MIT Vegas team movie - 21:Bringing down the house

[TB4000]

Director Shawn Levy Turns 21
Source: Variety September 2, 2005


Sony has offered Shawn Levy (Cheaper by the Dozen, upcoming The Pink Panther) a pay or play deal to direct 21, a film the studio acquired from MGM, reports Variety. Kevin Spacey's Trigger Street Productions is producing. Brett Ratner was originally set to direct but is now helming X-Men 3 at Fox.

Formerly called "Breaking Vegas," the film is based on Ben Mezrich's nonfiction bestseller "Bringing Down the House," about six MIT students who were trained to become experts in card counting and subsequently took :as Vegas casinos for millions in winnings.

Peter Steinfeld (Be Cool) wrote the adaptation. Spacey has been eyeing the role of the MIT students' professor.

[kimpossible]

From Angry Asian Man:

So check this out... You may have heard of Bringing Down the House, the book by Ben Mezrich that tells the true story of a group of MIT students that took Vegas for millions using blackjack and simple math. You may have also heard that the book was being made into a feature film starring Kevin Spacey as the MIT professor who taught the group. Now, here's what sucks. In real life, most of the actual blackjack team was composed of Asian males. But that's real life. In Hollywood-sucks-land, a studio executive involved in the casting process has apparently said that most of the film's actors would be white, with perhaps an Asian female

If I remember reading an article about the team correctly, it was actually vital that there a good number of Asian guys on the team because they were the ones believable as high rollers.

Terry> Changed the thread title from 21 just so ppl can get the subject a bit more from a quick look.

[mr. x]

saw the angryasian post too, and i hate to sound like the mr.x broken record and all

"with perhaps an Asian female"

executive: "her technical expertise is administering handjobs" (giggity giggity goo!)

[deez nuts]

if i remember correctly, i think there were 3 asian male members on the team and one asian female member. i think out of the three asian male members; one of them was hapa.

i don't think there are three asian male actors with enough box office draw to make the movie profitable.

if i was the studio exec in charge of the flick, i would hire big name white actors and probably lucy liu (i think she would actually be awesome in the role). i like mark wahlberg or colin farrell.

i think most of the members on the team with the exception of a couple in the book were the stereotypical MIT students i.e. math geeks. if the movie were to stay faithful to the book and its characters, there probably will be complaints about asian stereotypes in movies.

the book was awesome and i loved it. it inspired me to try and learn how to count cards in blackjack. i'm definitely watching the movie when it comes out.

[Arex]

Originally Posted by deez nuts

if i remember correctly, i think there were 3 asian male members on the team and one asian female member. i think out of the three asian male members; one of them was hapa.

i don't think there are three asian male actors with enough box office draw to make the movie profitable.

if i was the studio exec in charge of the flick, i would hire big name white actors and probably lucy liu (i think she would actually be awesome in the role). i like mark wahlberg or colin farrell.

While it's true there probably aren't any three asian male actors with sufficient box office draw to make a blockbuster, they could still draw audiences with just one or two big name caucasian leads and fill the other roles with Asians. In other words, there's no need to completely shaft us.

i think most of the members on the team with the exception of a couple in the book were the stereotypical MIT students i.e. math geeks. if the movie were to stay faithful to the book and its characters, there probably will be complaints about asian stereotypes in movies.

I can only speak for myself, but if a movie is based on a true story, then I think I would be able to stomach accurate depictions of the characters.

The problem is, if they had cast some Asian males in the film, the Asians would be the awkward math geeks whereas the white characters would be handsome and cool. And, of course, the Asian girl would one of the white guys' love interest. That wouldn't be cool.

the book was awesome and i loved it. it inspired me to try and learn how to count cards in blackjack. i'm definitely watching the movie when it comes out.

While I would otherwise be all over this film I think I'm going to have to pass.

This is like a modern day version of how the Chinese were kept out of photographs showing the completion of the transcontinental railroad. Fuck that. (Okay, so not quite that bad, but still...)

[Banana]

I'll pass and choose not to support this for the above stated reasons alone.

[Banana]

Being ignored is what drives the majority of Asian American complaints towards Hollywood, I think.

