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Wild Card (2015 Film)
''Wild Card'' is a 2015 American action thriller film directed by Simon West and starring Jason Statham, Michael Angarano, Milo Ventimiglia, Dominik Garcia-Lorido, Anne Heche, and Sofia Vergara. Based on the 1985 novel ''Heat'' by William Goldman, it is a remake of the 1986 adaptation that starred Burt Reynolds. The film was released in the United States on January 30, 2015 in a limited release and through video on demand. ''Wild Card'' received negative reviews and was a box-office bomb, making only $6.7 million worldwide against a $30 million budget. Plot Nick Wild is a recovering gambling addict who takes odd jobs in Las Vegas as a "'' chaperone''" (his version of a bodyguard) to support his addiction. After helping a client impress a woman, he accepts a proposition from a young man, Cyrus Kinnick, to show him around Vegas and provide protection while he gambles. While eating at a diner, Nick's waitress friend Roxy hands him a message from a woman he knows, Holly, who wa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Simon West
Simon Alexander West (born 1961) is an English film director and producer. He has primarily worked in the action genre, most notably as the director of the films ''Con Air'', '' Lara Croft: Tomb Raider'', '' The Mechanic'', and '' The Expendables 2''. Outside of action, he also directed the films '' The General's Daughter'' and '' When a Stranger Calls''. Prior to his film career, West served as the director for music videos, including "Never Gonna Give You Up" by Rick Astley. Early life West was born in Letchworth, Hertfordshire. He began his career as an assistant film editor with the BBC Film Department, where he worked on dramas and documentaries. He then left the BBC to work on commercials and music videos. His daughter Lillie West of the band Lala Lala described the experience being a filmmakers daughter to Paper Magazine in a 2018 interview, “My dad is a filmmaker, and he has filmed pretty much every moment of my life from when I was born.� Career 1990s West's ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Action Thriller Film
Action film is a film genre in which the protagonist is thrust into a series of events that typically involve violence and physical feats. The genre tends to feature a mostly resourceful hero struggling against incredible odds, which include life-threatening situations, a dangerous villain, or a pursuit which usually concludes in victory for the hero. Advancements in computer-generated imagery (CGI) have made it cheaper and easier to create action sequences and other visual effects that required the efforts of professional stunt crews in the past. However, reactions to action films containing significant amounts of CGI have been mixed, as some films use CGI to create unrealistic, highly unbelievable events. While action has long been a recurring component in films, the "action film" genre began to develop in the 1970s along with the increase of stunts and special effects. This genre is closely associated with the thriller and adventure genres and may also contain elements of dra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sofía Vergara
Sofía Margarita Vergara Vergara (; born July 10, 1972) is a Colombian and American actress and model. She was the highest paid actress in American television from 2013 to 2020. ''Forbes'' (August 24, 2019). Retrieved on October 16, 2020.Highest Paid TV Actresses in the World ''Harper's Bazaar'' (October 25, 2018). Retrieved on October 16, 2020. Vergara rose to prominence while co-hosting two television shows for Spanish-language television network |
Corsica
Corsica ( , Upper , Southern ; it, Corsica; ; french: Corse ; lij, Còrsega; sc, Còssiga) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the 18 regions of France. It is the fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast of the French mainland, west of the Italian Peninsula and immediately north of the Italian island of Sardinia, which is the land mass nearest to it. A single chain of mountains makes up two-thirds of the island. , it had a population of 349,465. The island is a territorial collectivity of France. The regional capital is Ajaccio. Although the region is divided into two administrative departments, Haute-Corse and Corse-du-Sud, their respective regional and departmental territorial collectivities were merged on 1 January 2018 to form the single territorial collectivity of Corsica. As such, Corsica enjoys a greater degree of autonomy than other French regional collectivities; for example, the Corsican Assembly is permitted to exercise li ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Blackjack
Blackjack (formerly Black Jack and Vingt-Un) is a casino banking game. The most widely played casino banking game in the world, it uses decks of 52 cards and descends from a global family of casino banking games known as Twenty-One. This family of card games also includes the British game of Pontoon, the European game, Vingt-et-Un and the Russian game Ochko. Blackjack players do not compete against each other. The game is a comparing card game where each player competes against the dealer. History Blackjack's immediate precursor was the English version of '' twenty-one'' called ''Vingt-Un'', a game of unknown (but likely Spanish) provenance. The first written reference is found in a book by the Spanish author Miguel de Cervantes. Cervantes was a gambler, and the protagonists of his " Rinconete y Cortadillo", from '' Novelas Ejemplares'', are card cheats in Seville. They are proficient at cheating at ''veintiuna'' (Spanish for "twenty-one") and state that the object of th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Golden Nugget Las Vegas
The Golden Nugget Las Vegas is a luxury hotel and casino located in downtown Las Vegas, Nevada on the Fremont Street Experience. The property is owned and operated by Landry's, Inc. It has 2,419 hotel rooms. History The Golden Nugget was originally built in 1946, making it one of the oldest casinos in the city. Jackie Gaughan at one time owned a stake in the hotel as part of his many downtown properties.Gaughan changeover leaves workers a little melancholy ''Las Vegas Sun'', March 25, 2004, accessed May 16, 2012. bought a stake in the Nugget, which he increased so that, in 1973, he became the majority shareholder, an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bodyguard
