6 ms·

MIT students being badass on the big screen -- the '21' movie trailer (Bringing Down The House)

20 points by pius 19y ago

__ 19y ago
The book read so much like an action movie that I thought they wouldn't have to change it much to make a movie out of it. I was wrong.
- joeguilmette 19y ago
  yea i thought the book was a good enough. i saw a discovery channel special about it, and they just made stuff up and left important details out.
ed 19y ago
Most of this was actually shot on BU's campus. The scene where they're learning how to play was shot in the basement of Mugar (BU's main library). Apparently MIT doesn't look enough like MIT...
- pius 19y ago
  For Good Will Hunting they shot at a local high school. The Infinite Corridor suddenly had lockers!
- aston 19y ago
  First off, MIT's ugly... Second, and probably more important, MIT doesn't actually allow anyone to film for movies on campus.
  - pius 19y ago
    I don't think MIT's ugly, but I was certainly in the minority on that issue when I was on campus. The reunion scene in Good Will Hunting was actually shot on Kresge Oval (I think), but I'm not sure why they went elsewhere for interiors. You may be right.
    - aston 19y ago
      I was just kidding about the ugly. I'm a huge fan of the campus architecture.
kobs 19y ago
I read the book (along with "Ugly Americans") back in high school and enjoyed it. Looking forward to seeing a live-action version.
geebee 19y ago
The book was a lot of fun, and the movie looks like it'll be entertaining too. It was a little silly that the book pitched itself as "the book vegas doesn't want you to read," though. Vegas loves this book, and vegas loves this movie. How many people are really going to organize a card counting team talented enough to beat a big casino? This movie will fill hotel rooms and get the kids down at the blackjack table. +1 for Vegas. One thing that irritates me slightly - the blackjack team was mainly Asian, from what I've read. The casinos were ready to believe that an irresponsible child of super wealthy Asian parents was throwing down this kind of money at the tables - a stereotype that the MIT team successfully used to avoid detection for some time. But eh, it still looks like fun. I'll probably go see it. And yeah, I'll probably lose some more money at blackjack.
- __ 19y ago
  Yes, I think the book explained that the team mainly recruited Asians, half-Asians, and Greeks to take advantage of the pit bosses' racial prejudices. The protagonist, for example, is supposed to be of Anglo/Chinese descent. This reminds me of the Starship Troopers movie, where the Filipino protagonist is played by Casper Van Dien.
- henning 19y ago
  I've never gambled, but from what I've heard Vegas has a hostile attitude towards cardcounters. This always seemed highly irrational, because often times they bring their silly spouse who gives back to the casino more than the smartypants card counter earns. Then there's the fact that unless you really have some kind of special ace up your sleeve, you can only make maybe $10-25/hr. If you have the smarts to pull off some fancy gambling thing, you can probably use your limited brainpower elsewhere in more profitable ways. It becomes work like anything else. Doing it is not fun, it requires intense concentration and extensive preparation.
  - geebee 19y ago
    Yeah, the whole thing does seem like a big waste of time. The MIT blackjack team is capable of 1) writing software to calculate the expected value of a bet under variable counts and deck sizes, 2) focusing well enough to keep count under duress, 3) working closely in a tightly coordinated team environment, and 4) finding investors. They don't need to be plaing blackjack, even under favorable circumstances. They can find a higher expected return by moving to Wall Street and doing computational finance, or by starting software companies. That said, have you ever read Thorpe's "beat the dealer"? There is someting kind of great about gaining an edge over a casino like this. For whatever reason, the idea of using math and computer programming to gain an edge over a casino seems to appeal enormously to a subsection of the population.
mattmaroon 19y ago
Too hilarious. I've met a lot of the people involved in that. Can't wait to see if they show up in the movies.

20 points by pius 19y ago

__ 19y ago

The book read so much like an action movie that I thought they wouldn't have to change it much to make a movie out of it. I was wrong.

joeguilmette 19y ago
yea i thought the book was a good enough. i saw a discovery channel special about it, and they just made stuff up and left important details out.

ed 19y ago

Most of this was actually shot on BU's campus. The scene where they're learning how to play was shot in the basement of Mugar (BU's main library). Apparently MIT doesn't look enough like MIT...

pius 19y ago
For Good Will Hunting they shot at a local high school. The Infinite Corridor suddenly had lockers!
aston 19y ago
First off, MIT's ugly... Second, and probably more important, MIT doesn't actually allow anyone to film for movies on campus.
- pius 19y ago
  I don't think MIT's ugly, but I was certainly in the minority on that issue when I was on campus. The reunion scene in Good Will Hunting was actually shot on Kresge Oval (I think), but I'm not sure why they went elsewhere for interiors. You may be right.
  - aston 19y ago
    I was just kidding about the ugly. I'm a huge fan of the campus architecture.

kobs 19y ago

I read the book (along with "Ugly Americans") back in high school and enjoyed it. Looking forward to seeing a live-action version.

geebee 19y ago

The book was a lot of fun, and the movie looks like it'll be entertaining too. It was a little silly that the book pitched itself as "the book vegas doesn't want you to read," though. Vegas loves this book, and vegas loves this movie. How many people are really going to organize a card counting team talented enough to beat a big casino? This movie will fill hotel rooms and get the kids down at the blackjack table. +1 for Vegas. One thing that irritates me slightly - the blackjack team was mainly Asian, from what I've read. The casinos were ready to believe that an irresponsible child of super wealthy Asian parents was throwing down this kind of money at the tables - a stereotype that the MIT team successfully used to avoid detection for some time. But eh, it still looks like fun. I'll probably go see it. And yeah, I'll probably lose some more money at blackjack.

__ 19y ago
Yes, I think the book explained that the team mainly recruited Asians, half-Asians, and Greeks to take advantage of the pit bosses' racial prejudices. The protagonist, for example, is supposed to be of Anglo/Chinese descent. This reminds me of the Starship Troopers movie, where the Filipino protagonist is played by Casper Van Dien.
henning 19y ago
I've never gambled, but from what I've heard Vegas has a hostile attitude towards cardcounters. This always seemed highly irrational, because often times they bring their silly spouse who gives back to the casino more than the smartypants card counter earns. Then there's the fact that unless you really have some kind of special ace up your sleeve, you can only make maybe $10-25/hr. If you have the smarts to pull off some fancy gambling thing, you can probably use your limited brainpower elsewhere in more profitable ways. It becomes work like anything else. Doing it is not fun, it requires intense concentration and extensive preparation.
- geebee 19y ago
  Yeah, the whole thing does seem like a big waste of time. The MIT blackjack team is capable of 1) writing software to calculate the expected value of a bet under variable counts and deck sizes, 2) focusing well enough to keep count under duress, 3) working closely in a tightly coordinated team environment, and 4) finding investors. They don't need to be plaing blackjack, even under favorable circumstances. They can find a higher expected return by moving to Wall Street and doing computational finance, or by starting software companies. That said, have you ever read Thorpe's "beat the dealer"? There is someting kind of great about gaining an edge over a casino like this. For whatever reason, the idea of using math and computer programming to gain an edge over a casino seems to appeal enormously to a subsection of the population.

mattmaroon 19y ago

Too hilarious. I've met a lot of the people involved in that. Can't wait to see if they show up in the movies.