The new movie “21″ has just hit stores on DVD and Blu-Ray disc from Sony Pictures. As a dealer for a casino, I was interested in seeing a Hollywood glamorized version of what I do for a living, and I was not disappointed. Granted the perspective of the movie is a loose retelling of M.I.T. Blackjack Team story of how they made and lost a fortune card counting at the blackjack tables of Las Vegas. And the story is about the card counters, not the dealers. In any case, while the plot takes tremendous liberties with the facts for the sake of making an entertaining story, the premise is simple, that students from M.I.T. who are good with numbers spend their weekends away from campus moonlighting as high rollers in Las Vegas. They work as a team and take Las Vegas for hundreds of thousands of dollars through card counting and team work to stay under the radar.

The group employs disguises and fake names and ID cards to become different people every time they go. Profits get split and everyone stays happy. Of course, cockiness sets in and trouble sparks as one member of the team gets jealous of the new guy because the new guy is outperforming the former star of the team. Then as the new guy starts to build up his confidence, he too is unable to escape the temptations of gambling and starts to ignore the rules of the team and continues to squander away on tables that have grown cold and past the time to stop playing on that table. It becomes a race against greed and being caught. The outcome of the story resolves itself through backroom deals, begging for forgiveness, and even more blackjack. To know how it resolves itself, you’ll have to check it out. (more…)

I was fortunate enough to attend a special screening of “Mamma Mia!” The Movie at the famous Grauman’s Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, CA. While still a week away from a proper opening across the US, it was fun to see the movie again for what is now the third time. The first being a test screening in March, and the second a special BroadwayWorld.com advanced screening in San Diego. And I will also be seeing a second screening here in Los Angeles tomorrow night at the OutFest movie festival. So by the time the movie officially opens on July 18th, I will have seen it four times and who knows how many times I’ll see it once it officially opens.

Back to the Grauman’s event, I have never been to the Grauman’s Chinese Theatre before. What an incredible experience. Hard to believe I’ve lived here in Southern California over 20 years and have never taken the time to come see a movie at the Grauman’s Chinese Theatre. Such a historic theatre and the opportunity to explore all the hand prints and footprints in the cement of the forecourt. I was excited to see the display of the hand prints of the original Star Trek cast. Leonard Nimoy had his prints in the traditional Vulcan hand sign.

While waiting to enter the theatre, I also saw where Meryl Streep had her hand and footprints, she has the tiniest of footprints. Wow. (more…)

The International ABBA Fan Club based in the Netherlands has recently posted an edited version of my “Mamma Mia! The Movie” review. It was edited down for space considerations in their printed magazine. The review appears in Issue # 95 originally published in June 2008. If you are interested in obtaining a copy of the issue, they can be ordered directly from the fan club. Go to www.abbafanclub.nl and click on the “About Us” link and select “Back Issues Of The Magazine” in the left column.

I’ve included the review here, it was edited down by Ursula Esser, a friend of mine from the UK, and I think she did a brilliant job condensing the original 5,600+ word review down to an approximate 1,400 word review. If you want to read the original review, click here. Thanks again to Ursula for her wonderful edit job and the ABBA Fan Club for wanting to publish it.

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One of the movies I was most looking forward to seeing this year was the return of Indiana Jones. Its been nearly twenty years since Indiana Jones’ last adventure where we joined the character on his search for the Holy Grail. Well what adventure would be exciting enough to bring the character back for yet another adventure, and it seems that George Lucas and Steven Spielberg felt that the “Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull” should be that adventure that ushers in a revisit to the world of Indiana Jones. Sadly, I found the adventure to feel like it was blazed on a path already well paved by other movies. While I don’t regret going to see the new Indiana Jones film, it just felt like a big let down for the type of adventure you come to expect from Indiana Jones.

I personally quite enjoyed seeing Harrison Ford embark on another adventure as Indiana Jones. His acting was great. I did like touches that throw back to the earlier films such as a nod to the Ark from Raiders, the convention of flight with the animated flight path on maps, and even nods to characters from previous films not featured here, as well as about the only true genuine laugh I got from the film involving Indy’s dislike of snakes, however, the plot just really failed to serve the sense of adventure I was expecting from a character like Indiana Jones. In fact, I’m almost sure that had the lead character been something new instead of Indiana Jones, I’d have felt less disappointed and might actually feel it was a better movie than I think it is. (more…)

I just got in from seeing a test screening of Mamma Mia! The Movie. It was absolutely fantastic!! We are definitely in for a treat come July when the movie gets a proper release. Here’s my review. Don’t worry for those not wanting spoilers, I have a warning in place before I discuss the movie so it’ll be safe to stop reading at that point.

Thanks to information posted to ABBAMAIL by Ian Cole about the test screening in San Diego, I managed to get to the screening. I got to the theater with plenty of time to spare, I was early for the recommended arrival time and I saw a few other people with printed out invitations so I followed them in to the waiting area outside the individual theater where the screening would take place.

I stood in line waiting to be issued a wristband and then to proceed to be checked for audio and video recording devices. The invitation recommended leaving cellular phones with cameras in our vehicles because they would not be permitted into the auditorium so I didn’t have my phone with me at all and thought it was going to be a really long hour to sit through without my phone to occupy my time.

As I entered the theater, most of it had been taken by people who were in a line for people who had arrived earlier. The line I was in was the next line to be formed with space assigned for another two lines. And it didn’t look like there was going to be enough room in the theater for everyone. I had to take a seat in the first third of the theater closest to the screen because everything further back was already claimed. Eventually every last seat was filled and quite a number of people had to be tuned away. It looks like it was overbooked on accepted RSVPs, which is certainly one way to pack each and every one of the seats available and the invitation did state that possession of an invitation was still not a guarantee that a seat would be available.

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