[grimfan]

I got this from angryasianman.com. There's this NYT bestseller called "Bringing Down the House", which is about a group of MIT students who beat Vegas blackjack through math. It's going to be a big Hollywood movie starring Kevin Spacey.

Now, you'd think that since America has intentionally holed up Asian guys as MIT math nerds, they'd at least give us the spotlight when there's a movie about MIT math nerds. But apparently, Asian guys are only MIT math nerds when there aren't major motion pictures about MIT math nerds. Where there's a motion picture involved, white guys are MIT math nerds. Oh, but just in case we Asians feel left out, there's so good to throw in an Asian girl in the mix, all in the name of enlightenment and pro-diversity.

I absolutely despise it when the lone token Asian presence is an Asian girl. I'd prefer it if we weren't represented at all. At least that way, we can pretend that they simply do not know we exist. But by throwing in the token Asian girl, we are aware of the fact that we ARE recognized, but ignored afterwards. It's not that people simply don't realize there are Asian men out there, they do know. They just dislike us so much that they go out of their way to exclude us from everything.

[LaiSteve66]

Does anyone know the ethnicities of the MIT 6? I researched and couldn't find anything.

[Paradox]

Originally Posted by grimfan

At least that way, we can pretend that they simply do not know we exist. But by throwing in the token Asian girl, we are aware of the fact that we ARE recognized, but ignored afterwards. It's not that people simply don't realize there are Asian men out there, they do know. They just dislike us so much that they go out of their way to exclude us from everything.

That's the way things are in the U.S. I'd say in a way we are still living in a colonial society. You have your "negros" your "undesirables" and a racial hierarchy where everyone fits into a nicely placed slot. If you disrupt that racial caste then that means other things can also be disrupted like social status, economic influence, and political power. They'll never let it happen.

This is why I don't trust this country very much. I see how minorities are treated and I realize that a lot of the bad foreign policy and wars the U.S. is involved in is bred from the same ignorance.

[Atealtha]

I saw a documentary about those people. I don't think any of them were Asian.

[boondock]

hey deez nuts, you totally sound like your defending white guys
and oh, by the way...you somehow like mark wahlberg, here's some info about him
"At approximately 9:00 p.m. on April 8, 1988 Thanh Lam, a Vietnamese adult male who resides in Dorchester, traveled by car to 998 Dorchester Avenue, Dorchester, Massachusetts. At 998 Dorchester Avenue, Thanh Lam left his car carrying two cases of beer. As he crossed the sidewalk, Mark Wahlberg attacked Thanh Lam. Wahlberg was carrying a large wooden stick, approximately five feet long and two to three inches in diameter. Wahlberg approached Thanh Lam calling him a "Vietnam fucking shit," then hit him over the head with the stick. Thanh Lam was knocked to the ground unconscious. Th[e] stick broke in two and was later recovered from the scene. Thanh Lam was treated overnight at Boston City Hospital."
http://modelminority.com/article225.html

[Nightwish]

Levy....Steinfeld.


Hmm...

[Chad]

Originally Posted by boondock

"At approximately 9:00 p.m. on April 8, 1988 Thanh Lam, a Vietnamese adult male who resides in Dorchester, traveled by car to 998 Dorchester Avenue, Dorchester, Massachusetts. At 998 Dorchester Avenue, Thanh Lam left his car carrying two cases of beer. As he crossed the sidewalk, Mark Wahlberg attacked Thanh Lam. Wahlberg was carrying a large wooden stick, approximately five feet long and two to three inches in diameter. Wahlberg approached Thanh Lam calling him a "Vietnam fucking shit," then hit him over the head with the stick. Thanh Lam was knocked to the ground unconscious. Th[e] stick broke in two and was later recovered from the scene. Thanh Lam was treated overnight at Boston City Hospital."
http://modelminority.com/article225.html

fucked up...
i have fantasies about beating up famous assholes. wahlberg just made my list. i once saw Dana Carvey at a gun show in Dallas but i didn't want to beat him up. i just told him that SNL wasn't funny and Wayne's World sucks.

[Paradox]

Originally Posted by Chad

fucked up...
i have fantasies about beating up famous assholes. wahlberg just made my list.

It wouldn't be difficult to kick wahlberg's ass. He's a 5'6" midget with oompa loompa muscles.