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An interesting DVD last evening - On our brand new, 42 flat screen, HI-def unit, we watched The Queen and Smoking Aces, a more extreme definition of artistic vision ranging from the sublime to the rediculous one could not imagine. Viewing both in the same sitting confirms that there is a place for social values and good taste, and even when compared to thematically similar films, makes the case that having a plot-driven point of view is the defining feature that separate 'films' from video games writ-large.
Do films in the genre of Smoking Aces define a new generation of dumbed down cinema? In fact, is it really cinema at all or, like pornography, just a compliation of scenes that appeal to, in this case, blood lust? Is it not pornographic insofar as the violence, like sequential sex scenes, has no connection to a plot or any dramatic action? Mr. Carnahan's opus minimus is a sordid romp through a blood drenched, confused, and frantic video-game driven world, best defined by the crazed, ritalin doped teenager, whose character was almost certainly both an unintentional self portrait of Mr. Carnahan himself, not to mention the definition of his target audience.
Much critical acclaim was heaped on Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction, and for good reason: excellent character development, steller acting, an artful script, and masterful direction. This was also true for Scorcese's Goodfellows and, more recently, The Departed, both masterful efforts with uncommonly well developed, detailed character development. In all instances, one was left with a point of view on world.
The confused drivel of Smoking Aces, on the other hand, was a racist, sexist, and wantonly murderous piece of drivel that Mr. Caranhan considers his grand oeuve. It was more like his grand oeuf, with the faces of a host of otherwise excellent actors getting covered in an omlette of fetid eggs and body parts, a dish best served up by his directing betters.
In these interlocking tales of high stakes and low lifes, Mob boss Primo Sparazza has taken out a hefty contract on Buddy “Aces” Israel (Piven)—a sleazy magician who has agreed ...more
USA
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