Cameo in "Searching For Bobby Fischer"?
Joe McCauley
In the movie "Searching For Bobby Fischer", there is a scene about 20-30
minutes into the movie in Washington Square where Josh is playing
against the black man (don't recall his name) and several other people
are watching. Bruce Pandolfini (Ben Kingsley) walks up, and a man in a
blue jacket says to him "Next Fischer?" or something like that.
I think the man in the blue jacket was the real-life Bruce Pandolfini.
Can anyone confirm this?
--
TTFN,
Joe McCauley
Randy Winney
from Blockbuster Video it had a short segment at the end of the tape
promoting chess. It had some of the real people from the movie in it -
perhaps Josh, his Dad, & Bruce, but I'm not sure. The version that is
being shown on HBO now does not have this segment at the end. I do remember
from the credits that some of the masters playing in the adult tournament
were played by the real people.
--
Randy Winney rawi...@dal.mobil.com
Mobil Exploration & Producing Technology Center
Dallas, Texas
Christopher Smith
>Followup-To: rec.arts.movies
>In the movie "Searching For Bobby Fischer", there is a scene about 20-30
>minutes into the movie in Washington Square where Josh is playing
>against the black man (don't recall his name) and several other people
>are watching. Bruce Pandolfini (Ben Kingsley) walks up, and a man in a
>blue jacket says to him "Next Fischer?" or something like that.
Actually, he says, "Young Fischer.", but it's irrelevant.
>I think the man in the blue jacket was the real-life Bruce Pandolfini.
>Can anyone confirm this?
Funny you should mention this. I was watching it just the other night when I
thought the same thing. I went to the end credits and noticed that he is not
mentioned even though he does have a speaking part. I would almost bet the
farm that is him. Adds a bit of irony to the whole thing, IMHO.
Bonus Fact a la Beakman: The little girl that is ranked 82nd at the nationals
at the very end was played by IM Waitzkin's younger sister. Really!
BTW, while we're on the subject, if you go through slo-mo of some of the games,
you will notice some small inconsistencies. Like people moving kings and then
castling and the like. It happens a couple of times. It's not really important,
but it takes something away from it for me.
Also, I would like the position of hte mate in 4 problem in the movie. I've
tried to stop the screen, but there's not enough there to make it out. If you
know of it appearing in a book or something, I'd love to know it.
Bonus BTW: The "black man" is Laurence Fishburne, a damn fine actor. If you
are not familiar with his work, seek it out. It is well worth the time and
effort. Try "Rumble Fish" or that Ike and Tina Turner movie that came out last
year or so. Great Stuff.
_ _____ Christopher Smith - ot...@expert.cc.purdue.edu
|\/ | Pinball fanatic, Doctor Who fan and cricketer
| | TRUE MASTER OF WASTING MY TIME!
| * |
| | PURDUE UNIVERSITY - WEST LAFAYETTE, INDIANA
| / My opinions are my own and in no way reflect those of
| _| Purdue, Neil Armstrong, Orville Redenbacher, or Glenn
/____/ Robinson. But if they'll pay my tuition, I'll say anything.
>--
>TTFN,
>Joe McCauley
Kip Voytek
>Followup-To: rec.arts.movies
>--
>TTFN,
>Joe McCauley
Yes. It's him.
KV
Joseph F. Ford
park scene where an older black man is a mentor to a chess playing youth.
Has anyone seen this movie? Reviews are welcome.
John R. Cooper
F. Ford) wrote:
I rented it a couple of weeks ago. As a drama, it is excellent. As a
_chess_ movie, it is not very interesting. _Searching for Bobby Fischer_
focuses on the game itself far more than _Fresh_ does.
_Fresh_ is about a black youth who runs drugs for two inner-city drug
lords (one deals in cocaine, the other heroin). The kid is very streetwise
and he spends most of the movie trying to outsmart his drug-bosses.
The chess content is minimal, though it eventually serves as a metaphor
for his approach to solving the problem of how to bring his drug-bosses to
justice. The scene you refer to is one of a couple which involve the kid
playing chess with his father--played by Samuel L. Jackson--in what amount
to short "lessons in life."
While the camera does occasionally gaze down on a chess board, the
movie is by no means _about_ chess. It is about one kid's struggle to
extract himself (and his sister) from the ghetto life.
