SOCIAL ENGINEERING VS. OUR UGLY HISTORY
Forgive the attention-grabbing headline and question. But, think about it.
Today’s thought melds the aspirations of modern entertainment vs. real history and the ugly cultural norms of earlier times.
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THEN AND NOW:
MOVIE: “THE GAMBLER” (1974)
CAESARS PALACE LAS VEGAS
On the 50th anniversary of the release of The Gambler, I walked through the iconic circular casino pit at Caesars Palace late last night, where the ecstatic crescendo of Axel Freed’s gambling “high” takes place. One of the most intense movies about gambling ever filmed, the 1974 lesser-known cult classic isn’t shown often. Not to be confused with embarrassingly dreadful 2014 remake starring Mark Wahlberg (read my review HERE), the earlier version starring James Caan in the title role contains a riveting portrayal of addiction and self-destruction, boosted by an outstanding supporting cast — including Lauren Hutton, Paul Sorvino, Burt Young, M. Emmet Walsh, and James Woods (in his first film role).
A QUESTION ABOUT OLD JURIES AND THE MOVIE “12 ANGRY MEN”
Each time the classic legal drama 12 Angry Men comes on television, I try to tune in and (re)watch it. The “action” takes place almost entirely inside a single small room, with jurors shoe-horned around a table deciding the fate of a Puerto Rican teenager on trial for the murder of his father. Though it fared poorly in movie theaters when first released in 1957, 12 Angry Men has since become a short course and a de facto legal education for multiple generations and is widely acknowledged as one of the best courtroom dramas ever made. To this day, it has timeless lessons for us all about evidence and preliminary judgement.
However, I still have a question about this film that (so far) has never been answered.
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Marieta Dalla
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