comment #1

Mike Schaefer says ...

Alicia Keys as an assassin? Whaaa?

Piven needs to be careful. He plays "Ari Gold" on Entourage; he played him again (pretty much) in "Keeping Up With the Steins" and again in his voice cameo in "Cars". Now he's playing a standup comic. I'm a fan and I'm glad his career finally took off, but... hmmm.

comment #2

L.B. says ...

Yeah, it looks like a lot of other trailers, but it does make me want to see it. Being a sucker for Liotta and Piven doesn't hurt though.

comment #3

ArchiveGuy says ...

I think the key is the whole intro: "From the Makers of Notting Hill, etc." It also helps that nobody does any talking and it's all staccato editing and pulsating music.

Who knows--it may not suck. Still, my money's on it more closely resembling "Lucky Number Slevin" than "Pulp Fiction"

comment #4

Java King says ...

This was a great script. Its' like a 2 hour version of the 3rd act from TRUE ROMANCE. Piven has the juiciest role. Affleck has a small but poignant role. he's playing white trash.

comment #5

Mark says ...

The teaser is cut so quick, you can’t really put your finger on why it works, but it does. I’d be fine with another Snatch; we know Ritchie can’t make one anymore.

BTW- One great looking scene is those guys getting shot in broad daylight around the car.
Not to sound like some comic-book sadist or anything, but the blood cloud has to be one of the coolest developments to come out of the CGI era.

I first noticed it in Saving Private Ryan, but you keep seeing it more and more.
What would the trailer park scene in Miami Vice be without the spray cloud of blood coming from the last survivor?
That got much more of a crowd reaction than when Foxx simply splattered the Yero’s blood against a barge, old school style.

-Enthused reader

comment #6

Nick says ...

Um, since when did Alicia start spelling her last name with two Es? That's either a trailer cutter's massive typo or her stupid way to discern her acting jaunts from her singing persona. I'll see it because I still hold out hope for Joe Carnahan ("Narc" was damn good, IMHO). And nothing like a little Motorhead rev-up to get your day going.

comment #7

Anonymous says ...

There's something about the machete shot that's sticking with me.

comment #8

Anonymous says ...

Looks alot like Revovler

of course more light hearded than psuedo-exastenalist, then again I liked Revolver so we shall see

comment #9

The Hey says ...

It reminds me alot of "3000 Miles to Graceland" - and we all know how THAT turned out......

comment #10

Mickey Deez says ...

Jeremy Piven...yuck.

No there's a one trick pony actor! Paul Walker has more range than Jeremy "I only play agents and sleezeballs" Piven.

I think only eight people actually watch ENTOURAGE. HBO just pays hundreds of college freshman to quote it on internet message boards.

comment #11

Jon says ...

Jeremy Piven was a pilot in Black Hawk Down. But, he may have been a sleezeball pilot... hmm....

comment #12

L.B. says ...

"I think only eight people actually watch ENTOURAGE. HBO just pays hundreds of college freshman to quote it on internet message boards."

Yeah, that's probably it.

comment #13

asd says ...

Jeff,

Anyone who tells you this is the film that will do anything for Affleck's career is flat out lying to you. He's barely in it (15 minutes tops, and is one of a trio of bail bondsmen with Peter Berg and Martin Henderson). The film is basically a more soul-less version of Domino. Comparisons to Guy Ritchie's films and 3000 Miles to Graceland are spot-on. Neo-nazi killers. Black lesbian assasins. ADD kids who do karate (with the camera lingering on the kid's boner). The "whacky" quotient is off the charts on this one. Billing block be damned, the "actors" who get the most screen time are Ryan Reynolds and Alicia Keys. Great cameos by some of TV's most talented actors (which I won't spoil here) and I love the Motorhead in the trailer, but the film's a stinker.

comment #14

Michael Berkow says ...

I can't stand Jeremy Piven; I will be avoiding this film like I avoided "Very Bad Things," which was shite.

comment #15

Daniel Zelter says ...

