['Cinema Pixeldiso' is a semi-regular column by Matt 'Fort90' Hawkins that takes a look at movies that are either directly based upon or are related to video games, with a focus on the obscure and the misunderstood. This week’s selection is another documentary, but one that takes a look at pinball, and examines what once was, and what could have been.]

Tilt: The Battle to Save Pinball [whose director, Greg Maletic, we interviewed earlier in the week] is a loving look at the those machines that filled smokey arcades with loud lights and bright sounds, but sans computer monitor, at least back in the day. Yet the documentary establishes early on that pinball was not directly killed off by video games as many would assume.

In fact, in the early nineties, despite the fact that the hearts and minds of video gamers across the land were being fought over by Nintendo and Sega via their 16-bit devices, the pinball industry managed to earn record sales. There was much promise for the future, but all of a sudden, very sudden actually, it all came crashing down. But a shining white knight on the horse came to the rescue, one that many felt would save them all. And... it didn't.

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A few weeks back, I was able to check out The King Of Kong, a brand new documentary that centers on one man (an every-man, actually!) by the name of Steve Wiebe, and his attempt to nab the highest score possible in Donkey Kong, as well as the challenges he faces. Not from the game itself, which in itself is quite difficult (perhaps one of the harshest from its era) but from the one person who laid claim to the record, that being the enigma known as Billy Mitchell - one of the competitive gaming scene's most infamous figures, as well as his devoted followers.

For those who missed it, my review of it can be found here, though the bottom line was I found it to a totally fantastic and absolutely engrossing film, and easily one of the finest documentaries to be crafted on the subject of video games yet produced.

The tale it spins is a fascinating one, especially because it's "real"; what happened really happened, and the characters are actual people, though some are still very much "characters" in every sense of the word. Yet, even the best documentaries don't tell the entire story. They often simply can't due to various reasons; there's not enough time, the camera can't be everywhere, you can't bore the audience, etc. But immediately afterwards, I thought back to something that I personally witnessed that conflicted with the narrative of the story....

Without getting into too many details, because it would both spoil the movie and take too long to explain, I actually met the film's "star", Billy Mitchell (Wiebe might be the center of the story, but Mitchell is clearly the star) a few years ago in New York City at a film festival that had a video game component. He was on-hand with footage of himself playing Donkey Kong and breaking the world record. He then presented the videotape to Walter Day, head of the Twin Galaxies, the word's recognized authority of video game score keeping. Little did I know then that it would lead to doubts about a movie years later down the road.

I later explained this to my friend, MTV News' Stephen Totilo, who was also wondering about a few things, primarily stemming from his interview with one of the featured individuals from the movie, Robert Mruczek, who was the referee that verified another tape that Mitchell produced in the movie. Was it the same one that I saw in real life? There was no mention of it, and the timeline that was laid out doesn't allow for it. Both myself and Stephen decided to investigate, and in the process came up with a different timeline. The people over at Twin Galaxies, who have since day one doubted Weibe’s abilities, which is made crystal clear in the movie almost immediately, also created their own.

And then Stephen scored the ultimate coup: the first post-documentary interview with Mitchell, who, needless to say was not happy with how he was portrayed in the film, which could be best described as "the bad guy". Though it needs to be pointed out that he hadn't seen the film... and still hasn't, despite numerous attempts by the film's director and producer to make it so. Anyhow, even more places and events were brought up, which were not mentioned in the movie. And I myself began to wonder if what I enjoyed and wanted to see do well deserved such support.

Continue reading "COLUMN: Cinema Pixeldiso: 'King of Kong - The Roundtable'" »

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['Cinema Pixeldiso' is a semi-regular column by Matt 'Fort90' Hawkins that takes a look at movies that are either directly based upon or are related to video games, with a focus on the obscure and the misunderstood. This week’s selection is another documentary that chronicles a world record attempt, but this time we get to take a look at the most famous video game record holder of them all.]

