I'm not sure if Joe Carnahan is the right person to take a strong stance against gratuitous violence in movies, but his arguments are valid and he presents them in a way that just makes you laugh. Over on his blog, Carnahan wrote a little rant on the "torture porn" phenomenon, although he made sure to begin said rant by pointing out the reasoning behind two pretty vicious scenes included in his last flick Smokin' Aces. Once that's out of the way, the dude goes off on the use of females in these types of films, saying it's something he finds "personally f*cking revolting." And I certainly agree with Joe, especially when he begins talking about Saw.

As I've said before, I watched and enjoyed the first Saw film (which I consider more of a psychological thriller than a straight-up horror flick). But the films that followed (which include both Hostel flicks) seemed to drift from that element, only to concentrate on (as Carnahan says): "this overblown, carnage level, blood sodden grand guignol aimed at the most base, depraved parts of the human psyche." Carnahan continues his rant: "I see these ads for Captivity and the wallowing in and fetishism of torture and I want to put my fist through something solid. And I don't think there's some political overtones or some Iraq/Abu Gharib allegories at work here. F*ck that, it's about titillation and ticket sales."

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 Smokin' Aces a few months back, and after the movie ended I (and a bunch of other writers) got to sit down and shoot the breeze with writer/director Joe Carnahan. First off, say what you will about the guy, but he sure does know his movies. I've met filmmakers whose eyes got all glassy when I mentioned Walter Hill or Michael Ritchie, but Carnahan can movie-geek with the best of 'em. But when one of the journalists raised the topic of Quentin Tarantino, well, Joe had a lot to say about that.

According to this juicy article at the Sydney Morning Herald, Joe Carnahan will bite your head off if you compare his latest movie to Reservoir Dogs or Pulp Fiction ... but I think this writer may have misrepresented Joey's tone of voice. When we sat down and discussed the exact same things that are covered in that article, Carnahan spoke quite respectfully of QT. He did, however, make it a point to say something like "Hey, Quentin didn't invent guns and hitmen and rapid-fire dialogue, you know!" -- but I never once got the impression that he was knocking Tarantino at all.

Is Smokin' Aces, in your opinion, too reminiscent of Quentin's flicks? Is it unfair to call one filmmaker a copycat of Tarantino if QT spent his entire career copycatting other filmmakers? (Don't get me wrong; I adore Tarantino's movies, but to label his subject matter as "original" is kind of a joke.) Frankly I don't think Carnahan deserves the copycat label, although I can plainly see where the comparisons are coming from. Smokin' Aces actually reminded me more of Running Scared than Pulp Fiction, but if a director wants to do a hard-R, tongue-in-cheek action flick, it seems he's bound to get painted with the Quentin brush. Kinda unfair, if you ask me.

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.

Blood and Chocolate (2 positive / 21 negative reviews at RottenTomatoes.com)

Pro: "There's something refreshingly low-tech about (this) werewolf romance." -- John Larsen, LarsenOnFilm.com

Con: "The dialogue ranges from cliches to lines that are so impossibly ridiculous that it must be intentional." -- Peter Hartlaub, San Francisco Chronicle

Pro: "Better than it has any right to be." -- Josh Tyler, CinemaBlend.com

Con: "A neutered Underworld without the vampires, action, and heavy CGI." -- Staci Layne Wilson, Horror.com

Bonus! "At least it's not yet another remake filled with the same old tricks." -- Jeffrey M. Anderson, Cinematical

Catch and Release (17 positive / 60 negative at RT.com)

Pro: "A romantic dramedy that gets it exactly right, gives us people who live and breathe and are as absolutely convincingly real as people you know." -- MaryAnn Johanson, The Flick Filosopher

Con: "The story is essentially ridiculous, and the directing debut of Erin Brockovich screenwriter Susannah Grant is a crashing failure." -- Bill Muller, The Arizona Republic

Pro: "You laugh and you cry, as the cliche goes. You get involved." -- Bruce Kirkland, Toronto Sun

Con: "The dull script is mostly to blame. We just never get a sense of who these people are." -- Jennie Punter, Globe and Mail

Bonus! "The best thing Catch and Release has going for it is a dialogue-heavy script that Grant obviously labored over." -- Jette Kernion, Cinematical

Epic Movie (Did not screen for press: 0 positive / 8 negative at RT.com)

Pro: NONE!

Con: "Almost nothing sticks. There's barely a laugh in this thing." -- Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel

Pro: NADA!

