The King of Kong

[w/o horse]

Follows a middle school science teacher as he battles a hot sauce mogul for the Guinness World Record on the arcade classic Donkey Kong.
http://www.apple.com/trailers/picturehouse/kingofkong/

This documentary is premium stuff.  I brought a very skeptical girlfriend, who was almost mad at me for taking her to this, and she left with a smile.  The characters are interesting, and their fascination with Donkey Kong isn't exagerrated by the filmmakers.  It's plain to see that the filmmakers were not catering to people who thesmelves were obsessive about videogames and the film is not, besides its subject material, nerdy.  That's how it seems like the subject material is usually handled, though I don't know if the material has been handled (I see another, Chasing Ghosts is on its way), but here is a documentary that is genuine and entertaining.

It falls somewhere outside of everything I usually see the way a documentary has the ability to stretch out into the bizarre and captivating.  The story is unique, the documentary is powerfully and expertly made.

For real.  I recommend.

(If there's another topic for this I'm sorry, every time I use the Xixax search my browser freezes.  And then I can't access Xixax for something around five minutes.)

[Gamblour.]

Really though. This movie is one of the best movies I have ever seen. I've never felt that sense of compulsive I-can-do-whatever-I-put-my-mind-to feeling on screen before, it was like having my mind and body in sync with a film. Steve Wiebe is the ultimate underdog, and the makers of this film are really brilliant. The story is told perfectly and though its short, at 77 minutes, it feels like an epic. It's so wonderful. My top movie for the year.

[pete]

finally went out to catch it, based on gamblour's review mostly.  it was a good times.  though I did think they were unfair to the "bad guy".  I didn't think he was evil; he was just afraid and also somewhat socially inept.  the film showcased all sorts of nerds, pitting them against our hero who was decidedly not a nerd.  the bad guy was just the type of nerd who hid behind arrogance.  in my opinion his mean-spiritedness came from his naiveté; he thought he could fool everyone by maintaining this image, which backfired because he lacked charisma.  for me the film really wasn't about underdog vs. top dog; it was about charming vs. awkward.

[w/o horse]

Well fuck you pete.

[Gamblour.]

finally went out to catch it, based on gamblour's review mostly.  it was a good times.  though I did think they were unfair to the "bad guy".  I didn't think he was evil; he was just afraid and also somewhat socially inept.  the film showcased all sorts of nerds, pitting them against our hero who was decidedly not a nerd.  the bad guy was just the type of nerd who hid behind arrogance.  in my opinion his mean-spiritedness came from his naiveté; he thought he could fool everyone by maintaining this image, which backfired because he lacked charisma.  for me the film really wasn't about underdog vs. top dog; it was about charming vs. awkward.

It's funny, the people in the movie talk about how charming Billy Mitchell is and the filmmakers have written about it as well, but he comes have as the complete opposite of charming, to me, which I think is the source of how the film is unfair in a way. I can see his remarks being arrogant in a very playful way, like I'm sure we all have that friend who says arrogant shit in jest, but really they say it because they truly are arrogant. The fact that the movie isn't totally unfair is that Billy's reputation gave him leniency with the judges, where as Steve has to really earn it. The image he conveys does have gravity in these situations, so portraying him as such is only appropriate.

My favorite scene was the montage of Wiebe drumming, teaching, playing baseball, and figuring out the intervals of the springs. It was like a sequence that should have been in a Beautiful Mind, but wasn't because that movie wasn't good.

[pete]

that's what I was saying!  Steve Wiebe is charming and Bill Mitchel is not charming at all.  They also went into depth showing just how "not a nerd" he is, showing him playing sports, making kids laugh, being a father, playing various instruments.  Bill Michell only had these really over the top moments in public, trying to maintain his persona.

[w/o horse]

There's conscious decisions by the filmmakers that affect the expectations for objective documentation.

The original concept of the film was inspired by sports films.  This, and all other insights into the filmmakers, comes from the Q&A that followed my screening.  The idea was the build Wiebe as the underdog and for the film to culminate in a head-to-head battle.  We can assume the filmmakers' disappointment in Mitchel for not providing this footage.  Despite him promulgating contradictory lessons in the importance of live gaming.

This leads to the filmmakers' amplification of Mitchel's shortcomings as a device that enhances their underdog conception.  It's fair to say their expectations were mainly rooted in his inability to perform as the entertainer they had anticipated.  They said that the film is a echo of the personal let-down they experience with Mitchel.

Examples of this:  Mitchel and Wiebe met before Mitchel entered the arcade with Wiebe playing DK.  He actually did enter the restaurant the night of the arranged dinner that Wiebe stumbled into (not unintentionally, as the guy he was eating with is some kind of investigative reporter in the videogame world and knew of the dinner).  The meeting was casual but awkward.  They had also met before at a videogame exhibition of some sort where they played an emulated version of DK together.  The filmmakers felt the inclusion of this was redundant from a narrative point of view.

Mitchel's high score, sent in by tape in the film, is removed the next day by Twin Galaxies until later verified (following Twin Galaxies protocol).  The film fails to mention that this process occurs because it suggests manipulation (my opinion).  The filmmakers said it was again redundant.

Examples culled from videogame magazines covering this film (which always cite first-hand).  I've read these things because there's this odd sub-world of videogame fanatics incredibly interested in this movie that have allowed the film to illuminate the subjectivity of documentaries in a really curious way for me.  With most documentaries there isn't a rabid fan base ready to criticize and counter-argument with the passion the opponents of this one do.

[MacGuffin]

I loved this doc. Will be my top pick for the Xixax Best Doc. If you think it's about gaming, it really takes a turn and becomes more about the little man fighting The Man. Funny and heartbreaking. Best use of "You're The Best Around" since The Karate Kid.

[Gamblour.]

Likewise, it'll be my Best Doc pic. I love its portrayal of obsession and perfectionism.

[abuck1220]

absolutely fantastic. best documentary for sure, and likely in my top 5 overall (if not higher).

i also made a reluctant spouse watch this with me (after i had seen it once), and she loved it. she wanted to kill that brian kuh douchebag, who is 100 times more pathetic than billy mitchell.