Posts by David Levien

  • Requiem for a Rounder: R.I.P., Joel ‘Bagels’ Rosenberg, a.k.a. Joey Knish

    “In the poker game of life, women are the rake.” We gave that line to Edward Norton’s Worm in the movie Rounders, but in real life, Joel “Bagels” Rosenberg said it, off the cuff, at 3 a.m., leaning against a wall at the Mayfair Club, an underground card room that used to be the center of the poker world in New York.

  • Raging Bull

    How Ordinary People Managed to Beat Raging Bull

    In 1980, Raging Bull loses to Ordinary People. Sometimes we need a little time with our art. During the 1980 Best Picture race, the Academy needed a standing eight count to clear its collective head. If it had gotten one, it would’ve seen the truth. Art can be immediate — instantaneous even — and a […]