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| OHCC LIVING | AUGUST 2020 | 35 Just in case: Check with your club contact to confirm meeting place, date, and time. Since we can't play pool, let's train our brains by watching pool! Here are some of the best pool movies of all time, starting with the unquestioned #1, The Hustler. Paul Newman learned to play a good game of pool for this movie, and made many but certainly not all of his shots in the film. Jackie Gleason however was already a superlative player, and did make all his own shots! Watch it again and be amazed. Pop some corn and enjoy. The Hustler (IMDb 8.0): The Hustler (1961), starring Paul Newman and Jackie Gleason, is considered by many film buffs and critics to be the best pool movie of all time. "Newman created a classic antihero, charismatic but fundamentally flawed, and nobody's role model," says Rotten Tomatoes, describing Fast Eddie Felson. "As good as anyone who ever picked up a cue, Eddie has an Achilles' heel: arrogance. It's not enough for him to win: he must force his opponent to acknowledge his superiority." It's unlikely any pool movie will top The Hustler, which to this day still conjures up the iconic image of Paul Newman — aka Fast Eddie Felson — crouching for a shot as he leans over the pool table. The Color of Money (IMDb 7.0): The Color of Money (1986) with Paul Newman and Tom Cruise features nine-ball pool. In the film, "Fast Eddie Felson (Newman) teaches a cocky but immensely talented protégé (Cruise) the ropes of pool hustling, which in turn inspires him to make an unlikely comeback," according to IMDb. Iconic filmmaker Martin Scorsese directed the movie. Newman won an Academy Award for his performance, reprising the role he made famous a quarter century before in The Hustler. Poolhall Junkies 2002 (IMDb 6.9): Johnny (Mars Callahan) could be one of the best pool players in the world, but he lives under Joe (Chazz Palminteri), a dark hustler who trains him and decides how and with whom he should play. The film clearly shows how imposition and obligation is not always the road to success. It is a very realistic film full of spectacular shots, which suggests that the actor and director Mars Callahan loves the sport. Stickmen (IMDb 6.7): Jack, Thomas, and Wayne, make up The Stickmen, Simone Kessell is the token pool hall girl in this sexist romp through billiards movies. They like nothing more than having a beer in one hand, pool cue in the other, money on the table and their friends surrounding them at Dave's bar. Unfortunately, the bar is going bankrupt and Dave is desperate to get out of debt. Dave convinces the Stickmen to play in an underground, high stakes pool tournament. A tournament that boasts a bizarre collection of bikers, waitresses, bankers, and priests who all stand in the way of winning the big money. Behind it all is a sinister crime lord pulling all the strings. Everything's riding on the Stickmen... can they play smart enough to win the tournament and save Dave's bar? On any given night a pool table will see casualties, victors, victims, and legends. The Baron and the Kid (IMDb 5.6): The Baron and the Kid, a 1984 TV movie, starred — of all people — Johnny Cash. Of course, Cash plays the Baron, "a legendary pool shark," notes Rotten Tomatoes, adding: "The 'Cajun Kid,' played by Greg Webb, is the Baron's long- lost son. Once they're reunited, the Baron and the Kid embark upon numerous adventures, each exploits bringing them closer." The movie is actually based on Cash's hit song The Baron. Billiards Founders Duplicate Bridge Friday Duplicate Bridge Hopefully everyone is healthy and keeping busy during this pandemic. Who knows when we will be allowed to play face to face bridge again? Meanwhile playing bridge online is available. Several members of our club are playing with friends on BBO (BridgeBase. com), others play in tournaments, and some are playing solitaire with robots as partners and opponents. John Gates of the Friday DBC and Heidi Kuhn of the Founders DBC have explored various options to play as a group, combining the two clubs as Ocean Hills DBC. RSVPBridge.com. looked interesting. Together with their regular partners, Holly Gates and Irma Maston, they participated in a trial tournament. All agreed that it was way too complicated to give it serious consideration. Another option was to check if a private club on BBO could be set up. Unfortunately that format is no longer available to new applicants. Instead, formation of a "Virtual Club" was recommended by BBO. Upon examination of its fee structure it was deemed undesirable. The search for a solution to play tournament style online as a group has not been successful. We offer a Duplicate Bridge game that combines the superior scoring of Duplicate Bridge but also has the friendlier and non- aggressive attitude of home style Rubber Bridge. With Duplicate Bridge, your true opponents are the pairs that hold the same cards as you would rather than your opponents at the table. We are not an ACBL game and for that, we not only offer an extremely reasonable game price of just $2, but also give cash awards to the winners. If you are interested, please call John Gates at (760) 295-5885, the president of this bridge club, to see if this type of game might meet your expectations. We are relatively small and have anywhere from five to eight tables. The games are at 1 pm on the second, fourth, and fifth Fridays of the month in Mykonos. You do not have to join this club to play your first game, however if you decide to join, the annual dues are $6.

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