I write an article at Movies.com called Film Face-off, where I take two things, and they battle it out. The things could be actors, movies, characters, just about anything. Give it some love, comments, tweets, Facebook affection. Film Face-off: Leonardo DiCaprio vs. Tobey Maguire
The Great Gatsby is a classic American novel. Now that director Baz Luhrmann has breathed new life into the story with another big-screen adaptation, kids everywhere are flocking to their local five and dimes to get a hand on the original. OK, that might not be true, but it is true that on-screen stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Tobey Maguire have been friends for years after first meeting at the casting of the TV show Parenthood (1990 version).
Ah, but now friends will become enemies. That's right, when Maguire and DiCaprio sit down to read this (because you know they will), it will likely mean the end of their friendship. I just wish I could say "It's not my fault," but clearly it is. They will both hate me for destroying their friendship, and I'll have to live with it. But it's all for you!
This edition of Film Face-off pits DiCaprio vs. Maguire.
Film Face-off: Vin Diesel vs. the Rock
You might need to back up a little bit and make room for all of this muscle. Vin Diesel and Dwayne Johnson star in Fast & Furious 6, or as we are supposed to call it: Furious 6. One man is a bulked up, oiled up, deep-voiced hulking presence on the big screen, and the other... isn't quite as oiled up. When comparing Diesel and Johnson, we must examine their entire body of work. Quit thinking about their muscles just because I said "body," you must focus.
It's easy to imagine that many Hollywood phone calls go like this... "The Rock would be perfect for this! Oh, he's busy? Diesel would be perfect for this!" (or vice versa). The only way to settle this is a good old-fashioned Film Face-off with Diesel vs. Johnson.
Film Face-off: Denzel Washington's Gun vs. Mark Wahlberg's Gun
Finally, a Hollywood executive had the guts to ask, "You know how movies only have one gun in them? What if we gave them two?" Thus, 2 Guns was born starring Denzel Washington and Mark Wahlberg... or so I heard. While on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, Wahlberg said the two actors were friendly, and he had been trying to get Washington to work with him for years. Before I saw the film, I didn't think much about the concept of seeing a film starring this pair. After the film I thought, "Why did it take these two so long to work together?" There is great chemistry between them, which brings to mind the really good buddy-cop films like Lethal Weapon, opposed to the awful ones like Cop Out.
So, my first thought was to do a Film Face-off of Washington vs. Wahlberg. A battle of dubyas. I had categories like "Sports Movies," which would pit Invincible, The Basketball Diaries and maybe Pain & Gain versus Remember the Titans, He Got Game and kind ofThe Hurricane. It felt forced, though in my research I was surprised to learn Wahlberg's films have averaged more at the box office. Mainly, I want to keep hanging out with Robert 'Bobby' Trench (Washington) and Michael 'Stig' Stigman (Wahlberg). So, it's our first Film Face-off with character vs. character. That's right, it's One Gun (Bobby) vs. the Other Gun (Stig). Why is Washington first? He's older. And quit overanalyzing, that's my job. There are slight spoilers within this article.