The 11th annual Coney Island Film Festival, running Sept. 23-25, offers an exquisite blend of freak show, burlesque and cinematic oddities, featuring movies about reformed gang members, unwitting superheroes, rock ‘n’ roll heaven and tons and tons of short films.
The fest opens with the portrait of a real-life Coney Island badass, Keith Suber, a reformed gang member who now teaches kids that violence isn’t the solution to their problems in the documentary The Last Immortal, directed by Charles Denson.
However, the highlight of the festival — in Bad Lit: The Journal of Underground Film’s opinion — is the headbangin’ documentary Heavy Metal Picnic by Jeff Krulik and John Heyn, which beautifully relives the glory days of ’80s era rock ‘n’ roll Maryland in all its raucous glory. Featuring footage from an outrageous backwoods farm concert and a reunion among its (slightly) more mature participants. Read the official Bad Lit documentary review here.
The fest opens with the portrait of a real-life Coney Island badass, Keith Suber, a reformed gang member who now teaches kids that violence isn’t the solution to their problems in the documentary The Last Immortal, directed by Charles Denson.
However, the highlight of the festival — in Bad Lit: The Journal of Underground Film’s opinion — is the headbangin’ documentary Heavy Metal Picnic by Jeff Krulik and John Heyn, which beautifully relives the glory days of ’80s era rock ‘n’ roll Maryland in all its raucous glory. Featuring footage from an outrageous backwoods farm concert and a reunion among its (slightly) more mature participants. Read the official Bad Lit documentary review here.
- 9/14/2011
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
There's a reason certain arcade games never really leave the public consciousness. The twitchy panic of "Asteroids," the interminable march of the pixellated aliens of "Space Invaders" and the surge of revenge from eating a ghost in "Pac-Man" still make all those titles incredibly powerful experiences, long after the heyday of the arcade era.
"Donkey Kong" rates up there as well and the game enjoyed resurgent awareness after Seth Gordon's acclaimed 2007 documentary "The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters" chronicled the high-score rivalry of Steve Wiebe and Billy Mitchell. That film inspired Dr. Hank Chien to try his scalpel-wielding hands at the Nintendo masterpiece. Chien went on to jump right over both Wiebe and Mitchell like so many rolling barrels and is now the current "Dk" champion. Filmmaker and actress Alexis Neophytides met Chien just as he was gearing up for his Dk journey and recorded him for a year,...
"Donkey Kong" rates up there as well and the game enjoyed resurgent awareness after Seth Gordon's acclaimed 2007 documentary "The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters" chronicled the high-score rivalry of Steve Wiebe and Billy Mitchell. That film inspired Dr. Hank Chien to try his scalpel-wielding hands at the Nintendo masterpiece. Chien went on to jump right over both Wiebe and Mitchell like so many rolling barrels and is now the current "Dk" champion. Filmmaker and actress Alexis Neophytides met Chien just as he was gearing up for his Dk journey and recorded him for a year,...
- 4/8/2011
- by Evan Narcisse
- ifc.com
If you love King of Kong, you'll go crazy for Doctor Kong! Okay, not really. But the success of the 2007 documentary on the competitive nature of video gamers has spawned another one.
This documentary is based on a 35 year old plastic surgeon, Hank Chien who has also mastered Donkey Kong. The full name of the film will be Doctor Kong: Cutting Up the Competition. Check out the trailer below:...
This documentary is based on a 35 year old plastic surgeon, Hank Chien who has also mastered Donkey Kong. The full name of the film will be Doctor Kong: Cutting Up the Competition. Check out the trailer below:...
- 3/24/2011
- by Get The Big Picture
- GetTheBigPicture.net
For obvious reasons, I am a pretty big fan of Seth Gordon's 2007 documentary The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters, which captures the intense battle between Billy Mitchell and Steve Wiebe as they both try to attain the coveted title of Donkey Kong World Champion. One of the few unsatisfying things about the movie is the fact that the story never seems to end, because the title has continued to change hands ever since the release of the film. Things became even more complicated last year when a third contender entered the picture and stole the title away from both Mitchell and Wiebe: 35-year-old plastic surgeon Hank Chien. Chien's skills have earned him the nickname Doctor Kong, and now he is also getting a documentary of his own called Doctor Kong: Cutting Up the Competition. Directed by Alexis Neophytides, it's somewhat unclear if this is a feature-length doc or just a short.
- 3/24/2011
- by Sean
- FilmJunk
Filed under: Trailers and Clips, Movie News, Video, Cinematical
If you haven't seen Seth Gordon's amazing 2007 documentary, 'The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters,' about two star 'Donkey Kong' players whose stories play out like the ultimate tragic hero and villain, then you are seriously missing out. Algebra teacher Steve Wiebe and hot sauce salesman Billy Mitchell have both held the world record for highest score, but a New York plastic surgeon, Hank Chien, is a new contender on the scene and recently yanked the title away from Wiebe. Of course, that 1,090,400 score means he gets his own documentary, 'Doctor Kong: Cutting Up the Competition.'
