It all started with an Olhausen pool table in a newly-renovated basement.  My new table was elegant, gorgeous…and completely uninviting in an otherwise barren room.  The recently painted walls screamed out for company.  But what would be appropriate? I certainly didn’t want cheesy posters or random artwork that didn’t fit elsewhere in the house.

Then it hit me.  Movie posters.  And not just any movie poster, but posters of billiards movies. Movies like The Hustler, The Color of Money, Poolhall Junkies, and…what else? Were there, in fact, other pool movies? I couldn’t readily decorate my billiards shrine with posters of just three movies.

So, I officially began my investigative journey to research, and ultimately watch (as well as collect posters of) every movie in the “pool/billiards movie” genre.  As of this posting, I’ve discovered 45 billiards movies, 13 billiards “film shorts” (less than 30 minutes), 2 billiards movies in production, and 19 billiards TV shows or episodes about billiards.  To date, I’ve watched 23 of the movies or shorts, and continue in my quest to watch as many of the list as possible.

In subsequent posts, I will introduce you to each of these movies, both critiquing them and sharing random tidbits of info on them.  One final note: The fact that many of them are not particularly good in no way detracts from the joy of the quest to watch them all and become a self-proclaimed world expert (!!) on the pool/billiards movies genre.