ugotactionTX...Freddy the Beard told the story. Bugs froze up, and couldn't say a word.
Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com
Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com
The Color of Money -- 22 years later.
- Thread starter 9BallPaul
- Start date
Hu:
You mean Forest Whitaker, the electric shock treatment "subject" that hustled Paul Newman? ("Be honest with me, do you think I should lose some weight?") I would have to agree with you. And after watching a series of movies he acted in, capped off by "The Last King of Scotland," I'll have to say his Academy Award was long overdue.
I snarl when I see a movie has Cruise in it. Can't stand 'im. About the only movie I thought he did a decent job in (where his horse's arse attitude wasn't allowed to get in the way), was Legend. That's it.
And George C. Scott -- what a job he did in the Hustler! Gravely voice (Johnny Ervolino-ish, but with a chainsaw timbre), combined with the superb acting, definitely put him on the map of my all-time favorites.
But as to TCOM as the sequel to The Hustler, as the Miz would say, "we didn't deserve that."
-Sean
I loved forest Whitaker when he did that season on the sheild outstanding acter...
hey 9ball...
i have to agree... in 1961 it was a Really Great Movie weather you played pool or not. just a great movie with spectacular performances from [imho] scott, keith, gleason, newman and laurie [again imho - in that order] laurie last [as THE sympathic character] - but to me the really THE sympathic character was scott. and to dave sutton, you were "supposed" to hate him.
SK, you mention scorsese as being Great; i beg to say: sometimes an artist is great and sometimes he fails. i think scorsese did more to hurt pool in tcom than he helped it. it was NO "taxi driver" for sure. just mho. but note: i saw both in 'real time' when they were released.
i could go on & on, but most of you [most a lot younger] will not see eye to eye with me and be that as it may.
but to me, scorsese and tcom was just a "SLICK" effort to [re-]make a film comparable to the hustler. it failed miserably [imho].
i don't want to be antagonistic or start arguments [we can all believe what we choose]. but i will say i would love to see another Great movie like the hustler!
sorry for my rant.
all the best,
smokey
i have to agree... in 1961 it was a Really Great Movie weather you played pool or not. just a great movie with spectacular performances from [imho] scott, keith, gleason, newman and laurie [again imho - in that order] laurie last [as THE sympathic character] - but to me the really THE sympathic character was scott. and to dave sutton, you were "supposed" to hate him.
SK, you mention scorsese as being Great; i beg to say: sometimes an artist is great and sometimes he fails. i think scorsese did more to hurt pool in tcom than he helped it. it was NO "taxi driver" for sure. just mho. but note: i saw both in 'real time' when they were released.
i could go on & on, but most of you [most a lot younger] will not see eye to eye with me and be that as it may.
but to me, scorsese and tcom was just a "SLICK" effort to [re-]make a film comparable to the hustler. it failed miserably [imho].
i don't want to be antagonistic or start arguments [we can all believe what we choose]. but i will say i would love to see another Great movie like the hustler!
sorry for my rant.
all the best,
smokey
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To anyone who hasn't yet, just wanted to say, read the books. The Hustler movie makes a decent attempt at conveying what Tevis was trying to get across in his book. It gets the atmosphere just right. TCOM is a complete joke. Scorsese and Cruise at their worst. And for anyone who enjoys Tevis as a writer, read Mockingbird, it's great sci-fi. The Man Who Fell to Earth is okay too, just somewhat dated, which is understandable. Tevis is underrated as a writer, in my opinion, mainly because of his low output. The guy did like a drink...
dave sutton
Banned
pool was never more popular after TCOM was released. put pool back on the map. there was a huge rise. everyone wanted to be vincent
i dont think it hurt pool a bit. as a matter of fact it helped pool. yes it may have portrayed a bad side of pool or whatever. it got ppl back in the pool room tho
i dont think it hurt pool a bit. as a matter of fact it helped pool. yes it may have portrayed a bad side of pool or whatever. it got ppl back in the pool room tho
There were actually quite a few pool players in the movie who had cameo roles and non-speaking parts, and Louie Roberts shows up in two scenes that I have counted.
Let me see if I can remember all the pool players' names on that particular movie:
Mike Sigel
Grady Mathews
Howard Vickery
Steve Mizerak
Keith McCready :grin-square:
Mark Jarvis
Jimmy Mataya
Waterdog
Louis Roberts
Who else? I know I am missing a few names.
In the book there was a substantial part for Jackie Gleason (Minessota Fats), who was alive at the time. I can't understand why they would have written him completely out of the story unless his health at the time may have kept him from participating in the making of the movie.
In my opinion, they missed the boat completely by not including one of the all time greats in the project. Probably the only actor in history who could accurately portray a real pool player.
I can only imagine how many awards the Hustler would have claimed had it not been up against West Side Story. The Hustler was a great movie.
TCOM was a great POOL movie, but not in any way a great movie. I can enjoy TCOM for it's entertainment value, and appreciate it for what it did for the game of pool. Vince was the guy we all love to hate...there's one in every pool room.
