spoiler
Did we watch the same movie!? Wiebe, to me, was like the last family man left on earth. His wife loved him so much. Those video game nerds were [censored] and wiebe just trudged right through it. And in the end, he came out on top. Despite all the [censored] - he didn't bend or break he just stuck to his guns and did it. A big chunk of the movie, to me, was showing that nice guys don't always finish last. I dunno. I thought it was a great story.

The ultimate family man would have gotten off his lazy ass and gotten another job to support his family instead of sitting in his garage all day playing donkey kong. He probably would have spent more time with his kids etc...instead of dragging his family all over the country just to play a stupid game.

i guess i don't remember the part about him losing his job. i thought he was working as a science teacher.

yeah he lost his job/got layed off and then got all depressed or whatever and played donkey kong in his garage all day long for like 6 months or something. And then he finally got a job as a science teacher.

takes time to get a job baby, maybe he had some kind of severance package?

he was in school.

edit: and he played at night so he could help w/the kids during the day. his buddies were the ones who sent him across the country, i doubt he made $0 for this movie. Also - his wife wanted this all for him too. I don't know the guy, don't care really, just think your attitude towards it is kinda bogus.

my boss and another friend had general meetings with the director and from the general discussions about everything they basically saw that it was not the pretty simple picture painted. But that one guy is obviously a saint and the other guy is obviously a jerk cuz i mean thats how it appears in the documentary so it must be true.

They shot like 300 or 400 hours of footage supposedly...much like Survivor any Michael Moore doc..hell just about all documentaries...they find the narrative that the story suggests and then do their best to cut the film in a way to best accentuate that intended theme/goal even if it strays from reality and the truth.

So in this case obviously given the different personalities/cultures/etc..they went with the nice sweet innocent all american guy vs. creepy, obsessed,evil, nerd/geek. And then cut the film as best they could to amp up that conflict

I enjoyed it mainly because billy/day/etc are such great character...but the whole conspiracy against the nice family man who just enjoys playing Donkey Kong seemed totally bogus and contrived to me.

Overall I just feel like this is much more a reality tv show/movie than it is a documentary. But thats just me.
Its still a good time and the fictional movie based off the the characters and events will probably be 10x better.

Personally I got caught up in the movie, the story, and all the simplistic characterizations of the vilians/heroes and that was awesome. Afterward it's easy to see that everything wasn't so simple, but for 90 minutes or whatever it just feels really good tto cheer on weibe and curse mitchell. In any case, the movie succeeded in telling a great story that pulls you in, which is really all you can ask from a documentary about a couple guys that play way too many video games.

I agree on all your points...I just think it is one of the docs that maybe doesn't hold up as well on repeat viewings.

I had to watch it a bunch of times over the summer so maybe thats why I don't like it as much as I did the first time.

I just got back from seeing this the second time. I got caught up in it the first time because I knew some of the people making the movie and had been hearing about it for a while.

After my second viewing I felt that Billy and Steve both got a very fair shake in the movie. I felt like Sanders might have been the one who was least accurately portrayed, and he was a minor character.

I'm almost more impressed with my second viewing than the first, after reading a lot about the complaints for deviations from the true story.

However, I went with 11 other people and they all seemed to get out of it that Billy was a dbag and Steve was a hero. So I guess I was watching more for Billy's redeeming qualities and him being himself. This time around I definitely had a lot more respect for Billy, but still felt like he wasn't misrepresented. Obviously I don't know the guy, but someone who says that kind of stuff when a camera is in front of him has some kind of complex.

So all in all trying to watch it with a more critical eye for how the people were represented I felt it was pretty fair. I think Walter Day was someone to be looked up to, and anyone thinking he was made a fool of from the movie doesn't get that this was someone living out his dream.

It seemed like Brian Kuh and some of the other gamers were poked fun of a bit, but this is subculture that is an easy laugh for almost any viewing demographic.

I can confirm that I enjoyed this more the second time. And I liked it a lot the first time. To say Billy was portrayed as anything but a total d-bag is silly. And I'm sure he really is a d-bag as well.

I wasn't saying Billy isn't portrayed as a dbag, and I wasn't saying that he is likely to not be a dbag. Which is why I said I think they both got fair shake.
However, watching this movie with a critical eye, specifically for Billy, I can see how he might have a some redeeming qualities that got left on the cutting room floor. Also, wtf at his wife's ridiculous fake boobs. Those things definitely racked up some dbag points for him.

