the king of kong Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Talk all you want about Sundance, but some of my favorite films often come out of the Slamdance Film Festival, Sundance's illegitimate dorky little half-cousin. While Sundance features clean, glamorous "message movies" starring people you're very familiar with, Slamdance films are a little rough around the edges; cultish with a touch of fanboyish flavor. Oh, and their docs are always very good. Last year saw Dear Zachary come out of Slamdance, and the year before was The King of Kong. One of the docs entering the 2009 Slamdance Film Fest with a little buzz behind it is Zombie Girl: The Movie, a doc about a 12-year-old girl who attempts to make her own feature-length zombie flick. Not only is it ridiculously hard to make your own feature-length film on a shoestring budget (I know from experience), but imagine if it was a horror movie ... and you were 12. Check out the trailer below, and learn more about Zombie Girl: The Movie over on its official website.




Check out the Spooner trailer after the jump ...

It was a damn fine year for movies, 2007. It's hard enough picking 10 top flicks from the crop after a just-decent year, so the task was especially tricky this time around. (At least at Moviefone we're able to pick the 50 best.) That's why I'm thankful for the unwritten critics' rule that Top 10 lists can start with a tie, so long as there's common thematic bond between them. Here are my 11 10 favorite movies of the 007.

10. Tie: Dan in Real Life / Grace is Gone (Widower Special)
What can I say, I'm a sucker for widowers. Some critics found the loving family in Steve Carell's poignant dramedy Dan unrealistic. I feel sorry for some critics. Plot contrivances aside, it succeeds both in capturing the dynamics of a large clan and telling a helluva love story. In a career-best performance in Grace, John Cusack is a flag-waving father of two whose wife is killed in Iraq. This tear-jerking drama might be misconstrued as a political statement, but finally it's a heartrending tale of human loss.

9. Hot Fuzz
Yes, this hilarious send-up of (tribute to?) Bruckheimer schlock tops Shaun of the Dead, the brilliant debut from Brits Simon Pegg, Nick Frost and Edgar Wright. Whereas Shaun's first hour is pure bliss, it loses some steam in the third act. Fuzz gets better as it speeds along, offering up surprises and side-splitters in equal measure. Really, who would've thought anyone would ever pay homage to Bad Boys II?

8. No End in Sight
As you can surmise from the title, this ain't exactly a sunshiney look at the Iraq War. But it's the most thorough, eye-opening detailing of the mega-blunders made the Bush Administration in planning and executing the war to date (so THAT'S where the insurgency came from!), with nary a Michael Moore stunt in sight. Prepared to be educated, maddened.

7. Ratatouille
Like I've been saying it for a while now: The machines at Pixar appear to be challenging themselves more and more with each release: "What DON'T audiences think they'll fall in love with? How about a rat who cooks? Better yet, a French rat!" And of course, after 111 minutes of Pixar magic, most of us left with a newfound respect for rodents. (Reminds me of '91 when I saw Beauty and the Beast; haven't been afraid of beasts since.)

6. Superbad
Forget Knocked Up. Forget Walk Hard. This deliciously raunchy buddy comedy/love story will stand the test of time and prevail as the most influential Apatow movie of '07, defining a generation like Dazed and Confused and Fast Times at Ridgemont High did before it. Here's hoping Christopher Mintz-Passe (a.k.a. McLovin) will ever be able to convincingly play another character, though I wouldn't mind more McLovin.

You might remember our Scott Weinberg reviewing a documentary from SXSW called The King of Kong (which has since added onto the end: "A Fistful of Quarters"). He said it was "as compelling, colorful and entertaining as any of the 'human interest' documentaries of the past five years." The film, which opened in limited release this weekend, follows the quest of Steve Wiebe to get his record-breaking score on Donkey Kong recognized -- one that beats the long-established score of Billy Mitchell. There's lots of argument over the whole thing, which has continued beyond the making of the doc. Mitchell isn't happy with how he is portrayed, and four months after Wiebe beat his score, it seems he regained his title. But the kicker is that a fictional account is in the works, to be written by Michael Bacall, and the filmmakers got chatty with VH1 about who they'd like to star.

If you're wondering about what kind of movie this could be, director Seth Gordon described one scene they weren't able to catch on film, but could make it into the feature: "There was a moment recorded only on audio when Steve was approaching a record on his Donkey Kong machine in his garage. As he hopped barrels toward glory, his young son was yelling, 'Daddy, Daddy, wipe my butt,' and hitting dad with a broom. I think it will be pretty fun physical comedy."

And who do they want to play the gamers? Gordon says: "My first idea for Billy was Johnny Depp. Ed Norton I thought would be good. It's not really about the hair, it's about the eyes. It's got to be a real actor." For Wiebe, producer Ed Cunningham thinks Greg Kinnear would be good, while Gordon likes Nathan Fillion. With names like these, this could rock the pants off The Wizard! I imagine they'd have a good shot with Fillion -- he's still making his way so I imagine he'd be easier to sign, and considering the success of the doc and the possible co-stars, it would be an appealing project for an up-and-comer...not to mention the fact that I think he'd make a good gamer. I'd also love to see Depp in the role, but I wouldn't be surprised if he was too busy or uninterested. Who would you pick?

A few weeks ago, I wrote a Monday Morning Poll asking which film(s) you thought would be summer's biggest disappointment. Since I wanted to prove that I'm not all about the negative, I decided it might be fun to also predict which film(s) will surprise. For me (and probably most of the country), last year's summer surprise was Little Miss Sunshine. I remember getting the call to cover the press junket for this little limited release Sundance film in July. And upon exiting the theater, I felt the need to call every one of my friends to tell them about the film. It surprised me in a way that just felt so good -- so alive -- and if this summer can bring me one film like that, then I shall be one happy boy.

As far as mainstream films go, I've surprised a lot of people in saying that New Line's Hairspray update will do pretty well with audiences once it arrives on July 20, providing folks with some much-needed relief (and some light, colorful fun) after three months full of pirates, robots, wizards and superheroes. In a summer predominantly geared toward teenage males, Hairspray is the type of film that females can grab hold of and catapult to the top. Once we move past the mainstream, there are a group of popular festival films that might also find a substantial cheering section. First up is A Mighty Heart; a film that stars Angelina Jolie as Marianne Pearl, the widow of slain journalist Daniel Pearl. Jolie's name will get people in seats, but her performance might keep the buzz alive as we head into awards season. My foreign language pick for the summer arrives on July 11 in limited release, and it's called Drama/Mex. Directed by Gerardo Naranjo, pic tells of three back-to-back stories that take place over the course of one night in Acapulco. Although I haven't seen it yet, I've heard nothing but great things. As far as docs go, I have to plug The King of Kong. Pic, which chronicles the lives of a group of guys who are out to set the new high record for Donkey Kong, doesn't yet have a release date, but I've heard it will drop at some point this August. And when it does, go see it. Trust me on this one.

So, I ask you: Which films do you think will surprise us this summer?