Friday Night Flicks: House of Games

I gave up on the notion that a good film needs to convey some sort of grand, sweeping message to be considered an actual contribution to humanity and the arts a long time ago. That’s not to say it isn’t important to maintain a healthy cinematic diet; we still encourage you to maintain a healthy dosage of post-war Russian melodrama, and to keep up with your Cassavetes intake. And squeeze in something French whenever you can - Godard usually does the trick. Needless to say, the Criterion Channel is your one-stop for all this and more. 

But be sure to sneak in the pointless shit, too. After all, we must return to the great stream of cultural dissonance every now and then, if only to remind us just how good the good shit actually is. And there’s a lot more of it than you think, too - which is really what we’ve been trying to prove here since day one. That’s really all this is.

If you haven’t guessed by now, we’re going to use this opportunity to highlight some of that aforementioned “pointless shit.” And we only say “pointless” because, truth be told, there isn’t much to take away from a film like David Mamet’s House of Games. Don’t get conned? I dunno. But that isn’t to say it isn’t a damn enjoyable watch, and - considering the last few films we’ve taken a look at - we’re overdue for something that doesn’t require any mental gymnastics to appreciate. —Jackson Todd