Tonight a bunch of us from Flashpoint are going to see The King of Kong, a documentary about two players who have been locked in mortal combat (or, Mortal Kombat) for years over who is the world record holding Donky Kong Champ. Yes, I said Donkey Kong. Sounds ridiculous? Well, to us it is, but not to the two players. And that, in my opinion, is what makes for the start of a great documentary. No matter how insane or ridiculous the subject matter is, as long as the person who the documentary follows believes it to be incredibly serious, then you have fertile ground for humor, interest, and emotional connection to the film. You see, even though I think that there are way more important things to strive for that being the best in the world at a nearly 3 decades old videogame, someone might actually think that something I care deeply about is a waste of time and crazy. This gives me an immediate connection to a documentary like The King of Kong, which I hope will be another in a long list of great Docs alongside some of my favorites: American Movie (my number one, hands down); 30 Days in Hell: The Making of 'The Devil's Rejects (an amazing DAY by DAY making of which doesn't sugar coat ANYTHING about making a lower budget horror movie); Super Size Me (fast Food is Evil); This Film is Not Yet Rated (arbitrary censoring of movies is Evil); Crumb (a feast of weirdness) and many more! I am particularly interested in knowing about more documentaries about making movies (not just 'Making of's") in the vein of American Movie. Anyone know any others?
