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Game theory in film, music, and fiction.

 

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img Formula 51 (The 51st State) Ebert panned it, but apparently includes a game of chicken with Samuel L. Jackson "committing" by sticking his hands out the window
(Action Comedy, 2002) Reviews: Roger Ebert
Amazon
img The Game
(Thriller, 1997) Reviews: Roger Ebert
Amazon
img Groundhog Day
(Comedy, 1993) Reviews: Roger Ebert, Transparency Now
Amazon
img Drowning by Numbers
(1997) Reviews: Roger Ebert
Amazon
img Panic Room
(Thriller, 2002) Reviews: Roger Ebert
Amazon
img The Spanish Prisoner
(Drama/Thriller, 1997) film web site
Reviews: Roger Ebert
Amazon
img Four Rooms
(Comedy, 1995) Reviews: Roger Ebert
Amazon
img The Maltese Falcon First, there is bluffing. Sam Spade fakes impatience to try to force the Fat Man to settle quickly. Second, there is a nice bit of rollback, combined with brinkmanship (threat of death to gain infromation).
(Drama, 1941) Reviews: Roger Ebert
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Some other movies suggested to Game Theory .net:

  • Love and Death, with Woody Allen and Diane Keaton, suggested by Sri Sridharan.
  • Phonebooth, suggested by Nigel Brown
  • I Robot, with robots deciding which life to save using statistical algoritms, suggested by Gregor Završnik
  • The Fog of War, documentary on Robert McNamara, suggested by John Schriber and many others
  • Failsafe, as a companion to Dr. Strangelove, suggested by Lloyd Huskey
  • Die Hard, with a reference to Poison Pills, suggested by Rein Halbersma
  • Matrix Reloaded, "the confrontation between Neo and the Architect" suggested by Kit Gillingham
  • LA Confidential, with a prisoner's dilemma is used to get two suspected murderers to confess to a crime they didn't really commit, suggested by Brian Barnes
  • Crimson Tide, the brinkmanship game to get needed information by threatening death
  • Battle Royal, a film by Kinji Fukasaku in which youth engage in a game of "Survivor" with only one who leave the island alive.
  • The Gods Must Be Crazy, an example of brinkmanship - threatening death to get needed information by raising the height from which one is dropped to the ground.
  • Saw, (movie site)
 

Some other books suggested to Game Theory .net:

  • Baudolino by Umberto Eco. "The hero Baudolino is characterized as a strategic lier. The distinction between a lier and a strategic lier is made in Dixit and Nalebuff's 'Thinking Strategically,'" suggests Ugur Soytas.
  • Cod: A Biography of the Fish That Changed the World, by Mark Kurlansky. "In the middle chapters, a mechanism design problem among fishermen and authorities is considered ... regulation by fish haul cannot implement truth telling since fishermen dump fish when they have a good catch," suggests Tetsuya Saitoh
  • Ender's Game: by Orson Scott Card, "about a boy who has to go through Battle School,a school where you get to play General. Fascinating stuff,the different strategies he employs and develops," suggested by Dan
 

Some other music suggested to Game Theory .net:

  • John Cage's idea for "aleatory" (random) composition, suggested by Tyler Cowen.
 

Some other television shows suggested to Game Theory .net:

  • Dilbert (episode "virtual employee", no. 212), a prisoner's dilemma that Dilbert loses because he reasons, incorrectly, that "we are all aware of the fact that this is dilemma so everyone will keep his mouth shut," suggested by Jakob Kapeller
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