June 2011 - Page 2 of 2 - Movie SmackdownÂ®

X-Men: First Class (2011) -vs- X-Men (2000)

June 4, 2011 The FilmGuru 4

The last time we saw mutants on the big screen, it was the disappointing third installment in the X-Men trilogy, appropriately titled X-Men: The Last Stand. What had begun as a promising franchise under the steady hand of director Bryan Singer turned to crap under the watch of replacement director Brett Ratner. As Joel Schumacher had done with the Batman franchise, so too had Ratner done with the X-Men.

Now, after five years, the mutants are back. Instead of trying to resurrect the franchise by fixing the problems of the previous film (which included killing off two of the main characters), the new franchise is starting over at the beginning with a prequel. Now we have a chance to look at two different beginnings for the X-Men franchise and see which one works better.

Now, after five years, the mutants are back. […]

Life After Contact

June 3, 2011 The FilmGuru 2

Starting in the ’60s, we began to meet the kind, benevolent aliens waiting to usher us into their interstellar version of the brotherhood of man in films like 2001: A Space Odyssey, Close Encounters, and E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial.

The past couple of decades have brought the aggression closer to home with stories of alien abduction. Bordering on horror, films like Communion, Fire in the Sky, and The Fourth Kind suggest something sinister (or at least coldly detached and clinical) in these encounters.

And there have also been films like District 9 and Alien Nation that sought to use alien contact as a metaphor for immigration issues and the devaluation of the Other as a second-class citizen. […]

Our Smack Tribute to National Donut Day… and More!

June 3, 2011 Movie Smackdown 0

Iron Man would like to remind you that today is National Donut Day. We don’t ordinarily pay attention to such matters but while scooting through all the news channels this morning Fox had a reporter on location at a donut shop so we figured it must be important. We also remembered this great still photo from Iron Man 2.

With the pressing donut issue dealt with, we would also like to remind the handful of people out there who are not aware of this fact that X-Men: First Class is playing on like 14-billion screens today that we will also be Smacking that new film down against X-Men, the first film in the series.

Kevin Wohler is all over that one and he’s braving a re-enacted Cuban Missile Crisis to bring it to the Smack… soon…

Meantime, here’s a little something to hold you over: […]

Battle: Los Angeles (2011) -vs- Transformers (2007) -vs- War of the Worlds (2005) -vs- Independence Day (1996)

June 1, 2011 Bryce Zabel 12

There are alien invasions and then there are alien invasions.

This Smack is about the ones where the aliens swoop in, lasers blazing, hell-bent on some balls-to-the-wall human ass-kicking. No demands, no negotiations, just straight-ahead mayhem where the Earth is torn up with no regard whatsoever. It’s as if they’re treating our planet like a condemned building that just needs to knocked down as fast as possible so the new construction can get started. I know some folks think we’re already doing that ourselves but let’s skip the politics and just define this as apocalyptical visitation.
[…]

Incendies -vs- The Year of Living Dangerously

Incendies (2011) -vs- The Year of Living Dangerously (1982)

June 1, 2011 Mark Sanchez 0

Years ago, I reported and field-produced stories during a month-long trip into Saudi Arabia, Syria and Egypt. Well-armed authority ruled each country; I met guards with machine guns as I stepped from the plane in Riyadh, and private armies patrolled Damascus and other parts of Syria. Egypt was an active military state. This uniformed muscle enforced the appearance of order at the cost of personal freedom. This is the atmospheric real estate where the essential drama of Incendies plays out.

It now steps into the ring against a proven winner, The Year of Living Dangerously from 1982. This film combines a love story with armed revolution in Indonesia. It pushed Mel Gibsonâ€™s star even higher, and won Linda Hunt a well-deserved Oscar. Peter Weir directed and shares screenwriting credits with David Williamson and Christopher Koch in adapting Kochâ€™s novel.

Hereâ€™s a Smackdown where lives collide with life-threatening situations. Which film survives the firepower to deliver the stronger human story? Duck and cover! […]

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