Paper Moon (1973) -vs- The Sting (1973)
The Smackdown While the world today is transfixed by the impending bailout caused by scammers who put us on a path to economic meltdown, both Paper Moon and The Sting are about scammers who did […]
Articles by Bob Nowotny
Swing Vote (2008) -vs- Paper Moon (1973)
The Smackdown Ever noticed how precocious, pre-adolescent girls in films are always decidedly smarter, more ambitious, and more mature than their underachieving dads? Movies love to tell us kids have the wisdom that adults lack. […]
Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed (2008) – vs- The Passion of the Christ (2004)
The Smackdown A few years ago, as the story has been passed down to believers, a great prophet named Gibson proved that religion was not poison at the box office. Gibson begat Stein who walked […]
The Bucket List (2007) -vs- Bubba Ho-Tep (2002)
Both the hotly-promoted “The Bucket List” and the below-the-radar “Bubba Ho-Tep” feature a pair of geriatric geezers (one white, one black) undertaking adventure in the twilight of their lives in a search to give meaning to what went before. Both films are entertaining, but can the big budget, major studio offering with an “A List” cast and a big name director trump a small, independently-made gem based on a Bram Stoker Award nominated short story? Can Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman best Bruce Campbell and Ossie Davis? Is gallimaufry globetrotting more poignant than fighting giant roaches in Nacogdoches? Will the Hollywood-based screenwriter from NYU’s film school hold his own against the Mojo Storyteller from the Big Thicket in East Texas? In short, will “The Bucket List” command as fervent and as loyal a following as “Bubba Ho-Tep?” Will the questions ever stop…
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The Mist (2007) – vs- The Fog (1980)
The Smackdown Don’t underestimate the impact of a little cloud coming over the horizon — and I don’t mean the mushroom variety. You see, some types of ground-hugging hazy vapors possess evil things which brutally […]