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Arnold (2011) -vs- Arnold (1998) What’s He Thinking Now?

May 21, 2011 Bryce Zabel 1

Probably no one will admit to this in the future, even if it’s true, but I think confession is good for the soul.

I voted for Arnold Schwarzenegger. Twice.

Honestly, I did it because I felt that his oversize personality allowed him to stand out from the stupid party animosities that were bankrupting California in their dance of mutually assured destruction. For a while he did, and he kept trying. So there’s that.

But, of course, it’s not enough, even if you’re an Arnold fan outside of the movies. Clearly we haven’t heard the end of the story cycle and more “shockers” will dribble out, but the whole thing feels icky. At least this happened when he was out of office. You can just freaking imagine the media circus this would be if he was still up in Sacramento. […]

The (True) “True Story of Blackbeard”

May 18, 2011 Bryce Zabel 2

There’s just something about that name — Blackbeard — that Hollywood loves. It doesn’t matter what the real details are since nobody in the audience knows them anyway.

What’s important is that Blackbeard, whoever the hell he was, was definitely the biggest of the badass pirates in a world populated by badass pirates.

Even in those days, the early 1700s, hype always exceeded reality. Pirates were feared, but tavern gossip in coastal communities inflated their stories into mythic proportions. They may have been scurvy dudes with non-existent dental care and sexual diseases you don’t even want to know about — just like everyone else of the time — but they were more than that. They were celebrities with great names like Captain Kidd and Calico Jack. And they operated with impunity from the Caribbean to New York in a decades-long orgy of lawlessness. […]

Summer of Smackdown: Fantasy & Adventure

Summer of Smackdown: Wizards, Warriors & Pirates

May 15, 2011 The FilmGuru 0

The “Summer of Smackdown” continues! Last week we took a look at the superhero movies vying to be this summer’s big blockbuster. Forget about beefy gods in capes or super soldiers slinging shields. We’re moving from the land of comic books to the realm of full-on fantasy & adventure.

For me, this is what summer is all about. I love a good blockbuster adventure, be it of the Indiana Jones or Flash Gordon variety. A good action-adventure film can transport us to new worlds, different times, and show us unimaginable things made real.

Unfortunately, Hollywood has recently begun transferring films in this genre to 3D in post-production, creating a cheesy effect at greater expense to the viewer. Each of these films has been given the 3D treatment, but only Pirates was filmed in 3D. […]

Jackie Cooper (1922-2011)

Jackie Cooper: Best. Perry. White. Ever.

May 5, 2011 The FilmGuru 3

“Don’t call me Chief!”

This week, the Daily Planet has lost its editor-in-chief. We at the Smackdown mourn the loss of Jackie Cooper.

Cooper, a child-actor in the Depression era and later a TV executive and producer, died this week at the age of 88. And though he had a score of acting credits, his name evokes just one image for me: Perry White, the editor-in-chief of the Daily Planet.

In all four of the Christopher Reeve Superman films, Cooper played Clark Kent’s boss at Metropolis’ number one newspaper. And though Perry White is most known for his signature catch phrase “Don’t call me Chief!” (most always aimed at poor Jimmy Olsen), he didn’t utter those words in Superman: The Movie. Instead, a mix-up with the morning coffee and the sugar gave us the humorous line “Don’t call me ‘sugar’!” instead. […]

Summer of Smackdown: Superheroes

Summer of Smackdown: The Superheroes

May 4, 2011 The FilmGuru 3

The “Summer of Smackdown!” has officially begun. With the release of Thor over the weekend, the battle for blockbuster superiority is now in full swing. Thor dropped the hammer on the competition, taking in over $66M in its opening weekend in the U.S. — this after grossing more than $100M worldwide since its international release.

Now that Thor has started things of with a thunder crash, let’s a take a look at what other movies are in the running to shake the heavens this summer.

First off, it’s no secret that this is the summer of superheroes. An unprecedented number of comic book adaptations are coming to the big screen this summer, and four of them are superhero favorites. […]

Lois & Clark: The (Old) New Adventures of Superman

May 3, 2011 Bryce Zabel 3

I have so many great memories about the Man-of-Steel, it’s hard to know where to start. Like… being a six year old buying a Superman comic from a magazine rack in a drug store… Running home to watch George Reeves in a syndicated re-run of the first TV series… Standing in line for hours to watch Superman: The Movie starring Christopher Reeve.

