King of Kong: Fistful of Documentary

I come back from the dead in what I'll consider a "Special Edition" of my blog. What makes this so special? Well, because it's a first for me (as has been most of my past reviews, but I don't care about those). I'm going to go down a road less traveled and talk about a documentary some of you may or may not know about: King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters.

Let me get this out of the way immediately: this is an awesome film. It could work as a piece of fiction its so fascinating Okay, now I've cleared that up, here's a rapid-fire version of what I mean:

-It has a set protagonist and antagonist (Steve Wiebe and Billy Mitchell, respectively), a sort of anti-hero (Roy "Mr. Awesome" Schildt and no, I didn't just pull that nickname out of my ass), and a main character that largely wins over a group of people who are at first skeptical (pretty much every doubts poor Steve).

A documentary with a plot? Cool. In addition to the surprisingly compelling story (which should be laughable: a couple of dudes duking it out over an ancient arcade game record), director Seth Gordon let's us peer into the dwindling arcade game community. If that doesn't sound interesting, you don't understand their level of obsession. As someone who still plays and makes mods for a 16 year-old game, I do. These people are bizarre, and they hold grudges. I know them. I talk to them online. Trust me, you don't know weird until you've seen a guy talk about fingerless weight-lifting gloves and their usefulness pertaining to Marble Madness. That's not even the weird part: the guy goes for the record in the "foot division," which is exactly what it sounds like. (HOLY SHIT!).

In spite of all their weirdness, the main 2 guys sort of represent the 2 extremes: the normal, and the so-obsess-he's-a-total-dickhead. Billy Mitchell holds the record for Donkey Kong. He's also a raging egomaniac and an asshole who probably feels no human emotions (and I'm unbiased). Steve Wiebe is a family man and algebra teacher with a small history of staggering disappointment. He's the ultimate underdog, and against Billy Mitchell and his disciples (such as the "Billy is God" preaching dickweed Brian Kuh), you can't help but cheer for him. You're emotionally invested.

I keep saying Billy's an asshole, but you might asking, "Can you back that up?" Yes. Some of things he does, I honestly can't believe. Part of it is probably because he's got a virtual cheer-squad behind him, but there's something. He has to be misanthropic or something. Even after his best friend (if he even considers him that) compliments Steve Wiebe's character, all he can muster up is, "I don't know enough about the situation." Also, he never shows up to a promised competition that's about 10 minutes away from his house (Steve traveled cross-country from Seattle to Florida to be there). Goddamn.

If you've ever wondered what pure evil looks like next to good, here's a look:

<-----Asshole

Cool Guy ----->

By the end, Steve's gone through so much BS it's a wonder he's still kicking, but everyone comes around, just like you will. Even if you don't get attached to the story, there are great quotes to be heard along the way such as (though I can't remember these word-for-word):

Mr. Awesome:
"Doesn't let himself get chumpatized."

Steve and his daughter:
"I never knew the Guinness Book of World Records was so important."
"Yeah, a lot of people read that book."
"....Some people ruin their lives just to be in there."

Brian Kuh:
"Donkey Kong kill screen coming up, guys!" (OVER AND OVER AGAIN!)
Need I convince you more:

Overall: 10. I can't recommend this enough. My initial reaction was to just say 9, but seeing as this is a documentary that manages to capture my attention, I can't help but want to watch it over and over. It's funny, it's insightful, you'll actually start cheering halfway through the damn thing, and it shows you something that you may not even know existed.

It's the perfect documentary. Watch it, enjoy it, tell your friends. Also, sit through the credits.

Once Upon a Time in the West

One of the harder things for me to do when it comes to this blog (aside from actually remembering to update, of course) is to decide which movie I want to review. After all, at this point in time I've seen about 600 movies*, and I don't want to spoil all of the great ones out of the gate. On the other hand, I also can't review a bunch of shitty movies without coming off as some sort of angry RAAAH! INTERNETS! blogger that is associated with bitching. So what to do? What to do?

I said to myself, "Ah, fuck it." Then I chose to review one of the best damn movies I've ever seen: Once Upon a Time in the West.

This is, of course, another work from Sergio Leone (See: Fistful of Dollars), and unlike the original film of his that I reviewed, this is completely an original work. Oh, he also gets to work marquee names such as Charles Bronson, Henry Fonda, and Jason Robards, plus a sweet budget! Is this formula going to work?

Well, no shit! I mean, I knew I was going to see a great movie from the director alone, and a solid cast like that? Pleeeaaaase. What I wasn't aware of, though, and what still kind of sits with me today, was that I was about to witness the greatest western I've ever seen... Just ahead of The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (ANOTHER Leone flick - srsly). How is this? What is it that sets this apart from other movies? I'll try a piece-by-piece sort of motion here by hitting on the keypoints of story, character, and well... I guess I already mentioned the directing, but I'll break it down for you as I get into the other 2.

Story-wise: this bad boy is a bit complex. In a strange way, we have 4 main characters in Cheyenne, Frank, Harmonica, and Jill. Each one has their own story, which of course relates to the charcter chunk, but more that later. This isn't just a movie about the west, really. It is about the changing times of the west, when the old code of the gunfighter was starting to fade, and the business era was kicking in. A quick piece of dialogue:

Frank: Nope, just a man....
Harmonica: An ancient race....

