Like many people I’ve been steadily moving away from consuming broadcast TV and radio. Instead I get my entertainment through dvd box sets and podcasts. I love the fact that I have the opportunity to select my own evenings programming rather than being forced to swallow whatever lowest common denominator bear baiting is being churned out by the networks.
There are some disadvantages to this however. While over all the quality of my viewing/listening has vastly improved, being completely in control of my own personal programming schedule does mean that my beam of focus has become very narrow. . At the moment I’ve sort of penned myself into a little bubble of geeky culture. I listen to geeky podcasts, watch geeky TV shows, and read geeky blogs.
This isn’t a problem in itself, and my proclivities have always leant that way anyway. But I am a little sad that because I rarely consume any broadcasted media I longer accidentally stumble across unexpected hidden gems outside my field of interest.
In particular I feel I’m missing out on documentaries. One of the beauties of Radio 4 is that if you leave it on in the background you sometimes encounter a documentary that, while you’d never actually pick out of a listings guide as being of interest, ends up capturing your imagination and proving fascinating. A similar phenomenon exists with BBC 4.
Last night I tried to rectify that and inject some factual programming into my cultural life. Granted, on the face of it it was geeky factual programming, but you have to build up slow on these things.
King of Kong is a documentary film that premiered at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival. It follows Steve Wiebe as he tries to take the world high score record for the classic arcade game Donkey Kong from reigning champion Billy Mitchell.
Now that synopsis makes the film sound both dull and incredibly nerdy – but trust me, it isn’t. It is as moving, exciting, hilarious, and ultimately uplifting as any Hollywood scripted movie out there. And has masses of cross appeal. This film has something for everybody in it – from your 8 year old son to your 80 year old grandma.
I can honestly say I’ve never been as engaged and invested with any documentary as much as I was with King of Kong. In fact, I struggle to think of many conventional movies that have engaged me as much. It was just awesome.
The ultimate strength of the film is the everyman underdog nature of challenger Steve Wiebe and the apparent despicable awfulness of his opponent Billy Mitchell. I say despicable as this is a documentary, not real life, and the power to shape the narrative and audience sympathies lay firmly at the feet of the director and editor rather than the subjects. Never-the-less, by the end of this movie you’ll want to punch this guy in the nuts:
I really can’t emphasise enough how much you should watch this film. Just do it – you’ll not regret it.
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I guess that is why at times I just let Judge Judy run and run. Yes its dramatised but “the cases are real, the people are real” on the whole and you just marvel at what is out there. In a similar vein would be the Hoarders series. That is a brutal eye opener of a documentary series.
Hmm… I’m not sure I agree with you there man – that comes under the category for bear baiting fro me.
Saying that, is there any real difference between a documentary and reality TV. Hmmmm..
Sat down to watch this on our streaming service, only to discover they no longer offered it. After two years of it sitting there in my queue. Oops.
So I watched Kick-Ass instead, which was awesome for folding laundry. I got a whole mountain of the stuff done by the end of it.
One of the best documentaries I’ve ever seen is American Movie, about a guy trying to make a horror movie on a very limited budget.
This is a great film and it just goes to show that FIFA isn’t the most corrupt governing body out there :)
I love the fact that OCD sufferers can turn their obsession into a skill and I have to admit the level of nerdism, right down to checking dip switches on the circuit boards if memory serves me correctly, is awe/inspiring/ful.
Seriously? Will look out for it then. Thanks.
I really should download some podcasts onto my phone. I keep meaning to and still haven’t because I find iTunes so damn hard to use.
Netflix still has it as a disc, so I’ll just wait for it to come in the mail.
You have saved that spammer’s comment from deletion by replying to it Phil. I hope the Art Photo Wall Decor company are suitably grateful.
I look forward to your thoughts on King of Kong though :)