A Smokin’ event…!!

THE
LOWDOWN:

I
was lucky enough to be part of a special VIP screening of SMOKIN’
ACES, featuring the likes of director Joe Carnahan (the man
behind the kickass NARC), Jeremy Piven (of ENTOURAGE fame, among
other things), and actor/musician Common. It was mostly a charity
event, but Carnahan has made it no mystery that he loves

Sacramento
,
California

, his hometown and starting place for fame. Why else would he hold a
screening event before even the
Hollywood
premiere?

THE
EVENT:

The
screening kicked off with a pre-film reception, allowing us humble
civilians to mingle with the cast/crew and thus feel a higher manner
of self-importance. In attempts to calm to my nerves I headed over
to the open bar, and then proceeded to fail at getting any booze.
Damn 21-year age limit. With that out of the question, I latched
myself onto the free food (which was sort of like the junky version
of rich people food, including weird cheese-covered meatballs,
gravy-covered kebabs, etc. – basically, stuff covered in stuff) and
headed on over to Carnahan and company. I didn’t say anything. I
just sort of tiptoed closer and closer, waiting for my moment to
attack.

Unfortunately,
I was too busy looking the opposite way (as to avoid seeming like
either a stalker or a serial killer) that I didn’t realize just how
close to them I was. And then it hit me. Or rather, Joe’s elbow hit
me.

I
opted for playing it cool.

(NOTE:
The conversation’s been condensed to prevent you from reading
endless nonsense and/or too much of me sucking off Carnahan with
endless praise.)

ME:
Hey Joe, loved Narc! Can’t wait to watch Aces.

JOE:
Oh dude, you’re gonna f*ckin’ love it! If you’re into — (*pauses
and looks at me*) You watch a lot of movies?

ME:
Yeah yeah, I actually write DVD reviews for
JoBlo.com
. I go by Quigles.

(I
think he recognized my name because I actually talked to him online
back-and-forth a bunch of times. SacTown locals represent!)

JOE:
Oh that’s you? You little bastard! Come here!

ME:
(*laughing*) So you know the website?

JOE:
Oh totally, it’s f*ckin’ awesome.

(About
this time, my head was exploding.)

ME:
Yeah, well I think it’s great you were able to go from BLOOD, GUTS,
BULLETS AND OCTANE to NARC to SMOKIN’ ACES. That’s so cool. I love
your style.

JOE:
Haha, I think you’re probably one of five people that have seen
[BLOOD, GUTS, BULLETS AND OCTANE].

ME:
(laughing) So how long did it take you to write the screenplay for
ACES?

JOE:
I actually wrote on that while working on Channel 31, here.

ME:
Oh very cool. What were your inspirations?

(I
don’t think he heard exactly what I asked, so his answer varied from
the question. Far be it from me to correct him.)

JOE:
Dude, the movie’s gonna blow you away! If you like action and comedy
it’ll just — you’ll be happy. Trust me, just wait. You’re gonna
love it.

(And
about here he started being taken away so I figured I’d better just
wrap up.)

ME:
Well thanks a lot, man. Been great talking with you!

Let
me just say that WOW, Carnahan is one f**kin’ cool dude! He’s loud
and riotous, but not nearly to the point of being obnoxious. He
seems like a great hang-out/party guy – very fun and full of energy.
Just like his films.

After
having Carnahan build up my confidence (and ego), I found my way
over to Jeremy Piven, who was much more surrounded than Carnahan
(due likely to the fact that everybody knows his face). I waited for
a chance to speak to him, but it seemed like it was taking forever.
I made sure my friend (the person I came to the screening with) had
my camera ready to get a pic of Piven and me. Finally, a chance
opened up.

ME:
Hi! Love your work! You’re such a versatile actor. Love you in
ENTOURAGE! (Yup,
I was going down on him worse than Carnahan.)

JEREMY:
Hey thanks.

ME:
Not to impose, but could I get a picture with you?

JEREMY:
Yeah sure, no problem.

And
then I turned around and noticed my friend had disappeared. Shit! I
apologized and asked if it was ok if I came right back. He was
completely cool with it. *phew*

But
by the time I found my friend he was gone… and then Carnahan’s
voice came across the sound system. I looked up to the stage to find
Joe on stage, followed by Piven and Common (among others) joining
his side.

It
was just the usual chatter. The “thanks for comin’ down”
type of stuff, discussing the charity and event and such (benefiting
STC and John T. Holley foundation – if anybody close to Sacramento
is reading). He also talked about how much he loves Sac and how this
is where he started, and also that if anybody is interested in
talking with him not to hesitate. What a cool guy.

People
by this point were pretty much ready to take off to the actual
screening, but I was having none of it. I weaseled my way through
the crowd and found Jeremy Piven chatting alongside a really hot
babe. As soon as he finished I was standing ready with my camera. He
was more than happy to oblige (and show off his charisma & sense
of humor in the process).

JEREMY:
(*grabbing my shoulder*) Wait. Stop being so tall… Here, I’ll
stand on my toes. Or maybe I could just kneel on you. I need to look
as good as possible.

Even
though Piven was a little more closed-down than the aggressively
awesome Carnahan (although he did play it up on-stage whilst
pretending to chug a gigantic beer), he actually opened up as soon I
started talking to him… despite me not getting a chance to say
much. Still, it was very cool meeting them both and I couldn’t have
been happier with the opportunity to do so. I also got to brush
shoulders with Common (say hi, shake his hand, etc.), but seeing as
I didn’t really know who he was, I figured I would best off avoid
any awkward conversation.

Man,
and I hadn’t even seen the film yet.

To
sum up the rest: we went down to the screening and sat snugly in our
wonderful VIP seats, as the cast/crew piled out of their limos and
then met up inside the theater. Carnahan and co. once again met up
in the front and announced the film, talking about how great a time
we were gonna have, etc. After finishing up, the Universal logo
popped up and they found their seats… which were only three rows
ahead of me. Awesome.

THE
MOVIE:

Come
time for its release, I suspect there will be hordes of people
perfectly ready to bust SMOKIN ACES’s balls. Reason being, it’s one
of the most non-linear big-budget films I’ve ever had the pleasure
of sitting through. It doesn’t follow the normal story arc that
general viewers are so used to seeing. In fact, this is probably the
type of film you might see more often if you were to give a genuine
movie buff the opportunity to spend a ton of cash on whatever crazy
antics he wanted to put on screen.

The
first half of the film feels like one hugely stylistic opening,
introducing you to the numerous characters (in very entertaining
fashion, of course), loading up the audience with exposition (not
all that understandable though), and creating solid build-up for
what’s to come. Then there’s a slight bit of lag while you wait for
the shit to hit the fan, but when it does… well, lets just say
it’s a helluva lot of fun (*cough* Tremor Brothers *cough*).

These
scenes also add plenty of intensity to the proceedings, piling up
right alongside the hilariously dark scriptwriting. Some may find
the movie has a problem deciding what it wants to be – a poor
mishmash of the thriller and comedy genres. To that I just laugh;
it’s not a poor mishmash, it’s just unusual. And in this case, it’s
the best damn kind of unusual. The “rock your balls off”
kind.

RATING:
8/10

(If
you’re not satisfied and want to check out the full review, head on
over to the
JoBlo.com
forums HERE!)