Wanderings and … wonderings.

Pip: Welcome to Wanderings and … wonderings. — where one person’s film opinions arrive with the confidence of a final verdict and the brevity of a Post-it note.

Mara: Ben Gould has been watching, and he has thoughts — on a casino sleazeball who owns every scene he touches, a poker film that apparently tests the limits of human endurance, and a long-delayed comedy sequel coasting on goodwill. Let’s start with the gambling and crime films.

Lester Diamond, Rounders, and the Luck of the Draw

Pip: The question here is what makes a crime film actually work — and whether it’s the world, the story, or just one memorably repellent human being on screen for ten minutes.

Mara: The post on Lester Diamond makes the case plainly: “James Woods is a treat and we should be grateful to him.”

Pip: That’s the whole argument, really. A supporting character with a fraction of the screen time walks away with the film’s most lasting impression. The pimp outlasts the plot.

Mara: The post describes Woods as “effortlessly creating one of the sleaziest, slimiest characters ever put on celluloid” — a mere ten minutes that apparently cements an acting legacy. That’s a strong claim, but the writing doesn’t hedge it.

Pip: Ten minutes of screen time, a lifetime of residual disgust. Some actors just know how to leave a stain.

Mara: The Rounders post lands at the opposite end of the spectrum entirely. Where Casino delivers Lester Diamond, Rounders delivers — according to the post — repetition, a tedious voice-over, and poker somehow rendered inert.

Pip: The review calls it “a boring waste of boring time.” The word boring appears so many times it starts to feel like a formal critical methodology.

Mara: Seven times, by my count. The post also singles out Matt Damon’s performance, notes that Ed Norton’s arrival promises relief and doesn’t deliver it, and ends with the line “I hated this fucking boring slog.” No ambiguity there.

Pip: So: one film gives you James Woods chewing scenery for ten glorious minutes. The other gives you two hours of poker and a voice-over. The casino wins. Speaking of things coasting on past glory —

The Unnecessary Sequel Nobody Asked For (But Here We Are)

Pip: Happy Gilmore 2 is the kind of film that exists because enough time passed and someone said yes. The post calls it “the type of entirely unnecessary sequel you’d expect after a 30-year hiatus.”

Mara: The verdict is measured: “It’s okay for what it is — hit and miss, breezy enough for an hour but far too draining once the physical comedy reaches breaking point in its repetition.” The post also notes a John Daly cameo, which prompted genuine surprise that he is still alive.

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Pip: Ten minutes of screen time, a sequel nobody needed, and a poker film that broke a man’s spirit. The range is impressive.

Mara: Same territory next time — what sticks, what doesn’t, and why it matters.