, allowing their robots stay behind and restore Earth to a livable state while we all relax pool-side. Unfortunately, things didn't go as planned.

Enchanted (2007) - vs - Penelope (2006)

Sorta Fractured Fairy Tales

The Smackdown.  You gotta love a good ole' fashioned fairy tale!  Despite centuries of far-fetched stories involving glass shoes that don't shatter when you run down a flight of stairs and women who can sleep for a hundred years and not age a day (if only!) audiences still love to be swept off their feet with tales of romance, villainy, and happily ever after.  Today's fairy tales are a twisted version of these Grimm stories, complete with cynicism, satire, sarcasm and tongue-in-cheek delivery.  "Penelope" (2006) and "Enchanted" (2007), both recent DVD releases, duke it out one fairy tale stereotype at a time.   

The Challenger.  "Enchanted" was a smashing success at the box office ($340 plus million) and exploded onto the DVD scene ($40 million) with a ton of fairy dust.  Starring Amy Adams, as the perfect princess-to-be, Patrick Dempsey, the would-be hero, James Marsden, as the gallant prince, with direction from animator Kevin Lima, and written by Bill Kelly, there certainly was enough star power and studio money to guarantee wide theatrical distribution and a fantastic marketing campaign.  The story was modern and cartoonish, capitalizing on both types of Disney fans, as it followed the fairy land maiden Giselle (Adams), after she is quite literally thrown into modern day by an evil witch/step-mother/Queen (Susan Sarandon).  The clumsy princess bride stumbles upon Robert (Dempsey) and his daughter who opt to assist the fair lady in her quest to get home.  The Prince, hearing of the witch's plot, follows his true love to Times Square, and arrogantly (yet, charmingly) saunters through New York City to rescue her.

Encounters at the End of the World (2008) -vs- March of the Penguins (2005)

Life on the Ice

The Smackdown.  In the last few years, the documentary world has given us a couple of projects about living in Antarctica that play out against a backdrop of global warming.  "Encounters at the End of the World" and "March of the Penguins" want to be seen as important because they're being offered to us at a time when the ice caps are shrinking into less-and-less of their former selves.  At the same time, though, the filmmakers want to distract us from the education by making us feel entertained with either quirky characters or Morgan Freeman voice-over.  Americans have the biggest base down there at the South Pole -- McMurdo -- but, apparently, that's where the commitment stops:  both of these films were done, originally, by Europeans.  So, here we go:  penguins versus humans, in a frozen world that's so damn cold your spit can freeze before it even hits the ground.

The Challenger.  Director and writer Warner Herzog also narrates his film about life in Antarctica and, I have to say, listening to his accented voice-over reminds me that it was the Germans who called Antaractica "Neuschwabenland" before World War II and were reputed (in UFO circles anyway) to have repaired there after the end to build flying saucers at secret bases tunneled under the ice.  Okay, you've been warned.  If Herzog has another agenda, you heard it here first...

The film he's made is great example of the idea that you can go to the literal ends of the Earth to get away from it all, and still be where you started.  People are still people, and they need to connect as much as ever.  I probably know as much about life in the US Antarctica base at McMurdo as any living human can without actually having lived there.  A few years ago, I wrote a TV series pilot for DreamWorks TV called, yes, "McMurdo" and read books, websites and talked to all manner of iceheads.

Herzog's poetic film doesn't really tell a story.  Rather it chronicles his visit to McMurdo and the access he was granted once he got there.  There's a meandering quality to his "encounters," giving it a very experiental feeling, but if you're looking for dramatic arc or point-of-view going in, stick with Michael Moore or Al Gore.  For me, it vindicated almost every single choice I'd made in that DreamWorks pilot:  the characters I wrote that seemed too weird or strange, seemed like they'd fit in perfectly.  The danger felt real.  And the stakes remain enormous for the people... and the planet.