Steve
I did not know that. Wow, that explains a lot!
pooltchr said:
The TCOM was a little Hollywood-esque. That said, I had the EXACT same experience as Fast Eddie did when he came upon a pool room, walked up the stairs, and found that it was not a pool room anymore. I was in Greensboro, NC, looking for Bakers, I think was the name, me and a road player named Geese.
Geese drove up to the joint, and when we opened the door, it was a sewing shop. We asked the locals where the pool room was, and it had moved down the street a mile or two in a new location. The thing I remember the most about the joint was they boasted having the best hot dogs in the State of North Carolina.
That was my first experience seeing grown men crawling up on all fours atop the pool table in order to reach a shot. I witnessed Seattle Sam, a large portly man who weighed well over 300 pounds, do this for the very first time. He was on all fours with one leg sticking straight up in the air. I couldn't contain my laughter when it happend and begain to giggle incessantly. I thought Sam was trying to clown around, until I got stern looks from all those in attendance.
Never been a Cruise fan myself, and would definitely agree that the Hustler was a much better movie than TCOM. Considering how big of a star Cruise has become, I guess it's hard to fault their choosing him to play Vincent. For my money, though, I'd have much rather seen Turturro play Vincent. He may not have had that "smooth-faced kid" quality Cruise had back then (and he was certainly a good fit for the part they chose for him, Julian or whatever), but he's ten times the actor IMO. It's the same feeling I get with most Cruise movies I've seen, the people in the smaller, supporting roles often put up a far more believable performance than he does.
Aaron
Aaron
I read the book first and then saw the movie. After reading the book, I was in shock and horribly disappointed in the movie. But that is Hollywood.
I always felt the book was really good and thought that it would have made a god movie.
The Color of Money brought great public awareness to the game. Two of the biggest named actors of all time. It had some good features. It also had some bad ones. The Hustler, got into the inner feelings of the players and their personal flaws. Fast Eddie and Fats were flamboyant and flashy, yet they weren't punks or wise guys. They showed each other mutual respect for their God given talents. The Color of Money, lacked these qualities.
"How much do I owe you Bert?"
"How much do I owe you Bert?"
That is an interesting observation. Fats and Eddie lived in a very corrupt world, it was the only world available to them to ply their trade. They themselves seemed to rise above it though. By no means a pair of innocents, they also preserved a dignity and respect for themselves and the sport. The story was character driven, you cared about them and wanted to know what was going to happen. The COM was the opposite, it was story driven. You could care less about who they were or what happened to them.
The Cruse character lacked anything that came through that told us he was any deeper then what we saw on the screen.
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pool was never more popular after TCOM was released. put pool back on the map. there was a huge rise. everyone wanted to be vincent
i dont think it hurt pool a bit. as a matter of fact it helped pool. yes it may have portrayed a bad side of pool or whatever. it got ppl back in the pool room tho
Yep - it caused a huge pool boom in the early 90's
I respectfully disagree with many of you....
In it's own right, TCOM was a decent movie, and as far as pool movies go, it was a GREAT movie....the Hustler was a great movie period.....the acting was incredible, but it did have a few slow moments of it's own.....Paul Newman was excellent in both movies, he shines in almost every movie he's been a part of, a man of true talent....unfortunately, TCOM didn't have the likes of Scott and Gleason in supporting roles to put it over the top....
In it's own right, TCOM was a decent movie, and as far as pool movies go, it was a GREAT movie....the Hustler was a great movie period.....the acting was incredible, but it did have a few slow moments of it's own.....Paul Newman was excellent in both movies, he shines in almost every movie he's been a part of, a man of true talent....unfortunately, TCOM didn't have the likes of Scott and Gleason in supporting roles to put it over the top....
Agreed !
Would have been the nuts if they could have had A Pacino or a De niro play a shady backer of Grady Seasons character "keith" and the plot was to set him up for the all time score & use the big tourney more as a lemon to dump it off to lock in the shady stakehorse.
Would have been the nuts if they could have had A Pacino or a De niro play a shady backer of Grady Seasons character "keith" and the plot was to set him up for the all time score & use the big tourney more as a lemon to dump it off to lock in the shady stakehorse.
There were actually quite a few pool players in the movie who had cameo roles and non-speaking parts, and Louie Roberts shows up in two scenes that I have counted.
Let me see if I can remember all the pool players' names on that particular movie:
Mike Sigel
Grady Mathews
Howard Vickery
Steve Mizerak
Keith McCready :grin-square:
Mark Jarvis
Jimmy Mataya
Waterdog
Louis Roberts
Who else? I know I am missing a few names.
What scene was Waterdog in? I know about all the others but can't recall him in the film. Maybe he just looked different back then, I never knew who Waterdog was until at least 10 years after TCOM so he probably changed.
I saw him after the movie came out at a pool room in Maryland, "Let's Play Games," and he was a stand-in. He said they paid the "extras" 50 bucks a day, and there were other players in the background too.
To this day, I cannot find Waterdog in the movie. I am only going by what he told me, but I do believe him. It was all he talked about for a long time! May he rest in peace!