Whoa! Two lines to get an entire idea across? That's so awesome! AND THAT'S JUST A SMALL CHUNK! There's also the pure tradition itself: Bronson as the mysterious protaginist, after the dark, dark character that is Frank, with Robards providing an odd sort of narration: Narration within the story itself. The way you find out just why Harmonica is after Frank is so well-executed, so poignant... If your jaw doesn't drop either from revelation or from execution, then you just aren't human (or hate movies and should leave my blog immediately... fucker!). It is that damn good.

Yes, Sergio Leone IS cooler than you, and a better director, too!

Which, of course, brings us to the characters. Let's get one thing straight: they all have depth. On the surface, you have Harmonica as the hero, Frank as the evil, Cheyenne as the commentator of things, and Jill as the damsel caught in the middle. And yet, there is more to each character. Frank's desire to grow as a business man is what gets mixed up with Jill, Harmonica sees her as his ticket to Frank, and Cheyenne is just pissed off for being framed (best character ever, by the way). Each of them transforms in some way. They have their successes and their failures, and each of them comes off as remarkably... well, remarkably human. It is just amazing.

Leone just knew how to direct a great movie: end of story. I don't have to elaborate on that. His use of cinematography is remarkable. The contrast between the broad, landscape shots and the up-close, zoom-into-their-damn-face shots works in such a way that everything is functioning in this movie. And its all changing. And it is all that fucking railroad's fault. Leone gets this point across simply by use of the camera. Everything else is just the whipped cream on top of the icing that is even still on top of the cake that is this movie.

Oh, and one last special nod to two of my favorite scenes of all-time: the 10-minute opening scene, which uses all ambient noise for the most part, and Frank and Harmonica's duel. They're two of the greatest, most intense scenes I've ever watched. The former is somewhat comical before the shit hits the fan, too.

All of that, and I didn't even get to talk about the station, or the debut of Cheyenne... Guess y'all suckas just need to watch the movies for yourselfs!

Overall: 10. No questions asked. One of the greatest stories meets some of the greatest characters, and all in the hands of Leone. Wow.

* - Bragginininin', no?

Kung Fu(cking A) Hustle

So why not a comedy review, eh? Those movies are always the type that a lot are hesitant to hand out high ratings to unless they're satire or Monty Python or something... I guess sort of mature comedy is what they look for. Maybe I'm not all that different, maybe I am... it depends on how you take Kung Fu Hustle, really.

What I mean by this, is there are a lot of layers to this movie. You could simultaneously call it a slapstick, a martial arts film, a romance (in a silly sort of way)... It pretty much excels at all of these. Of course, it's primary a comedy, and it functions that way, but the fact that it managed to add so many... so many baaawww and beautiful things is enough to make it more than just a comedy.

On one hand, you've got this MAD CRAZY comedy going on. I mean, there's a Road Runner-style sequence for crying out loud! Knives are bouncing off walls, a nerd in gold frames is bumpin' heads, cats are getting cut up, gangs are dancing, 'n all this crazy stuff is going on. Odds are if it's an inanimate object, it won't survive the movie.

HINT: This soccer ball lasts ~2 seconds after this image.

You know what I have to say 'bout all that shizz? Hilarious! Of course, if slapstick isn't your style, then some subtler humor pops up from time to time. There are all kinds of homages, send-offs, and quotes that are bound to make you chuckle. When the idiot friend starts randomly talking in deep metaphors, for example. Where in the world did that come from? Don't know... but it was funny as could be.

Of course, a movie with Kung Fu right there in the title isn't going to just be a simple comedy movie. It has to have some martial arts... doesn't it? Well, it does. As for the fights themselves, well they range from badass to beautiful, with the top mark going to the incredibly well-made battle between the Kung Fu masters and The Harpists. The concept itself is intriguing: a way of attacking those with greater skill by channeling spirits/swords via music. Then the execution lifts the scene from intriguing to perhaps the memorable scene of the movie. There's a moment where the sound drowns out and all you can here is the Harpist's music as Donut (actual character name!) fends invinsible daggers for his life. It's... well, beautiful, really.

On top of that, there's a subplot involving Sing (main charater) robbing an ice cream vendor... twice. It's hard to explain without crapping out a spoiler, but odds are you'd be able to catch on anyhow. Just know it's one of my favorite aspects of the movie.

Also, there is a small amount of symbolism occuring in the film. The toads outside of The Beast's cell, for example. Take a look at them, and then as the film reaches its climax, find out just why they were there. Or the all-day sucker... the only part of a flash back represented in full full color. Sometimes the symbols double as a comedic prop themselves... like the Axe Gang approaching Pig Sty Ally followed by the clouds, or the vortex above the asylum. Awesome.

I guess what I'm trying to say from all of the above is this: Kung Fu Hustle is a great, great movie. Frankly, I can't imagine why anyone wouldn't like this. Even if you don't like the slapstick brand of humor, there are so many other things for someone to appreciate. I know I mention this every review, but with this movie, I can't stress it enough: this art meets entertainment. For that, I love this movie.

Overall - 10. Not just a great comedy, but probably the best pure comedy from the 2000s, and one of my all-time favorites. Watch it.