Edit, I also saw this at the Alamo Draughthouse, and drank a lot during it, which makes me likely to dispute/clarify some things I said tomorrow. I followed this up with the Draughthouse Pub, which is even better than the Alamo Draughthouse. (FYI Austinites-they are unrelated entities, but both serve delicious beer)

well, my friend Suzzer wanted to go to the movies tonite and since he'd seen it already, he was sure i would think it's funny. BTW: I had not read this thread at ALL until just now. As it turned out, i knew nothing about this film except it's funny..and 10 minutes into it, i'm like "wtf, 90 minutes of a bunch of gaming geeks documentary????? ARGH" SO my point is, I probably enjoyed this film SO much more b/c of not knowing even the premise of the film, being a documentary, true story, or even about Donkey Kong (which is from my era)!!!!!!!!! I totally recommend it to everyone!!!

re: spoilers- IMO, I would say even any mention about who's a douche bag or hero would spoil it, outside of what the trailers reveal. I don't even care for those b/c i like to be completely surprised & entertained. I am also gonna comment on another type of spoiler b/c it bugs me SO much and IMO it's a total douche bag thing to do (suzzer didn't do this tonite- i'm just ranting); which is watch a movie w/someone, and then before a scene, say "oh this part is so funny!!!" WTF??? Like i'm not intelligent enough to figure that out on my own. Makes sense if someone is not watching the movie (or w/e) but if i am, why say that to me??? i hate that. and i have to say that i'm glad i didn't read this thread before going tonite...and i think there should be a before and after you've seen the movie type threads. I would say do a poll of if it's good, no comments allowed. And people will know, hey, see this flick or don't. And then, like this thread, could be discussion of that movie. w/o any spoilers what so ever to worry about! B/C i LOVED this movie, i totally wanna discuss it w/you all but really don't wanna do the worry-write/read in white lettering thing b/c it's a pain to do a lot. Should just have a discussion thread. This is not a spoiler on this thread- but no matter how much editting they did on this movie, there is NO way you can say Billy Mitchel(BM=crap) is NOT a douchebag! He said and did ALL that. period. *johnny Depp plays him, i will see that movie.

Last, for you LAers...the Landmark Theatre is showing it and if you haven't been, it is a very nice, enjoyable theatre!! Clean, cool people, and classy!!! Even has a nice bar/lounge.
The Landmark 10850 West Pico Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90064, 310-281-8233

-ala

edit: The Landmark also shows popular movies too, so it's an enjoyable movie experience.

other thing: is i highly recommend seeing this IN the theatre b/c it is great w/the audience's reactions (suzzer said this before we went but i thought i'd add this to those that wait for dvd) And i think this movie is having such a growing popular response, that it will mimick Swingers, which was an Indie too.

Looks like they added some more cities:
NOW PLAYING!

* Austin, TX (Alamo South Lamar 6)
* New York, NY (Empire 25, IFC Center)
* Seattle, WA (Varsity 3)
* Chicago, IL (Century Centre Cinema 7)
* Washington, DC (E-Street Cinema)
* Cambridge, MA (Kendall Square Cinema)
* Minneapolis, MN (Lagoon 5)
* San Francisco, CA (Lumiere 3)
* Pasadena, CA (Playhouse 7 Cinemas)
* Berkeley, CA (Shattuck 10)
* Los Angeles, CA (The Landmark)
* Salt Lake City, UT (Broadway 6)
* Santa Fe, NM (Devargas Cinema 6)
* Portland, OR (Fox Tower)
* Dallas, TX (Inwood 3)
* San Diego, CA (Ken)
* Ft. Lauderdale, FL (Las Olas 15)
* Olathe, KS (Studio 30)
* Irvine, CA (University 6)

September 7

* Atlanta, GA (Landmark Midtown)
* Austin, TX (Arbor Cinemas @ Great Hills 8)
* Brookline, MA (Coolidge Corner Theatre)
* Canoga Park, CA (Fallbrook 7)
* Claremont, CA (Claremont 5)
* Eagan, MN (Eagan Cinema 16)
* Evanston, IL (Evanston 18)
* Lincolnshire, IL (Lincolnshire 20)
* San Antonio, TX (Bijou @ The Crossroads 6)
* Palm Springs, CA (Camelot Cinema 3)
* Philadelphia, PA (Ritz at the Bourse)
* Princeton, NJ (Garden Twin Cinema)
* San Antonio, TX (Bijou @ The Crossroads 6)
* San Jose, CA (Camera 12)
* Seattle, WA (Uptown 3)
* South Barrington, IL (South Barrington 30)
* Tallahassee, FL (Miracle 5)
* Warrenville, IL (Cantera 30)

September 14

* Ann Arbor, MI (State 2 Theater)
* Baltimore, MD (Charles Theatre)
* Charlotte, NC (Ballantyne Village 5)
* Coconut Grove, FL (Cocowalk 16)
* College Station, TX (Movies 18)
* Houston, TX (Greenway Plaza 3)
* Indianapolis, IN (Keystone Art Cinema 7)
* Jacksonville, FL (Regency Square 24)
* Jupiter, FL (Jupiter 18)
* Lake Buena Vista, FL (Pleasure Island 24)
* Lawrence, KS (Liberty Hall)
* Madison, WI (Sundance Cinemas 6)
* Meredith, NH (Meredith Cinema)
* Milwaukee, WI (Oriental 3)
* Nashville, TN (Belcourt 2)
* Oklahoma City, OK (Oklahoma City Museum of Art)
* Omaha, NE (Dundee 1)
* Providence, RI (Avon Theatre)
* Royal Oak, MI (Mainart Theater 3)
* San Luis Obispo, CA (Palm Theatre)
* State College, PA (Premiere 12 Cinemas)
* Tacoma, WA (Grand)
* Tampa, FL (Veterans 24)
* Tulsa, OK (Starworld 20)
* Waco, TX (Starplex Galaxy)

