Author Topic: Essentially - a literal movie orgy  (Read 16856 times)

Paul Phoenix

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Re: Essentially - a literal movie orgy
« Reply #120 on: May 10, 2016, 11:03:46 PM »
it may be a generational thing, but have you ever seen John Woo's The Killer?

It's not a generational thing. I don't really pay much attention to Chinese movies (unless I've seen them as a kid to begin with). It's nothing personal; I just don't like their style. Yeah I know, ironic that I'm Chinese.

In the future, however, I might give Chinese films a bigger attention. Right now, there are way too many American films I haven't watched anyway.
"I used to think the worst thing in life was to end up all alone. It's not. The worst thing in life is ending up with people who make you feel all alone." - Lance Clayton (played by Robin Williams), World's Greatest Dad

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Paul Phoenix

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Re: Essentially - a literal movie orgy
« Reply #121 on: May 14, 2016, 12:46:16 AM »

"Fate just up and f*cks you for no good reason. It's the way of the world!"

AKA "Sh*t Happens: The Movie". AKA "Carnahan's Smokin' Somethin' Alright".

This film is inconsistent, trying to be several pockets of films at the same time. When done well like Tarantino, it can produce a fun romp of an adventure that might even turn into a rhythmic symphony; when done poorly like Carnahan, it pulls pack the impact of whatever entertainment you're trying to sell. It tries to be crass, it tries to be over-the-top, then it tries to be convoluted. Pick one style and stick with it, man! I liked the little moments of crassness and hyperbole, but when they're presented in appetizer-sized instances, it dulls the effect and ends up half-measured. If you're going for offensive and dumb crass entertainment anyway, go all the way. Don't just pull your wang out when it's getting good.

The expositional info-dump for the first 40 minutes of the entire film (not exaggerating) was boring. It really dragged the pace of the movie down. I was sitting there sucking my thumb telling the movie to get to the part where they murder each other already. It's not until about the one hour mark, maybe even later, did we finally get to the over-the-top action and crazy shooting stunt-work that got the movie compared to Shoot 'Em Up. That tiny little 10-15 minute sequence got its Shoot 'Em Up status?! Aw, hell naw! Oh no you didn't! *wags finger* I mean, don't get me wrong, the shooting was fun (you even had a chainsaw kill there), but it was in no way in comparison with the glory of Shoot 'Em Up. Shoot 'Em Up is a satire that did its best to make action movies look dumb; Smokin' Aces is a mess that did its best to make action movies look boring.

That being said... It was still kinda fun. That small moment where the assassins finally kill each other in an epic display of Murphy's Law was sweet, and I can't deny that I enjoyed myself. Things even got a little emotional there with the two female assassins. And yes, I admit that the elevator shoot-up was sorta epic. But these moments were so painfully short, and when taken in a larger context of the story which is essentially about the chaos theory of "things that can go bad will go worse", it doesn't have any impact because it didn't build up enough on the characters enough. Why didn't it build them up enough? Because it spent its time trying to stretch itself into five different kind of stories! I would have love to just watch maybe two or three of those stories and be satisfied.

Israel's characterization actually wasn't that bad, for example. Yes, he's a dick with daddy issues, but due to the excellent performance by Jeremy Piven, he managed to make a pathetic asshole sympathetic. That's pretty impressive acting. And there's also the two assassin sisters who again showed that Carnahan has a small potential (tiny as spices and pepper in your palm, but potential nonetheless), to write emotional (if not necessarily compelling) characters. Emotional characters are an essential ingredient of an action movie (unless your action is over-the-top enough like Crank to distract from the writing - during our first viewing), so he should have just focused on that specific part of the movie.

Honestly, I want to like the movie because it entertained me in quite a large number of parts (even those outside of the 15 minute shooting sequence, like how exaggerated the assassins' execution styles are), but too many ingredients spoil the soup.

★★★½
« Last Edit: May 14, 2016, 01:06:50 AM by Hermit »
"I used to think the worst thing in life was to end up all alone. It's not. The worst thing in life is ending up with people who make you feel all alone." - Lance Clayton (played by Robin Williams), World's Greatest Dad

Eternally seeking variety. 'Tis the spice of life for me.

verbALs

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Re: Essentially - a literal movie orgy
« Reply #122 on: May 14, 2016, 01:44:53 AM »
I forgot Carnahan made this rubbish but Narc is a very fine thriller that isn't going to get widely seen with this guy's reputation.
I used to encourage everyone I knew to make art; I don't do that so much anymore. - Banksy

Paul Phoenix

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Re: Essentially - a literal movie orgy
« Reply #123 on: May 14, 2016, 02:32:18 AM »
I forgot Carnahan made this rubbish

One man's trash is a good rule of thumb when dealing with disparaging critics. 8)
« Last Edit: May 14, 2016, 03:30:05 AM by Hermit »
"I used to think the worst thing in life was to end up all alone. It's not. The worst thing in life is ending up with people who make you feel all alone." - Lance Clayton (played by Robin Williams), World's Greatest Dad

Eternally seeking variety. 'Tis the spice of life for me.

1SO

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Re: Essentially - a literal movie orgy
« Reply #124 on: May 14, 2016, 11:11:18 AM »
Two person's trash.

Smokin' Aces strikes me as believing it's so super cool, when it sooooo isn't. The Tremor Brothers are horribly unfunny and Carnahan indulges them with way too much screen time. It's stacked with talent then everything is overly built up. It slacks past suspense into tedium and promise unfulfilled. Then there's the strangeness like the karate kid off his meds who gets an erection as he does fist pumps. This is a brief moment, but it's everything I hate about the film and I point the finger at Carnahan. This was sealed when I watched behind the scenes and it showed Carnahan laughing hysterically at the kid and the erection effect. This amuses him. He was given money and talent for moments like this.

Paul Phoenix

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Re: Essentially - a literal movie orgy
« Reply #125 on: May 14, 2016, 04:55:58 PM »
Smokin' Aces strikes me as believing it's so super cool, when it sooooo isn't. The Tremor Brothers are horribly unfunny and Carnahan indulges them with way too much screen time. It's stacked with talent then everything is overly built up. It slacks past suspense into tedium and promise unfulfilled. Then there's the strangeness like the karate kid off his meds who gets an erection as he does fist pumps. This is a brief moment, but it's everything I hate about the film and I point the finger at Carnahan. This was sealed when I watched behind the scenes and it showed Carnahan laughing hysterically at the kid and the erection effect. This amuses him. He was given money and talent for moments like this.

Yeah, the Tremor Brothers didn't really amuse me that much. But I do like what Chris Pine did with his role; he really hammed it up. The karate kid was definitely a weird moment too, I agree. It felt like a totally different film whenever he showed up, throwing me off.

Think I'll skip the BtS.
"I used to think the worst thing in life was to end up all alone. It's not. The worst thing in life is ending up with people who make you feel all alone." - Lance Clayton (played by Robin Williams), World's Greatest Dad

Eternally seeking variety. 'Tis the spice of life for me.