Shouldn't it be called Reindeer Games 2?

comment #16

Mark says ...

How did Brad Pitt regain some cred after the Seven Years in Tibet/Meet Joe Black debacle???

The Fight Club/Snatch combo; two tough DVDs that foudn many shelves.

This can be Affleck's Snatch on the road to recovery. (Though sounds like you aren't a fan of Ritchie, so this probably won't sell you.)

comment #17

nickc says ...

wow...looks fucking awesome...i loved movies like Domino and Running Scared which this clearly resembles (at least from this teaser) and I LOVED Narc so I'm pumped already for this one. I really want to see Revolver....

comment #18

Anonymous says ...

it's been almost 15 years since Resevoir Dogs.
Can someone, ANYONE, please, please declare of moratorium on this genre?
Just for a couple of years.
I'm not saying these types of movies are obsolete, but we reached saturation point sometime around '96 and now it's just a xerox of a xerox of a xerox of a xerox of a...
You want HITMEN and STAND-UP COMEDIANS and TOUGH CHICKS and DARK HUMOR? Rent Cohen & Tate and Funnybones and Normal Life and Miracle Mile.
Watch them back to back to back to back, take a couple of Lunesta, and I promise you that your dreams will be infinitely more interesting than this movie.
I'm not saying Joe Carnahan is a bad guy or a bad filmmaker.
I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE!!!!!
I'm just saying: THE QUIRKY CRIME DRAMEDY NEEDS SOME REJUVENATION.
One day some filmmaker will come along and we'll all say: HE/SHE IS THE NEW TARANTINO.
I can accept that.
But whoever that may be, I'm assuming that right now they're about twelve years old, smoking a joint stolen from mom's purse, watching Near Darl and thinking they're the only person in the world who has ever seen it.
I can't wait until that kid arrives.
But then, again, I can.

comment #19

Anonymous says ...

GODDAMIT!!!!
TYPO: I meant to write NEAR DARK, not Near Darl.
AAAAARRRRRGGHHHHHH!!!!!!

comment #20

katydid says ...

This could be a trailer for DOMINO, only it doesn't look like someone pissed all over the negative.

comment #21

c fontana says ...

Affleck? Comeback? From what? 'Phantoms'? 'Armageddon'? 'Forces of Nature'? Is prior acting success not a prereq. for a comeback? The guy has been an onscreen joke since his afterschool roid-rage special and hangs around by the graces of his ghost-written best screenplay oscar.

In other news, Robby Benson is on the comeback trail and turning heads with his starring role in...

comment #22

Daniel says ...

The thing that was amazing about "Narc" was that it seemed as if Joe Carnahan had matured by a factor of a thousand from his debut on "Blood, Guts, Bullets and Octane," which was among the worst of the Tarantino knock-offs, a cheap, hyperactive little mess of a movie that seemed to scream out in a desperate need for Ritalin. "Narc," in contract, was dark, thoughtful and wonderfully acted from top to bottom. It wasn't original, but it was proficient in most every way.

The trailer for "Smokin' Aces" certainly suggests that Carnahan is looking to retain his "Blood, Guts, Bullets and Octane" form.

How could that possibly be a good idea? I'm interested in the Joe Carnahan who aspires to be the next Sidney Lumet. The one who wants to be a cut-rate Tony Scott isn't as worthwhile.

-Daniel

comment #23

Anonymous says ...

The complaint that was leveled at Tarantino during his run in the mid-90's was that while he movies were inventive, they were only about other movies, that they had no lived experience coursing through their celluloid veins.

Now it seems like a whole batch of filmmakers has taken it to the next level: Not only do they have nothing to say about life or the physical world we all involuntarily inhabit, but they don't even make movies about other movies.

They make movies about Tarantino movies.

Or worse, they may not be making movies about Tarantino movies.

They may be making movies about Guy Ritchie movies.

And Smokin' Aces (what an effen horrible title; how about Barf, Fart and Squirt) looks like the latter.

comment #24

Kevin M says ...