A bodyguard (or close protection officer/operative) is a type of security guard, government law enforcement officer, or servicemember who protects a person or a group of people — usually witnesses, high-ranking public officials or officers, wealthy people, and celebrities — from danger: generally theft, assault, kidnapping, assassination, harassment, loss of confidential information, threats, or other criminal offences. The personnel team that protects a VIP is often referred to as the VIP's security detail. Most important public figures, such as heads of state, heads of government, and governors are protected by several bodyguards or by a team of bodyguards from a government agency, security forces, or police forces (e.g., in the United States, the Secret Service or the Diplomatic Security Service of the State Department). In most countries where the head of state is also their military leader, the leader's bodyguards have traditionally been royal guards, republican ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chaperone (social)
A chaperone (also spelled chaperon) in its original social usage was a person who for propriety's sake accompanied an unmarried girl in public; usually she was an older married woman, and most commonly the girl's own mother. In modern social usage, a chaperon (frequent in British spelling) or chaperone (usual in American spelling) is a responsible adult who accompanies and supervises young people. By extension, the word chaperone is used in clinical contexts. Origin The word derives figuratively from the French word ''chaperon'' (originally from the Late Latin ''cappa'', meaning "cape"), which referred to a hood that was worn by individuals generally. A chaperone was part of the costume of the Knights of the Garter when they were in full dress and, probably, since the Knights were court attendants, the word ''chaperon'' changed to mean escort. An alternative explanation comes from the sport of falconry, where the word meant the hood placed over the head of a bird of prey ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Las Vegas
Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area and is the largest city within the greater Mojave Desert. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city, known primarily for its gambling, shopping, fine dining, entertainment, and nightlife. The Las Vegas Valley as a whole serves as the leading financial, commercial, and cultural center for Nevada. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous for its luxurious and extremely large casino-hotels together with their associated activities. It is a top three destination in the United States for business conventions and a global leader in the hospitality industry, claiming more AAA Five Diamond hotels than any other city in the world. Today, Las Vegas annually ranks as o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gambling Addiction
Problem gambling or ludomania is repetitive gambling behavior despite harm and negative consequences. Problem gambling may be diagnosed as a mental disorder according to ''DSM-5'' if certain diagnostic criteria are met. Pathological gambling is a common disorder associated with social and family costs. The ''DSM-5'' has re-classified the condition as an addictive disorder, with those affected exhibiting many similarities to those with substance addictions. The term ''gambling addiction'' has long been used in the recovery movement. Pathological gambling was long considered by the American Psychiatric Association to be an impulse-control disorder rather than an addiction. However, data suggest a closer relationship between pathological gambling and substance use disorders than exists between PG and obsessive-compulsive disorder, mainly because the behaviors in problem gambling and most primary substance use disorders (i.e., those not resulting from a desire to "self-medicate" fo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Box-office Bomb
A box-office bomb, or box-office disaster, is a film that is unprofitable or considered highly unsuccessful during its theatrical run. Although any film for which the production, marketing, and distribution costs combined exceed the revenue after release has technically "bombed", the term is more frequently used for major studio releases that were highly anticipated, extensively marketed and expensive to produce that ultimately failed commercially. Causes Negative word of mouth With the advent of social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter in the 2000s, word of mouth regarding new films is easily spread and has had a marked effect on box office performance. A film's ability or failure to attract positive or negative commentary can strongly impact its performance at the box office, especially on the opening weekend. External circumstances Occasionally, films may underperform because of issues largely unrelated to the content of the film, such as the timing of the film's re ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Video On Demand
Video on demand (VOD) is a media distribution system that allows users to access videos without a traditional video playback device and the constraints of a typical static broadcasting schedule. In the 20th century, broadcasting in the form of over-the-air programming was the most common form of media distribution. As Internet and IPTV technologies continued to develop in the 1990s, consumers began to gravitate towards non-traditional modes of content consumption, which culminated in the arrival of VOD on televisions and personal computers. Unlike broadcast television, VOD systems initially required each user to have an Internet connection with considerable bandwidth to access each system's content. In 2000, the Fraunhofer Institute IIS developed the JPEG2000 codec, which enabled the distribution of movies via Digital Cinema Packages. This technology has since expanded its services from feature-film productions to include broadcast television programmes and has led to lower ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
