Best and Worst Pool Movies...

moosepool · Nov 24, 2005

After the replies to Johnny "V"'s post about the new movie "Shooting Gallery" getting kind of off topic and controversial I thought I'd start a new thread about pool movies and let everyone argue in here. I personally had no idea there were that many pool movies. You guys were naming off movies I've never even heard of. The only ones I've seen are "The Hustler", "The Color of Money" and "Pool Hall Junkies". I had heard of "Stickmen" but for some reason I thought it was a foreign film (sweedish or something). Anyways list some of the movies you've seen and which ones you liked and which ones made you want to kill the director. My favorite is "The Hustler" partly because I hate Tom Cruise and I wish he wouldn't have been in "The Color of Money". Just one of those actors I don't like for no real particular reason. Him and John Travolta

(I bet I hurt some feelings on that one). "Pool Hall Junkies" was still the worst of the 3 even though Christopher Walken almost made it worth the price of admission. I love that guy. He didn't make up for the rest of the lame acting and stupid hustles but it wasn't the worst movie I've ever seen. Like one of the posters in the other thread said there will probably will never be a movie made exactly the way "pool players" want to see it. Let's see what you guys have to say.

Big Dave · Nov 24, 2005

My Top 10 - Pool Movies

Actually, they're the only ten pool movies I've ever heard of, in order of preference, from my blogg. I guess I'll have to insert "Shooting Gallery" somewhere in there now.

The Hustler
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054997/
The original and best ever!

The Colour of Money
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090863/
The sequel!

Pool Hall Junkies
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0273982/
A more modern film.

Stickmen
http://www.stickmen.co.nz/
It's OK.

The Baltimore Bullet
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080412/
A James Coburn romp.

Kiss Shot
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0097671/
Whoopi Goldberg

The Baron and The Kid
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086937/
Johnny Cash and Mike Massey.

Chalk
http://www.chalkfilm.org/index.shtml
Straight to video.

Behind the Nine
http://www.behindthenine.com/
Excellent trailer.

A Game of Pool
http://www.tv.com/a-game-of-pool/episode/12655/summary.html
Actually a Twilight Zone episode.

9 Ball Girl · Nov 24, 2005

You missed two more:

http://www.kissesandcaroms.com/
Though I don't know how much pool they show. Just look at the cover...

The name of the other movie escapes me but it's about 2 black women who are hustling their way through college, or something like that.

ironman · Nov 24, 2005

Movies

My favorites were The hustler and then color of money. Pool hall Junkies absolutely sucked.
If you have never read the book, The Color Of Money, do yourself a favor. Afterwards you will hate Cruise and his character even more.
If Walter Tevis had lived to see what Hollywood did to his book, I am quite certain he would have been the angriest man on the planet.

Ctatyk · Nov 24, 2005

I saw a movie back in the early 90's that took place almost entirely in an Italian pool room. They played Pin pool...or Pins. It was intriguing to a 21 year old guy who loved pool but was stuck in a tiny town in Southwestern Missouri. I cannot recall the name of the movie, but I wish that I'd bought the movie instead of renting it & letting it go.

moosepool · Nov 24, 2005

I might have to watch some of those other movies mentioned just for a good laugh. Anybody have any idea when the kid delicious movie is coming out? I couldn't find any recent info about it. That one might be half decent.

Happy Thanksgiving.

rackmsuckr · Nov 24, 2005

9 Ball Girl said:
You missed two more:

http://www.kissesandcaroms.com/
Though I don't know how much pool they show. Just look at the cover...

The name of the other movie escapes me but it's about 2 black women who are hustling their way through college, or something like that.

And it stunk!!! It was called Up Against the 8 Ball.

Here is the trailer for Shooting Gallery posted in another thread by JV.

Coming soon...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Looks like Poolhall Prophets will be out the 27th of Dec. It has a name change "Shooting Gallery". It looks a lot darker than any other pool movie (other than chalk). Anyway here is the trailer...

http://videodetective.com/trailer-pr...lishedID=49337

Enjoy,

JV

rackmsuckr · Nov 24, 2005

Big Dave said:
Actually, they're the only ten pool movies I've ever heard of, in order of preference, from my blogg. I guess I'll have to insert "Shooting Gallery" somewhere in there now.

The Hustler
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054997/
The original and best ever!

The Colour of Money
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090863/
The sequel!

