Smoking Aces
''Smokin' Aces'' is a 2006 American action comedy film written and directed by Joe Carnahan. The film centers on the chase for Las Vegas magician turned mafia informant Robert 'Buddy Aces' Israel (Jeremy Piven), on whom a one-million-dollar bounty is placed. The ensemble cast includes Ryan Reynolds, Ben Affleck, Jason Bateman, Common, Andy García, Alicia Keys, Taraji P. Henson, Ray Liotta, Chris Pine, and Matthew Fox, all co-starring as the various individuals attempting to either capture, kill or protect Israel. ''Smokin' Aces'' was the official acting debut of Keys and Common. The film is set in Lake Tahoe and was mainly filmed at MontBleu Resort Casino & Spa, called the "Nomad Casino". It received mixed reviews, and grossed $57 million at the box office. It was followed by a 2010 prequel, '' Smokin' Aces 2: Assassins' Ball'', directed by P. J. Pesce and produced and co-written by Carnahan. Plot Las Vegas magician and wannabe gangster Buddy "Aces" Israel is in hiding at a Lake ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Joe Carnahan
Joseph Aaron Carnahan (born May 9, 1969) is an American film director, screenwriter, producer and actor whose films include '' Blood, Guts, Bullets and Octane''; '' Narc''; ''Smokin' Aces''; ''The A-Team''; '' The Grey''; and ''Boss Level''. He also wrote and directed several episodes for the NBC television series ''The Blacklist''. He is the brother of screenwriter Matthew Michael Carnahan and producer Leah Carnahan. Early life Carnahan was raised in Michigan and Northern California. Carnahan graduated from Fairfield High School in 1987 where he also played football. He attended college at San Francisco State University but later transferred to California State University, Sacramento, and earned his B.A. in Filmography there. *a "CSU Sacramento, B.A. Film Studies (1994)." Carnahan eventually became employed in the Promotional Department of Sacramento's KMAX-TV, producing short films and television spots. *a "...(who started right here at Good Day Sacramento,)." — ¶ 1. F ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Butt-Numb-A-Thon
The Butt-Numb-A-Thon (also known as BNAT) was a film marathon held in Austin, Texas every December from 1999 to 2016. It was hosted by Harry Knowles of the Ain't It Cool News website in celebration of his birthday. The festival showed 24 hours of vintage films as well as premieres. Following revelations of sexual assault accusations against Knowles in September 2017, the festival ceased. Event admission The marathon was invite-only via an application process. Before BNAT 5 in 2003, there were typically two ways to gain admittance – one for Austin residents that usually involved some event, such as BNAT 4 in 2002 having a costume contest at a horror movie screening at an abandoned mental institution on Halloween, then a separate one for those not in the Central Texas area. After BNAT 5, the application process was changed to internet-only involving several essay-style questions and submissions of pictures. Films and notable guests Films that were shown include the first pu ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Prequel
A prequel is a literary, dramatic or cinematic work whose story precedes that of a previous work, by focusing on events that occur before the original narrative. A prequel is a work that forms part of a backstory to the preceding work. The term "prequel" is a 20th-century neologism from the prefix "pre-" (from Latin ''prae'', "before") and "sequel". Like sequels, prequels may or may not concern the same plot as the work from which they are derived. More often they explain the background that led to the events in the original, but sometimes the connections are not completely explicit. Sometimes prequels play on the audience's knowledge of what will happen next, using deliberate references to create dramatic irony. History Though the word "prequel" is of recent origin, works fitting this concept existed long before. The ''Cypria'', presupposing hearers' acquaintance with the events of the Homeric epic, confined itself to what preceded the ''Iliad'', and thus formed a kind of introd ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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MontBleu Resort Casino & Spa
Bally's Lake Tahoe (formerly Park Tahoe, Caesars Tahoe, and MontBleu Resort Casino) is a casino hotel in Stateline, Nevada. It is owned by Edgewood Companies and operated by Bally's Corporation. The property includes a casino and a 438-room hotel on a site. It is the home to the Ciera Steak + Chophouse. The entire property underwent a $25-million remodel in 2015, with all guest rooms, the casino, 1,200-seat showroom, and exterior being upgraded. History Park Tahoe (1978–1979) The casino first opened in 1978 as the Park Tahoe, built by Park Cattle Co. The building was designed by Daniel, Mann, Johnson & Mendenhall and constructed by Del E. Webb Corporation. Caesars World took over the next year under a 25-year lease, with options to extend it another 50 years. Caesars Tahoe (1979–2006) Caesars agreed to spend $40 million to complete construction of the hotel portion of the property, which was renamed as Caesars Tahoe Palace and later simply Caesars Tahoe. In line with the C ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Lake Tahoe
Lake Tahoe (; was, Dáʔaw, meaning "the lake") is a Fresh water, freshwater lake in the Sierra Nevada (U.S.), Sierra Nevada of the United States. Lying at , it straddles the state line between California and Nevada, west of Carson City, Nevada, Carson City. Lake Tahoe is the largest alpine lake in North America, and at it trails only the five Great Lakes as the List of lakes by volume, largest by volume in the United States. Its depth is , making it the List of lakes by depth, second deepest in the United States after Crater Lake in Oregon (). The lake was formed about two million years ago as part of the Lake Tahoe Basin, and its modern extent was shaped during the Quaternary glaciation, ice ages. It is known for the clarity of its water and the panorama of surrounding mountains on all sides. The area surrounding the lake is also referred to as Lake Tahoe, or simply Tahoe. More than 75% of the lake's Drainage basin, watershed is United States National Forest, national forest ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Matthew Fox
