Change Your Image
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Reviews
Freischwimmer (2007)
Like Molholland Drive
I was reminded of Mulholland Drive, the darkness, the comic moments of absurdity and camp, the lighting/colors and the way the scenes transition semi-abruptly. But most of all, if I am reading the film correctly, the dream/fantasy life sequences, in particular the ending.
The film held my attention more than it did for the people whom I saw the film with, and the audience reaction was mixed in the theater I attended. Some people laughed all of the way through and some people were not as responsive.
Also, I had a nice ice-cream before I went into the film. I'm not sure if this affected my experience of the film, but I'm willing to bet that it didn't.
The King of Kong (2007)
Reality is what you make it.
Sophists may condescend to argue that 'there are two sides to every story' and deny that there are social realities that may be found if we have the time to look hard enough. There is a human tendency to 'root for the underdog' and to see those established in their power as 'evil' for doing whatever they need to do to maintain it. I would like to call to the readers attention the underlying theme: weak vs. strong on a playing field that is not only unlevel but one in which chance plays a greater role that is at first obvious. I would like to describe the film as one that portrays the illusion of justice that many people find it necessary to maintain, as the Darwinian reality that we inhabit can otherwise be too harsh.
King of Kong (KoK) is A documentary, one of many that could have been made, though one in which the under dog wins out. There are many similar stories out there in which various permutations in the essential twists and turns of the plot worked out differently (not unnecessarily about a Donkey Kong battle). These stories may or may not have had documentaries made about them. If Steve hadn't have won, would the documentary have been made? Stories about the under dog who almost wins are not the sort of 'escape' that people are willing to part with their money to be exposed to. Market forces dictate that GENERALLY we see more stories about the winner who almost lost. Some times the weak do win (look at VHS vs. Betamax) due to better off field strengths. But in KoK, the person with weaker off field strengths and stronger in game skills HAPPENS to win out. It could easily have been different. So there is a big element of 'choice of story' rather than 'choice of edit' that is at play here.
By chance Steve and Billy were both born with genes and to environments that allowed them to get to where they are today. So, to the specious reasoners, the word-smiths, lawyer types, PR types and all their sidekicks out there writing reviews on this film, remember, you can fool some of the people all of the time, all of the people all of the time, but not all of the people all of the time.