Eps: 17 - 7 Days to Vegas, In the Dark

Explicit content warning

07/30/20 • 56 min

Fan of the show, and one of our favorite people, Michael, requested we watch the movie 7 Days To Vegas on Prime Video. Mike is a former Angelino, Vegas resident and pro gambler, so we knew he would like a movie about a poker player who takes a prop bet to walk from L.A. to Vegas.
But would we like it?
Not only did we like it, but in researching the movie, we fell deep into the Van Patten rabbit hole that continued as a 6 degrees of separation through-line for the entire show. We hope you were able to keep up!

The movie stars Vince Van Patten, his brother James Van Patten, his real-life wife Eileen Davidson (soap opera legend and Real Housewife of Beverly Hills), and has a cameo from his brother Nels Van Patten.

Vince's dad is the veteran actor Dick Van Patten, his aunt is actress Joyce Van Patten. His uncle is producer/director of Perry Mason, Timothy Van Patten. And his cousin is Talia Balsam, daughter of his Aunt Joyce and the celebrated actor Martin Balsam. Talia is the ex-wife of George Clooney and the current wife of John Slattery, who worked, of course, with Rich Sommer on Mad Men, which we'll get to later.

It's more about the prop bet than the poker table

7 Days to Vegas is a fun, easy movie about a crazy "prop bet" between a down and out actor and a douche-bag director and the crew of degenerate gamblers they play with. Poker players and gamblers will like it. Anyone who has lived on the fringes of Hollywood will recognize the characters as guys we all know.

Vimeo describes it as "an edgy comedy based on the true story of the rise and fall of one of Hollywood's biggest poker games. The names have been changed to protect the guilty."

We're not sure how much is true, but we know the bet was real because Vince van Patten was the guy who took the gamble. We know first hand that the depiction of the Hollywood private poker scene is spot on. And we know the Van Patten's have been a gambling family for generations. There's a lot of truth in this movie and in it's characters. It never does reach it's potential in our opinion only because we know people just like the ones in this movie, and they are a rich source for comedy, but 7 Days To Vegas is still worth the ride.

If you're looking for a feel-good, (The Hangover for guys over 40) 92-minute break from the crazy, check it out on Prime or Vimeo for rent or free on Tubi and Sling.

Big thanks to Mike for the recommendation!

It's more about the prop bet than the poker table

Vimeo describes it as "an edgy comedy based on the true story of the rise and fall of one of Hollywood's biggest poker games. The names have been changed to protect the guilty."

If you're looking for a feel-good, (The Hangover for guys over 40) 92-minute break from the crazy, check it out on Prime or Vimeo for rent or free on Tubi and Sling.

Big thanks to Mike for the recommendation!

Previous Episode

Ep: 16 Brave New World and Perry Mason

Check out our site, What Are Travis and Elaine Watching for all the pix, videos, links and extras!
We watched a lot of smart and sexy TV this week. Peacock launched with it's original series, BRAVE NEW WORLD and Perry Mason turned a corner. But first...
Happy Anniversary To Us!

This week we went outside!! We went to a Drive-in! In our car!
Here are a few pix, as promised! (see our site)
The Peacock has landed. BRAVE NEW WORLD

The Peacock Network launched wide on July 15th and the first Peacock Original we checked out was the series Brave New World

First: What is Peacock and how do I get it?

The Peacock Network is NBC's streaming app. Get it? Peacock?

(see our site)
Peacock was soft launched to Comcast customers April 15th and wide, this week. It's available on Xbox One devices, including the Xbox One S and Xbox One X, Apple devices, including the iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Apple TV 4K, and Apple TV HD.

Peacock is also web browser friendly if you are running recent versions of Chrome, Firefox, MS Edge, and Safari. You can app Peacock to Android tablets, newer models of Android TVs, LG Smart TVs, and Vizio TVs with SmartCast and Chromecast-enabled devices.
On June 20th Peacock became available on Playstation 4.
But Hey! What about FireTV and Roku?

As of this date, Peacock is not available on the menu for Firestick/TV or Roku. NBC is blaming the streaming platforms, blah blah... who cares. Below you'll find the instructions on how to add Peacock to your device.
FireTV/Firestick or Roku

Get your Firestick (we highly recommend) or Roku clicking o the images below. (see our site)
Is Peacock worth it?

See our site for all the details.

Brave New World
We binged the entire season/series(?) of the Peacock original, Brave New World.
Brave New World, is based on Aldous Huxley's 1932 novel but is uncannily current. Made us wonder how the residents of "New London" would have reacted to our current situation! We think the sound of Soma Pez dispensers would be deafening!
Did we like it? Hell yeah!

And not just because of the ubiquitous of sex and orgies.
See out website What Are Travis and Elaine Watching? for more about BRAVE NEW WORLD, a Perry Mason update and a new song by Johnny Stromboli!

Next Episode

Lost Episode 10: The Movies That Made Us

Note - this episode was recorded before we got our new sound equipment. If we mention anything current... it probably isn't so current anymore!

In this episode, we talk about the movies we saw as kids that made us the odd couple we are today.
In our opinion, most, if not all, of these films, are suitable for your kids, at whatever age you think is appropriate. As kids, our viewing was never controlled or censored, and we believe that's a good thing, but you know your kids best.
Our Lists

Travis

The Day The Earth Stood Still

Invaders From Mars

Blackboard Jungle

A Hard Days Night

Double Indemnity

Diabolique

Adam's Rib

The Seven Year Itch

Elaine

Angels With Dirty Faces

The Wizard Of Oz

Camelot

Mary Poppins

A Face In The Crowd

The Grapes Of Wrath

Frankenstein

The Wolf Man

To Kill A Mockingbird

The Great Escape

Stalag 17

The Boy With Green Hair

We could have added so many more...

And maybe we will. But these are a good representation of movies we saw before our teenage years that really made an impact and that we still enjoy today, We'd love to hear yours! Hit us up on social media with your childhood favorites and we'll reply!