List Price: $49.99 Our Price: $44.99YOU SAVE $5!
Buy it
DVD Tilt - Season One
The flashing lights and dark rooms of Las Vegas provide the backdrop for Tilt, a nine-episode ESPN series. A Mod Squad-esque trio of gamblers--Eddie (Eddie Cibrian, Baywatch Nights), Miami (Kristin Lehman, Dog Park), and Clark (Todd Williams, Lift)--maneuver through the world of high-stakes poker seeking to ruin a crooked champion player, Don "The Matador" Everest (Michael Madsen, Kill Bill, Vol. 2). The series teases out each player's backstory as they bet and bluff, trying to get enough leverage to hurt the Matador. Meanwhile, a revenge-driven Iowa sheriff (Chris Bauer, Broken Flowers) wants to put the Matador behind bars and he's not above getting dirty to do it. Strippers and brutal behind-the-scenes beatings give Tilt a good dose of sex and violence to accompany the wily machinations and philosophical musings about the game.
Tilt works hard to be tough and cool--maybe a little too hard; sometimes the swirling camera moves, slow motion shots, and swaggering dialogue struggle to disguise weak plotting and thin characters. Nonetheless, Madsen's squinty charisma, distinctive rasp, and lazy style fit the setting perfectly and supporting appearances by Michael Murphy (Tanner on Tanner) and Robert Forster (Jackie Brown) give the show a boost. Poker fans will enjoy cameos by real poker champs and some of the extras, including an excerpt from the 1998 World Series of Poker. --Bret Fetzer
When I saw this show in my local store I jumped right in and bought it. I expected an intelligent and entertaining show. I loved the movie Rounders and I thought this show might live up to it's potential, sadly that it not the case. This really could have been a great show, but it's just chewing gum for the brain. If you liked Rounders and like poker don't buy this as you'll be disapointed.
Madsen (and no one else) is brilliant . . .
In the first season of "Tilt", Michael Madsen proves himself to be the most underrated character actor around today. He literally carries this series on his back, surmounting really bad writing, questionable direction and god-awful supporting acting, and single-handedly raises its status from 'utterly useless' to 'worth-watching'.
I reluctantly picked this DVD set up on the advice of my fiance' who had seen one episode and told me I'd love it. I love her to death, but she has notoriously bad taste in movies/television. I told her with a smile as I bought it that she'd owe me one if it wasn't up to par.
The weak points of the show (and there are many) are evident from the first episode and don't really improve. Fortunately, however, so are the few strong points.
The weak?
- Aside from Madsen, and an all too short lived appearance by veteran Robert Forster, the acting is as bad as you'll ever see. The cast is mainly made up of unknowns and rookies, a result undoubtedly of a shallow ESPN budget that was probably spent almost in full, justifiably, to obtain Madsen for his role.
- The writing is almost as bad as the acting, consisting of lame backstories to establish the motivations of the characters, uninteresting and cliche' sub-plots to fill the space between Madsen's appearances on the screen and enough poker lingo to make even Doyle Brunson's head spin. (To the writers' credit, the lingo is well-placed enough, but delivered by the actors like a foreign language they don't speak.)
- The direction tries to be a little too slick, maybe to make up for the weakness of the script and the acting, or evidencing rookie status of the director(s), trying to be Scorcese and Tarantino at the same time.
- The protagonist, the purported hero of this story, is, in my humble opinion, the worst of it. "Eddie" is as hard to believe as Keanu Reeves playing Hamlet. He sports permanent 3 or 4 day scruff throughout each of the nine episodes, apparently never shaving but never quite gaining full growth, and despite his street-tough, 'nothing but the shirt on my back' image, has somehow collected an endless supply of clever t-shirts (he never wears the same one twice). My favorite 'Eddie' scene is the one where the Matador (Madsen) beats him senseless. :) Cold-hearted, I know. In my crystal ball, I see that Eddie Cibrian will take his place next to Keanu as one of the highest paid and least talented actors in the business.
The strong?
- Madsen. That's it. But it's enough. Madsen's powerful screen presence makes it impossible to take your eyes off the screen when he's on it. In 'Tilt', he's as cool but amusing as Mr. Blonde and as ruthless but sympathetic as Sonny Black. More than any other actor in the series, he seems to bring his own sensibility to the character, defining Don Everest via his performance, adding richness to what was probably originally written as a sheer cliche'. Also, somehow the dialogue in Madsen's scenes is not bad, actually good, and more importantly, believable. Which makes me think he either did a lot of add-libbing or was the only actor on the set with the sense and the clout to work script approval into his contract.
