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Bringing Down The House (book)
''Bringing Down the House: The Inside Story of Six MIT Students Who Took Vegas for Millions'' is a 2003 book by Ben Mezrich about a group of MIT card counters commonly known as the MIT Blackjack Team. Though the book is classified as non-fiction, the ''Boston Globe'' alleges that the book contains significant fictional elements, that many of the key events propelling the drama did not occur in real life, and that others were exaggerated greatly. The book was adapted into the movies '' 21'' and '' The Last Casino''. Synopsis The book's main character is Kevin Lewis, an MIT graduate who was invited to join the MIT Blackjack Team in 1993. Lewis was recruited by two of the team's top players, Jason Fisher and Andre Martinez. The team was financed by a colorful character named Micky Rosa, who had organized at least one other team to play the Vegas strip. This new team was the most profitable yet. Personality conflicts and card counting deterrent efforts at the casinos eventually en ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ben Mezrich
Ben Mezrich ( ; born February 7, 1969) is an American author. Early life and education Mezrich was born in Boston, Massachusetts, the son of Molli Newman, a lawyer, and Reuben Mezrich, a chairman of radiology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. He has two brothers, including Josh Mezrich. He was raised in a Conservative Jewish household, and attended Princeton Day School, in Princeton, New Jersey. He graduated magna cum laude with a degree in Social Studies from Harvard University in 1991. Personal life Mezrich has been married to Tonya M. Chen since 2006. Some of his books have been written under the pen-name Holden Scott. Mezrich is known for his non-fiction books. He lives in Boston. Written work Mezrich is best known for his first non-fiction work, '' Bringing Down the House: The Inside Story of Six MIT Students Who Took Vegas for Millions''. This book tells the story of a group of students from MIT who bet on blackjack games using a sophisticated card ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Boston Magazine
''Boston'' is a monthly magazine concerning life in the Greater Boston area and has been in publication since 1805. History and profile ''Boston'' magazine was started in 1805. Metrocorp, Inc. bought the magazine in 1970. The company also owns ''Philadelphia'' magazine. The magazine claims a publication of 500,000 issues per month, its percentage of newsstand copies sold is among the highest of any magazine of any kind in the United States, and it has been named among the best city magazines in the nation nine times in the last ten years by the City and Regional Magazine Association. Former editors-in-chief include Carly Carioli, John Wolfson and Andrew Putz. In May 2015 ''Boston'' magazine was awarded by the City and Regional Magazine Association. Best of Boston "Best of Boston" is an award given by ''Boston'' magazine in an annual issue which is "the definitive guide to the city’s finest". It was first awarded in 1974. This award is given in a wide range of categories tha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kate Bosworth
Catherine Anne Bosworth (born January 2, 1983) is an American actress. Following minor roles in the films '' The Horse Whisperer'' (1998) and ''Remember the Titans'' (2000), she rose to prominence with her role as a young surfer in the box-office hit ''Blue Crush'' (2002). She also had roles in independent films, playing Dawn Schiller in the true crime film '' Wonderland'' (2003) and Sandra Dee in the Bobby Darin biographical drama '' Beyond the Sea'' (2004). She portrayed Lois Lane in ''Superman Returns'' (2006), and had roles in '' 21'' (2008), '' Straw Dogs'' (2011), ''And While We Were Here'' (2012), and ''Still Alice'' (2014). She starred in the horror films '' Before I Wake'' (2016) and '' The Domestics'' (2018). Recently, she starred as KC in the Netflix science fiction miniseries ''The I-Land'' (2019). Early life Bosworth was born in Los Angeles, California, and raised in San Francisco, California, the only child of Patricia (''née'' Potter), a homemaker, and Harold ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Laurence Fishburne
Laurence John Fishburne III (born July 30, 1961) is an American actor. He is a three time Emmy Award and Tony Award winning actor known for his roles on stage and screen. He has been hailed for his forceful, militant, and authoritative characters in his films. He is known for playing Morpheus in ''The Matrix'' series (1999–2003), Jason "Furious" Styles in the John Singleton drama film ''Boyz n the Hood'' (1991), Tyrone "Mr. Clean" Miller in Francis Ford Coppola's war film ''Apocalypse Now'' (1979), and "The Bowery King" in the ''John Wick'' film series (2017–present). For his portrayal of Ike Turner in ''What's Love Got to Do With It'' (1993), Fishburne was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor. He won a Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play for his performance in ''Two Trains Running'' (1992), and an Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series for his performance in ''TriBeCa'' (1993). Fishburne became the first African American to portray O ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kevin Spacey
Kevin Spacey Fowler (born July 26, 1959) is an American actor. He began his career as a stage actor during the 1980s, obtaining supporting roles before gaining a leading man status in film and television. Spacey has received various accolades for his performances on stage and screen including two Academy Awards, a Tony Award, two Laurence Olivier Awards, and four Screen Actors Guild Awards. He received nominations for a Grammy Award as well as twelve Primetime Emmy Awards. Spacey received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1999, and was named an honorary Commander and Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2010 and 2015, respectively. His first film roles were Mike Nichols's ''Heartburn'' (1986) and '' Working Girl'' (1988). He continued to act in independent films such as '' Glengarry Glen Ross'' (1992) and '' Swimming with Sharks'' (1994). Spacey gained prominence for his villainous roles in 1995 crime thriller films '' Seven'' and '' The Usual Sus ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robert Luketic
