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The Man from Laramie (1955)

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Mysterious Will Lockhart delivers supplies to storekeeper Barbara Waggoman at Coronado, an isolated town in Apache country. Before long, he's tangled with Dave Waggoman, vicious son of autocratic rancher Alec and cousin of sweet Barbara. But he sticks around town, his presence a catalyst for changes in people's lives, searching for someone he doesn't know...who's been selling rifles to the Apaches.

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House of Games

In his directorial debut, Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright David Mamet creates a stylish cinematic puzzle of games within games, as con men are joined by a psychologist in creating the perfect caper. Dr. Margaret Ford (Lindsay Crouse), the writer of psychological self-help books, meets Mike (Joe Mantegna) as she attempts to help a patient who owes heavy gambling debts. When she herself is the victim of a con, she becomes intrigued by the psychological drama of the con game and joins in a complicated scam involving a suitcase of cash. Mamet directs his extremely complicated plot with skill and complete control until it is impossible to tell who is the con and who is the victim. The suspense builds to an amazing surprise ending which is both reasonable and believable but completely unpredictable. Crouse and Mantegna are outstanding as are all the supporting performances. Mamet and his cinematographer Juan Ruiz-Anchia create a visually stunning, compelling film that does justice to Mamet's superbly written screenplay. Criterion rip.






House of Games is the directional debut from playwright David Mamet and it is an effective and at times surprising psychological thriller. It stars Lindsay Crouse as best-selling psychiatrist, Margaret Ford, who decides to confront the gambler who has driven one of her patients to contemplate suicide. In doing so she leaves the safety and comfort of her somewhat ordinary life behind and travels `downtown' to visit the lowlife place, House of Games.

The gambler Mike (played excellently by Joe Mantegna) turns out to be somewhat sharp and shifty. He offers Crouse's character a deal, if she is willing to sit with him at a game, a big money game in the backroom, he'll cancel the patients debts. The card game ensues and soon the psychiatrist and the gambler are seen to be in a familiar line of work (gaining the trust of others) and a fascinating relationship begins. What makes House of Games interesting and an essential view for any film fan is the constant guessing of who is in control, is it the psychiatrist or the con-man or is it the well-known man of great bluffs David Mamet.

In House of Games the direction is dull and most of the times flat and uninspiring, however in every David Mamet film it is the story which is central to the whole proceedings, not the direction. In House of Games this shines through in part thanks to the superb performances from the two leads (showy and distracting) but mainly as is the case with much of Mamet's work, it is the dialogue, which grips you and slowly draws you into the film. No one in the House of Games says what they mean and conversations become battlegrounds and war of words. Everyone bluffs and double bluffs, which is reminiscent of a poker games natural order. This is a running theme throughout the film and is used to great effect at the right moments to create vast amounts of tension. House of Games can also be viewed as a `class-war' division movie. With Lindsay Crouse we have the middle-class, well-to-do educated psychiatrist and Joe Mantegna is the complete opposite, the working class of America earning a living by `honest' crime. IMDB comment






Casa de juegos. Thriller extraño, con un memorable clima de misterio, que cuenta la historia de una frustrada psiquiatra en plena crisis personal que se introduce en el atractivo y sugerente mundo de los timadores de los bajos fondos. Más que un estudio social (que lo es, también), es una reflexión psicológica acerca de la naturaleza humana, del engaño como única opción vital para satisfacerse a uno mismo en una sociedad materialista y hueca, con una conclusión radicalmente pesimista. Mamet nos lleva de la mano con la misma fascinación que Lindsay Crusoe acompaña a Joe Mantegna por ese mundo desconocido, fascinante y lleno de morbo. La película se construye con la lentitud necesaria para que nos dejemos absorber por sus detalles, sus magníficos y siempre significativos diálogos, sin renunciar por ello a una trama dinámica espléndida.






Engrenages. Le Docteur Margaret Ford est une jeune et brillante psy, peut-être un peu froide et austère. Elle va être amenée à changer quelque peu ses habitudes après sa rencontre avec un joueur professionel dont le style la fascine et à qui elle va demander de lui enseigner son art de l'arnaque. Certaines affaires peuvent très mal tourner...

Shutter (2008)

Fans of the Horror genre, rejoice. Ratings are shameful, but if you liked movies like “The Ring” and “The Grudge” then you won’t care. Video quality looks brilliant!

Treading territory similar to JU-ON: THE GRUDGE (2003), RINGU (1998), and ONE MISSED CALL (2003), all Asian horror films remade for American audiences, SHUTTER is the first English-language film for director Masayuki Ochiai, whose career has been primarily within the horror genre. The result is another potent ghost story able to conjure up feelings of dread through a single longhaired, poker-faced female apparition.

Newlywed New Yorkers Ben (Joshua Jackson, THE SKULLS) and Jane Shaw (Rachael Taylor, TRANSFORMERS) have traveled to Tokyo, where photographer Ben is investigating a potentially lucrative job opportunity. While driving on a dark road at night, the couple runs over a mysterious woman who seems to appear out of nowhere and can’t be found after the accident. Over the next few days, Jane goes sightseeing while Ben works, only to see strange apparitions that also appear on the photos she takes.

IMDB rating: 4.7 (2,253 votes)

RT rating: 9%

Directed by: Masayuki Ochiai

Starring: Joshua Jackson, Rachael Taylor, David Denman

Gone Baby Gone (2007)

Based on the novel by MYSTIC RIVER author Dennis Lehane, GONE BABY GONE marks the directorial debut of actor Ben Affleck. Featuring a solid cast that includes Ed Harris, Morgan Freeman, and Affleck’s brother Casey in the lead role as a private detective.

GONE BABY GONE centers on the disappearance of a young girl in the working class neighborhood of Dorchester in South Boston. With plenty of twists and turns, the movie works as a solid crime thriller, but it’s as a study of a place–and one’s ability to either accept and embrace or ultimately break free from it–that the film flowers.

IMDB rating: 8.0 (11,116 votes)

Directed by: Ben Affleck

Starring: Casey Affleck, Michelle Monaghan, Morgan Freeman, Ed Harris, John Ashton, Amy Ryan