-John
+--------------------------+------------------------------------------+
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J. Jorgensen
mccau...@VNET.IBM.COM (Joe McCauley) writes:
>
> In the movie "Searching For Bobby Fischer", there is a scene about 20-30
> minutes into the movie in Washington Square where Josh is playing
> against the black man (don't recall his name) and several other people
> are watching. Bruce Pandolfini (Ben Kingsley) walks up, and a man in a
> blue jacket says to him "Next Fischer?" or something like that.
>
> I think the man in the blue jacket was the real-life Bruce Pandolfini.
> Can anyone confirm this?
>
Yes it is. And he tell's Ben Kingsley "Young Fischer." In addition, the
dark haired man playing the character Vinny towards the beginning of the
movie is the REAL Kamran Shirazi. A little later on, in the back-room
tournament that Josh's father attends, two of the people there are the
actual people: Joel Benjamin and Roman Djindjichasvili (apologies to Gata's
second if I misspelled his last name). I'm curious, however, why that
"prestigious tournament" was held in that crappy room and not at the
"Metropolitan Chess Club?"
John R. Jorgensen
jorg...@triton.unm.edu
Julio Gagne
>From: jf...@garnet.acns.fsu.edu (Joseph F. Ford)
>Subject: "Fresh", was Cameo in "Searching For Bobby Fischer"?
>Date: 22 Mar 1995 21:57:57 GMT
>I saw a trailer for the movie, "Fresh". In it was a 'Washington Square'
>park scene where an older black man is a mentor to a chess playing youth.
>Has anyone seen this movie? Reviews are welcome.
A great movie! Clever plotting with no typical Hollywood endings or
sentimentalities. I would have given the lead actor whose name escapes me
("Fresh" in the movie) a best actor nod.
===============================================================
It is not enough to be busy, so are the ants.
-Henry David Thoreau
Email Address: Julio...@cc.chiron.com
===============================================================
Gabriella Gruder-poni (SM 1997)
: I saw a trailer for the movie, "Fresh". In it was a 'Washington Square'
: park scene where an older black man is a mentor to a chess playing youth.
: Has anyone seen this movie? Reviews are welcome.
Yes!!!!! it was EXcellent. you should see it. personally, the chess parts
did nothing for me, probably because i know nothing about the game. (i
guess this would not be the case with you.) but it was a GREAT movie; the
plot is labyrinthine but not frustratingly so; i saw it twice & was still
figuring it out after the second time. but even without completely
understanding it the 1st time....THE ACTING! THE DIALOGUE! the
PSYCHOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT OF CHARACTERS & INSIGHTS!!! whoah!
as if this were not enough, it's EVEN FUNNY!!!!
and tragic. grim, in fact.
keeps you on the edge of your seat. never falters, never slips.
WHAT MORE CAN YOU ASK FOR IN A MOVIE?
do go see it. i know no one else who's seen it, but if you do, could you
possibly email me telling me your reactions? i'd be interested.
& please excuse the idiotic tone of this recommendation--it's because i'm
so enthusiastic about it.
Fresh: A1 +++
:)
Jim Kerr
"Fresh" is a stunning film. Easily one of the best of last year.
It's the story of a young black kid who wreaks revenge on drug
runners using complicated tactics taught to him by his father over a
chessboard in Washington Square. Not much chess in the movie, but
worth seeing regardless.
JBARR
<jorg...@unm.edu> writes:
You're right. But remember that the point of Pandolfini bringing Waitzkin to
this tournament to begin with was to show Waitzkin how sort of dreary and
gloomy they could be, especially if one were to make such things their life.
So I guess the movie just sort of fudged to make a point.
>John R. Jorgensen
>jorg...@triton.unm.edu
>
J.B.
Steve Mayer
: In the movie "Searching For Bobby Fischer", there is a scene about 20-30
: minutes into the movie in Washington Square where Josh is playing
: against the black man (don't recall his name) and several other people
: are watching. Bruce Pandolfini (Ben Kingsley) walks up, and a man in a
: blue jacket says to him "Next Fischer?" or something like that.
: I think the man in the blue jacket was the real-life Bruce Pandolfini.
: Can anyone confirm this?
Yep, that was Pandolifini.
Richard Reich
>tournament that Josh's father attends, two of the people there are the
>actual people: Joel Benjamin and Roman Djindjichasvili (apologies to Gata's
>second if I misspelled his last name). I'm curious, however, why that
>"prestigious tournament" was held in that crappy room and not at the
>"Metropolitan Chess Club?"
>John R. Jorgensen
>jorg...@triton.unm.edu
Probably because many New York tournaments at that time were held at the Bar
Point, a real dive according to the book.
