I Heart Alicia Keys
Man, I love this woman.
Don't ask me about her music because I don't listen to it.
Don't ask me what she's like because I don't know.
I just like looking at all the pretty pictures.
And I will say she is what attracted me to Smokin' Aces the other day. Because as I have said, I love this woman. To see her as a hit-man in lingerie was too much to pass up. And I wished I loved Smokin' Aces as much as I loved Alicia Keys. The movie just didn't seem fun and I thought it would be a fun movie. And too much talk about death and dying and going to hell and all that. I don't like movies that have a lot of killing and then try to be sensitive about it.
And maybe I'm getting too old, but this movie seemed very violent to me. Can I get a ruling on this? Why am I perfectly fine with the violence of OldBoy (a movie that will slowly be banned by everyone because of some idiot) and not okay with it in Smokin' Aces. Maybe it's because there was motivation in OldBoy and no motivation in Smokin' Aces. In OldBoy, Dae-Su was trying to right a wrong and discover why he was imprisoned for 15 years. And while he had a seedy past and obviously a lot of enemies, you cared about his character and what he thought and how he felt. And Piven's character was such an asshole, I didn't care who popped him, just as long as it was long and painful.
Unfortunately, the few minutes that Alicia Keys wielded her gun in her dirty lingerie was not enough to make me love this movie. Because Smokin' Aces didn't have what is needed for any movie to be great. And what is that kids? It's great writing. It's the basic essence of what makes a movie great. And yet, it is the least valued. Save the casting money and spend it on a great writer. But keep Alicia Keys because man, I love that woman.
Don't ask me about her music because I don't listen to it.
Don't ask me what she's like because I don't know.
I just like looking at all the pretty pictures.
And I will say she is what attracted me to Smokin' Aces the other day. Because as I have said, I love this woman. To see her as a hit-man in lingerie was too much to pass up. And I wished I loved Smokin' Aces as much as I loved Alicia Keys. The movie just didn't seem fun and I thought it would be a fun movie. And too much talk about death and dying and going to hell and all that. I don't like movies that have a lot of killing and then try to be sensitive about it.
And maybe I'm getting too old, but this movie seemed very violent to me. Can I get a ruling on this? Why am I perfectly fine with the violence of OldBoy (a movie that will slowly be banned by everyone because of some idiot) and not okay with it in Smokin' Aces. Maybe it's because there was motivation in OldBoy and no motivation in Smokin' Aces. In OldBoy, Dae-Su was trying to right a wrong and discover why he was imprisoned for 15 years. And while he had a seedy past and obviously a lot of enemies, you cared about his character and what he thought and how he felt. And Piven's character was such an asshole, I didn't care who popped him, just as long as it was long and painful.
Unfortunately, the few minutes that Alicia Keys wielded her gun in her dirty lingerie was not enough to make me love this movie. Because Smokin' Aces didn't have what is needed for any movie to be great. And what is that kids? It's great writing. It's the basic essence of what makes a movie great. And yet, it is the least valued. Save the casting money and spend it on a great writer. But keep Alicia Keys because man, I love that woman.
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4 comments:
Ah Piper, I think we're on the same page when it comes to Smokin' Aces. I've seen plenty of violent movies, but this one rubbed me the wrong way from the get-go. As I mentioned in my review (sorry, shameless plug), the film had already established that it would use violence and death as humor (a tough enough sell), but then to turn around and try to make me care about a dead character with slow-motion glimpses of their death? The film went from being lame to making me absolutely furious.
Yeah,
It's like the director was blowing everybody away and saying, hey this is wrong. I'm blowing everybody away.
I didn't hate it as much as everyone else, but I didn't care about any person in this movie except Alicia Keys. And honestly it was kind of set up that way. That she was some kind of anti-hero. The hitwoman with a heart of gold.
It was all screwed up.
I don't get why everyone loves Jeremy Piven. He's always unlikable, no matter what he's in. His presence would actually prevent me from watching something.
I have to admit I'm guilty of liking him. But I hated him in this movie and I will have to say that his off screen arrogance has really soured me on him.
Again, you have to create a story where you give a shit about something or someone. Everyone was disposable in this movie.
Think of True Romance. Lots of people died in that movie. Lots. And especially in the end. But you cared about Slater and Arquette. And you cared about Dennis Hopper. They had depth. So the movie mattered. And the characters mattered.
This movie came out with guns blazing for no apparent reason and then it tried to make sense of it all in the end.
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