Con: "A miserably scattershot, heavy-wheezing, comedically-challenged waste of time." -- Brian Orndorf, eFilmCritic.com

Bonus! "If all a movie can give you is a small handful of stray and listless chuckles, well, I don't really think that's a movie worthy of your eight dollars." -- Scott Weinberg, Cinematical

It's been crazy this past week, what with Sundance (where I chatted with Ginnifer Goodwin about high school reunions and salad on a stick) and Oscar nominations (I wasn't shocked at the Dreamgirls snub, but the exclusion of Guillermo del Toro for Best Director broke my heart). On top of all that, there are a few medium-size movies opening this weekend, making for one of the toughest box office predictions yet.

Epic Movie: From the writers of the Scary Movie series and Date Movie comes another spoof, this one tackling such sacred cows as Pirates of the Caribbean and The Chronicles of Narnia. Let's see, the Scary Movie films have made a gazillion dollars (yes, that's a real number), and Date Movie earned $19 million over last year's three-day President's Day weekend, finishing second to Disney's Eight Below. Clearly audiences have a taste for this kind of movie, and it should do pretty well. Hey, mindless entertainment makes the world go 'round. I've logged countless hours slack-jawed in front of my TV to prove it.
Watch the trailer | Get showtimes & tix | Read synopsis | See photos

Catch and Release: Jennifer Garner stars as a woman whose fiancé dies on the eve of their wedding; Timothy Olyphant (Seth Bullock on HBO's Deadwood) is the hottie who heals her pain. All hail the chick flick! This marks the solo directorial debut of Susannah Grant, who co-directed Charlotte's Web and wrote Erin Brockovich and In Her Shoes. Reviews are middling (49 out of 100 is pretty much exactly in the middle, no?), but this sort of film, like Epic Movie, is review-proof. I still want to see it, and I'll probably wind up watching it 15 times on cable, just like I get sucked in whenever Garner's 13 Going on 30 airs. Hmm, I may be revealing a bit too much about my TV-watching habits in this post ...
Watch the trailer | Get showtimes & tix | See photos | See rising TV stars

Smokin' Aces: Forget what I said about hailing the chick flick. All hail The Piven is what I really meant. That would be Jeremy Piven, aka Ari Gold on HBO's (again with the HB and O!) Entourage. Piven stars as a two-bit hustler in Vegas who pisses off the wrong mobster and finds himself on the run when the kingpin takes out a contract on his life. We've got violence, we've got yooge stars (Ben Affleck, Andy Garcia, Ray Liotta, Common, and Alicia Keys in her big-screen debut), we've got a flick that appeals to young men and has little competition. Could go either way, but never forget the appeal of violence and Vegas, baby! Vegas!
Watch the trailer | Get showtimes & tix | See Piven & Common chat

Also opening wide: Werewolf flick Blood and Chocolate, The Departed (studio is re-releasing)

Anything could happen this week, folks; may as well post the movies up on a wall and throw a dart at it. Go on and take your best shot -- by noon Saturday, please. My picks:

1. Epic Movie
2. Smokin' Aces
3. Dreamgirls
4. Catch and Release
5. Night at the Museum

POST: What's your weekend top five prediction?

POST: What do you think of these movies?

Not long ago I had a chance to catch an early screening of the upcoming Smokin' Aces, and while there were plenty (unfortunately) of things wrong with the film (mainly that it attempts to make up for its weak story and character development with tons and tons of flashy style), the flick flies by and delivers plenty of high-octane punches. Saying that the film is pretty violent would be an understatement, and director Joe Carnahan is having a hard time getting the MPAA to approve of some of Aces' marketing materials. For example, the picture to the right of your screen is from just one of a crop full of slick posters the MPAA canned.

Luckily, Carnahan has been keeping a personal blog for Smokin' Aces and sharing with us all the groovy stuff we Americans won't get to see on the side of a passing bus or during a commercial break for Grey's Anatomy. Aside from at least three very cool posters, the director has also posted a UK TV spot that was banned in the US. Why was it banned? Well, apparently it's a little too violent ... but there's no foul language or nudity, and the thing moves so fast you barely have a chance to catch your breath, let alone point out which parts the MPAA had a beef with. In his blog post, even Carnahan seems to be a bit baffled by the MPAA's decision. He says, "Our censors would never allow this content on the air here, but I defy you to identify just exactly what that content is and why it wouldn't be airable." You be the judge. Smokin' Aces crashes into theaters on January 26.