Researcher
you got the impression the director knew the value of every scrap of time
and of every opportunity. The characters were totally believable and the
situations tense and exciting without any artificial bullshit. Best film I
have seen for years!
Myles Axton
my...@wi.mit.edu
Quinn Hubbard
jo...@cooper.terranet.com (John R. Cooper) writes:
> _Fresh_ is about a black youth who runs drugs for two inner-city drug
> lords (one deals in cocaine, the other heroin). The kid is very streetwise
> and he spends most of the movie trying to outsmart his drug-bosses.
>
> The chess content is minimal, though it eventually serves as a metaphor
> for his approach to solving the problem of how to bring his drug-bosses to
> justice.
I would disagree with the notion that the chess content in "Fresh" was
minimal, under a certain point of view, as hinted to by the previous
poster, there is *more* chess content in "Fresh" than in "Searching for
Bobby Fischer." To wit:
The analogies between chess strategy and the methods Fresh applies to
solve his problems in his life run *very* deep in the movie. Upon a
little examination after the movie, you will find many instances in
which Fresh receives chess advice from a character and then applies it
directly, albeit analogously, to solve his life problems. Whoever wrote
the script was clearly into chess.
I would argue for the most precise description of the movie as follows:
The movie "Fresh" follows one game of chess. The opening, middlegame,
and endgame are shown in order. The second player adopts Tal's style,
sacrifices material in an unclear position, and finds a brilliant mate.
The overall analogy is so clean, that I believe that the movie borders
on brilliancy. Viewed in this way, there is nothing *but* chess content
in "Fresh" where "SFBF" spends time on several competitve issues that
are not restricted to chess.
To be precise, I enjoyed *both* movies a great deal and believe that
any chess fan would find the time spent in watching either to be well
spent.
(I would be very interested in the reaction of the "Fresh" script
writer to this thread, too bad we'll probably never see it).
(Perhaps it is significant that a r.g.c reader, not a r.a.m reader,
composed this post).
Courtland Funke
I liked it but found it to be a bit confusing. It's a cross between
Juice and Searching for Bobby Fisher. Basically, it's about a young boy
who uses chess strategies to take down a drug dealer who killed his
girlfriend. The kid (I don't know his name) is a pretty good actor and
Samuel L. Jackson does a good job of playing his chess huslter father
who teaches him how to play.
--
------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Courtland Funke | "Tortured far apart |
| The Funketeer | Children of the secret are |
| co...@mcs.com | Alone until love" - Andrew Vachss |
------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Check out Courtland's House of Cheese - http://www.mcs.com/~court |
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dark Penguin
>In article <3kq6h5$e...@mailer.fsu.edu>,
>Joseph F. Ford <jf...@garnet.acns.fsu.edu> wrote:
>>I saw a trailer for the movie, "Fresh". In it was a 'Washington Square'
>>park scene where an older black man is a mentor to a chess playing youth.
>>
>>Has anyone seen this movie? Reviews are welcome.
>
>I liked it but found it to be a bit confusing. It's a cross between
>Juice and Searching for Bobby Fisher. Basically, it's about a young boy
>who uses chess strategies to take down a drug dealer who killed his
>girlfriend. The kid (I don't know his name) is a pretty good actor and
>Samuel L. Jackson does a good job of playing his chess huslter father
>who teaches him how to play.
I just saw this tonight. I liked it too, but unless you're familiar with
street slang you might get lost in the dialogue. That aside, this is a
powerful and gritty little film. The kid who plays the avenging chess
whiz is terrific in the role, and it's disturbing but exciting watching
him draw his targets into his carefully woven net. Samuel L. Jackson's
character reminded me a little of the character he plays in Pulp Fiction
-- a streetwise philosopher -- and he's great as usual. The only real
problem I had with the film is that it creates such a vivid and realistic
portrait of the kid's world, but then strains credulity by surrounding him
with characters that border on caricature. However, that's a small
complaint in what is otherwise an entertaining movie.
I would strongly recommend this picture -- although, be warned, this is
definitely not family entertainment. There are a few scenes which,
although not graphic (not much explicit gore or sex), are truly
disturbing. The harsh language may also offend some viewers, especially
since most of it comes from the mouths of little kids. It's also not one
of those slick action thrillers that glamorizes the inner city life. If
you're expecting New Jack City-style theatrics, better look elsewhere.
Regards,
Bryan Byun e-mail: bb...@oz.net
--
Life is what happens while you're busy making other plans.
-- John Lennon
Ted Thompson
portrayed in SFBF.
Checkers was the game of choice.
SamSloan
Fishburn in the movie Searching for Bobby Fischer?
