Gran Torino (2008) -vs- The Shootist (1976)
The Smackdown Rumor has it that Gran Torino will be the last film that Clint Eastwood acts in. In it, he basically plays a version of his tough-guy screen characters (think Harry Callahan) who, at […]
Articles by Bryce Zabel
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008) -vs- Forrest Gump (1994)
When “Forrest Gump” hit the theaters in 1994, it was a pure original: nothing quite like it had come before. Tom Hanks got the title role and basically hit it out of the park playing a man-child with an IQ of 75 who manages to be involved in every major happening in America between the 1950s and the 1980s. As directed by Robert Zemeckis, the film manages to move forward relentlessly in its narrative scope and, before it’s over, Tom Hanks has taught Elvis, made JFK laugh, been a hero in Vietnam, opened up China with his ping-pong skills, run across America and had a girlfriend die of AIDS. The bases are covered every which way but it’s Hanks’s dignified, down-to-Earth performance that sets it totally apart. It might be a comedy or a drama, I’m not really sure.
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The Best Christmas Movie Is…
…would you believe? … “It’s A Wonderful Christmas Story Actually.” It’s a three-way run-off! With Christmas only a few days away now, Americans are doing their part to jump-start the national economy by buying things […]
Golden Globes Get Smacked Around Good!
Over here at Movie Smackdown! we've already put seven of the ten Golden Globe "best picture" nominees in the ring against worthy opponents. If you're new to the Smack, this might be a good […]
Last Chance Harvey (2008) -vs- Something’s Gotta Give (2003)
The Smackdown The great thing about being famous, one has to imagine, is that when you get older there are still lots of people who want to have sex with you. Maybe that’s the same […]
It’s A Wonderful Christmas Story Actually
With Thanksgiving behind us now, Americans are doing their part to jump-start the national economy by buying things they don't need in order to employ people they don't know and, of course, Movie Smackdown has […]
VOTE NOW: The Smackdown Polls Are Open
This just in: Batman is kicking Spider-Man’s ass… The End of the World is too close to call… and the famous runner with the French name is in a dead heat with himself… We know, […]
Wikipedia -vs- Movie Smackdown
NOTE: This article was once on Wikipedia until one day it was challenged and wasn’t. So here it is in its original form, without editing. Go Free Speech! Movie Smackdown is one of a growing […]
Revolutionary Road (2008) -vs- American Beauty (1999)
The Smackdown The hype around “Revolutionary Road,” of course, will center around the fact that it re-unites Jack (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Rose (Kate Winslet) for the first time since the mega-super blockbuster “Titanic.” But smacking […]
40th Anniversary Smack: The Godfather (1972) -vs- The Godfather, Part II (1974)
By now it’s all become a part of our collective cultural memory — the horse’s head showing up in the bed, the making of an offer that can’t be refused, and that haunting score by Nino Rota. What some don’t remember, after all the plotting, double-dealing and bloodshed, is that The Godfather, released four decades ago back in 1972, was one of the great family dramas ever filmed. And not just crime family either. The dynamics of the Corleone clan would be worthy of study in advanced courses in psychology, not to mention undertaking.
What is most astonishing about The Godfather, which won Oscars for best picture, lead actor (Marlon Brando) and screenplay adaptation (Mario Puzo, Francis Ford Coppola), is that two years later The Godfather, Part II topped it with another slew of Academy Awards, including best picture. Coppola, who won that year for director and earned another statue with Puzo for adaptation, delved even deeper into the family story, setting up a multi-generational saga as deep and satisfying as anything in modern literature.
All of this pretty much qualifies the second film as the unquestioned best sequel of all time. And, of course, it triggers a Smackdown to find out which of these two extraordinary films is the best. […]