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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
Tag Archives: Matt Damon
Skyfall (2012) vs. The Bourne Legacy (2012)
Two determined superspies, two venerable movie franchises. The more venerable one, James Bond – by some standards, the longest-running film series in history – fattens its library this weekend with the release of Skyfall, starring Daniel Craig, who plays the suave secret agent for only the third time. Fighting in the defending champ’s corner is The Bourne Legacy, featuring a lead character so new, he’s not even named Bourne. Jeremy Renner plays the genetically enhanced secret warrior Aaron Cross, outrunning various government creeps who are trying to assassinate their own man to protect their black-ops program. Continue reading
Posted in Action, Adventure, Crime
Tagged 007, Albert Finney, Bond, British, British government, cover-up, covert, Daniel Craig, Edward Norton, James Bond, Javier Bardem, Jeremy Renner, Judi Dench, lab, London, Matt Damon, MI6, Naomie Harris, Rachel Weisz, Sam Mendes, scientist, spy, superspy
8 Comments
The Bourne Legacy (2012) -vs- The Bourne Identity (2002)
Rumpled bureaucrats stand around a cramped room, surrounded by state-of-the-art surveillance equipment, barking orders at the underlings and whispering tensely among themselves as they watch a muscular super-agent and his female companion out-gun, out-run, out-fight and out-think them at every turn.
Where else could we be but Bourne again? (Sorry.)
Yes, that’s right, the lucrative franchise, loosely adapted from Robert Ludlum’s novels, that closed out its initial trilogy with (the now inappropriately titled) Bourne Ultimatum (2006) is back. The hooks for The Bourne Legacy are a mostly new cast, including lead actor, the screenwriter of all four taking over directing chores as well, and that other than the occasional photo, there’s not an actual Bourne in sight. Continue reading
Posted in Action, Adventure, SummerSmack, Thriller
Tagged amnesia, assassin, bank, Chris Cooper, Clive Owen, Doug Liman, Edward Norton, Franka Potente, Jeremy Renner, martial arts, Matt Damon, memory, Rachel Weisz, Robert Ludlam, sequel, spy, Tony Gilroy
1 Comment
Hereafter (2010) -vs- The Sixth Sense (1999)
I don’t think about dying as often as, say, Woody Allen, but I think about it often enough. Mostly I think I am not in favor of it. On the other hand, considering the differences of opinion about what happens after this part of life is over, maybe the Big Black Void would be okay.
Our two films both have considerably different takes on the afterlife. To say the least. But, like all films in this genre, it’s not what they’re saying about what comes next that’s the big deal, it’s what they’re saying about the here and now.
Clint Eastwood’s new movie, Hereafter, ventures through that thin membrane separating the living from the dead. Director M. Night Shyamalan staked out a notable career in this territory, most notably with 1999′s well regarded The Sixth Sense. That’s our Smackdown: If dead people can communicate with us, what are they saying about these movies? Continue reading
Posted in Drama, Supernatural, Suspense
Tagged Bruce Willis, Haley Joel Osment, Matt Damon
2 Comments
Green Zone (2010) -vs- The Hurt Locker (2009)
It’s not a good time for the American occupation of Iraq. The news from “over there” is that the followers of Moktada al-Sadr, the radical cleric who led the Shia insurgency against the American occupation, have emerged as Iraq’s equivalent of the 1994 Republican Party. Meanwhile, back in the United States, Americans voted about Iraq, too, refusing to give “Green Zone” any mandate whatsoever. And, keep in mind that the other Iraq film that just won the Best Picture Oscar, “The Hurt Locker,” basically was one of the worst-peforming winners in that category ever. Maybe it’s just the hot button political sensitivities, war-weariness, or that it is simply “too soon.” Other critics can decide that, however, because here at the Smack, we simply want to know which film about the Iraq War gets it most right, box-office be damned!
Continue reading
Posted in Action, Awards, Beau DeMayo, Drama, Major Star Vehicle, Oscar, Politics, Thriller, War
Tagged box office, election, insurgency, Iraq, Israel, Kathryn Bigelow, Matt Damon, mid-east, occupation, Oscar, weapons of mass destruction, WMD
4 Comments