The King of Kong (2007)

Why a movie about the 80s arcade game, Donkey Kong?. Why not Pac-Man or Asteroids? General consensus in the video game world is that Donkey Kong is one of the hardest due to the split second timing and general randomness of the jumping and smashing. Come to think of it, I'm not sure I've ever passed more than the first board.

King of Kong follows the true story of two video game gurus, Steve Weibe and Billy Mitchell. The former a likable unemployed family man with time on his hands and the latter an self-assured, business up front / party in the back, arcade game god. The two have an epic and on going battle for the high score on the arcade classic, Donkey Kong. This was an obvious pick for me because of my background with arcade games but to my surprise there is an heartfelt drama between the two competitors that stuck with me months after watching the film.

Go ahead, check the official governing body's website Twin Glaxies to see who holds the high score today--I just did and am not happy. If you like Donkey-Kong, documentaries, or world class mullets--you need to see The King of Kong.

4 stars out of 5.

The Hammer (2007)

Adam Carolla is long done with The Man Show but now hosts a morning radio show in Los Angeles. I like to listen to the podcasts every once in a while. This year he's really been pitching The Hammer, his new independent movie. The movie is about an aging carpenter (Carolla) who finds himself back in the boxing ring chasing his long dormant boxing dreams. God bless Netflix for having the DVDs because the limited theater run was laughable. Adam's radio plugs made it seem like it was playing in about 6 theaters across the country.

On to the review... On the radio show, Adam is constantly talking about his early life working crappy manual labor jobs so this part isn't that much of a stretch. I went into the film with extremely low expectation but came away pleasantly surprised. Adam definitely delivers some solid laughs but the big surprise is how much heart the story has. Possibly even more shocking is the fact that Sarah commented on how much she liked it. Check it out.

4 stars out of 5

The Dark Knight (2008)

Warning: NO spoilers

For my birthday yesterday , Sarah took me to see The Dark Knight. I have been working hard to avoid news stories, commercials, and the trailer for the last three weeks. The other night Sarah and I were walking downtown past this loud mouth guy sitting at a patio table screaming into his cell phone. He is going on and on to his friend and starts talking about the movie. "You know the whole story of The Dark Knight right?", he starts into. I grabbed Sarah and made her run until we're out of earshot. I'm not going to have some asshat ruin my most anticipated movie of the year.

One important thing to notes is that most of the movie was filmed for IMAX theaters. IMAX is the screen format that is two to three times the size of a big theater screen and about 10 times the size of your local multi screen at the mall. IMAX films are typically nature documentaries that take advantage of the wide angles but are usually a little cheesy. I highly suggest you go out of your way to see The Dark Knight in an IMAX. You probably have time to do this before the end of summer. Last night the show was sold out and they were turning people away. Keep in mind this was a Tuesday night weeks after the release. Don't wait around to see this movie on DVD or worse TBS. Check it out on the big, big screen.

5 stars out of 5

Star Wars Holiday Special (1978)

The Star Wars Holiday Special.1
by hansonataint

Move over Manos: Hands of Fate, I have found a film even worse. The shocker...it is brought to you by non other then Mr. Star Wars, George Lucas. Riding high on the success of Star Wars: A New Hope, a project was rushed together for the 1978 Christmas season. In his defense, George didn't have a whole lot to do with it but technically it should be attached to his legacy--something I can only assume will haunt him forever.

The Star Wars Holiday Special aired just one time but continues to live on due to VHS taped recordings. The special is all about life day and Wookies but I couldn't really find a plot anywhere. Pay special attention to how far into the special you get before there is any english (not wookie) spoken. Try to make it that far before you go read the wikipedia entry--fascinating.

0 stars out of 5

Hotel Chevalier (2007)

Hotel Chevalier is a short film (13 minutes)that acts as a prologue for the feature length film, The Darjeeling Limited, which I plan on seeing in early release tonight. Instead of giving you a quick summary, you should fire up iTunes and download it for free from the iTunes store.

3 stars out of 5 (assuming it will add to The Darjeeling Limited)

Hot Fuzz (2007)

A hot shot cop gets shipped out of London to the uneventful countryside after doing his job a little too well. Of course things aren't exactly what they seem in the sleepy little village. The British crew from Shaun of the Dead are back with this buddy cop'ish romp. The main combo of Simon Pegg and Nick Frost are better then ever. If you liked, "Shaun" then this is a no brainer.

4 stars out of 5

The Science of Sleep (2005)

After moving in with his aunt to start a new job, a young man (Gael Garcia Bernal) falls for the neighbor girl. The job turns out to be a big disappointment leaving him to dream about what could be. Artsy dream sequences become more and more prevalent as this film goes on until eventually I couldn't find the plot or even tell what was real. Maybe that is the whole point. While entertaining I would pass this one by.

2 stars out of 5