Movies in My Wheelhouse
I’ve watched a few movies lately that are perfect fits for my personality. I’ll list them below. If you know of other similar movies I should check out, hook me up.
1. King of Kong: The story of a guy who attempts to set the world record at Donkey Kong. It gets into arcade game culture, the rivalries, the politics, the work, and the strategy involved in being the best.
2. Man on Wire: This documentary tells the story of the world’s most daring guerrilla tightrope walker. It gets into why he does what he does, what’s involved in pulling off the stunts, and the motivations of the people who help him pull it all together.
3. Surfwise: This is documentary about a doctor who travels North America in an RV with his family of 9 children in search of the perfect life and great waves. He’s countercultural to the extreme, with many faults, but someone who’s figured out what he likes and goes for it.
Have any recs?
BTW, the above flicks are all available through Netflix.
April 15th, 2009 at 11:52 am
Hands on a Hard Body … Spellbound … these may be too obvious, based on your list … but there you go …
April 15th, 2009 at 12:48 pm
Spellbound was great. I haven’t seen Hands on a Hard Body. Looks like I have that in my queue on Netflix but it isn’t available there yet. Thanks for the recs.
April 15th, 2009 at 1:34 pm
If you can find it somewhere, I loved “The Chicken, the Fish and the King Crab.” I didn’t see it on Netflix, but maybe a local video store might have it (if those still exist). I saw it at the Tribeca Film Festival last year and really enjoyed it. http://tinyurl.com/c8fn5m
Wordplay is another good one (and it’s on Netflix).
April 15th, 2009 at 1:51 pm
Since you are on the documentary bend, try The Cats of Mirikitani.
I’d loan you my dvd, but it has grown legs and walked; but let me know if you want it and I’ll track it down.
April 15th, 2009 at 5:22 pm
This Film Has Not Been Rated is really good and on Netflix. About the MPAA and the movie rating system. It is funny, informative, and shocking.
April 16th, 2009 at 3:00 am
I enjoyed Wordplay. Never thought I’d ever find myself rooting for people to complete a crossword, but I did when I watched this.
From IMDB: An in-depth look at The New York Times’ long-time crossword puzzle editor Will Shortz and his loyal fan base.
April 16th, 2009 at 12:41 pm
Laurel, I’ll keep an eye out for The Chicken, the Fish and the King Crab. Netflix recommended The Wall when I searched for it.
Kassie, that is a great film. Great investigative work. Explains a lot about why so many MPAA rated films are so lame.
Coco, Wordplay was uncomfortably awesome. Scrabble ruins lives.
April 17th, 2009 at 10:56 pm
Helvetica! I think that Helvetica, King of Kong, and Man on Wire form a bizarre trifecta of passionate geekery.
Man on Wire gets bonus points for allowing itself to be interpreted by the relative innocence of the Seventies and the paranoid lens of post 9/11 simultaneously. Although, I suppose, almost the same sentence could be written about King of Kong!