Lucky You

Scoop's note:

As far as I know, this is the first time we have ever had a film reviewed by one of the performers. Sam, a professional gambler, has a scene at the poker table in the all-important role of "Old Man." Although it was surely a strenuous role, he was not required to attend any workshops at The Actor's Studio nor to perform a nude scene.

by Silver Dollar Sam O'Connor

"There’s a Cypriot over at that table who owns a lot of chips. And I’m going over to relieve him of some of them. It’s the same table where Nick the Greek had his finest hour."

Not bad lines from Eric Roth, the screenwriter. The words get your attention, add a little intrigue and finish with some poker history. They were spoken by Robert Duvall in the scene filmed at Binion's in Lucky You. But you will never hear it in the movie. However, Duvall gave his usual dependable and likable performance. We all like Robert.

In fact, about half the scene where those lines were to appear was cut. I'm the old man who draws out on Eric Bana by coaxing a nine ("Come on, nine") on the river. (Blue shirt below, dead center of the picture.)

I found half my lines from the scene had disappeared by the time the film reached its theatrical form. Only Drew Barrymore and Eric Bana kept most of their lines. And that’s the way it should be.

Much more than footage was lost in editing. The theatrical version of Lucky You has a love story that we don’t believe. There was no time to develop a believable relationship between Drew Barrymore and Eric Bana and we wind up wondering why they laid awake at night thinking of each other. Because the love story has so little substance, Drew is reduced to what amounts to a supporting role to the more mainstream story of the father/son relationship. (Hey, cut the attempt at a love story and make room for more of my lines!)

Curtis Hanson, one of the finest directors today, had too much footage and too little movie time (2 hrs. 4 min.) to fit it all in. We know this happens often and we know that when it happens, some element of the film will suffer.

Still, it’s a shock to see how much footage is severed in the cutting room. Much of the tournament scene is gone. And poor Debra Messing saw all her mermaid fin-flipping efforts splash to the cutting room floor.

Lucky You is not a chick flick. It’s about Las Vegas streets and some of the colorful people who live there. It has some great poker scenes directed by Curtis Hanson who knows how to pay attention to detail and how to get the best from his supporting cast. Horatio Sanz offers a fine performance. A cameo appearance from Robert Downey, Jr. adds almost nothing to the story but captures the essence of the film as he masters a scene in a way that could never allow any director to cut it in the interest of time.

The poker scenes are painstakingly real and very effective. Most of the famous poker players are there and Curtis Hanson gets the best from them.

See the movie for the poker fun. And cheer for me to get my nine – Drew did.

 

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Silver Dollar Sam O'Connor  has written the most comprehensive book on no limit hold ‘em to date. Order Sam’s book, “How to Dominate $1 and $2 No Limit Hold ‘Em” here

http://thepokerkeep.com/

 

 

Some notes on The Breastford Wives

ID's from the mailbox:

 

Letter One:

Scoop

"Dylan Bailey" is Monique Parent. Probably a non-union job.

Yes, I noticed that. She usually appears as Scarlett Johansing for her non-union jobs. Not sure what the deal is on Dylan Bailey. That's a new one to me.

From the Monique Parent forum: http://uniquemonique.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=192

 

 

Letter Two:

Scoop:

Not sure if you wanted to know or not but the girl in the DannCaps section listed as Monica Rakocyova also goes by the porn name Monica Sweetheart. She has a rather extensive filmography (294 films listed at the IAFD). One of my favorites is My Anal Adventure. She has black hair in that flick and never looked better.  I have included a couple of links for you:

http://eurobabeindex.com/sbandoindex/monicasw.html
 

http://www.iafd.com/person.rme/perfid=MSweetheart/gender=f/Monica-Sweetheart.htm

 

 

Allyson is Watching

Allyson is Watching (1997) was covered by me years ago, and the caps are fine. What is news is that the title in its original release has become collectable, and is now around $100.00 when you can find it. The good news is that Rare Licensed DVD now has it available at a reasonable price on a dual region (1 and 4) DVD with an English soundtrack and optional Spanish subtitles.

 

Silhouette

Silhouette (1992) is a Canadian erotic thriller written and directed by the Polish-born Canadian Lloyd Simandl, before he discovered the secret of making cheap films in Czechoslovakia. Tracy Scroggins stars as a public defender and friend to working girls. When one of her favorites is thrown out of a car, gives her a broach, and then ends up murdered, and the police are not interested, she decides to investigate herself. She has no idea what she is up against, but when she masquerades as a hooker to gather information, she places her own life in danger.

Look for Marc Singer and Brion James in major roles!

As in many of Simandl's films, much of it is dark and foggy, a problem exacerbated by a grainy transfer. The plot is somewhat better than Simandl's later WIP Czechsploitation efforts, but will never be nominated for writing awards. In fact, I found it unintentionally hilarious in spots. The strong point of the film, at least according to many online reviewers, is the sexy soundtrack.

This is a C-. At max.

IMDb readers say 3.0, and based on only 41 votes.

The film has been hard to find, so the good news is that this DVD is even available, and at a price tag of less than ten bucks.

 

 

Tracy Scroggins shows breasts and buns, but not in good light.

Laloni shows breasts.

 

Jolly Roger: Massacre at Cutter's Cove

 

Today a ton of boobage.

 

Bernadette Perez plays a stripper who uses her Robo Hooters to make Roger jolly.

 

Carrie Booska topless as another stripper working the pole.

 

 

Megan Lee Ethridge shows off her cute tiny little titties -  those nipples really stand at attention.

 

 

El Túnel

1987 Spanish movie that had two English speaking actors in the lead, Peter Weller and Jane Seymour, who shows a fair amount of skin throughout the movie.

A painter, Castel (Peter Weller), remembers from prison why he ended up there. He met María Iribarne (Jane Seymour), a woman who is married to a blind man who has a high social status. Castel becomes obsessed with her and doesn't stop chasing her until they become lovers. But after he gets what he wanted he is not satisfied and wants more. He gets lost in his passion for her and ends up in a complete state of paranoia.