Pool Hall Junkies
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0273982/
A more modern film.

Stickmen
http://www.stickmen.co.nz/
It's OK.

The Baltimore Bullet
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080412/
A James Coburn romp.

Kiss Shot
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0097671/
Whoopi Goldberg

The Baron and The Kid
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086937/
Johnny Cash and Mike Massey.

Chalk
http://www.chalkfilm.org/index.shtml
Straight to video.

Behind the Nine
http://www.behindthenine.com/
Excellent trailer.

A Game of Pool
http://www.tv.com/a-game-of-pool/episode/12655/summary.html
Actually a Twilight Zone episode.

It's interesting to note that in The Baron and The Kid, there is a guy listed in the cast as Earl Poole Ball - he plays Dr. Pockett. If that is his real middle name, then hats off to his parents.

Scott Lee · Nov 24, 2005

Big Dave said:
Actually, they're the only ten pool movies I've ever heard of, in order of preference, from my blogg. I guess I'll have to insert "Shooting Gallery" somewhere in there now.

The Hustler
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054997/
The original and best ever!

The Colour of Money
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090863/
The sequel!

Pool Hall Junkies
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0273982/
A more modern film.

Stickmen
http://www.stickmen.co.nz/
It's OK.

The Baltimore Bullet
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080412/
A James Coburn romp.

Kiss Shot
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0097671/
Whoopi Goldberg

The Baron and The Kid
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086937/
Johnny Cash and Mike Massey.

Chalk
http://www.chalkfilm.org/index.shtml
Straight to video.

Behind the Nine
http://www.behindthenine.com/
Excellent trailer.

A Game of Pool
http://www.tv.com/a-game-of-pool/episode/12655/summary.html
Actually a Twilight Zone episode.

Dave...If you're going to include t.v. shows, you missed a couple prominent ones. There was an original Mission Impossible episode, where Jim Phelps was the poolplayer, and Barney "controlled" the CB remotely, from a truck outside (I always wished that were possible...LOL!). Also, more recently, there was an episode of Quantum Leap, where Scott Bakula plays an old negro pool player. It is repeated fairly often. There are likely others...

Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com

Donovan · Nov 24, 2005

one not mentioned so far...

There is an Italian film called The Pool Hustlers (1989) directed by Maurizio Ponzi. It is not that good of a film but does have English subtitles. They play a game that looks like the old Pin Game, I believe. They use 9 pegs instead of the old five pegs which get knocked over for points and they use a billiard table (no pockets or in this instance the pockets are blocked up).

bigsamho · Nov 24, 2005

Big Dave said:
Actually, they're the only ten pool movies I've ever heard of, in order of preference, from my blogg. I guess I'll have to insert "Shooting Gallery" somewhere in there now.

The Hustler
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054997/
The original and best ever!

The Colour of Money
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090863/
The sequel!

Pool Hall Junkies
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0273982/
A more modern film.

Stickmen
http://www.stickmen.co.nz/
It's OK.

The Baltimore Bullet
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080412/
A James Coburn romp.

Kiss Shot
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0097671/
Whoopi Goldberg

The Baron and The Kid
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086937/
Johnny Cash and Mike Massey.

Chalk
http://www.chalkfilm.org/index.shtml
Straight to video.

Behind the Nine
http://www.behindthenine.com/
Excellent trailer.

A Game of Pool
http://www.tv.com/a-game-of-pool/episode/12655/summary.html
Actually a Twilight Zone episode.

Wow I didnt know that there was that many pool movies out. Ive only seen 3 of them The Color of Money, The Hustler, and Pool Room Junkies. The Color of Money being my favorite and The Hustler being second.

Donovan · Nov 24, 2005

sorry forgot this film too...

Hagiga B'Snuker also known as Snooker is supposed to be the funniest Israeli movie ever. I have not seen this yet, but I am supposed to get a copy of it in December.

hemicudas · Nov 24, 2005

Once again

Every time one of these threads gets started, "The Player", staring MN Fats is left out. It was a very bad movie shot at the Greenway in Baton Rouge.

Donovan · Nov 24, 2005

Tell us more...

hemicudas said:
Every time one of these threads gets started, "The Player", staring MN Fats is left out. It was a very bad movie shot at the Greenway in Baton Rouge.

