Kong King
I watched a really good movie over the weekend. It’s called King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters. I had heard from two sources that this movie was good, and now you can add me to the list of people recommending this film. I know when I tell what the subject of the film is, you’re going to think “there’s no way this could be a great movie”. But if you thought that you would be wrong. And I think that that’s because the ostensible subject of this film is not really what it’s about.
The quick version of what this film is about: It’s about two guys who are trying to set the world record score on the video game Donkey Kong. See what I mean? Sounds boring as hell. And I grew up playing Donkey Kong! But what this movie really is is a fascinating psychological study. You’ve got obsession, low self-esteem, megalomania, obsessive compulsive disorder, compensation, manipulation, some serious denial, validation, perserverance, and transference. What’s not to like? I’m fascinated by psychology and this film is a psychology textbook come to life. There’s some just really jaw dropping stuff here. But I think almost anyone would find this film entertaining.
You don’t have to take my word on all this. The review aggregating site Metacritic scores King of Kong at an 83, which is pretty high. It just came out on DVD a few weeks ago.
The quick version of what this film is about: It’s about two guys who are trying to set the world record score on the video game Donkey Kong. See what I mean? Sounds boring as hell. And I grew up playing Donkey Kong! But what this movie really is is a fascinating psychological study. You’ve got obsession, low self-esteem, megalomania, obsessive compulsive disorder, compensation, manipulation, some serious denial, validation, perserverance, and transference. What’s not to like? I’m fascinated by psychology and this film is a psychology textbook come to life. There’s some just really jaw dropping stuff here. But I think almost anyone would find this film entertaining.
You don’t have to take my word on all this. The review aggregating site Metacritic scores King of Kong at an 83, which is pretty high. It just came out on DVD a few weeks ago.
Labels: Movies
posted by JC at 9:38 PM
6 Comments:
I love this sort of stuff. We'll have to check it out. Have you seen any of the 7 Up movies yet?
I was an asteroids girl myself. And well of course pong. Pinball will be forever my favorite though.
Look, I would like to see that movie but still haven't found the time to watch the latest Coen Bros. flick. or Borat for that matter. damnit.
Well, seeing as how I love documentaries it sounds like exactly the type of movie I would flip over. It sounds like the documentary they were filming in "Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants." I wonder if that gave the director the idea? We're going to Blockbuster today - I hope they have it available.
For some reason your blog wasn't updating in my feed.. it kept showing the snow thing as your last post.
I saw it last month and liked it alot. Glad you did, too. you may also like "Darkon". I saw it at the Woodstock Film Festival two years ago. It just aired on IFC recently. It's about two rival groups of live action role players. No, really, great fun, I promise.
I saw it last month and liked it alot. Glad you did, too. you may also like "Darkon". I saw it at the Woodstock Film Festival two years ago. It just aired on IFC recently. It's about two rival groups of live action role players. No, really, great fun, I promise.
I saw it last month and liked it alot. Glad you did, too. you may also like "Darkon". I saw it at the Woodstock Film Festival two years ago. It just aired on IFC recently. It's about two rival groups of live action role players. No, really, great fun, I promise.
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