[via JoBlo]

While we recently brought you the news that Joe Carnahan (Narc) was teaming up with George Clooney to direct White Jazz, it appears he will first helm a remake of Otto Preminger's 1965 pic Bunny Lake is Missing. The project is quickly taking shape with Spyglass Entertainment reportedly set to finance and Columbia Pictures tapped to distribute domestically. Currently in talks to star in the thriller is none other than everyone's favorite recently-divorced Oscar-winning blonde, Reese Witherspoon.

Though I never had a chance to watch the original, its description sounds very much like the recent Jodie Foster flick Flightplan, in that it revolves around a woman who claims her daughter, Bunny Lake, is missing. However, when police begin to investigate, they cannot find any evidence suggesting that Bunny ever existed -- which leads everyone involved to believe this woman has gone bonkers. Witherspoon would play said woman and if she signs on, the role would be a fascinating departure for a girl we're used to seeing tackle cookie-cutter romantic comedies, not thrillers. Doug Wright penned the script, and is currently working on a rewrite alongside Carnahan. The director's next effort, Smokin' Aces, arrives in theaters next month, while Witherspoon is currently shooting the drama Rendition with Meryl Street and Jake Gyllenhaal. What do you think about Witherspoon in a thriller? Can she pull it off?

Say it ain't so, Ben? According to a scoop Dark Horizons picked up, Ben Affleck is interested in remaking Play Misty for Me. The 1967 film was Clint Eastwood's directorial debut, and is probably one of the only Eastwood flicks that could be remade without people immediately cursing the heavens above. Affleck, who I happened to catch last night at an early screening of Smokin' Aces (sorry folks, but I'm not allowed to talk about that film, apart from the fact that it was annoyingly delicious), is supposedly in talks to produce and direct the pic. Right now, it looks like Jason Smilovic (Lucky Number Slevin) will pen the script, and Eastwood himself might even attach himself as producer -- I guess to make sure Affleck doesn't muck the whole thing up.

In the original, Eastwood played a DJ who has a one-night-stand with a woman only to later discover that she was an obsessed fan, hell-bent on going all Fatal Attraction on this cowboy. No word yet on whether Affleck will follow in Eastwood's footsteps and also star in the film, but those of you who are curious about the dude's directing skills won't have to wait much longer, as Affleck's first attempt behind the camera, Gone, Baby, Gone, is due out next year. While I'd be interested in seeing a contemporary version of Fatal Attraction Play Misty for Me, I would like to see a film that reverses the roles. (Does Hard Candy count?) How do you hardcore Eastwood fans feel about this one?

I wasn't a big fan of Joe Carnahan's Blood, Guts, Bullets and Octane, but the low-low-budget crime thriller was successful enough to land the guy a big-time studio gig. That project was Narc, which I dug quite a bit, to my pleasant surprise. (Hey, I'm a sucker for Ray Liotta's tough guy routine.) For a while there it looked like Carnahan was going to direct Mission: Impossible 3 for Paramount, but obviously that plan fell through.

The good news is that his latest flick, entitled Smokin' Aces, looks pretty darn wild. The teaser trailer kicks off with an amusing misdirection before settling into a mega-kinetic typhoon of mayhem, so why not check it out? (Frankly the flick looks a lot like last February's Running Scared, and that's just fine by me.)

Featuring the likes of Jeremy Piven, Ben Affleck, Ray Liotta (cool!), Ryan Reynolds, Andy Garcia, Peter Berg, Alicia Keys, Jason Bateman and the underrated Nestor Carbonell, Universal's Smokin' Aces is scheduled for a February 2007 release. Ack, February?

Despite the fact that neither of her two (count 'em -- two) film roles has yet actually appeared on screen, Disney apparently had no concerns about signing a multi-year first-look deal with Alicia Keys, a woman that most of us think of as a singer first an an actor about sixth. Already in the can for Keys is Smokin' Aces (she's an assassin, obviously), and she also has a supporting role in The Nanny Diaries. It seems, however, she wants to be able to act in movies without the risk of having producers want someone else, so she and her partner Jeff Robinson developed Big Pita, Little Pita (And yes, "Pita" in this case stands for "Pain in the Ass" -- at least they've got a sense of humor about something) to "create vehicles [for Keys] that will prevent her from falling into predictable roles."

The first project from the new collaboration with Disney will be, yes, a remake. Keys will star in a new version Bell Book and Candle, taking over for Kim Novak as the witch who accidentally complicates her own plans by falling in love. No word on who will play her love interest, a role originally played by a guy named Jimmy Stewart, or her wacky, bongo-playing brother (if you ask me, Matthew McConaughey is a natural to replace Jack Lemmon for that one).