The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters - 1/29/2008
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The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters - 1/29/2008
Was wondering how long I was going to have to wait for this highly rated independent to be released.
Never had a chance to see it in the theater and have been really anticipating this release. Have heard nothing but good things about it and it is a total blind buy for me.
96% on Rotten Tomatoes
1/29/2007
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The stuff of gladiatorial battle is here: good versus evil, right versus wrong, nerd versus... super-nerd? At any rate, it's a more entertaining showdown than most fictional movies can muster. The King of Kong is the saga of Steve Wiebe, a Redmond, Washington dweeb who sets a new record in the video game Donkey Kong, only to see his accomplishment challenged by the grand poobahs of the gaming establishment. And if you don't know how pernickety the grand poobahs of the gaming establishment can be, well, one of the pleasures of this movie is finding out about this collection of oddballs. It seems Wiebe has toppled a score that has stood since 1982, when eminent "Gamer of the Century" Billy Mitchell set it, and Mitchell isn't too happy about being overthrown. A black-mulleted showboat, Mitchell provides the perfect counterpoint to Wiebe's mild-mannered family man, and the smaller fish around him are no less colorful. This is one of those movies you watch in delighted disbelief, marveling that such people exist--and that they gladly allowed themselves to be filmed. Director Seth Gordon does an important thing in presenting this world of eccentrics: he doesn't mock them, or provide editorial nudging; he simply lets them be. The result is an ingratiating classic. --Robert Horton
Never had a chance to see it in the theater and have been really anticipating this release. Have heard nothing but good things about it and it is a total blind buy for me.
96% on Rotten Tomatoes
1/29/2007
Amazon Pre-Order
The stuff of gladiatorial battle is here: good versus evil, right versus wrong, nerd versus... super-nerd? At any rate, it's a more entertaining showdown than most fictional movies can muster. The King of Kong is the saga of Steve Wiebe, a Redmond, Washington dweeb who sets a new record in the video game Donkey Kong, only to see his accomplishment challenged by the grand poobahs of the gaming establishment. And if you don't know how pernickety the grand poobahs of the gaming establishment can be, well, one of the pleasures of this movie is finding out about this collection of oddballs. It seems Wiebe has toppled a score that has stood since 1982, when eminent "Gamer of the Century" Billy Mitchell set it, and Mitchell isn't too happy about being overthrown. A black-mulleted showboat, Mitchell provides the perfect counterpoint to Wiebe's mild-mannered family man, and the smaller fish around him are no less colorful. This is one of those movies you watch in delighted disbelief, marveling that such people exist--and that they gladly allowed themselves to be filmed. Director Seth Gordon does an important thing in presenting this world of eccentrics: he doesn't mock them, or provide editorial nudging; he simply lets them be. The result is an ingratiating classic. --Robert Horton
Last edited by SoSpacey; 12-13-07 at 02:02 PM.
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My favorite flick of the year!
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I have heard nothing but good things about this, I will be getting it myself. Thanks OP.
I still play Kong sometimes myself, but Robotron is the game to play for me. 25 years later and it's still kicking my ass.
I still play Kong sometimes myself, but Robotron is the game to play for me. 25 years later and it's still kicking my ass.
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Sounds really good from the sound clips on Howard Stern a while back. There was one part where the guy says "There's a Donkey Kong kill screen coming up for anybody who wants to see".
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Was lucky enough to see this in the theatre, can't wait to revisit it again!
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Extras will include a commentary from director Seth Gordon, producer Ed Cunningham, associate producer Clay Tweel and associate producer Luis Lopez, a second commentary from IGN.com editor and i am 8-bit founder, featurettes including extended interviews, player profiles and bonus footage, and “A Really, Really Brief History of Donkey Kong" animated short.
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Cover Art:
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#15
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This movie was excellent. Surprised they didn't try to cash in around the holidays! Nintendo should have promoted this with some kind of Donkey Kong release (maybe not, as they just released that horrible Wii game that some unhappy kids will get for the holidays). The tone of the movie reminded me of American Movie.
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Originally Posted by Zen Peckinpah
Wasn't that South Park episode where Stan's dad and Bono are in the crap-taking contest a spoof on this?
King of Kong is awesome by the way.
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Is this where the clip is from that I've heard Howard Stern play with some guy continuously telling people there is a King Kong kill screen possibly coming up soon?
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Originally Posted by Simpson Purist
I'm strongly considering a blind buy for this movie.
I was hoping for a better set of extras, unless I'm missing something there's no update of the events that followed the film? I thought maybe that's why it took so long to get the DVD out.
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I watched this the other day (not the actual DVD) and I really dug it. I'll gladly pick this up. The only thing more pathetic than most of the people featured were Billy Mitchell's little cronies constantly calling him to give updates on Weibe's progress. I'm looking forward to seeing the update featurette. And for those curious, I went to Twin Galaxies website to look at the top Donkey Kong score and
Spoiler:
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Originally Posted by monkeyboy
I was hoping for a better set of extras, unless I'm missing something there's no update of the events that followed the film? I thought maybe that's why it took so long to get the DVD out.
This is a great movie, and one that doesn't need to be in HD. Hell, it would probably be funnier to see it on VHS.