Matthew Chandler Fox (born July 14, 1966) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Charlie Salinger on ''Party of Five'' (1994–2000) and Jack Shephard on the drama series ''Lost'' (2004–2010), the latter of which earned him Golden Globe Award and Primetime Emmy Award nominations. Fox has also performed in ten feature films, including '' We Are Marshall'' (2006), '' Vantage Point'' (2008), ''Alex Cross'' (2012), ''Emperor'' (2012) and ''Bone Tomahawk'' (2015). Early life Fox was born in Abington, Pennsylvania, the son of Loretta B. (née Eagono) and Francis G. Fox. One of his paternal great-great-great-grandfathers was Union General George Meade. His father was from a "very blue-blood" Pennsylvania family of mostly English descent, while his mother was of half Italian and half British ancestry. The second of three boys, Fox moved to Wyoming when he was a year old with his parents and brothers, Francis, Jr. (b. 1961) and Bayard (b. 1969). They settled in Cro ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Chris Pine
Chris Pine (born August 26, 1980) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as James T. Kirk in the ''Star Trek'' reboot film series (2009–present), Steve Trevor in the DC Extended Universe films ''Wonder Woman'' (2017) and ''Wonder Woman 1984'' (2020), Will Colson in ''Unstoppable'' (2010), and Toby Howard in '' Hell or High Water'' (2016). Pine first rose to prominence for his roles in romcoms as Lord Devereaux in '' The Princess Diaries 2'' (2004) and Jake Hardin in '' Just My Luck'' (2006). His roles also include Cinderella's Prince in ''Into the Woods'' (2014), Jack Ryan in '' Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit'' (2014), Bernie Webber in '' The Finest Hours'' (2016), Dr. Alexander Murry in ''A Wrinkle in Time'' (2018), and Robert the Bruce in ''Outlaw King''. Pine voiced Jack Frost in ''Rise of the Guardians'' (2012). Early life Pine was born on August 26, 1980 in Los Angeles, California. His father, Robert Pine, is an actor who co-starred on ''CHiPs'' as Sergeant ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Taraji P
Taraji Penda Henson ( ; born September 11, 1970) is an American actress. She studied acting at Howard University and began her Hollywood career in guest roles on several television shows before making her breakthrough in '' Baby Boy'' (2001). She played a prostitute in ''Hustle & Flow'' (2005), for which she received a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture nomination; and a single mother of a disabled child in David Fincher's '' The Curious Case of Benjamin Button'' (2008), for which she received Academy Award, SAG Award and Critics Choice Award nominations for Best Supporting Actress. In 2010, she appeared in the action comedy '' Date Night'', and co-starred in the remake of ''The Karate Kid'' alongside Jaden Smith and Jackie Chan. Henson has also had an extensive and successful career in television, including series such as '' The Division'', ''Boston Legal'' and '' Eli Stone''. In 2011, she starred in the Lifetime Television fil ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Common (entertainer)
Lonnie Rashid Lynn (born March 13, 1972), known by his stage name Common (formerly known as Common Sense), is an American rapper and actor. He debuted in 1992 with the album ''Can I Borrow a Dollar?,'' and gained critical acclaim with his 1994 album ''Resurrection.'' He maintained an underground following into the late 1990s. He achieved mainstream success through his work with the Soulquarians. His first major-label album, '' Like Water for Chocolate'' (2000), received commercial success. In 2003, he won the Grammy Award for Best R&B Song for the Erykah Badu single " Love of My Life". His 2005 album '' Be'' was also successful and was nominated for Best Rap Album at the 2006 Grammy Awards. He received his second Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group for "Southside" (featuring Kanye West), from his 2007 album ''Finding Forever''. His best-of album, '' Thisisme Then: The Best of Common'', was released in late 2007. In 2011, he launched Think Common Entertain ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Jason Bateman
Jason Kent Bateman (born January 14, 1969) is an American actor, director and producer known for his roles of Michael Bluth in the Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox/Netflix sitcom ''Arrested Development (TV series), Arrested Development'' and of Marty Byrde in the Netflix crime drama series ''Ozark (TV series), Ozark'' (2017–2022). He has received several awards including a Golden Globe Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award and a Satellite Award. He began acting on television in the early 1980s on the NBC drama series ''Little House on the Prairie (TV series), Little House on the Prairie''. He has starred in the films ''Teen Wolf Too'' (1987), ''Necessary Roughness (film), Necessary Roughness'' (1991), ''Dodgeball (film), Dodgeball'' (2004), ''Juno (film), Juno'' (2007), ''Hancock (film), Hancock'' (2008), ''Up in the Air (2009 film), Up in the Air'', ''Couples Retreat'', ''Extract (film), Extract'' (all 2009), ''The Switch (2010 film), The Switch'' (2010), ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Las Vegas Strip
The Las Vegas Strip is a stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard, Las Vegas Boulevard South in Clark County, Nevada, that is known for its concentration of resort hotels and casinos. The Strip, as it is known, is about long, and is immediately south of the Las Vegas city limits in the Unincorporated towns in Nevada, unincorporated towns of Paradise, Nevada, Paradise and Winchester, Nevada, Winchester, but is often referred to simply as "Las Vegas". Many of the largest hotel, casino, and resort properties in the world are on the Strip, known for its contemporary architecture, lights, and wide variety of attractions. Its hotels, casinos, restaurants, residential high-rises, entertainment offerings, and skyline have established the Strip as one of the most popular and iconic tourist destinations in the world and is one of the driving forces for Las Vegas's economy. Most of the Strip has been designated as an National Scenic Byway, All-American Road, and the North and South Las Vegas Strip r ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |