https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NiiaoUnkMvQ

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America from 9:00 on: https://youtu.be/GUwLCQU10KQ

Granted, having John Goodman do a monologue is a great idea for any trailer.

My movies: http://russellhainline.com
My movie reviews: https://letterboxd.com/RussellHFilm/
My beer TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thebeertravelguide

and all the major contenders will have at least a trailer.

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America from 9:00 on: https://youtu.be/GUwLCQU10KQ

On the bright side, there's some sharp dialogue delivered by some of the best in the business here. Wahlberg is solid but the supporting characters steal the show from John Goodman to Michael K. Williams to Richard Schiff in a small part.
Andre Braugher must have had some scenes cut out or something because he has a nothing part of one scene. It rivals his appearance in "Salt" as "Why the fuck are you wasting Andre Braugher on this role?"

And the direction/editing is great as you are on the edge of your seat with every bet, breathing a sigh of relief on the wins and gasping from the gut punch of a loss.

That being said, the "love" story with Brie Larsen is little more than a plot device and her character is woefully underwritten and makes little sense. Larsen does a lot with the little she has but it's just a bad part. The film seems to know nothing about basketball or how the NBA Draft proccess works and while newcomer Anthony Kelley is solid, his character also serves more as a pawn than a person. He has a nice monologue that seemingly comes out of nowhere.

But the part that just didn't grab me was the main struggle of the character - his gambling addiction, apparent desire to commit suicide by bookie, and fixation on all or nothing. I just never connected with the main character in any way. I saw little in the way of a soul or any kind of arc. He was a trainwreck that you can't look away from but don't really feel any strong emotion towards.

The film is worth checking out and I'm very interested in Wyatt's next project whatever it may be but it just didn't strike me as a film that you need to see in the theater, especially during the busy awards season.

That's how the story was.

The main character is so messed up and gone that you never really get the impression that his luck will change or he will turn things around or get a big break. It's all just about how far he's going to fall, and what happens when he hits bottom.

It's interesting that they made this, although admittedly with Marky Mark in the lead I'm not so excited to see it...

in the shuffle in general.

The dialogue got on my nerves at points. The soundtrack is a bit hipster-ish at times (M83 needs to stopped being used in media period). And the imagery is a bit heavy handed at times.

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America from 9:00 on: https://youtu.be/GUwLCQU10KQ

Only issue is I wondered why we should care about a guy who doesn't appear to give a shit about himself, in regard to his self-destructive behavior

I still haven't quite figured out the answer to that, but for whatever reason I was impressed with Wahlberg's performance and the movie overall

I was glad Michael K. Williams got a lot of screen time as well

It'll be another movie where there will be frustration because we get hints and swatches of the character's backstory instead of full-on explanations as to why he is the way he is.

Not upset with it at all.

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Niggas made aliases.

Had it's moments but they were few & far between a whole lot of weird scenes

Blackjack is just as boring on screen as it is for me in real life too

the movie should have ended 45 mins in when Jessica Lange gives him the money...or they should have not done that scene at all But I guess when you pay for Jessica Lange you deserve that bank scene.

Look, I get why they did that. He's a degenerate who get the 260k from his mom only to randomly lose it all like a fucking idiot, only to spend another hour getting back to that point again.

Brie Larson's character made NO sense.

Andre Braugher's presence made little sense.

Lamar's whole storyline was so unnecessary but I liked the kid that played him.

Whoever thought Wahlberg is believable as an intellectual Shakespearean-stanning English lit professor...well...meh.

This whole movie seemed like it had all the pieces in place to make a compelling feature about how sickening gambling can be, but so many of their characters were so obvioulsy edited down from being fully formed/realized plot devices and turned into completely nonsensical talking heads.

Michael K Williams stole the show, as he always does. Goodman was having fun. Wahlberg was going for it, but it just seems like such a poorly developed protagonist that gives the audience little insight into why we should root for him or even care at all.

Like many Wahlberg vehicles, seems like it'll make a good netflix stream in 9 months.

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"I *always* quote myself. I'm the only reliable source on *most* subjects" - OKP's First Lady of Knowledge, Janey

Netflix streaming for anyone interested,just noticed this yesterday .
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"You can win with certainty with the spirit of "one cut". "Musashi Miyamoto

I've already got Taken 3 and Selma on the docket.

Let me put it like this:

This movie is talky talky talky. I happen to think the dialogue is fantastic, and it allows actors like Michael K Williams and John Goodman to REALLY shine, but it's a whole lot of existential philosophizing, and much of it is from Wahlberg.

Wahlberg has to fill two pairs of shoes here: the self-loathing, nearly suicidal lout (in which he shines), and the brilliant novelist/lit professor (in which... well, he does his best, but it's fucking Mark Wahlberg waxing for 10 minutes about anti-Stratfordian theory and how it pertains to the talent of writers, and you may as I did sit there and go, "you're Mark Wahlberg, you don't read, much less write NYT best-sellers and Shakespeare").

So it's mixed results. However, since I found the dialogue to be awesome, the supporting turns to be really fun, and I really sort of loved the balls on a studio film to essentially make its lead character a self-destructive-to-the-point-of-admittedly-suicidal asshole... I was entertained.

But again, you and I haven't seen eye to eye on the last couple of flicks I've seen you post about, so what do I know? haha

As long as Selma is Priority 1. I'd be stunned if you didn't like that.

My movies: http://russellhainline.com
My movie reviews: https://letterboxd.com/RussellHFilm/
My beer TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thebeertravelguide

Thankfully, it seems to be awfully weak heading into Oscar season.

My movies: http://russellhainline.com
My movie reviews: https://letterboxd.com/RussellHFilm/
My beer TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thebeertravelguide

Save your money. I liked The Gambler more than most but it's a rental at best. There are probably other movies out that you should see instead of it. (Granted, it seems like the same could be said for Taken 3.)

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NBA MOCK DRAFT #1 - https://thecourierclass.com/whole-shebang/2017/5/18/2017-nba-mock-draft-1-just-lotto-and-lotta-trades