Smackdown News Archives - Page 3 of 9

Behind the Velvet Curtain at the Newport Beach Film Festival

April 26, 2012 Adam Gentry 1

The wide world of film festivals isnâ€™t something a lot of people really know about unless theyâ€™ve gotten an up-close and personal introduction. I got mine during my last year of film school. See, I was background talent for a friendâ€™s studio shoot when I met this guy who worked with the Newport Beach Film Festival and swore he could get us internships there. Taking him at his word, I drove out to the festival office, put in an application and was thrust into a world which has been a huge part of my life ever since.
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Mikeâ€™s Turn: â€œI Just Don’t Get This â€˜Mad Menâ€™ Thingâ€

March 27, 2012 Movie Smackdown 4

I saw the scene where Jessica Pare sang Zoo-be-zoo-be-do or whatever that song was in the Season Five two-hour that everybody’s talking about. Sure, she looked straight-up awesome cleaning Draper’s apartment in her little black panties, but is that enough to make people watch a show? (By the way, this is not sour grapes. I love Jonny Hamm, and he deserves all the action he gets, both onscreen and off. We former bartenders always stick together — which is why he even helped me get my SAG card, thank you, Hamm-bone, and CSI Miami!) […]

Godfather (1972) -vs- Godfather, Part II (1974)

40th Anniversary Smack: The Godfather (1972) -vs- The Godfather, Part II (1974)

March 19, 2012 Bryce Zabel 0

The Godfather @ 40. Imagine.

A few years ago when they came out with â€œThe Coppola Restorationâ€ of the film trilogy on Bluray, many people took the chance to re-watch at least the first two installments and fall in love again. Now the national news media is telling us that the four decades passage means we have to do it again. Normally I just hate the media telling me to do anything â€” and usually struggle to do the opposite â€” but this one is an exception. […]

The Wind that Shakes the Barley (2007) vs. Michael Collins (1996)

March 13, 2012 Bryce Zabel 0

Every St. Patrickâ€™s Day, people worldwide celebrate the Irish by wearing shamrocks, marching in parades, even drinking green beer. It can be a ton of fun, to be sure, but the Ireland of fairly recent history was a very serious place where political battles were decided in revolution and civil war. Our Irish Movie Smackdown pays tribute to those days by putting a couple of films in the ring together that tell the story. These two classic films of Irish-rebellion â€” The Wind That Shakes the Barley and Michael Collins â€” were made a decade apart. Back in the Clinton years, Liam Neeson starred in the title role as Irish rebel turned Free Stater, Michael Collins, and a few days before St. Patrickâ€™s Day in 2007, Cillian Murphy played a rebel on the other side of the bloody Irish Civil War in The Wind That Shakes the Barley. They each tell stories about the years when Irish eyes were definitely not smilingâ€¦ […]

Vote or Die!

March 12, 2012 Movie Smackdown 0

Here at Movie SmackdownÂ®, we not only see film reviews as a competitive sport, but we also see voting as your right as a citizen of the movie world.Â All our reviews come with their own […]

Next Weekend’s Warriors

March 11, 2012 Movie Smackdown 0

It’s a young guy’s world at the box office starting the March 16th weekend, as two sets of new Hollywood talent collide. First, there’s 21 Jump Street with Jonah Hill â€” fresh off an Oscar […]

Game Change (2012) -vs- Recount (2008)

March 9, 2012 Movie Smackdown 2

Four years ago, John McCain named Sarah Palin, a self-proclaimed “hockey mom” as his Republican running mate and upended the 2008 election. He was looking for a game-changer to help him compete against the Democratic candidate Barack Obama. Now, the story of that move, and the blow-back from it all is a new HBO film, Game Change, from director Jay Roach who also helmed the HBO film about the tied 2000 election, Recount. […]

The Monkees: Image -vs- Reality

March 7, 2012 Brad Markowitz 1

But then again, maybe there’s another way to view The Monkees phenomenon — as a clever, self-referential parody that may have been as much of a road map to “Spinal Tap” and Sascha Baron Cohen as “A Hard Day’s Night” was to The Monkees. After all, it wasn’t just a show about a rock band. It was a show about a rock band trying to make it as a rock band. If you look closely enough, you can see little, veiled digs at the music industry’s shallowness, the glam world of Hollywood, and the hypocrisy of society — all artfully buried in the silly, comedic plots. […]

Dark Skies vs. Dark Skies

March 1, 2012 Bryce Zabel 3

Our “Dark Skies” has established itself in the minds of a significant number of science fiction fans as a gripping piece of conspiracy drama set in the world of UFOs and abductions. It anchored NBC’s Saturday night “Thrillogy” concept in the 1996 season premiere and starred Eric Close (“Nashville”) and the late film character actor J.T. Walsh (â€œSling Bladeâ€). Its main title design won the Emmy award and its pilot screenplay received a Writers Guild nomination. The Syfy Channel aired the entire series multiple times. Since 2010 there’s been a Facebook page where thousands of fans from many different countries push Sony for a TV revival. […]

Title Fight Preview >> July 2012 >> Batman versus Spider-Man

February 27, 2012 Bryce Zabel 5

Initially, fans seem to be anxiously anticipating every frame of The Dark Knight Rises while lamenting the need for such a fast re-boot of The Amazing Spider-Man. But with every new trailer tease for Spidey it seems less-and-less like the Sam Raimi version, no matter how well-regarded, from 2002. Andrew Garfield, we think, will eventually be seen as a more faithful version of Peter Parker than Tobey Maguire ever was and that may make a big difference.

It’s probably a good bet that both films are going to be seen by almost everyone eventually but it may turn out that The Dark Knight Rises will be the one that gets the most “must-see-now” box office. […]

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