"Yur Starin' Hard Playa"
Smokin' Aces (dir. Joe Carnahan)
OK, it's not often that I actually take a moment to check out an action film unless there is something that draws me to it, and in this case there were quite a few things... Now I am not gonna jump out and say that this is gonna be a great film or even interesting at least but I have to say that it has some major POTENTIAL to be a good action film. And by action film I really mean just in the category of action films. I personally am a fan of action films that step outside the stereotypical boundaries of their genre and take the film to a fun exciting new level - such as films like Snatch, Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, and even Run, Lola, Run (Lola rennt). The trailer hints at some comedic styling as well as some upbeat cutscenes and the cinematography has a dry and gritty styling reminiscent of early 80's and late 70's Dirty Harry style films. Not only is the styling nice and relieving for an action film the cast is heavy with good choices like Ben Affleck (lol yeah not always a great choice), Jason Batemen (love this guy), Andy Garcia (classic), Alicia Keys (this is gonna be a make or break kinda thing - Rap and R&B stars in films is iffy to me), Common (same as Alicia), Ray Liotta (another classic), Jeremy Piven (looove this guy), and Ryan Reynolds (lol I'm a closet RR fan, I mean c'mon Van Wilder).
Anyways the things that I alway like to check out is the art design. The poster is ok and plays off of a punk styling which kinda draws my eye to it but only briefly, it's a little image heavy but thats what they were going for. Dynamic placement of the credits make it a little more edgy and neat to look at (at least for me). What I REALLY liked though was the simple yet fucking brilliant web design. This is where I see the most effort put forth to keep things lively and the navigation styling is nice and simple. All in all its good work, we'll see how the film plays out in the end.
Poster Artwork
Web Design - Main Page
Web Design - Navigation Open
Oh, and I really REALLY recommend watching the trailers either via the website or at least through the apple trailers site so that you can actually here the stereo sound and get a sense of the sound design (trust me you may not realize it but it can effect your overall feeling of the film). And the sound design in this trailer is actually fucking sweet, especially close to the end (you'll hear what I mean if you watch it via a stereo source - YouTube doesn't really support that). I went ahead and added the YouTube trailer for you lazy bastards anyway lol.
Watch the Stereo Trailer here - Apple Movie Trailers (Smokin' Aces)
And on a final note I think I came up with a plan to make me work even harder for my schooling, lol... I finally came up with a good graduation gift to myself if I succeed with the completion of my Graphic Design schooling the way I have planned... and it will be well worth it. I decided that I'll start saving up now for my first new car which will be this (maybe, unless I change my mind in the next year or so, lol):
Smokin' Aces (dir. Joe Carnahan)
OK, it's not often that I actually take a moment to check out an action film unless there is something that draws me to it, and in this case there were quite a few things... Now I am not gonna jump out and say that this is gonna be a great film or even interesting at least but I have to say that it has some major POTENTIAL to be a good action film. And by action film I really mean just in the category of action films. I personally am a fan of action films that step outside the stereotypical boundaries of their genre and take the film to a fun exciting new level - such as films like Snatch, Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, and even Run, Lola, Run (Lola rennt). The trailer hints at some comedic styling as well as some upbeat cutscenes and the cinematography has a dry and gritty styling reminiscent of early 80's and late 70's Dirty Harry style films. Not only is the styling nice and relieving for an action film the cast is heavy with good choices like Ben Affleck (lol yeah not always a great choice), Jason Batemen (love this guy), Andy Garcia (classic), Alicia Keys (this is gonna be a make or break kinda thing - Rap and R&B stars in films is iffy to me), Common (same as Alicia), Ray Liotta (another classic), Jeremy Piven (looove this guy), and Ryan Reynolds (lol I'm a closet RR fan, I mean c'mon Van Wilder).
Anyways the things that I alway like to check out is the art design. The poster is ok and plays off of a punk styling which kinda draws my eye to it but only briefly, it's a little image heavy but thats what they were going for. Dynamic placement of the credits make it a little more edgy and neat to look at (at least for me). What I REALLY liked though was the simple yet fucking brilliant web design. This is where I see the most effort put forth to keep things lively and the navigation styling is nice and simple. All in all its good work, we'll see how the film plays out in the end.
Poster Artwork
Web Design - Main Page
Web Design - Navigation Open
Oh, and I really REALLY recommend watching the trailers either via the website or at least through the apple trailers site so that you can actually here the stereo sound and get a sense of the sound design (trust me you may not realize it but it can effect your overall feeling of the film). And the sound design in this trailer is actually fucking sweet, especially close to the end (you'll hear what I mean if you watch it via a stereo source - YouTube doesn't really support that). I went ahead and added the YouTube trailer for you lazy bastards anyway lol.
Watch the Stereo Trailer here - Apple Movie Trailers (Smokin' Aces)
And on a final note I think I came up with a plan to make me work even harder for my schooling, lol... I finally came up with a good graduation gift to myself if I succeed with the completion of my Graphic Design schooling the way I have planned... and it will be well worth it. I decided that I'll start saving up now for my first new car which will be this (maybe, unless I change my mind in the next year or so, lol):
That's all for now. Enjoy the rest of your week and I'll talk to you all soon,
JP 
Oh and PS - The Journal titles I come up with, though sounding vague, actually have something to do with what I am talking about... I am sure if you look (figuratively not necessarily physically) you will find it.
VIEW 8 of 8 COMMENTS
...poker reference?
-TM