Saw "Smokin' Aces" the other day. Strange movie. Somewhat along the lines of those funky Brit crime movies like "Lock stock and two smoking barrels" but not nearly as good IMHO. It tries hard to go a little against stereotype, like the two "Ho's" that are hired killers and one of which drags out what looks like a Barrett 50 cal sniper gun and blasts away with that mofo. But all of those who hate Ben Affleck will have a nice surprise.
I thought the exact same thing about "Smokin' Aces". A Guy Ritchie wannabe, but just didn't measure up. Alicia Keys is smokin' hot, though. H
Er, everyone hates ben affleck 300, finally saw it, got the dvd actually; At first veiwing, i wasnt so impressed; I dont know why, but i was expecting a more historically accurate movie, and initially i found the computer graphics in fact distracting-the strange orange/yellow glow, even the "gladiator" style fields of wheat-flashbacks irked me. And the strangely pointless narration, shitted me up the wall. Borrow a little here, borrow a little there.... In short, i was expecting more fight, & LESS cheese........ On second viewing however, i can appreciate, that this is a great movie-a surrealist masterpiece in fact, depicting an actual event perhap's in the manner it should be, of myth, mystery, legend, like some phantasmagorical blend of so many great saga's, beowulf, the illiad-a vast, heroic, luridly coloured oil painting of "THE" 300 spartans. Further, the casting was exemplary-gerald butler was perfect, absolutely perfect for this role, entirely beleivable , dynamic, against the backdrop of this highly animated world. It has to be said many others were great too, with the dialogue they had to work with-i loved this movie, i suspect an instant cult classic, 4 stars from 5, even for no other reason than they didnt roll out the usual "stars" for it, and tried an original approach. Thank f#k ben affleck wasnt in this movie
TL Trader Moderator "Breach" Slow start, the pace of which never really picked up much. If it wasn't a true story I might not have bothered to even finish watching it. ######################################## Robert Hanssen affidavit http://www.cicentre.com/Documents/DOC_Hanssen_Affidavit.htm On or about October 4, 1985, a KGB Line PR officer in Washington, D.C., named Viktor M. Degtyar, received an envelope by mail, at his residence in Alexandria, Virginia, in the Eastern District of Virginia. The envelope was postmarked "Prince George's Co, MD" on October 1, 1985. Inside was an inner envelope, marked: "DO NOT OPEN. TAKE THIS ENVELOPE UNOPENED TO VICTOR I. CHERKASHIN." At that time, Viktor Ivanovich Cherkashin was the Line KR Chief at the Soviet Embassy in Washington, D.C. Inside the inner envelope was an unsigned typed letter from the person whom the KGB came to call "B." The letter read in part as follows: DEAR MR. CHERKASHIN: SOON, I WILL SEND A BOX OF DOCUMENTS TO MR. DEGTYAR. THEY ARE FROM CERTAIN OF THE MOST SENSITIVE AND HIGHLY COMPARTMENTED PROJECTS OF THE U.S. INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY. ALL ARE ORIGINALS TO AID IN VERIFYING THEIR AUTHENTICITY. PLEASE RECOGNIZE FOR OUR LONG-TERM INTERESTS THAT THERE ARE A LIMITED NUMBER OF PERSONS WITH THIS ARRAY OF CLEARANCES. AS A COLLECTION THEY POINT TO ME. I TRUST THAT AN OFFICER OF YOUR EXPERIENCE WILL HANDLE THEM APPROPRIATELY. I BELIEVE THEY ARE SUFFICIENT TO JUSTIFY A $100,000 PAYMENT TO ME. I MUST WARN OF CERTAIN RISKS TO MY SECURITY OF WHICH YOU MAY NOT BE AWARE. YOUR SERVICE HAS RECENTLY SUFFERED SOME SETBACKS. I WARN THAT MR. BORIS YUZHIN (LINE PR, SF), MR. SERGEY MOTORIN, (LINE PR, WASH.) AND MR. VALERIY MARTYNOV (LINE X, WASH.) HAVE BEEN RECRUITED BY OUR "SPECIAL SERVICES." SIGNAL LOCATION Signal site will be the pictorial "pedestrian-crossing" signpost just west of the main Nottoway Park entrance on Old Courthouse Road. (The sign is the one nearest the bridge just mentioned.) SIGNALS My signal to you: One vertical mark of white adhesive tape meaning I am ready to receive your package. Your signal to me: One horizontal mark of white adhesive tape meaning drop filled. My signal to you: One vertical mark of white adhesive tape meaning I have received your package. (Remove old tape before leaving signal.) On or about November 8, 1985, Deglyar and Cherkashin received a typed letter from "B", which read in part as follows: Thank you for the 50,000. I also appreciate your courage and perseverance in the face of generically reported bureaucratic obstacles. I would not have contacted you if it were not reported that you were held in esteem within your organization, an organization I have studied for years. I did expect some communication plan in your response. I viewed the postal delivery as a necessary risk and do not wish to trust again that channel with valuable material. I did this only because I had to so you would take my offer seriously, that there be no misunderstanding as to my long-term value, and to obtain appropriate security for our relationship from the start. "B" then described a United States Intelligence Community technical surveillance technique. He concluded: If you wish to continue our discussions, please have someone run an advertisement in the Washington Times during the week of 1/12/87 or 1/19/87, for sale, "Dodge Diplomat, 1971, needs engine work, $1000." Give a phone number and time-of-day in the advertisement where I can call. I will call and leave a phone number where a recorded message can be left for me in one hour. I will say, "Hello, my name is Ramon. I am calling about the car you offered for sale in the Times." You will respond, "I'm sorry, but the man with the car is not here, can I get your number." The number will be in Area Code 212. I will not specify that Area Code on the line. "B" signed the letter: "Ramon". 