The answer is that "Vinny" was in real life Vincent Livermore, a notorius
Washington Square Park hustler, loudmouth and chess expert who died of
AIDS in about 1993 and thus did not get to see himself potrayed in the
movie.
Livermore was a scrawny kid who did not look at all like Lawrence
Fishburn. This is what throws most people off.
Sam Sloan
na...@inland.com
JMN
Kip Voytek
>Sam Sloan reports only a small part of Vincent Livermore. This notorious
>"hustler, loudmouth and chess expert" was legitimately considered friend
>by some -- perhaps many -- on the New York chess scene, for many years when
>Sloan was nowhere to be seen. Mr. Livermore eventually did graduate work
>at the City University of New York and became a help to others who had
>been in his position.
>Fraternally,
>Jerome Bibuld
For New York Times readers: Wasn't Vincent L. featured in a big front
page story of the Times and profiled in the New Yorker a few years ago.
Apparently, there were several people interested in making movies about
this guy but he stayed away from them, he said, fearing another
blaxploitation film. If anyone remembers, they talked about his rating,
his speed chess play against big names, and his status (distinctly
non-"notorious") among the street chess crew and others.
Just curious.
KV
Frank Charron
I just saw the movie "Fresh" a few days ago and I agree that it's a good
movie. There is "some" chess in the movie but I think they should of been
more attentive to details. The last time the father and son are playing
(before the father brings him to his trailer home) the son puts puts the dad
in check on the king side and the father responds by putting the son in
check with his rook from the queen side and announcing mate in 6 ??? Obvious
mistakes like these should be removed...even I can spot them easily and I'm
a patzer! Oh well...if anyone knows of ANY other chess related movies other
than "Knight moves", "SFBF", "Dangerous Moves", and now "Fresh" please email
me cause I am collecting them.
I wonder if they could make a movie about the real Bobby Fischer...maybe
call it "1972" or something :)
Frank
Michael Thayer
Oh well...if anyone knows of ANY other chess related movies other
>than "Knight moves", "SFBF", "Dangerous Moves", and now "Fresh" please
>email me cause I am collecting them.
Wasn't one of the Bond movies chess related? I seem to recall that in
one of the books, one of the bad guys is playing in the Moscow
championship.....
Michael
CAPSA
quotation marks of my posting.
Fraternally,
Jerome Bibuld
John Tomas
Lincoln, Nebraska. Then a strong expert who was even better as a blitz player
and even better as a talker: very very smart and funny. We drew our tournament
game. After the tournament we finally played blitz. Known then as the Liver,
I got a couple of late night phone calls from him over the next couple of
years.
John Tomas
.
CAPSA
Arlen
>one of the books, one of the bad guys is playing in the Moscow
>championship.....
I think the movie was "From Russia With Love." There's very little chess
in it. It opens with a scene in a tournamemnt, and we follow the Russian
("Kropotkin", I think) into a meeting with Blofeld at SPECTRE. and that's
all for either him or chess in the movie.
Have Fun,
Arlen
---------------------
In God we trust. All others must supply data.
---------------------
TOMDORSCH
There are many, of course. One of my particular favorites is a
scene in the movie Night Moves with Gene Hackman, where he convincingly
replays a few moves from a famous combination, with annotation.
--Tom Dorsch
hals...@minerva.cis.yale.edu
(TOMDORSCH) wrote:
> Other chess movies:
BTW
I believe that 007 plays a woman in a chess tourniment. She tries to kill
him durring the game and he kicks her under the table. Doesn't this
violate FIDE rules? Also, the fact that James Bond uses an ear piece and
gets his moves from a "coach" might be a violation.... But then, with the
increasing use of hand held computers durring bathroom breaks at
tournies....
Hal
--
*********************************************************************
-> Paper cut from rock, releases rock to crush sissors. Rock freed from restriction
-> of paper/sissors/rock, lacking context proceeds.
-B. Nauman 1975-
*********************************************************************
hals...@minerva.cis.yale.edu
Sheldon Mandel
One of the movies you missed on was 2001:A Space Odessy.
(I spell for crap.)
There is a scene in which HAL 9000 is playing Dave Bowman, and announces
a mate in six. I seem to recall that the position was from one of
Morphy's games, but I'm not sure.
Good luck collecting.
Sheldon Mandel
Daniel Burrows
CM3000 has the reconstruction of that game on the CD..I belive
that it says that "there was no mate in six. (Was HAL beginning to crack
already?)" but I haven't played over it for a while...
Daniel