Juno (2007) -vs- Knocked Up (2007)

Hollywood's Having Babies
Review by Sloane Hayes Skala

The Smackdown. The pregnancy genre is not a new one, but two of this year’s best movies have managed to present it in a new and novel way. “Juno” tells the story of a teenage girl who gets pregnant by her barely-out-of-puberty high school sweetheart, while “Knocked Up” brings us the tale of a beautiful and bright woman who gets pregnant after an ill-advised romp with a pudgy, unemployed stoner. In both of these movies, two people who have no business having a child together, and who aren't ready for the responsibility in any way, still end up going through pregnancy and birth together. Along the way, both couples find out that whether or not they were ready when the whole thing started (with some less-than-perfect sexual experiences), they have been changed by the life they've created. There are plenty of laughs, and tears to be had in each, but which film does it better?

The Challenger. Hailed by many as this year’s answer to “Little Miss Sunshine,” “Juno” is the unusually heartwarming tale of a quirky young woman who gets, for lack of a better term, knocked up by her wimpy high school boyfriend. Director Jason Reitman (“Thank You For Smoking”) and freshman writer Diablo Cody bring us an appealing indie flick with a stellar cast: Ellen Page stars as Juno, Michael Cera as her sweetheart Paulie Bleeker, and Alison Janey and J.K. Simmons as her long-suffering mid-western parents. When sixteen-year-old Juno consents to take Paulie’s virginity, she doesn’t factor in the consequences. A few months later, Juno is starting to show, which makes for awkward walks down her high school halls. After deciding against “that other option” upon discovering that her unborn baby already has fingernails, Juno scours the PennySaver looking for potential adoptive parents. She finds them in Mark and Vanessa Loring (Jason Bateman and Jennifer Garner in one of her best performances to date). The Lorings are the picture-perfect yuppie couple – at least from the outside – the only thing they are missing is a child. It is a pleasure to watch Juno cope with her rapidly changing body, her fluctuating teenage relationship with Paulie, and getting to know the future parents of her baby (all while she deals with Chemistry homework). The ensemble is the best part about the film; Ellen Page is wildly talented and her chemistry with the subtly hilarious Michael Cera is palpable. The story is fresh, funny, unique and emotional without being trite or cliché at all.

The Defending Champion. After the success of “The 40 Year Old Virgin,” many wondered how Judd Apatow could possibly top it. Fear not, he found a way: “Knocked Up.” Only his second directing endeavor ever, “Knocked Up” surpasses “Virgin” by a long shot for my money; it is funnier and more genuine. The posters for the film sum it up perfectly: An enlarged picture of greasy, sloppy, deer-in-the-headlights Seth Rogan with a caption saying “What if this guy got you pregnant?” The premise itself didn’t sound destined to succeed: Alison, a beautiful, up and coming young woman (Katherine Heigl) goes out for a night of reckless celebration after getting a big job promotion. After a few too many drinks, she decides to go home with Ben Stone (Seth Rogan), a pudgy, overeager stoner, and engage in drunken, unprotected sex. Eight weeks later, Alison is pregnant and keeping it – and shows up at Ben’s door to tell him so. The unlikely pair decides to try to make it work for the sake of the baby, and hilarity ensues. Aided by supporting characters Debbie and Pete (Alison’s sister and her husband, played by the comically brilliant Paul Rudd and Leslie Mann), the couple manages to forge a unique and surprisingly sweet relationship. “Knocked Up” is genuine above all things; even with the broad stoner and bodily-functions humor, the comedy is funny without being fake.

The Scorecard. For two movies with such similar premises, the films could not be more different. “Juno” is decidedly indie, with an emo-folksy soundtrack to match. “Knocked Up” is not. “Juno” feels slightly self-aware, like it’s trying to be artsy, while “Knocked Up” feels like it could have been entirely improv-ed. That being said, the emotion in “Juno” is real; towards the end, when Mark and Vanessa’s relationship goes awry, I really felt for Vanessa and willed their relationship to work. Likewise with Juno and Paulie – I wanted nothing more than for Paulie to get the girl, protruding belly and all. But the same can be said of “Knocked Up.” While I was hard-pressed to sympathize with Alison’s bitchy character, I really wanted Ben to win her heart and make one small step for anti-hunks everywhere. The movies have different perspectives: “Juno” tackles the premise from the viewpoint of its title character, showing us that unplanned pregnancies really can be blessings in disguise, even for teenage girls. “Knocked Up” looks at the situation through the terrified but hopeful eyes of Ben, showing us that getting knocked up is just as traumatic for the member of the relationship without the hormonal mood swings (although I supposed that too could be debated).