September 21

* Cleveland, OH (Cedar Lee 6)
* Athens, GA (Cine 2)
* Columbus, OH (Drexel Gateway 8)
* Lexington, KY (Kentucky Theatre)
* Burlington, VT (Roxy/Nickelodeon)
* St. Louis, MO (Tivoli 3)

September 28

* Iowa City, IA (Bijou)
* St. Pete's Beach, FL (Beach)

October 19

* Bellingham, WA (Pickford Cinema)
* Juneau, AK (Gold Town Nickelodeon)
* Tucson, AZ (Loft Cinema)
* San Francisco, CA (Red Vic Movie House)

Did you go to Newport? I didn't but I play poker with a guy who did and he'd been talking about K of K for a while now. Good flick.

KJS

not sure if you were asking me, but i went to the cambridge, mass. theater

Was asking Badger if he knew the people associated with the film because he went to high school with Steve Wiebe and the producers. One of my buddies did that is why.

KJS

-I thought the movie was awesome.
-The unintentional humor was very funny. "I never surrender. I even have it on my phone. See. *pulls out crappy phone*"
-I really thought Billy looked like a caveman. I kept thinking this during the movie. And then it showed him walking on the airport floor belt thing and I started laughing hysterically.
-The movie made it really easy to love Steve and hate Billy, but both guys reinforced these feelings throughout the movie. I thought it was awesome that Steve kept coming out and proving himself in public when Billy wouldn't. I thought it was cheap how Billy sent in a tape, which they accepted, even though they originally denied Steve's score on a different machine. Also, that was incredibly lame how Billy snubbed Steve and said he couldn't talk to him. What a [censored].

A+, would watch again.

Yeah, just saw it a few days ago. Really enjoyed it, found it really funny... man, those guys are weird.

I'm taking my girlfriend to see this tonight, so I'll chime in with my thoughts after that.

Last week we were up in Santa Cruz and on the boardwalk they have a ton of old arcade games. We played some of everything, including Donkey Kong. I sucked big time (it's been a lot of years), but I still contend that Arkanoid is far more difficult. Then again, that came out later.

I could easily beat Arkanoid on my Apple IIe with a mouse back in the day, but that spinning controller (though intuitive) is tough to use. I never liked the ball on Centipede either.

Like, yeah the average game of Donkey Kong is less than a minute. The average ball on arkanoid must last about 4 seconds.

Is this correct?

-Billy holds the record for 20+ years at around 800k or something.
-Steve beats the record by a lot, but they don't count it for whatever reason.
-Steve sets the record live, at Funspot, and achieves the first live Kill Screen.
-Billy's little friend plays an old video that Billy has been hanging onto for a while that shows him getting an even higher score, they count it, and Billy has the record once again.
-At the end, Steve beats Billy's top score and is recrowned the champion.
-Epilogue: Billy once again reclaims the title with a new score.

Is this accurate?

I saw King of kong the other night, it was surprisingly funny, and entertaining.

Yes

Reality of this situation is that Billy actually had lunch one on one with Steve earlier that day. The movie in that part is actually cut quite cleverly. When Steve says hi to Billy, Billy actually in reality said hi back and stopped and watched Steve play for a couple minutes. After that Billy walked away and said he couldn't be seen to be spending too much time with certain people, meaning actually that as competition he shouldn't be seen watching Steve play for too long or he could be accused of stealing tricks from Steve. Just one example of how the movie was cleverly edited.

No, Billy's record was actually broken by Timothy Sczerby in 2001 before Steve even started his quest.

Quote:

-Steve beats the record by a lot, but they don't count it for whatever reason.

Yes, this is true because there were questions about the board Steve performed it on. A legitimate reason that many other records have been disallowed as well. Steve was then given the record when he broke it in person at Funspot.

Quote:

-Steve sets the record live, at Funspot, and achieves the first live Kill Screen.

Steve did set the record at Funspot, but this was not the first live kill screen.

Quote:

-Billy's little friend plays an old video that Billy has been hanging onto for a while that shows him getting an even higher score, they count it, and Billy has the record once again.

Yes, the record was instated based on the video tape, apparently surprisingly at the urging of the producers of King of Kong. Possibly they wanted to create more controversy for their movie? However, it was pulled two days later until Billy set in the master copy of the tape that had none of the questionable nature's about it that the copied version had.

Quote:

-At the end, Steve beats Billy's top score and is recrowned the champion.

Yes, this is true and this score has been accepted by all including Billy as being legitimate.

Quote:

-Epilogue: Billy once again reclaims the title with a new score.

Yes, Billy broke the record live at some convention with referees on hand and with the board coming sealed and authenticated directly from Nintendo.