Fuck yeah I am in. I was hoping and praying Carnahan wasn't dead after the whole MI 3 thing, looks like he's back with a kick ass film.

Why is it when people see quick cuts and flashy camera angles they invoke QT???? Have people watched QT's Movies? QT likes sequence shots (pulp fiction, Jackie Brown, Reservoir Dogs.) Kill bill was a different film for him but long before he made kill bill people always used his name when ever flash came up???. QT's flash is his dialogue.

comment #25

Kevin M says ...

and no QT did not invent the gangster genre.

comment #26

Eric says ...

Just watched it. I love Motorhead, so don't get me wrong, but all I saw was carnage. I barely recognized Piven in the first few tiny glimpses. I may be old-fashioned or something, but I'd have preferred something a little less seizure-inducing.

comment #27

craptastic says ...

Does anyone know what happened to Jow and Tom on MI3? Narc was so fucking good! Carnahan is what that craptize needed to stay afloat. Not some Spielberg (I love Lost though) wanna-be.

"Oooo, look at me! I can barely hold the camera on my shoulder! That means I'm hip to the scene!"

comment #28

Josh Massey says ...

"I will be avoiding this film like I avoided 'Very Bad Things,' which was shite."

If you avoided it, how do you know it sucked?

comment #29

Rob G says ...

If you are bored and suffering from a bout of insomnia, as I was last night, one can have a bit of fun and play/pause through the hyper-edited trailer. If you do, you will note two of the main cast members meeting their maker...

BTW, is this just a net-only trailer? There's no way the MPAA would green-band this sucker.

comment #30

CCA says ...

"Affleck? Comeback? From what? 'Phantoms'? 'Armageddon'? 'Forces of Nature'? Is prior acting success not a prereq. for a comeback? The guy has been an onscreen joke since his afterschool roid-rage special and hangs around by the graces of his ghost-written best screenplay oscar."

Comeback from oblivion to being a star (of sorts) again. I don't think acting success is a prereq for stardome, unfortunately.

comment #31

WingNut13 says ...

I got news for you, Mickey: HBO doesn't need to pay coeds to watch Entourage. It's watched by plenty of adults (and yes, I am female) who see the humor in it. If you don't, that's your issue, but don't post stupid generalizations just because it's not your cup of tea.

And Piven a one-trick actor? Mel. As if we needed any further proof that you don't understand what defines TALENT.

Affleck couldn't act his way out of a paper bag; I for one am glad he's got a small role in this. I won't have to wince every time his wooden manner comes across on the screen.

comment #32

Mickey Deez says ...

"I got news for you, Mickey: HBO doesn't need to pay coeds to watch Entourage. It's watched by plenty of adults"

I just got off the phone with HBO, and they say you're full of shit. They want to stop posting on the internet too. DON'T SHOOT THE MESSENGER!

comment #33

WingNut says ...

It seems obvious who the teenager is here: Mickey apparently doesn't want to face reality.

Grow up, kid. Don't hate me 'cause I'm telling the truth.

comment #34

gh says ...

"The film is basically a more soul-less version of Domino".

Wow, I didn't think it was possible for anything to be more soul less than Domino.

comment #35

Mickey Deez says ...

"Mickey apparently doesn't want to face reality."

Since the reality is that nobody watches "Entourage," I've already proved I'm comfortable with facing it. You have to actually read the posting, kid wonder. Skimming makes you look bad.

Don't be mad at me, man. I'm not this HBO show that is so bad, they have to program it after titty movies to get people to watch it. NOT ME.

Maybe you're that Grenier kid? That would make sense. Here's a hint: Take some acting lessons.

comment #36

Sean Richardson says ...

"Don't be mad at me, man. I'm not this HBO show that is so bad, they have to program it after titty movies to get people to watch it. NOT ME."

Not a fan of 'Deadwood', apparently?

comment #37

Anonymous says ...

Affleck rules