For the new semester, I?m steering my DVD column in a new direction. Each week will bring a general theme to new and old releases, starting off with the genre of the documentary.
?The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters? (2007)
4.5 out of 5 stars
To most people, ?Donkey Kong? is considered a unusually difficult, archaic arcade game. In fact, the average person can?t get past the third stage. But for Steve Wiebe and legend Billy Mitchell, the fight for the top score represents barrels more.
Although ?King of Kong? is outwardly a documentary following Steve Wiebe as he attempts to break the thought-to-be unbeatable 1982 score of Billy Mitchell, the film transcends simple gaming toward much more universally human traits: competitiveness, conflict and proving one?s worth. As Mitchell sets out, some form of gaming is universal among all humans ? as is conflict ? so the emergence of fiercely competitive gaming is only natural.
The scope of the documentary is impressive, exploring the history of gaming world records, the legend of Billy Mitchell, the bio of lifelong underdog Wiebe and all the other circuits of the seriously passionate retro-gaming subculture. This all leads up to the expected showdown between the two for the title of ?King of Kong? and an official entry in the Guinness Book of World Records. Viewers invariably find themselves rooting for one or the other in their moments of courage and cowardice, leading up to the exhilarating battle.
The film never forgets the hilarious obsession of some of these people: Who doesn?t find an 80-year-old woman bent on setting the world record for ?Q*bert? hilarious? But ?King of Kong? succeeds by going beyond simple subculture observation to expose something much more human, as it also embodies the classic struggle of good versus evil, with integrity being the real high score. Stylistically, the film is very engaging with a hilarious blend of 8-bit electronic music, comically appropriate classical bits and ?80s victory tunes such as ?Eye of the Tiger,? complementing a seamless arrangement of interviews, sound bites, gaming images and text. Furthermore, the DVD is loaded with extras that are surprisingly all worthwhile.
Stimulating our senses, our humor and our hearts, ?King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters? is an epic documentary deriving human drive and compulsion from a gaming relic.
?Tying the Knot? (2004)
2.5 out of 5 stars
Through an array of news footage, speeches and interviews with professionals and average citizens, ?Tying the Knot? depicts the struggle for gay marriage in America and attempts to refute the arguments against it. However, the movie is sadly a bit knotted itself, often losing relevance in favor of drama and digression.
Although its low budget stymies a lot of creative liberty, nothing is really detracted by the very simple presentation: clips, photos and text assembled in software probably no more complex than Windows Movie Maker. What hurts ?Tying the Knot? is a lack of focus on the issue, which is inherently a political one.
Instead, the documentary takes the dramatic role of exploring the personal effects of marital inequality and the struggle of obtaining it. While this is all good and tragic ? no doubt deserving a sad song ? it feels irrelevant, as the documentary becomes an expos? of the results of inequality rather than one of a movement for a civil rights cause. Frankly put, lawyers and politicians should have been interviewed, not a mopey gay farmer who lost his house due to a legal loophole and his inability to marry his partner.
The lack of relevant content, likely due to a low budget, makes only half the documentary interesting, while the other feels like sad-news personal stories that just happen to involve gay people.
Another clear cause of the film?s shortcomings is its release date. ?Tying the Knot? has few historical events to work with since it was screened in 2003, before many countries legalized gay marriage and many states illegalized it. In the long run, a higher-budget, more historically complete documentary on the gay civil rights movement will be made, rendering this one obsolete. Even on stand-alone merit for its own time, ?Tying the Knot? fails to strongly and relevantly portray the issue in its political nature.
It?s not a complete failure. The short Q&A sessions with people on the streets or at pride events are among the most interesting parts of the film, and an interview with a historian on the shifting politico-religious definition brings keen insight to ?Tying the Knot.? Clips of legislators speaking out against the Defense of Marriage Act and a proposed federal marriage amendment are also strikingly poignant. Legal and political tangents like this are wonderful, but unfortunately comprise less than half of the entire documentary. For what it is, ?Tying the Knot? is mediocre. Wait for the inevitable, fully comprehensive take on the issue.
