The Nanny Diaries (2007) -vs- The Devil Wears Prada (2006)
The Smackdown Ever since Farrah Fawcett made lethal use of a gas can and a mattress to rid the world of her abusive, pig husband in 1984’s “The Burning Bed,” men have not had a […]
Comedy
Balls of Fury (2007) -vs- Dodgeball (2004)
The Smackdown Films — at the highest level of achievement — illuminate, entertain, even influence events. They usually don’t aim that high. Movies mostly reinforce our existing preferences for drama, romance, horror — or in […]
Hairspray (2007) -vs- Hairspray (1988)
The Smackdown “Hairspray” sets up a Smackdown! as unsettling as meeting another person with your name: something is familiar, but the other elements don’t quite fit. Mark Twain anticipated this frustration when he said some […]
No Reservations (2007) -vs- Mostly Martha (2002)
The Smackdown I’ve been thinking about food a lot (like this is news?) because I’m developing a TV series for my friend Mark Dacascos who plays “The Chairman” on Iron Chef America. His current show […]
No Reservations (2007) -vs- Big Night (1996)
To me, there’s almost nothing better in the theater-going experience than being completely wrong about a movie, and boy, was I wrong about this one! From the previews, I had “No Reservations” pegged as just another ‘Star Vehicle’, the kind of flick we’ve come to know so very well, that seems to serve no other purpose than to extol the questionable attributes of a particular actor or actress, and promote their career. And, of course, make a lot of money doing it. The typical ‘vehicle’ features the Star in 99.9% of the scenes, and rams down our collective throat their special brand of ‘likability’, i.e., a signature grin or cute/quirky personality, that, after two hours, has us hunting for a belltower rooftop where we can bring total strangers down with a scoped rifle, until the SWAT Team finally puts us out of our misery.
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License to Wed (2007) -vs- My Best Friend’s Wedding (1997)
The Smackdown The greatest thing about movies revolving around weddings is not, actually, the weddings themselves. Instead, it’s the dramatic and hilarious (hopefully) events leading up to the big day. Personally, I love seeing the […]
Ratatouille (2007) -vs- Toy Story (1995)
The Smackdown Pixar pretty much owns the press clippings and praise handed out in the animation market these days because, basically, they do what they do better than anyone else can even imagine doing it. […]
Evan Almighty (2007) -vs- Bruce Almighty (2003)
The Smackdown People like to talk about having a “personal” relationship with God. Maybe that’s why both these films bring in audiences — the chance to watch the main characters actually have that relationship on […]
Introducing the Dwights (2007) -vs- Meet the Fockers (2004)
The Smackdown Everybody is secretly afraid to introduce their friends to their parents, let alone bring home that special girlfriend. At least half of those people are probably right to be worried. “Introducing the Dwights” […]
Music and Lyrics (2007) -vs- Once (2007)
The Smackdown Tone is everything. It’s not so much the idea anymore in films, it’s the filmmaker’s “take” on the idea. For some stark insight into the difference between studio and indie films, and between […]