Last time we examined the story of a man vs. machine - Bill Carlton vs. Missile Command. This time we have Steve Wiebe vs. King Kong, but the true heart of the story is man vs. man, Steve Wiebe vs. Billy Mitchell. And who's Billy Mitchell? Why, he's "gamer of the century" of course.

The King Of Kong

Cinema Pixeldiso's previous entry, on 'High Score', and this latest one, on 'The King of Kong', might seem identical, since both tell the same tale, of one man's mission to be immortalized as the greatest player of a particular classic video game. Both even feature a normal, everyday kind of person on such an absurd quest. But that's where the similarities end.

Whereas in the case of Bill Carlton's journey, the key difference is the person he was also going after, the man who held the high score that Bill was determined to shatter. In High Score's case it's Victor Ali, a nice, mild-mannered man who felt that his achievement, which attained during his youth, was something that he was proud of, but it hardly defined or dictated his life. It was ultimately some silly little thing, and High Score did a great job illustrating that hardcore gamers are usually normal folks that have a quirky obsession, and that's about it.

The King of Kong, on the other hand, goes the opposite route, by showing how much ego, absurdity, and insanity can come into play as a record holder for video game playing. How? By taking a close look at a man whose entire persona, even existence, is built around the fact that he plays video games very, very well.

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['Cinema Pixeldiso' is a semi-regular column by Matt 'Fort90' Hawkins that takes a look at movies that are either directly based upon or are related to video games, with a focus on the obscure and the misunderstood. This week’s selection is a documentary that chronicles a world record attempt.]

This is the story of man vs machine. The machine in question is the arcade classic Missile Command, and the man is Bill Carlton, an average run-of-the-mill kind of guy.

High Score

Its perhaps safe to say that when most people hear about some expert game player, or at least someone who is obsessed with video games, they immediately make assumptions: among other traits, this person more than likely has zero friends, let alone a girlfriend, is perhaps unemployed, has poor hygiene, and maybe even "talks funny". But not Bill. He has a decent job, friends, even a girlfriend, who may not understand Bill's obsession but is nonetheless supportive.

He's not some ball of angst like many diehard gamers but instead a rather charming, laid-back, and even genuinely funny guy. So as we follow along his quest to attain the record for highest score ever, instead of wincing whenever Bill hits a stumbling block, we, the viewers are actually sympathetic and even hopeful for his success. Though its Bill's apparent normalcy that makes his obsession all the more intriguing and perplexing, since one must ask: what's a normal guy like that doing stuff like this?

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['Cinema Pixeldiso' is (supposed to be) a bi-weekly column by Matt 'Fort90' Hawkins that takes a look at movies that are either directly based upon or are related to video games, with a focus on the obscure and the misunderstood. This week’s selection is a foreign co-production that tells a familiar tale a bit better than most.]

First off, Cinema Pixediso is back after a brief hiatus! So it's time once again to take a look at video game as viewed and depicted on the silver screen, most of which you've probably never heard off. And some for good reason...

For for this particular installment, we once look elsewhere in the world... actually, two foreign lands. Avalon, produced in 2001. It’s both an Asian and European production. The movie was produced and directed by the Japanese; the director, Mamoru Oshii, is actually well known in certain circles, that being those who follow anime (among other things, Oshii was the man behind the groundbreaking Ghost In The Shell). But the rest of the film was co-produced and filmed in Poland. Plus the entire cast is Polish as well, with all the dialogue spoken in their native tongue.

Though what really sets it apart from the rest of the pack from others is how, for a video game movie, its decidedly un-video game-y for the most part. Often, the best films of its kind will make you forget that they are even about games in the first place. Not sure what that says about the medium... perhaps its because the best filmmakers can touch upon conventions without exploiting them and relying on cliches (unless its intentional, of course). But that's an point of view that might be best reserved for another time...

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['Cinema Pixeldiso' is a bi-weekly column by Matt 'Fort90' Hawkins that takes a look at movies that are either directly based upon or are related to video games, with a focus on the obscure and the misunderstood. This week’s selection is an independent feature that examines the lives of a couple of role-playing geeks.]

