Rated: PG-13
Running Time: 79 Minutes
Year: 2007
Boobs: Zero
One Sentence: 1,050,200
David and Goliath, Apollo Creed and Rocky Balboa, George W Bush and The US Constitution. These rivalries are nothing compared to Steve Wiebe and Billy Mitchell. Who are they you ask? Well they are the #1 and #2 world record holders for the classic arcade game Donkey Kong. The King Of Kong was a documentary following the two video game wizards and those people around them and the world of classic arcade competition. It was released in 4 cities in the US this weekend, and lucky for me The Awesome Alamo Drafthouse got it and I got to watch it this weekend.
What sounds like a horrible idea for a documentary has come out as one of the best movies I have seen this year. Kong plays out a picture of two game players, their character, and their lives better than any Hollywood script ever could. The raw emotion of these two players that is shown on their faces whether they are trying to hide it or not, is so tangable and at a level that every person in the audience could understand and empathize with. That is what was so great about this movie, it wasn't about Donkey Kong, it was about normal people with the chance at something great, and I think it really struck a chord with not just me but with the whole audience.
I am lucky that I get to watch movies at The Alamo Drafthouse. The audience there is a very great community, they know when to shut up but they also know when to make noise. We are movie lovers, and movie fans, and this movie is a movie fans movie. There was utter silence, and then there was uproarious applause, booing, and laughter. Everyone in the theater was right there with Steve, Billy and me.
The Alamo also had a Donkey Kong tournament during this weekend, and Steve Wiebe was there. I of course forgot my camera, but I do have this tiny picture of him playing. There was a huge crowd around him. His current score was somewhere in the 650,000 point range. I think I have gotten like 10,000 maybe once if I was lucky.
This is a great movie, you don't have to be a video game fan to enjoy it, or the message it has. If you are in Austin, I think you should go drop by the Alamo to check it out, or add it to your queue, it should be out on DVD eventually and I think you all will have a great time with this one.