Nothing compares, though, with working on that first season of Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman. It ranks as one of the greatest creative satisfactions I’ve had in the series TV business.

I had first worked with Deborah Joy LeVine (she received the WGA “Developed By” credit) on an ABC law series called Equal Justice. A gifted writer, she had written an exceptional pilot that ABC had picked up and, at the same time, ordered a half-dozen back-up scripts. So before film was even being shot, Deborah Joy, her brother Dan and I were throwing “super” ideas around every day in a little trailer on the Warner Brothers lot. […]

Let’s At Least Agree on Truth and Justice…

May 2, 2011 Bryce Zabel 1

UPDATE (5/3/11): In one of the most spectacular examples of bad timing imaginable, Superman has renounced his America citizenship when the world’s attention is focused on the United States military’s success in taking out Osama bin Laden. Nobody at DC Comics can be happy about this. But in this post, done the day before Osama’s death, we questioned whether they had the tone right on their decision in the first place, even if they felt it was the inevitable evolution of their character.

Like a lot of people, I was taken by surprise hearing the news that Superman has renounced his American citizenship. Honestly, this felt more striking than even the news in the early ’90s that D.C. Comics planned to “kill” him. Of course, in the comic book universe death is not forever while this new “citizen of the world” orientation probably is.

In short: In Action Comics #900, Superman tries to intervene in Iranian protests but gets perceived as a tool of the United States. He gets peeved and announces he will go to the United Nations and renounce his citizenship. Aside from the obvious inflammatory nature of this to some people (most of whom do not read Superman anyway), I can’t get the image out of my head of Superman talking to the U.N. in that dreadful fourth installment of the Christopher Reeve film series, Superman IV: The Quest for Peace. […]

Superman -vs- The American Way

Superman -vs- The American Way?

May 1, 2011 The FilmGuru 3

For years, Superman has been heralded as the champion of “truth, justice, and the American way.” But the editorial staff at DC Comics has dared to challenge this ideal by creating a controversy of global proportions. What does it mean for the U.S. if Superman is no longer American?

This week, Superman made news headlines by declaring that he intends to go before the United Nations and renounce his American citizenship. In “The Incident,” a story featured in the 900th issue of Action Comics, Superman is questioned by the U.S. national security advisor regarding the hero’s recent appearance in Iran.

What happened was this: Superman heard about protests in Tehran against Ahmadinejad’s administration. Knowing that past protests had led to violence and protest leaders being arrested, he decided to make sure things didn’t get out of hand. He landed at the protest and stood — neither moving nor speaking — for 24 hours. Then he left.

Considering the already tense state of affairs between the U.S. and Iran — not to mention the situation in countries like Egypt, Libya, and Syria — it’s no surprise that Superman’s simple appearance at a protest could spark concern from both governments. To Iran, this must have looked like America holding a nuclear bomb over their heads.
[…]

No Picture

From the Editor’s Desk

March 27, 2011 The FilmGuru 0

When Bryce asked me to come aboard the Movie Smackdown! juggernaut, my first thought was: “Will there be free popcorn?” Because, let’s face it, being a managing editor of a website requires a lot of […]

No Picture

From the Editor-in-Chief

March 27, 2011 Bryce Zabel 1

Welcome to Movie Smackdown! 2.0, a film review concept that sees film reviewing as a competitive sport and exists to create moments of film-on-film violence!

The concept — 2 Movies. 1 Review. No Mercy. — is the same as it’s been since we began six years ago, based on the fact that most people like to talk about and rate films in terms of the other similar films they’ve seen before. We usually put a new film coming out in theaters in the ring with an older film that’s available on DVD or download.

That part hasn’t changed but the execution has evolved. First, we have a new look — more of a site and less of a blog.

Second, while you will still hear the opinions of our multiple reviewers as we have in the past, we’re also putting you in the center of the ring where you can make the call. […]

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