First Review: Smokin Aces

Smokin Aces

Smoking Aces - Directed by Joe Carnahan (The man behind the movie Narc) and starring too many people to count, is the story of a mob hit on a mobster wannabe who is a semi-famous Las Vegas magician. I liked the premise of this movie quite alot. It was a deep twisting storyline, but not so much that the viewer gets lost. You have to pay attention, but its worth it in the end.

Smokin Aces is one of those films that comes along every so often, and draws a huge crowd of talented actors/actresses into it, and you wonder how it will ever manage to pay off its production and talent costs, even if it does very well at the box office. The performances were worth it however. Ray Liotta had a decent part but was under utilized. Ryan Reynolds, however was very good as an FBI agent and Ray Liotta's partner. Other good performances were turned in by Alicia Keys, Nestor Carbonell (Very good, and a bit underutilized!!), and Jason Bateman (same as Carbonell, underutilized). The guys who play the Tremor brothers were a laugh riot. Ben Affleck turns in one of his greatest performances just after getting shot by the Tremors. (Yes, I really mean that.) The central figure of the plot, Buddy "Aces" Israel was played buy one of my favorite actors Jeremy Piven. Piven absolutely steals this show, as he does in most everything he is in. Whats funny is he is almost always the same "kind" of guy. I cant really define it other than that, but its always fun to watch.


The movie flows kind of like Oceans 11, but in a good way. (Oceans 12 sucked out loud, by the way for those few who didn't already waste their money on it)


This movie has some BLOODY scenes, but it wasn't as bad as movies like the Kill Bill series.

Favorite quotes of the movie -
Bernard "Beanie" Alfonso: Damn girl, you just went from Beyoncé to Bigfoot in less than 6 hours.

Buddy 'Aces' Israel: You're looking at me like, like... I just asked you the fucking square root of something.


30 Something White Guy Rating - 4 out of 5 stars

Take your girlfriend/wife, but don't be shocked if she buries her face in your shirt for some of it. Chicks probably wont get this movie, but few of them will give this type a try... Stress the all star cast and you might get her to go see it.

Innaugural Post

To whomever decides to read my review of a particular movie:

This is one guys opinion of said movie. I have no theatrical, cinematic, or television background. I am just Joe 30something Whiteguy, letting you know what I think of a movie.

Nowadays movie critics are mostly people who feel the need to trash everything about a movie, and do it in ways that are absolute nonsense to the average viewer. I plan to give you a perspective that seems lost on them. Now don't get me wrong, Hollywood has turned out some absolute stinkers in the last several years. That doesn't mean that they have all been bad though.

And, here is the kicker. I will not only be reviewing the latest and greatest, but also older movies all the way back to the black and white days. Why, you may ask? Because some of the best movies ever made where made back then. I am talking about movies such as The Maltese Falcon, Night of the Hunter, and Dark City. I am particularly a fan of Film Noir, and feel it has a lot of influence on todays big screen productions that guys like me favor.

Anyway, I plan on doing a movie a week if I can get it scheduled. I already have a few movies picked out to start with, some old, some new, one that is showing in the theater as of right now.

So check back later, if you are interested in finding the right movie for a Saturday night, or if you just want to know if you will potentially like a certain film.

Tim