In short, 'Tilt' is worth watching if only for Madsen's performance. He's once again, the bad guy you love to root for.
Guilty Pleasure!
So I picked up this DVD set at Walmart because I love Eddie Cibrian, enjoy solid drama and thought series looked interesting from the packaging. Not having seen Rounders- the constant referral to it by the producers in the behind the scenes shots meant little. I watched this through in 3 sittings and was thoroughly entertained. Madsen as The Matador is chilling- his gravelly voice is full of such menace you wonder why everyone around him isn't in constant fear.....the three young poker players do an admirable job of pulling themselves together and through difficulties to bring down their nemesis. Lots of subplots all culminate in some tricky crime drama worthy of Tony Soprano.
Series is written by veteran mystery/crime writer Lawrence Block. His direct verbal style translates well to the Vegas poker scene. What I really liked here was the showing of the gambling world as a not too pretty place- lots of glitz on the surface but murky depths that few care to dwell in. Don McManus as Lowball is such slime- a bottom dweller unable to give up power and the game as head of the Colorado casino where the action in Tilt takes place.
Stylish, fun- full of pretty boys and girls but not too much t&a- this is a guilty pleasure I look forward to seeing more of!
There is a lot of poker on tv these days but the WPT series continues to be my favourite. It is one of the few series where you consistently see the best players play their game. The DVD set has close to a dozen episodes and is well worth the money.
I have watched this several times. Got worldpokerrewards.com and we will buy this dvd set from amazon for you! A great addition to your dvd library. More Info about this DVD DVD Release Date: Released the 29 March 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
List Price: $44.98 Your Price: $35.98YOU SAVE $9!
Buy it
the movie was ok i think it didnt really get into his life story as much as i thought it would if you didnt know the story the movie really didnt bring it out to you More Info about this DVD Director(s): A.W. Vidmer DVD Release Date: Released the 15 March 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
List Price: $14.96 Your Price: $13.46YOU SAVE $1.5!
Buy it
Slick, stylish, and fast-paced, Las Vegas is a high-tech hybrid of 1970s' Vega$ and 1980s' Hotel. Created by Gary Scott Thompson (The Fast and the Furious), season 1 includes all 23 episodes of the NBC dramedy's. Set in the fictional Montecito Resort and Casino, the show revolves around surveillance expert and ex-Marine Danny McCoy (Josh Duhamel, Win a Date with Tad Hamilton). McCoy reports to the president of operations and ex-CIA operative "Big" Ed Deline (the inimitable James Caan). If Duhamel is the show's charisma, Caan is the gravitas. The attractive cast is rounded out by Vanessa Marcil as casino host Sam Marquez, Nikki Cox as event coordinator Mary Connell, James Lesure as valet Mike Cannon, Marsha Thomason as pit boss Nessa Holt, Cheryl... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): James Caan DVD Release Date: Released the 04 January 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
List Price: $59.98 Your Price: $47.98YOU SAVE $12!
Buy it
I know some guys have asked me before why I waste my time watching poker on television. I've explained to them that observing the action, and getting to see the cards that are played and raised, actually makes me a better player. It's as if you're given several hours of practice hands to learn from. For your average Joe, seeing the way in which the game changes when the table is small is very helpful. Ordinarily, I would be too conservative to play the types of cards necessary to win at a 4, 5 or 6 person table. You have to take chances and gamble which is exactly what Farha and Moneymaker do throughout these 7 episodes. I also like the fact that, unlike when you see them on television, there are not any commercials here to distract and annoy. You can speed right through the discs.... More Info about this DVD DVD Release Date: Released the 02 November 2004 Usually ships in 6 to 8 days
List Price: $34.95 Your Price: $27.96YOU SAVE $6.99!
Buy it
I like the first season better. Something is not working right.
The story is getting more and more unrealistic and all the felmale casts are getting more and more whore looking. How can you run the casino with that less people. More Info about this DVD Actor(s): James Caan DVD Release Date: Released the 13 September 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
List Price: $59.98 Your Price: $44.99YOU SAVE $14.99!
Buy it