Previously on Cinema Pixeldiso, we examined the tale of a player who achieved greatness due to his dedication to the game, and by complete surprise. This time it's five players, just as dedicated, and who actually seek greatness, in the movie Gamers.

Also, this particular entry is a bit different from our previous ones. The focus isn't on video games, but RPG, the pen and paper types. But since players from both camps share much in common, we figured it was worth the spotlight. Plus it's another independent movie, and those always deserve the extra attention, and its a straight-forward comedy, so the laughs its gets are supposed to be intentional. Though whether it gets all the laughs it aspires to generate is an entirely subjective manner...

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['Cinema Pixeldiso' is a bi-weekly column by Matt 'Fort90' Hawkins that takes a look at movies that are either directly based upon or are related to video games, with a focus on the obscure and the misunderstood. This week’s selection is another gem from the 80s, one that's sure to appeal to any shmups aficionado...]

Last week we looked at Tron, which featured a person forced to tap at his prowess at the arcade in a scenario that mirrors a video game, except its "for real". Pretty much the same thing here, plus its also from the 80s, and another cult classic of sorts. It's...

The Last Starfighter

Let's just dive head-first into the plot.

The film immediately opens up in a dusty old trailer park in the middle of Nowheresville. Among the assorted wacky elderly residents is young, able-bodied and free spirited Alex, who's basically Luke Skywalker: dreams of something better, primarily a chance of scenery, maybe some adventure, but is stuck where he is, forced to waste his time and talents. But when opportunity finally comes knocking...

After yet another day in which hanging with friends (and girlfriend) must take a back seat to fixing stuff around the park, Alex decides to blow some steam with yet another game of Starflighter, a sci-fi dog-fight shoot 'em up (or more commonly known by the kids today as a "shmup"). And like virtually every other video game portrayed in a movie, the graphics are unbelievably great.

Alex is pretty good at the game, but tonight, he's extra good, and once it appears that he's about to shatter the record, everyone in the park gets all excited and decides to see history happen. Though once again, virtually everyone in the park are all old people, and even though everyone reading this is perhaps an avid gamer, one has to wonder if any of us will truly give a damn about a video games, at least enough to get really excited, when we're all in our late seventies and wearing adult diapers.

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['Cinema Pixeldiso' is a bi-weekly column by Matt 'Fort90' Hawkins that spotlights movies that are either directly based upon or are related to video games, with an emphasis on the obscure and the misunderstood. This week looks a true classic in every sense of the word...]

Last time we looked at two films that asked what would happen if video game characters came into our world. Well this time, the opposite takes place...

TRON

Tron is quite simply the grand daddy of all video game movies. It was the very first film to feature video games in any capacity whatsoever, but more importantly, it came at a time when the general public had no idea what video games were about; the medium was still in its infancy at the time, and that made a huge impact.

The abstract (translation: primitive) nature of video game concepts, along with their visuals and sounds at that point, coupled with the state of technology as a whole, in relation to people's perception of it (the idea of computers being part of everyone's day to day lives was just starting to sink into society's minds), helped to create an environment that spawned a movie like Tron, as well as allow its various messages to be so highly effective.

[Click through for more.]

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['Cinema Pixeldiso' is a bi-weekly column by Matt 'Fort90' Hawkins that spotlights movies that are either directly based upon or are related to video games, with an emphasis on the obscure and the misunderstood. This particular installment is the second of a two-part look at couple of horror films.]

Last time we checked out Stay Alive, a film that featured a video game character crossing over to the real world and going on a bloody rampage. The film itself was rather slick, with very contemporary sensibilities (meaning that it's basically The Ring with video games), but for a variety of reasons, it misses the mark. On the otherhand, tonight's film, How To Make A Monster, despite its use of very modern elements, goes for a more 'classical' film attitude, and results are quite different.

[Click through for spooooky moooooreness!]

