[lapoker17]

2 more i just saw:



control room - about tv network al jazeera. follows the network's operations around 2003 when the us and allies began to wage war on iraq. the subject matter is super-facsinating to me - "upstart", often unpopular network covers a war on its home turf - but the final product falls way short. the characters are boring, and for a war, there is very little action. there is a fetching female producer who is enjoyable to watch, and a likable army pr officer, but other than that it's just a bunch of middle eastern men bitching about how awful the us is, which is pretty tired and played out at this point.

word wars - folllows 4 scrabble experts as they prepare for the national championships. this is an amazing film. the characters are as real as any i've ever seen - real in that they are generally unsuccessful in all areas of life, and they don't make any effort to appear otherwise. one of my favorite parts of the film is this quote from GI Joel (one of the subjects - GI stands for gastro intestinal because he has horrible acid reflux and is constantly chugging maalox):

"i never applied myself ever into anything i ever did in my life besides scrabble. i never succeeded in any other endeavor. i have done very little to contribute to society most of my life. i was a college dropout. i felt i had learned everything i needed to get by in this life in kindergarten - when i knew how to read.

i don't have a real life as compared to most people i know and even most scrabble players i know. how a typical day goes for me: i sleep while the sun is shining, then uh, get up, and uh eventually play a few games of scrabble, and that's the day.....

there's very little else i'm actually qualified to do at this point, and playing scrabble is the only thing my body will allow me to sit still and do."

tons of parallels exist between the scrabble world and the poker world. everyone should see this.