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FISTFUL OF QUARTERS: KING OF KONG AND INTO THE WILD REVIEWS
This afternoon it was pouring down rain, so I finally found time to view two films, The King of Kong and Into the Wild. King of Kong is a documentary about Billy Mitchell who has held the world record score on the arcade classic, Donkey Kong, and Steve Wiebe; a family man from Washington who decided one day to attempt and beat the record that had been held since 1982 by Mitchell. I haven't seen a doc like this in a long time: and when you really think about the subject matter it sounds like a really boring idea. Oh boy a film watching two nerds fight over the score from a almost 30 year old video game. But the way director Seth Gordon puts it together there is never a dull moment. Mitchell as depicted in the film is a cocky, arrogant weirdo who won't even show up to compete with Wiebe, he plays mind-games and all kinds of other crap to jack with his rival. Oh and I can't forget, Mitchell has a mullet that just won't quit. I'm not going to give away the whole film, just let it be said this was one of the most riveting documentaries I have seen and its about geeks fighting over stupid shit. Quite entertaining, and hilarious, definitely go rent this thing at your local video store or Netflix.
Littered with literary quotes galore, Into the Wild is a film about real life Chris McCandless who left money and materialistic bs behind and set out across the country with the goal to head into the Alaskan wilderness and live off the land. Emile Hirsch has come a long way since The Girl Next Door, his portrayal of McCandless is dead on, i'm surprised he didn't get some kind of an oscar nod. With Eddie Vedder's brilliant score rolling us down the road, the film reminded me a lot of Alice in Wonderland, he leaves his life of luxury and jumps down the rabbit hole of just going where the road takes him. The film is extremely well acted and well written, and well directed by Sean Penn. Afterwards I just felt like wandering around in the great outdoors, the cinematography made me want to pack up and head to Alaska (minus the hitchhiking across the country part, my luck I'd get picked up by a psychopath and chopped into bits), overall a beautiful (but long) film.
Akismet