Joe Carnahan has written a letter to his fans on his personal website -- smokinjoecarnahan.com -- regarding the upcoming direct-to-DVD prequel to this year's Smokin' Aces. Ryan alerted you to the prequel here. I thought Smokin' Aces was a pretty cool flick. I completely forgot it five minutes after I saw it, but I had a blast at the time, and I appreciated how different in tone it was from Narc -- Carnahan's previous film. Carnahan has a full plate right now -- with White Jazz, Killing Pablo, and Bunny Lake is Missing in various stages of pre-production -- and will not write or direct the new Aces film. But he does seem determined to make sure that it's a quality project. Says Carnahan: "The Nigerians and I came up with a fairly simple story that is, I think, about as politically topical as you can get, under the guise of a balls-out barnburner of an action flick." As for 'the Nigerians,' Carnahan promises you'll soon know who they are, and fear not, fans of the original -- Carnahan "can say, with some certainty, that the Tremor Brothers will be returning." Carnahan also addresses the bad rap that a lot of straight-to-DVD titles get, but he insists this will be different. "I think the only reason to ever do something that goes straight-to-DVD (which has this malodorous vibe for some reason) is that it gives you the ability to really push it. And I don't mean pushing the obvious sex/violence tandem but pushing CONTENT and doing things from a straight storytelling angle that they (the studio) would never allow in a 'mainstream' theatrical release." He adds "That's what's exciting. Going out and sneaking up on an unsuspecting audience and doing something smart and timely and somewhat radical in tone." I think in most cases, the bad rap DVD-only flicks get is totally deserved, but it's always exciting to find an abandoned gem (Anyone have a favorite?). If this thing really turns out "smart," "timely," OR "radical," as Carnahan promises, it'd be head and shoulders above most of the DVD stuff out there.
I was fortunate enough to attend a special screening of 
OK, so you made it through last week (with nothing more than The Hitcher) without your weekly review roundup, but I'm back from Sundance and just itchin' to get through this newest batch of ... January ... releases. Ugh, I can't even feign excitement with movies this lame. But wait ... is one of 'em actually good? Let's sift through those pros and cons.
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SCOOP: Spider-Man 4 and 5 Might be Shot at the Same Time!
Cinematical Seven: Disney's Awesome Live-Action Kid Adventures
