Donkey Kong | the m0vie blog

Non-Review Review: Pixels

Posted on July 29, 2015 by Darren

Pixels has a fun concept.

The idea of video game characters invading the world is a delightfully gonzo piece of pop culture nostalgia. It is easy to see why Sony picked up the option for Patrick Jean’s 2010 short film, even if the concept was not new. Neither version of Pixels can quite measure up to Raiders of the Lost Arcade, the short that aired as part of Anthology of Interest II during the third season of Futurama. That ten minute short story captured the sheer unadulterated joy of a world under siege from its juvenile obsessions.

You are my sunshine…

There are a lot of problems with Pixels. The most obvious is that it seems completely disinterested in its core concept as anything other than a vehicle for Adam Sandler. There is a lot of CGI and a number of recognisable pop culture references, but Pixels plays just like any other Happy Madison vehicle. It is an excuse to pair Adam Sandler up with a beautiful actress and pay for trips for friends and acquaintances around the world while making jokes that were tired when most of the audience was making them in the playground.

Pixels never embraces the goofy joy of an invasion of eighties video games, instead wallowing in the presence of washed up nineties hackery.

All the President’s… People.

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: adam sandler, Donkey Kong, film, kevin james, michelle monaghan, Movie, nerd culture, non-review review, pacman, pixelation, pixels, review, video games | 8 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Wreck It Ralph

Posted on January 16, 2013 by Darren

Wreck It Ralph is a charming animated film, and one with all manner of interesting ideas. It teases a fascinating take on the archetypal children’s movie narrative – the notion that perhaps roles in stories cannot be so easily devolved into “good guy” and “bad guy” stereotypes. It raises all manner of insightful possibilities, drawing on a diverse cast of characters to offer us what amounts to the story of two outcasts dealing with the fact that they don’t necessarily get to be part of narratives that might make them a hero.

Unfortunately, there’s only so far you can bend this sort of hero’s journey before it breaks – or snaps back in your face, if you’re watching a slapstick cartoon. Wreck It Ralph compromises a bit too much in its final act, undermining a lot of what had been its appeal in order to offer a staggeringly conventional ending. It’s a shame, because it’s willingness to subvert so many narrative norms is a large part of the appeal of the film.

Sometimes life isn’t two-dimensional…

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: animation, Arcade game, art, Donkey Kong, film, Hero, incredibles, john c. reilly, Mario, monomyth, Movie, non-review review, pixar, Ralph, review, Rich Moore, The Walt Disney Company, toy story, Vanellope, Video game, Wreck-It Ralph, Zangief | 2 Comments »

Thoughts on Documentaries and Objectivity…

Posted on August 23, 2011 by Darren

I caught The King of Kong at the weekend and I really enjoyed. It’s a fantastic underdog tale set in a fascinating subculture that really deserves to be seen. However, the movie was beset by claims after the fact that it had been somewhat unfair to Billy Mitchell, the reigning Donkey Kong champion who found himself cast in the role of villain. While fictional movies take liberties with their characters all the time, I can’t help but wonder what sort of standard should apply to documentaries. They obviously require some basis in fact, but to what extent is possible to be entirely fair and objective in bringing any subject to screen?

Something to chew on...

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: art, Billy Mitchell, documentaries, Documentary film, Donkey Kong, film, Filmmaking, Michael Moore, Movies, Werner Herzog | 12 Comments »

Non-Review Review: The King of Kong – A Fistful of Quarters

Posted on August 23, 2011 by Darren

I think part of the reason that The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters works so well is because it takes any number of well-loved and popular story-telling tropes concerning the conflict between a hard-working underdog and an exclusive and elitist authority, and then plays them out against one of the most brilliantly ridiculous backdrops possible. Professor Wallace Sayre, a political scientist at Columbia University once made the observation that “in any dispute the intensity of feeling is inversely proportional to the value of the issues at stake.” So perhaps we shouldn’t be so surprised that a competition over a videogame world record should capture these ridiculous grand themes with such skill, and a wonderful sense of humour.