Chien has a Natalie Portman laugh, but the dorky doctor can play some serious 'Kong.' Filming started in 2009 before Chien won the title and was created "as a character study of this odd guy who would show...
If you haven't seen Seth Gordon's amazing 2007 documentary, 'The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters,' about two star 'Donkey Kong' players whose stories play out like the ultimate tragic hero and villain, then you are seriously missing out. Algebra teacher Steve Wiebe and hot sauce salesman Billy Mitchell have both held the world record for highest score, but a New York plastic surgeon, Hank Chien, is a new contender on the scene and recently yanked the title away from Wiebe. Of course, that 1,090,400 score means he gets his own documentary, 'Doctor Kong: Cutting Up the Competition.'
Chien has a Natalie Portman laugh, but the dorky doctor can play some serious 'Kong.' Filming started in 2009 before Chien won the title and was created "as a character study of this odd guy who would show...
- 3/17/2011
- by Alison Nastasi
- Cinematical
Filed under: Trailers and Clips, Movie News, Video, Cinematical
If you haven't seen Seth Gordon's amazing 2007 documentary, 'The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters,' about two star 'Donkey Kong' players whose stories play out like the ultimate tragic hero and villain, then you are seriously missing out. Algebra teacher Steve Wiebe and hot sauce salesman Billy Mitchell have both held the world record for highest score, but a New York plastic surgeon, Hank Chien, is a new contender on the scene and recently yanked the title away from Wiebe. Of course, that 1,090,400 score means he gets his own documentary, 'Doctor Kong: Cutting Up the Competition.'
Chien has a Natalie Portman laugh, but the dorky doctor can play some serious 'Kong.' Filming started in 2009 before Chien won the title and was created "as a character study of this odd guy who would show...
If you haven't seen Seth Gordon's amazing 2007 documentary, 'The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters,' about two star 'Donkey Kong' players whose stories play out like the ultimate tragic hero and villain, then you are seriously missing out. Algebra teacher Steve Wiebe and hot sauce salesman Billy Mitchell have both held the world record for highest score, but a New York plastic surgeon, Hank Chien, is a new contender on the scene and recently yanked the title away from Wiebe. Of course, that 1,090,400 score means he gets his own documentary, 'Doctor Kong: Cutting Up the Competition.'
Chien has a Natalie Portman laugh, but the dorky doctor can play some serious 'Kong.' Filming started in 2009 before Chien won the title and was created "as a character study of this odd guy who would show...
- 3/17/2011
- by Alison Nastasi
- Moviefone
If you have read the site, you likely know about 2007's documentary, The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters. Since the documentary's release, Billy Mithcell and Steve Wiebe have been gone back and forth reclaiming the the title. In the spring, we reported of a new king in town named Hank Chien. He is a plastic surgeon from New York, who took the title from Mithcell. Mitchell then took the title back, only to be bested by Wiebe in September. In January, Wiebe was once again unseated by Chien.
Chien has a high score of 1,090,400 and is now one of the top Donkey Kong players in the world. He was not a part of the 2007 film and now he has his own documentary called Doctor Kong: Cutting Up the Competition.
In 2009, Alexis Neophytides began filming the short documentary before Chien won the Donkey Kong title. Nintendo Life described...
Chien has a high score of 1,090,400 and is now one of the top Donkey Kong players in the world. He was not a part of the 2007 film and now he has his own documentary called Doctor Kong: Cutting Up the Competition.
In 2009, Alexis Neophytides began filming the short documentary before Chien won the Donkey Kong title. Nintendo Life described...
- 3/16/2011
- by Tiberius
- GeekTyrant
[1] Ever since The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters was released in 2007, we at /Film have watched [2] with [3] great [4] interest [5] as the documentary's two main subjects, Billy Mitchell and Steve Wiebe, took turns beating each other for the Donkey Kong world record. Last spring, however, a New York plastic surgeon named Hank Chien burst [6] onto the scene and stole the title from Mitchell, who'd held it for the previous three years. Mitchell then took the title back, only to be bested by Wiebe in September. And Wiebe, in turn, found himself unseated by Chien this past January. Point being: Chien's up there now with Mitchell and Wiebe as one of the top Donkey Kong players in the world, with a high score of 1,090,400. And he's about to catch up to Mitchell and Wiebe in another way, too, as the star of his own documentary, Doctor Kong: Cutting Up the Competition.
- 3/16/2011
- by Angie Han
- Slash Film
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