63. The following advertisement appeared in the Washington Times from July 14, 1986, to July 18, 1986: DODGE - '71, DIPLOMAT, NEEDS ENGINE WORK, $1000. Phone (703) 451-9780 (CALL NEXT Mon., Wed., Fri. 1 p.m.) . On Monday, August 18, 1986, "B" telephoned 703/451-9780, and spoke with Fefelov. The latter portion of the conversation was recorded as follows: ([UI] = unintelligible) "B": Tomorrow morning? FEFELOV: Uh, yeah, and the car is still available for you and as we have agreed last time, I prepared all the papers and I left them on the same table. You didn't find them because I put them in another corner of the table. "B": I see. FEFELOV: You shouldn't worry, everything is okay. The papers are with me now. "B": Good. FEFELOV: I believe under these circumstances, mmmm, it's not necessary to make any changes concerning the place and the time. Our company is reliable, and we are ready to give you a substantial discount which will be enclosed in the papers. Now, about the date of our meeting. I suggest that our meeting will be, will take place without delay on February thirteenth, one three, one p.m. Okay? February thirteenth. "B": [UI] February second? FEFELOV: Thirteenth. One three. "B": One three. FEFELOV: Yes. Thirteenth. One p.m. "B": Let me see if I can do that. Hold on. FEFELOV: Okay. Yeah. [pause] "B": [whispering] [UI] FEFELOV: Hello? Okay. [pause] "B": [whispering] Six .... Six .... [pause] "B": That should be fine. FEFELOV: Okay. We will confirm you, that the papers are waiting for you with the same horizontal tape in the same place as we did it at the first time. "B": Very good. FEFELOV: You see. After you receive the papers, you will send the letter confirming it and signing it, as usual. Okay? "B": Excellent. FEFELOV: I hope you remember the address. Is . . . if everything is okay? "B": I believe it should be fine and thank you very much. FEFELOV: Heh-heh. Not at all. Not at all. Nice job. For both of us. Uh, have a nice evening, sir. "B": Do svidaniya. FEFELOV: Bye-bye.
300- A masterful piece of artwork, wrapped in irony. I suppose this would go unnoticed by most American viewers, but the great irony of 300, is the way the film portrays Europeans defending their homeland against Middle Eastern invaders... <b>and yet the core values of these 'Europeans' couldn't possibly be any more Middle Eastern!</b> Honor and pride above all else, martyrdom a blessing and eternal life a curse, agonizing death preferable over the shame of a negotiated conflict settlement, you don't have to actually win the war to be victorious as long as you fight well and manage to bloody the enemy, etc... Considering this twisted paradox of cultures, I suspect that most Arab and even Persian viewers couldn't help but find themselves rooting for the Spartans! I couldn't be the only one to have noticed this.
Im sure most people would go for the underdog, given the enemy wasn't portrayed as human per se. Good thing persians arent christian, or you wouldn't have heard the end of allegations of blasphemy and such crap. Instead, you get a tirade against jewish producers, over portraying a (in this instance, fictional) culture the various ayatollahs tried to eliminate from history. Paradox's indeed! "After all...there's no reason we can't be civil"
NEXT Yeah, "Next" is right. As in, "Next movie, please!" I don't ask much from a B-movie thriller, even one w/A-movie actors, but it should at least operate w/in its own logic. A great deal is made of Cage's character only being able to see 2 minutes into the future, we assume it will be an important story point, but then when he sees several hours and days into the future, no explanation is ever given as to how this came about. It's just a plot convenience. The characters do things throughout that make absolutely no sense. And at one point Julianne Moore's hard-ass FBI agent shoots an unarmed, helpless villian point-blank in front of about 10 other people and nobody blinks an eye. As for "rising star" Jessica Biel, she says in an interview that she'd like to be able to see into the future to see how her career goes. Er, not so fast, there, Jessica, maybe you wouldn't. I can pretty much see it myself: She'll play supporting roles in a few more bad films and soon be relegated to series television, from whence she came, eventually ending up on "Dancing w/the Stars", where those-of-little-talent who never should have achieved their modest fame in the first place go to finally kill off their careers. Biel was chosen as GQ's "Sexiest Woman Alive" a couple of years ago but watching her onscreen one can only think, "Shouldn't the Sexiest Woman Alive" have some, like, personality, charm, talent? Something? More fitting would have been "Most Bland Actress Alive". Harold