Top Three Gambling Movies
Here are our picks for the top three gambling movies for today.Welcome to my page of the latest Feature Movie Reviews. This page will be constantly updated with three new movie descriptions for those of you who don't really know where to start when looking for a gambling movie. Here, you'll find three great gambling movies, picked from the extensive list of gambling movies on this site. Hopefully this short list will at least give you at starting point if you want to watch a gambling movie. On the other hand, you might just be looking for a new gambling movie to watch, and this page might just give you the title of one you've never watched before. Or you saw it long ago, and have forgotten about it until now, that is. So have a look at this list of gambling movies, and if you have a gambling movie in mind that you think should be featured on this page. I'll definitely take your suggestion into account when I'm renewing the information on this page. Enjoy!
| The Gambler - 1974 | |
 | THE GAMBLER, directed by Karel Reisz, stars James Caan in a difficult role as Alex Freed, a compulsive gambler with many inner demons, who is completely out of control. He can't resist a bad bet because that's where the "juice" is. While his irrational rationalizations--largely influenced by Dostoyevsky, whose novel, THE GAMBLER, he teaches to his students at City College--might seem like a lot of existential hot air, they are well dramatized, making his descent downward believable even as his actions become increasingly frenetic. Reisz provides a sound realism to the THE GAMBLER's settings both in Las Vegas and on the streets of New York. Made at the same time as Robert Altman's CALIFORNIA SPLIT, which attempted to visually create the internal world of the compulsive gambler, here Reisz presents a gritty realism to the world of bookies, loan sharks, and their violent enforcers. He relies on Caan, generally a more physical actor, to portray the cultured intellectual who loves Mahler, but is obsessed with danger. Caan starts slowly, and with the help of Lauren Hutton in a good performance as Billie, his predictable blond girlfriend, he illuminates the world of gambling in this tense, realistic film. |
| ESPN: The 2003 World Series of Poker - Season 1 - 2003 | |
 | The World Series of Poker is held every year at Harrah's Horseshoe Casino, and is looked forward to year-round by poker enthusiasts. Begun in 1970 by Benny Binion, it has grown in audience and participation numbers, and offers 33 events for players to flex their gambling muscles in pursuit of the multi-million dollar prize. A marathon game that isn't over until one player holds all the chips, it is inevitably an exciting, suspenseful, and often surprising competition that ultimately determines the world champion of poker. 2003 marked a particularly momentous occasion in the history of the world's premiere poker event, when Chris Moneymaker, who made it to the table through a satellite competition entered for $40, and walked away a millionaire. Competing against over 800 of the world's best professional poker players, the 27-year-old Moneymaker was the most unlikely champion in poker history, and now ESPN has made the entire competition available for home viewing without commercial interruption. Audiences can watch the impossible play out before their eyes, observing the mixture of skill, luck, and strategy that made one man's dreams come true! |
| Showgirls - 1995 | |
 | High-strung, statuesque Nomi Mallone (Elizabeth Berkely) is determined to be a dancer in Las Vegas, whatever it takes--but she starts out as a stripper. Through her seamstress roommate (Gina Ravera), Nomi catches the attention of the voracious bisexual Cristal (Gina Gershon), star of an extravagant pagan sex show called "Goddess" which plays nightly at the swanky Stardust Casino. Through Cristal's influence, Nomi gets a chance to audition for "Goddess" and is soon involved in all sorts of sordid backstage goings-on, including bitchy dueling with Cristal over Stardust head honcho Zack (Kyle McLachlan). Maligned by many critics upon its original release, SHOWGIRLS has since become a true camp classic, revived for midnight showings and beloved for its decadence, high nudity yield, and outrageously catty dialogue (courtesy of screenwriter Joe Eszterhas). Its director is Paul Verhoeven (ROBOCOP, TOTAL RECALL), so one can safely assume SHOWGIRLS' over-the-top hostility and sexuality is meant to be a satire of American culture. One of the first big-budget Hollywood movies to be released with an NC-17 rating, its lack of box office success meant few others would have the guts to follow. |