JenLeoLIVE!

Lucky You? Lucky Me!

The week has gone by fast my friends...

LUCKY YOU PREMIERE: The Lucky You premiere at Red Rock was fun. Pros were all over the place. Folks were a bit worried because of the harsh reviews that had come out, but it was a good show. As you know, I love Vegas, and the movie showed me parts I hadn't seen before. The poker was great and unlike other TV shows and movies, they didn't put the pros on display like, look, we got a pro to do a cameo in our movie! No, in Lucky You, the pros were there as testament to making the setting as realistic as possible. There were lots of pros playing and in the background. It worked. The worst part of the movie was Drew Barrymore. She was not a good fit for this film, and I enjoy her movies. The relationship cliches took away from the poker story. Instead, a local dancer or cocktail waitress a la Elizabeth Shue would've been a more realistic love interest. I mean, come on, the rest of the movie aimed for authenticity, where was there relationship expert? I was most impressed with Matt Savage. He is incredibly professional and continues to impress me with the projects he gets behind, and the way in which he carries himself at such events.

Eric Lindgren was there with a hot blonde date that I hadn't seen before. She was in a sheer pink dress and had a bod worth showing off. Doyle was taking a snooze in his chair at the head of the red carpet before it got underway. Patrik Antonius was there with his beautiful girlfriend who is ready to deliver. Greg Raymer, who's been discussing his possible vice-presidential candidacy was there in his trademark socks and sandals. Back to couples, Mike Matusow had a date. After the show he walked by Scotty who was seated at the bar. Scotty said, "Hey Baby," to Mike, then looked at his arm-candy and did a Chris Tucker — "Daaaaamn!" The pros went to Cherry after the movie to celebrate, but I went to have drinks with poker hipsters Pauly and the Wicked Chops guys who skipped the movie but were playing in the poker room.

Eric Bana's addictive behavior poker ambition must've worn off on me because I played in three $60 TI tournaments over the weekend. I made it to the final table twice and cashed in the final one, chopping four-ways for $500 each, which somehow turned into $390 net. You know you're a local when the card room manager sees you coming in a hair late, gives you her card, and tells you to call her on your way in next time and she'll save you a seat. I'll see you there at the 11am this weekend.

(photo courtesy of BJ Nemeth who was sitting next to me)

CURRENT: Los Angeles, CA
NEXT: Las Vegas, NV

2007 Oscar Countdown

Just under two weeks until the 79th Annual Academy Awards. Here are the movies that I still need/want to see if I'm going to be able to watch the ceremonies and give any kind of opionion. (X) means I've already seen it. (!) means I really want to see it beforehand.

BEST PICTURE
Babel   (X)
The Departed (!)
Letters from Iwo Jima
Little Miss Sunshine (!)
The Queen (!)

BEST ACTOR
Leo DiCaprio - Blood Diamond (X)
Ryan Gosling - Half Nelson
Peter O'Toole - Venus
Will Smith - Pursuit of Happiness (X)
Forest Whitaker - The Last King of Scotland (!)

BEST ACTRESS
Penelope Cruz - Volver
Judi Dench - Notes on a Scandal
Helen Mirren - The Queen (!)
Meryl Streep - Devil Wears Prada (X)
Kate Winslet - Little Children

Plus: Children of Men (!) and Flight 93 (!) Dreamgirls

And here, you movie fans, are some sites where you can find out all sorts of Oscar goodies, including printing your own ballet.

WEBSITES/BLOGS

LA Times: The Envelope

Daily News: On the Red Carpet

New York Times: Carpetbagger

USA Today: Red Carpet Report

CNN: Oscar Blog with Tom Leopold

Smokin' Aces is Awesome!

John's home! To combat the jet lag, we tried to stay out and away from the couch as much as possible. We saw Smokin' Aces. I loved it! To the point of clapping at the end of the sparsely attended 5:40 showing. I already can't wait to see it again. John was shocked at my enthusiasm because casing for casing, it'd be hard to tell which movie was more violent, this or Pulp Fiction. Heck, I'd love to see the bullet counts on Pulp Fiction, Scarface, Godfather 1&2, and Heat. So, even though he knows me pretty well, for some strange reason he didn't realize that violent mob movies are my favorite kind of flick. Maybe because there hasn't been one this good in a long time.

The website is just as kick ass as the movie, so get your butt over there. And, it wouldn't hurt at all to play around on the site and get a feel for all the characters before you go see it. There are so many players in this movie that in the beginning you spend a fair amount of brain power wrapping your head around them, but by mid way through the movie all is clear. At least that's how it was for me. I went in, knowing very little about the movie.

For the poker fans out there, this movie has nothing to do with poker at all. Zilch. And that's a good thing. There are cards in the theme because one of the main characters is a Vegas magician and cards are his thing.

Creative Screenwriting, a newsletter I get, had a terrific interview with the brains behind Smokin Aces, Joe Carnahan. He tells how this movie was inspired by his fascination with Frank Sinatra and what would've happen if someone like Frank wanted to become a Don. Sadly, they haven't posted it to their website yet. But writer Ben Rock had this to say about it:

Undaunted, Carnahan launched into his latest film, Smokin' Aces.  A kinetic and stylized film filled with jaw-flapping G-men and wise-cracking hit men, Aces promises to bring a fresh and long-awaited heaping-helping of neo-noir to hungry viewers.  Starring everyone from Ben Affleck and Jason Bateman to Alicia Keys and Ray Liotta, and centered around the conflagration of a mob bust and several simultaneous multiple hits -- all on a magician-turned mobster (played by Jeremy Piven) -- Smokin' Aces is writer-director Carnahan's biggest and funniest film to date.

The interview with Joe Carnahan should be up on the site within a few weeks. You can look for it in the "From the Trenches" section.

Man, that was a good movie!

CURRENT: Pasadena, CA
NEXT: Las Vegas, NV (Feb 14-15)

 

Daniel Craig as the New James Bond

I wanted to hate the new James Bond.

Casino Royale opened yesterday and I was supposed to boycot it. There is no blonde in James Bond. I can't begin to tell you how much this irks me. But I'm in San Diego spending time with my grandparents and my grandfather likes the 007. It made sense to take them to a movie that they'd enjoy sleeping through.

Luckily, there were enough chest shots of Daniel Craig to distract me from looking at his flappy ears—and the fact that the real Casino Royale is about Baccarat NOT poker. But the poker was fine, and the intro to the movie had cool card designs that made me want to decorate my someday entertainment room. Not to mention make a return to Lake Como.

Getting to the point, I LOVED it. It was a great movie and the audience clapped at the end. Quality Hollywood entertainment with a twist. We'll have to see what the Wicked Chops boyz think of it. Besides being hot for Eva Green and showing a nice boobie flick of her on their site, they might notice that there were a few inaccuracies in the poker scenes. Like Bond claiming the bad guy had 23:1 odds to hit his two outer on the river.

After all, the important thing is that Casino Royale cleared the censors in China. Now all sorts of Chinese Bond lovers will be able to get their thrill on.

Hurry up and go see it so we can start talking about his penis.

Until then, more Daniel Craig:
Daniel Craig on David Letterman
Casino Royale Blog
Info about the CraignotBond movement
What the Rotton Tomatoes critics think of Casino Royale

CURRENT: San Diego, CA
NEXT: Pasadena, CA