Continue reading "COLUMN: 'Cinema Pixeldiso' – Post Halloween Horror Special (part 2 of 2) - How To Make A Monster" »

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['Cinema Pixeldiso' is a bi-weekly column by Matt 'Fort90' Hawkins that spotlights movies that are either directly based upon or are related to video games, with an emphasis on the obscure and the misunderstood. This special Halloween edition is the first of a two part look at couple of horror films.]

It's that time of year again, Halloween, which means a couple of things: candy, costumes, and scary movies. And since this column is all about video game movies, how about a look at some scary video game movies? And there's a couple out there, like Silent Hill for example. But what about films that aren't simply scary because of the games they're based upon are also supposed to be? Well, a popular theme in most film dealing with video games that are not based upon one is the concept of video games coming alive, and asking what would happen if pixelated or polygonal character crossed over to the real world. And some filmmakers happen to find this idea "frightening"... two of which we'll be talking about, Stay Alive and How To Build A Monster.

[Click through for more Halloween scariness!]

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['Cinema Pixeldiso' is a bi-weekly column by Matt 'Fort90' Hawkins that spotlights movies that are either directly based upon or are related to video games, with an emphasis on the obscure and the misunderstood. This week looks at two very different approaches toward the same subject matter, Super Mario Brothers.]

Previously Cinema Pixeldiso featured 8 BIT, a documentary that focused on artists who used video games as a source of inspiration, and even tools. One such individual was Cory Arcangel who takes NES cartridges and alters the information printed on them; the one example that most people are familiar with that he's most famous for is Super Mario Clouds in which all the information in a copy of Super Mario Bros was erased with the exception of the clouds, and was also featured in the documentary.

But a similar piece that wasn't highlighted was Super Mario Movie, in which Cory along with several artists hacked a SMB cart to produce a 15-minute movie using just the original assets from the game to tell a story. And what exactly is this tale? Arcangel described it as: "Mario's world [as it's] falling apart. Like Mad Max, but in 8bits."

[Click through for more on molto Marios - including handy screencaps!]

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['Cinema Pixeldiso' is a bi-weekly column by Matt 'Fort90' Hawkins that spotlights movies that are either directly based upon or are related to video games, with an emphasis on the obscure and the misunderstood. This week’s selection is a documentary that explores the world of art that has sprung forth from the medium of video games and which will have its world premiere later this weekend.]

8 BIT

Video games have been around long enough that most of us can't even remember a time when they weren't. Everyone has either grown up with a 2600, NES, or whatever else machine in our homes, or at least knew someone who had one, and more than likely when we weren't playing games, each of us were talking and thinking about them well after the power was turned off. Looking back, we now have fuzzy warm memories of our favorite games and all the things relating to them, hence why video games have become a part of us, our identities, even our culture. Naturally, anything so pervasive in people's lives will become the subject of analysis and self-expression via art, and that is what 8 BIT is all about.

[Click through for more.]

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['Cinema Pixeldiso' is a new column by Matt 'Fort90' Hawkins, which takes a look at movies that are either directly based upon or are related to video games, with a focus on the obscure and the misunderstood. This week’s selection hails from South Korea and was produced in 2002.]

RESURRECTION OF THE LITTLE MATCH GIRL

So most video game movies are based on video games, right? Well here's one based on... an old Christmas story by Hans Christian Anderson?

Resurrection of the Little Match Girl tells the tale of Joo, a quiet, downtrodden regular Joe who spends his time either working a crappy Chinese food delivery job, or in the arcades playing various arcade shooters - which help fuel his fantasies of blasting away all the rude customers he has to deal with. His main aspiration is to be a pro gamer like his best buddy GG. Why? Women, naturally. In one of the film’s earliest scenes features both guys having dinner with two girls, and when GG tells the ladies about the StarCraft competition he’s set to participate in, along with all the money and fame that’ll come if he nabs the top prize, both get into an argument in the bathroom over the chance to bag him. Joo on the other hand is completely cast aside.

[Click through for more.]

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