King of Kong
Okay, so this is kind of old news by now, but I had forgotten about this movie, King of Kong a Fist Full of Quarters, until I found it in the Netflix Watch Instantly section, and the movie is so good I figured people could use a reminder. The premise (the obsessive pursuit of the highest Donkey Kong score in history) seems moderately polarizing, in that some people are instantly interested while others are instantly disinterested, and, while the movie could indeed go either way based on this premise, it goes way beyond it. I found myself becoming completely wrapped up in the story line to the point of suffering serious anxiety towards the end. The story is that regional hot sauce king, Billy Mitchell, nabbed the highest score in the arcade version of Donkey Kong way back in 1982 and never stopped winning in both games and life since. In 2003, jobless and generally hapless Steve Wiebe finds Billy Mitchell’s record online and decides he can beat it. The ensuing absurdity of he showdown between Steve Griebe and Billy Mitchell and his Twin Galaxies cronies is laughable and infuriating and provides for a great documentary.



