The King of Kong

[Adam LaMosca]

The King of Kong

The King of Kong's director, Seth Gordon, takes pains to highlight Donkey Kong's early-?80s domination of the arcade scene, as well as the game's notorious difficulty. He doesn't, however, chronicle the near-total decline of the North American arcade since then, or note that Donkey Kong's status in the modern gaming world is that of a low-resolution relic, appreciated mostly for nostalgia and historical value. And Gordon doesn't really have to, because the film's events speak for themselves.

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[Andrew Armstrong]

I still haven't got a reply about if it'd ever be out in the UK - Good review, I am glad you noted the portrayal of the characters regarding who the director liked most and the pidgeonholing which I read about elsewhere.

Oh, and will there be a review about Chasing Ghosts: Beyond the Arcade [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chasing_Ghosts:_Beyond_the_Arcade] which also came out this year? That, too, I've had no reply on if it will ever be in the UK.

 

[J.theYellow]

I enjoyed this movie thoroughly, but I wondered at how all the footage got done. It does make Wiebe out to be the hero and Mitchell out to be a self-important cockbag, but the MTV News article doesn't seem to be much in the way of refuting that. Mitchell just seems to be wanting it both ways, as usual -- to be heralded for his past successes and hold onto them for his own sake, or to be aloof and unconcerned enough to distance himself from the events in the latter half of the film and only show up to lurk in the arcade where Wiebe's doggedly trying to beat his latest Donkey Kong score and mutter disparaging things about him while being led around by his enormous-bosomed wife.

In the end, however, Wiebe still looks like a rather genial version of every button-mashing obsessive-compulsive gamer that has lived in the past 25 years, complete with recurring skin conditions, and his life is still a mess while Mitchell is a successful businessman hawking wing sauce and making big piles of money for his parental cheerleading section. I have real trouble believing either one of them cares too terribly deeply about how they are perceived by the general public, and if Mitchell really cared enough to contact MTV of all outlets to tell his side, why didn't he just show up and shake hands with Wiebe when it could have made a real difference?

Still wondering how Seth Gordon was there for all the shots he got, though his Filmlot interview [http://thefilmlot.com/interviews/INTsgordon.php] is sort of revealing, as is the reminder that New Line has bought the rights to this story to Hollywood-ize it and turn it into an even more outrageous work of fiction. Probably because "Lords of Dogtown" was such a hit.

 

[Stinky-Dinkins [deprecated]]

Does anyone know when it'll get a DVD release?

 

[J.theYellow]

It's still in theaters, so it'll probably be six months to a year before it's released. It's on Time Warner's Picturehouse label (merger of Turner's old Fine Line Features with NewMarket's distribution line.)