It Wasn't So Grand

If a movie has a gimmick, and all you've heard about is the gimmick, it's probably not going to be a great movie.

Explanation: I saw The Grand last night, which was was a poker movie about a ten million dollar poker tournament where the winner takes all and second place wins nothing. The gimmick of the movie was that, from the final table on, the tournament was decided by real poker playing and not by the script.

Yes, that's right. The exciting conclusion of the movie was based on the poker expertise of actors. Movies need scripts, people. That's the difference between movies and reality television.

I first heard of this movie on ESPN's Poker Edge podcast, where Phil Gordon gave it the following praise:

Well, the early reviews have come in from the poker players that have seen the movie, and uh, I think most of them have agreed that the poker playing was actually uhhh... adequate... and... and good.

You can download the whole podcast (all about the movie) here. The movie trailer is here.

Special Blog Bonus: Moving on to something cooler... Apparently this has been done before, but this is my first exposure to it. Behold, a LEGO Mindstorms Rubik's Cube solver: