Preservation Hall Jazz Band Movies

Join filmmaker Douglas Tirola as he explores the poker renaissance by taking us from America's living rooms to Las Vegas' lavish casinos, where novice gamers mix with seasoned card sharks. Back in the early '80s, card tables were commonplace in suburban living rooms. By the end of the decade, poker had fallen out of favor, and no one was playing. Today poker isn't merely a game, but a lifestyle. In this documentary, interviews with casual players, committed gamers, and celebrity card slingers like Matt Damon and Jennifer Tilly reveal why the game of poker is back in fashion, and bigger than ever. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Paul Newman served as co-producer of this allegorical drama and stars as Rheinhardt, a opportunistic drifter who ends up in New Orleans and hits up his old friend Farley (Laurence Harvey), a con man-turned-phony preacher, for a job. Farley is able to get Rheinhardt hired on as an announcer at a local radio station, WUSA, but the station is a right-wing propaganda mill that devotes its air time to venomous tirades against political and social progress. Rheinhardt is happy to be making decent money, and he makes the friendly acquaintance of a local working girl, Geraldine (Joanne Woodward), so he refuses to look his gift horse in the mouth. However, when he finds out that WUSA is actually involved in shadowy political actions, he is at a loss for what to do, especially after a naïve and troubled social worker (Anthony Perkins) is tricked into starting a race riot. Robert Stone wrote the screenplay, adapted from his novel A Hall of Mirrors. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi