The Folks Behind 'The King Of Kong' Look Like They Have Another Classic Up Their Sleeve
When I was in college, I took a class that focused on storytelling in film. It was easy as hell. It was online and the professor assigned a movie which we watched on our own and answered some questions about concerning story structure and character arcs and that was about it.
I remember one week, the professor assigned us a movie I had always wanted to see, the 2007 documentary, The King of Kong: Fistful of Quarters.
If you're unfamiliar, it tells the story of two retro arcade game fanatics, Steve Wiebe — a middle school science teacher and dad who games in his garage for fun and just wants to finally be the top dog at something — and Billy Mitchell, the patriotic tie-wearing, hot sauce-selling Video Game Player of the Century, who battle it out to put their name — or at least three initials — atop the all-time Donkey Kong leaderboard.
I mean… how could you not be intrigued by the controversial Billy Mitchell comparing himself to the abortion debate?
I'm not exaggerating: this is my favorite documentary of all time, and one of my top five favorite movies, across the board.
The thing I love the most is the colorful cast of characters. Mitchell alone is worth the price of admission, but there are all kinds of kooky video game nerds who are all more compelling characters than you'll find in 90% of movies.
I mean, you've got Crystal Castles fiend Mark Alpiger, Donkey Kong kill screen crier Brian Kuh, and the man tasked with watching 48-hour-long tapes of people playing Nibbler, Robert Mruczek.
It's incredible.
One of these characters is Walter Day. He's the guy who ran Twin Galaxies, an arcade that tracked video game high scores. He oversaw these competitions and did so wearing a referee shirt.
So, imagine my excitement when I learned that the brilliant minds behind King of Kong have a new movie coming out focusing on Day and what has happened to him since the first film.
There's been some controversy, and — I s--t you not — a burgeoning folk music career.
Take a look at the trailer for what I think will be an instant classic, Arcades & Love Songs.
Take. My. Money.
You can keep the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Inject the King of Kong Cinematic Universe straight into my veins.
The director of this film, Ed Cunningham — who produced The King of Kong and used to play in the NFL in addition to do some work for ESPN — talked about what led to this new film.
"The original documentary has changed many people’s lives – for better and worse – so when Billy Mitchell called to tell me Walter Day was being sued based on things that happened in our movie, I began helping make sure he was properly defended," he said, per ComingSoon.net.
"In a lawsuit strategy meeting, I learned that some King of Kongfans were funding Walter to produce and perform the songs he had been hearing in his head since having his heart broken in the ‘80s, a story he shared in the original film. I felt a responsibility to document the conclusion to Walter’s journey, and it was also a great opportunity because I love his music and want to help get it out in the world."
As soon as this comes out, I will see it. I don't care where I have to go or what streaming service I have to sign up for.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go make my fiancée — who has never seen it — watch the King of Kong with me.