I have never heard of this film and can't find anything on it. Please tell us more about this film. Thanks.

hemicudas · Nov 24, 2005

Donovan said:
I have never heard of this film and can't find anything on it. Please tell us more about this film. Thanks.

There is a good reason you can't find anything on it, Donovan,,,,,,,,It SUCKED, big time. It was made circa 1971. It opened in the deep south only and MN Fats himself accompanied the film on it's maiden voyage, putting on bank pool, his best game, displays. After it's initial run, Fatty no longer accompanied the film and consequently no one attended. I have found it listed before but can't remember what list or where I found it. You might do a Google for Fats and The Player. There was a straight pool, semi, champion in it also but I can't even remember his name. Not, Miz, Mike or the other top 10 players of the day.

The only memorable scene in the film was Fatty in a bar playing a banger for drinks. Fatty never drank any of them, he just lined them up on the table he was sitting.

ironman · Nov 24, 2005

hemicudas said:
Every time one of these threads gets started, "The Player", staring MN Fats is left out. It was a very bad movie shot at the Greenway in Baton Rouge.

It was a bad one. I saw it at a drive-inn back in the early 70s
was with girl who looked like Olive Oil from Popeye and got drunk drinking Boones Farm Wine.
I think Stuart Whitman played the staring role.
Dang $Bill, we are going back a long ways!

LastTwo · Nov 25, 2005

Poolhall Junkies was pathetic. The worst part was when Rick Shroeder broke the balls, and you hear the sound of a really weak break, and then the scene cuts to the houseman looking up as if he broke the balls really hard. The least they could have done was gotten someone who can actually play to break the balls, so the audience can know what that loud *crack* sounds like when someone breaks the balls really hard. Rick Shroeder's break sounded less than 10mph.

freddy the beard · Nov 25, 2005

"Chalk"

There may never be another movie as insulting and outrageous as "Chalk."
The scene for the final "big game" was preceded by the way a top player supposedly warms up for his big matches. This is the way Hollywood wants to represent pool hustlers: The "Pro" hands the butt of his cue to his girl-friend, bends over, and tells her to shove it up his butt! Yes, this was the actual scene in this f*****g movie. The girl-friend demurs slightly, and begs him to not make her do that again! The only redeeming scene in the movie comes from a real pro player, Chris MacDonald from CA, who waxes philosophically about being a pool player. He is really good. The rest of the movie is infuriating. One more interesting note: Roger Ebert, the famous movie critic, gave this piece of CaCa 3 stars! I guess he thought that the cue-up-the-butt as a pre-match warm-up, was a realistic portrayal of our craft.
Pray for me to get my movie, "Roxanne's Game" made. It will give everthing but "The Hustler" the six and the break.

the Beard

Bank on, brothers! Old school pool.

Jaden · Nov 25, 2005

Chris is a pro?

freddy the beard said:
There may never be another movie as insulting and outrageous as "Chalk."
The scene for the final "big game" was preceded by the way a top player supposedly warms up for his big matches. This is the way Hollywood wants to represent pool hustlers: The "Pro" hands the butt of his cue to his girl-friend, bends over, and tells her to shove it up his butt! Yes, this was the actual scene in this f*****g movie. The girl-friend demurs slightly, and begs him to not make her do that again! The only redeeming scene in the movie comes from a real pro player, Chris MacDonald from CA, who waxes philosophically about being a pool player. He is really good. The rest of the movie is infuriating. One more interesting note: Roger Ebert, the famous movie critic, gave this piece of CaCa 3 stars! I guess he thought that the cue-up-the-butt as a pre-match warm-up, was a realistic portrayal of our craft.
Pray for me to get my movie, "Roxanne's Game" made. It will give everthing but "The Hustler" the six and the break.

the Beard

Bank on, brothers! Old school pool.

Chris Macdonald is a pro? I've been playing with him in nineball and straightpool for like the last year before I came to guantanamo and I never knew?

Donovan · Nov 25, 2005

Best and Worst Pool Movies...

<-- Get off the table!!!

Pool Hack!!!

aka Wendy

AzB Silver Member

AzB Silver Member

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Linda Carter - The QUEEN!

Linda Carter - The QUEEN!

AzB Silver Member

Play it safe or go home.

AzB Silver Member

Play it safe or go home.

AzB Silver Member

Play it safe or go home.

AzB Silver Member

AzB Silver Member

AzB Silver Member

Freddy Bentivegna

"no buds chill"

Play it safe or go home.