Blockbuster or mockbuster?

You've heard that Hollywood is virtually another world -- vaguely familiar yet removed from our own, governed by its own rules and morality. But did you know that within that universe exists another parallel universe -- a bizarro Hollywood? It is called the Asylum, a 13-year-old full-service B-movie assembly line of direct-to-video titles, and it is run by two mini-moguls with very large cojones.

Asylum has stumbled on a brilliantly realized idea: a discount mockbuster DVD season, which, if you squint, hews closely to the stories, and even the marketing, of blockbusters released every weekend. Who can tell the difference between "Transmorphers" and "Transformers," right? See if you can spot the B-movies below.

--Christopher Borrelli
Read the complete article about The Asylum and its knock-offs.
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How does Asylum's film match up?<br> <br> <b>Similarities:</b> C. Thomas Howell (like Tom Cruise, his "The Outsiders" co-star) plays a father torn from his family; like Spielberg, but for different (<em class="i">cough</em>, financial) reasons, Latt (who directed) takes a less-is-more approach -- we hear more about the attacks than we see; made in the wake of 9/11, both connect the impact of the Martian invasion to the terrorist threat; the Martian ships walk on long appendages and shoot death rays; victims vaporize into screaming skeletons; neither has a believable ending.<br> <br> <b>Differences:</b> Latt's film isn't shy of dipping into questions of faith; his Martian invaders resemble Mayor McCheese with plastic surgery; Tim Robbins plays a gun nut in Spielberg's, Jake Busey plays a gun nut in Latt's; Howell (shockingly thin) walks toward Washington, D.C., Cruise (shockingly normal) walked toward Boston; mass evacuations resemble languorous fire drills.

"War of the Worlds"

(Paramount Pictures, DreamWorks Pictures)

How does Asylum's film match up?

Similarities: C. Thomas Howell (like Tom Cruise, his "The Outsiders" co-star) plays a father torn from his family; like Spielberg, but for different (cough, financial) reasons, Latt (who directed) takes a less-is-more approach -- we hear more about the attacks than we see; made in the wake of 9/11, both connect the impact of the Martian invasion to the terrorist threat; the Martian ships walk on long appendages and shoot death rays; victims vaporize into screaming skeletons; neither has a believable ending.

Differences: Latt's film isn't shy of dipping into questions of faith; his Martian invaders resemble Mayor McCheese with plastic surgery; Tim Robbins plays a gun nut in Spielberg's, Jake Busey plays a gun nut in Latt's; Howell (shockingly thin) walks toward Washington, D.C., Cruise (shockingly normal) walked toward Boston; mass evacuations resemble languorous fire drills.