Robert Luketic (born 1 November 1973) is an Australian film director. His films include ''Legally Blonde'' (2001), '' Monster-in-Law'' (2005), '' 21'' (2008), '' Killers'' (2010), and '' Paranoia'' (2013). Early life Robert Luketic was born in Sydney, Australia, the elder of two children of a Croatian father and Italian mother. Career Luketic started making short films as a teenager and went on to study at the Victorian College of Arts – School of Film and Television (VCA). He first attracted Hollywood's attention with his award-winning short film ''Titsiana Booberini'' written by Tania Lacy. After screening to much acclaim at several festivals within Australia, ''Titsiana Booberini'' became a hit at many internationally renowned festivals including the Sundance Film Festival. It won "Best Film" at the Aspen Shortsfest. Luketic directed the comedy ''Legally Blonde'' for MGM in the summer of 2001. This film, which grossed close to $100 million domestically and was nominate ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the multinational conglomerate Sony. On June 19, 1918, brothers Jack and Harry Cohn and their business partner Joe Brandt founded Cohn-Brandt-Cohn (CBC) Film Sales Corporation, which would eventually become Columbia Pictures. It adopted the Columbia Pictures name on January 10, 1924 (operating as Columbia Pictures Corporation until December 23, 1968) went public two years later and eventually began to use the image of Columbia, the female personification of the United States, as its logo. In its early years, Columbia was a minor player in Hollywood, but began to grow in the late 1920s, spurred by a successful association with director Frank Capra. With Capra and others such as the most successful two reel comedy series The Three Stooges, C ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bringing Down The House (film)
''Bringing Down the House'' is a 2003 American romantic comedy film written by Jason Filardi and directed by Adam Shankman and starring Steve Martin and Queen Latifah. The film features Martin as Peter Sanderson, a lonely lawyer who meets a woman on the Internet, only to learn she has escaped prison to prove her innocence. She then proceeds to wreak havoc on his own upper-class life. The film made its release on March 7, 2003 by Touchstone Pictures and was distributed by Buena Vista Pictures. Plot Peter Sanderson is a workaholic tax attorney, separated from his wife Kate and often too busy for their children, Sarah and Georgie. Peter arranges a blind date at his home with Charlene Morton, a woman he has been chatting with online. Misled by her photograph and description, he is shocked to discover that she is actually a felon who corresponded with him from prison. Charlene tries to blackmail Peter into clearing her name of armed robbery, claiming she is innocent, but he throws ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Queen Latifah
Dana Elaine Owens (born March 18, 1970), known professionally as Queen Latifah, is an American rapper, actress, and singer. Born in Newark, New Jersey, she signed with Tommy Boy Records in 1989 and released her debut album '' All Hail the Queen'' on November 28, 1989, featuring the hit single "Ladies First". ''Nature of a Sista''' (1991) was her second and final album with Tommy Boy Records. Latifah starred as Khadijah James on the Fox sitcom ''Living Single'' from 1993 to 1998. Her third album, '' Black Reign'' (1993), became the first album by a solo female rapper to receive a gold certification from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), and spawned the single " U.N.I.T.Y.", which was influential in raising awareness of violence against women and the objectification of Black female sexuality. The track reached the top 40 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, and won a Grammy Award. She then starred in the lead role of '' Set It Off'' (1996) and released her fourt ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Semyon Dukach
Semyon Dukach (born 25 October 1968) is a Russian-American entrepreneur and former professional blackjack player. He is the founding partner of One Way Ventures, a venture capital fund that backs immigrant entrepreneurs. He was the managing director of Techstars in Boston. He was also the chairman of SMTP (company), and a former professional blackjack player with the MIT Blackjack Team. He played with Strategic Investments and later was one of the founding members and team leaders on Amphibian Investments whose exploits were chronicled in Ben Mezrich's ''Busting Vegas'' and referred to in Mezrich's '' Bringing Down the House''. Dukach was the main character in ''Busting Vegas'' and the only member of the MIT blackjack team to be referred to by his real name in either book. Early life Born on 25 October 1968 in Moscow, Dukach moved to the US in 1979 at the age of 11. He completed a BS in Computer Science at Columbia University in 1990 and a MS in Computer Science at MIT in 1 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Non-fiction
Nonfiction, or non-fiction, is any document or media content that attempts, in good faith, to provide information (and sometimes opinions) grounded only in facts and real life, rather than in imagination. Nonfiction is often associated with being presented more objectively, like historical, scientific, or otherwise straightforward and accurate information, but sometimes, can be presented more subjectively, like sincerely held beliefs and thoughts on a real-world topic. One prominent usage of nonfiction is as one of the two fundamental divisions of narrative (storytelling)—often, specifically, prose writing—in contrast to narrative fiction, which is largely populated by imaginary characters and events, though sometimes ambiguous regarding its basis in reality. Some typical examples of nonfiction include diaries, biographies, news stories, documentary films, textbooks, travel books, recipes, and scientific journals. While specific claims in a nonfiction wor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
New York Times Best Seller List
''The New York Times'' Best Seller list is widely considered the preeminent list of best-selling books in the United States. John Bear, ''The #1 New York Times Best Seller: intriguing facts about the 484 books that have been #1 New York Times bestsellers since the first list, 50 years ago'', Berkeley: Ten Speed Press, 1992. Since October 12, 1931, ''The New York Times Book Review'' has published the list weekly. In the 21st century, it has evolved into multiple lists, grouped by genre and format, including fiction and non-fiction, hardcover, paperback and electronic. The list is based on a proprietary method that uses sales figures, other data and internal guidelines that are unpublished—how the ''Times'' compiles the list is a trade secret. In 1983 (as part of a legal argument), the ''Times'' stated that the list is not mathematically objective but rather editorial content. In 2017, a ''Times'' representative said that the goal is that the lists reflect authentic best sell ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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