There are plenty of chases, explosions, crashes and beatings in Joe Carnahan's latest picture, Smokin' Aces, which opens later this month, but the film may be finally remembered for introducing XCM to the mainstream.

What is XCM? Well, it stands for "Extreme Card Manipulation," a digit-ally demanding (that's fingers, not cyber knowledge) offshoot of card magic that seeks to dazzle the eye with impossible-seeming cuts, fans and shuffles. Unlike card magic, however, in XCM there are no real tricks. Just a slew of decked-out moves.

For the movie, actor Jeremy Piven (Entourage) was schooled (and sometimes doubled) by Dan and Dave Buck (Dave's hands are seen briefly in the film's theatrical trailer as well as magician R. Paul Wilson, who was hired as a technical advisor to the film. Piven evidently got into the role because he appeared recently to do a set at L.A.'s The Magic Castle.

And while some of us may think XCM to be an obscure add-on to a Hollywood film, the producers were evidently aware of the movement's cult youth appeal. XCM has made stars of such practioners as De'Vo von Schattenreich (a teaser of whose work can be seen here) and the Bucks, whose hands can be seen twirling cellphones in this Cingular Blackjack commercial. In fact, type in "XCM" into the YouTube search engine and you'll come up with dozens of clips like this one by Jeff in which amateurs, much like rock drummers who compare solos, demonstrate their prowess with the pasteboards.