Lost reruns

This weekend I spent some time with friends - a good dinner and some games. We were talking about Lost, and he informed me that a TV season was just recently changed to 36 weeks (though we aren't sure what it was before). That means a regular TV show (which runs for a typical 24 episodes) has to fit in 12 weeks of reruns during the season. That's why Lost is getting pulled apart every other week, making us wait a few before a new episode.



Hopefully they've been losing viewers, and are able to see their loss - so that some change can be affected. This is getting ridiculous.

V For Vendetta

I watched a fantastic movie this weekend called V For Vendetta. It was by the same guys who did the Matrix trilogy (the Wachowski Brothers), but this time it's based on an old, but highly regarded comic book series (by the same name).

The movie is set in the near future (perhaps 25-50 years), and stars Hugo Weaving (Agent Smith from The Matrix) as V, a vigilante who is seemingly obsessed with the idea of toppling the corrupt British government. He befriends Evie, played by Natalie Portman (Padme from the Star Wars prequels), and slowly turns her loyalties, as well as those of police inspector Stephen Rea, against a government that has murdered and lied to it's population. John Hurt plays the High Chancellor, and his face and voice, booming down from a massive video screen, are reminiscent of his role in the film adaptation of Orwell's 1984.

V is a masked man, and he speaks in shakespearean soliloquies and prose. He is a burnt and twisted soul underneath his costume, destroyed (or created) by a government who has blinded their people, fearful of the revolution which V has promised. The catch phrase of the movie is "People should not be afraid of their government. Governments should be afraid of their people." It's a stirring notion, which the Wachowski brothers try to tie in with modern affairs (particularly, the US led war in Iraq). The date whereby the revolution is to begin - the 5th of November, is in honor of a historic moment when a revolutionary named Guy Fawkes tried to blow up Parliament in 1605. There's an eerie speech about the power inherent in the destruction of a symbolic building that will have nearly every American envisioning the shadow of Osama bin Laden looming over the World Trade Center.

"Remember, remember, the 5th of November..." is a haunting line, used a few times through the film by V, that recalls those real life events of September 11th.

Politics aside, the movie is well written, superbly acted, and the visual effects are really nice (and not overbearing).

Go see it!

And the Oscar goes to... POKER.

The Oscars were on Sunday... but who really cares, right? I used to watch them religiously when I was younger, but nowadays it seems that they only recognize a very certain breed of film, which isn't quite in line with what I consider to be good, entertaining, thought provoking, or educational. Most of the time, I end up renting the list of "best picture" movies after they come out on DVD and, most of the time, I end up regretting it. I think it was about 2001 where they started to go downhill. Beautiful Mind in 2001 was a good movie, but not the best picture that year. Lord Of The Rings should have taken that honor, or Moulin Rouge. In 2002, Chicago somehow beat out the next Lord Of The Rings picture, Gangs Of New York, and The Pianist single handedly. Luckily the academy made up for it in 2003 by giving Peter Jackson's trilogy a nod with the best picture award going to Return Of The King. Sadly, 2004's Oscar went to Million Dollar Baby, which looked substandard against The Aviator, or Ray.



And this year, I'm not even sure who I would have cheered for... so I didn't watch. I've heard Crash, this years winner, was a good movie, so I'll rent it. But just hearing that it's good was not enough to bring me to the TV to watch the ceremony. Like Jennifer Tilly, I opted to sit this one out and play poker instead.

Gordon and Stewart playing for charity

Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart will gamble next month for a worthy cause. The two NASCAR champions will be among the central figures in the Jeff Gordon Foundation Poker Classic in Las Vegas on March 7-8.



Gordon has recruited a host of celebrities for the $1,000 buy-in tournament at Caesars Palace, including poker professionals Chris Moneymaker, Chris "Jesus" Ferguson and Steve Danneman.

The public is invited and encouraged to participate.



Among the charities Gordon's foundation supports is the Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis.

Internet gambling prohibition

It seems like the US House Judiciary Committee is looking into a bill right now that would prohibit online gambling. This was announced on Friday and the bill should be reviewed today. If the bill passes and becomes an act, internet gaming at big online poker sites would be restricted by law.



How this would effect gaming sites on the whole is unknown, since many gaming sites are run on foreign soil, where the Act would have no jurisdiction. It would also mean that some group would need to monitor the habits of online gamers, which raises issues around privacy.



The concept of internet gambling prohibition seems too large in scale for the government to take seriously. Millions of Americans play online poker daily - and keeping them in line with the law would be expensive, time consuming, and eventually fruitless. However, they likely said the same thing about alcohol prohibition back in the 1930's, and yet that was enacted regardless of alcohol's popularity.



I'll be keeping a close eye on this bill as it runs the course over the next few weeks.

James Woods on tonight's Late Late Show

I was watching Craig Ferguson last night and found out that James Woods will be appearing on the Late Late Show tonight. Not sure if he's going to be talking about Hollywood Poker, or his upcoming guest appearance on ER, but it should be interesting. I'll post all about what James had to say tomorrow.

Willie Garson, laying down the law at Hollywood Poker

Willie Garson is one of those guys that you've "seen around" but you likely wouldn't match the face to the name. His close friendship with Sarah Jessica Parker is well known to celeb buffs. In poker circles, Willie is quite well known for his skill at the table. He's appeared in such films as There's Something About Mary, Groundhog Day, Kingpin, Mars Attacks, The Rock, Being John Malkovich, and Play it to the Bone.



Celebrity Poker Night is Hollywood Poker's (http://www.hollywoodpoker.com) latest celebrity event. Each week it brings a new celebrity to the table. You can catch Willie Garson on Celebrity Poker Night this week.