The Visitor (2008) -vs- About Schmidt (2002)
The Smackdown Middle age is not for sissies. Take it from me, kids. Even those of us who lead fairly examined lives are in for a pretty rough descent as the uphill ride starts heading […]
Articles by Sherry Coben
Bride Wars (2009) -vs- Rachel Getting Married (2008)
The Smackdown What do women want? While Sigmund Freud may not have provided an adequate answer, Hollywood’s come up with something. Women want weddings! If not their own, any cardboard cut-out cutie’s will do in […]
Defiance (2008) -vs- Valkyrie (2008)
The Smackdown It’s Academy Award-worthy season, and you know what that means! Nazis! The multiplex is practically teeming with them. Valkyrie served them up for Christmas, and Defiance held it’s own limited New Year’s Eve […]
Marley & Me (2008) -vs- The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)
The Smackdown The tabloids made me do it. The temptation to compare Brad’s and Jen’s films, both opening on Christmas Day was too much for the Merchants of Venom (and now for me); Jen won […]
Diner (1982) -vs- The Apartment (1960)
The Smackdown There are a surprising number of worthwhile New Year’s Eve-themed films to consider watching, should other more social-type plans fail to materialize for you. I’m no drinker, no party animal; subsequently, New Year’s […]
Milk (2008) -vs- Philadelphia (1993)
The Smackdown As Proposition 8 protesters take to California streets, Gus Van Sant’s Milk reminds us that we’ve been here before. Thirty years ago, the religious right-backed Proposition 6 was defeated by the first wave […]
Australia (2008) -vs- The Castle (1999)
The Smackdown I love Australia. I love their cute marsupials and their adorable accents. I especially love Australian films so you can just imagine how fast I ran down to the nearest multiplex to see […]
Twilight (2008) -vs- Edward Scissorhands (1990)
The Smackdown Teenaged girls are a force to be reckoned with. Like tsunamis and hurricanes. Oh sure, industry wisdom has it that teenaged boys go to the movies; they’re the prime target audience. Anyone who […]
Frost/Nixon (2008) -vs- W. (2008)
The Smackdown As the nation holds its collective breath, waiting for Inauguration Day and the end of the long national nightmare that was the Bush administration, Richard Nixon lurches into the multiplex to remind us […]
W. (2008) -vs- All The President’s Men (1976)
The Smackdown Two wildly unpopular presidents and the mess they leave behind. Thirty-odd years apart but linked by a few common and terribly unfortunate threads. Hubris. Megalomania. Bad advice. Two films make drama of historical […]