Obscure Movie Review of the Day: King Of Kong: A Fistful Of Quarters

What if I told you my favorite movie I saw this year was a documentary?

What if I told you it was about people playing video games?

What if I told you that it had just as many plot twists, just as much intrigue, just as much deception and mysteries as your typical Hollywood blockbuster, if not more?

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters.



As you can see from the trailer, King of Kong is about two Donkey Kong players. One has always been a star. Billy set the Donkey Kong record while at a Time Magazine photo shoot for video gamers--he was there for beating a different game, but beat the Donkey Kong score during a break between picture sessions.

Steve is a schoolteacher who plays Donkey Kong in his spare time in a desperate attempt to finally become the best at something. He's had nothing but bad breaks. As a high school pitcher, he lost "the big game." That sort of thing. He plays Donkey Kong in his garage every night after the kids go to bed.

Like all documentaries, the facts of this one have been disputed by lots of the parties involved since its release, but after seeing this video that won't surprise you, in part because of the emotions and egos involved, and in part because this truly is a near-perfect story.

I get almost giddy when I describe this movie to people. It's that good.

Do yourself a favor. Forget about whatever I Still Know What You Did Four Summers Ago Last August movie you were going to rent, and get this. See if you don't care about video games.