andyfox
08-20-2004, 12:45 PM
A bunch of 2+2er got together last night to see a double feature: The Cincinnati Kid and California Split.
The Cincinnati Kid has been on TV for years. I've always liked it, in spite of itself. It's pretty dated, both in terms of the card game (5-card stud) and the melodramatic cinematic style. There was a lot of laughter in the theater where comedy was not intended. But it's got Edward G. Robinson, Steve McQueen, Karl Malden, Ann-Margeret, Tuesday Weld, Cab Calloway and Rip Torn, so it ain't all bad. Kind of a campy rip-off of The Hustler, but not as well done. The poker can't be taken seriously (the game starts and after folding the first two hands, Calloway says "I just can't get started."; people are amazed when Robinson bets his Ace and The Kid folds a King), but the final hand has become something of a legend in cinematic poker history.
California Split stars George Segal and Eliott Gould as two gambling derelicts who hang out in Gardena and at Hollywood Park and end up going to Reno to make a big score. It's a Robert Altman film, which means three people are usually talking at once and everybody thinks they're way cool. I remember liking it a lot when it first came out (late '70s?), and I enjoyed it last night, but I think I was in the minority. The film is just trying too hard and Gould's act wears thin after a very short time. The Gardena scenes are worthwhile, though, to get a feel for how it used to be when we dealt lowball by ourselves, that is, without house dealers at the old round tables in the pre-hold-em days in Gardena.
But my two favorite poker scenes still both involve Paul Newman: 1) the hand where he got his nickname in Cool Hand Luke; and 2) the hand where he out-cheats Robert Shaw on the train in The Sting. And Cool Hand Luke and The Sting are both way better movies than either of the two we saw last night.
But the company was great. Enjoyed seeing old friends and meeting new ones. Hope everybody had a good time. Who went to play poker afterwards?
The Cincinnati Kid has been on TV for years. I've always liked it, in spite of itself. It's pretty dated, both in terms of the card game (5-card stud) and the melodramatic cinematic style. There was a lot of laughter in the theater where comedy was not intended. But it's got Edward G. Robinson, Steve McQueen, Karl Malden, Ann-Margeret, Tuesday Weld, Cab Calloway and Rip Torn, so it ain't all bad. Kind of a campy rip-off of The Hustler, but not as well done. The poker can't be taken seriously (the game starts and after folding the first two hands, Calloway says "I just can't get started."; people are amazed when Robinson bets his Ace and The Kid folds a King), but the final hand has become something of a legend in cinematic poker history.
California Split stars George Segal and Eliott Gould as two gambling derelicts who hang out in Gardena and at Hollywood Park and end up going to Reno to make a big score. It's a Robert Altman film, which means three people are usually talking at once and everybody thinks they're way cool. I remember liking it a lot when it first came out (late '70s?), and I enjoyed it last night, but I think I was in the minority. The film is just trying too hard and Gould's act wears thin after a very short time. The Gardena scenes are worthwhile, though, to get a feel for how it used to be when we dealt lowball by ourselves, that is, without house dealers at the old round tables in the pre-hold-em days in Gardena.
But my two favorite poker scenes still both involve Paul Newman: 1) the hand where he got his nickname in Cool Hand Luke; and 2) the hand where he out-cheats Robert Shaw on the train in The Sting. And Cool Hand Luke and The Sting are both way better movies than either of the two we saw last night.
But the company was great. Enjoyed seeing old friends and meeting new ones. Hope everybody had a good time. Who went to play poker afterwards?