The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters (2007)

“Hey guys, Donkey Kong kill screen coming up…”

Been on a documentary rewatch kick and this one was always going to be on the list. It’s weirdly underrated for how perfect it is. Like, it’s a biblical David and Goliath story that happens to be about Donkey Kong, and somehow that’s the least interesting thing about it.

I forget every time how genuinely upset this movie makes me feel. Watching Billy and his little court of yes-men crush Steve Wiebe’s dream over and over for a lying maniac just hurts in a way that goes deep. Everyone has felt this at some point. You’re trying to do an honest thing and there’s some smug guy with a goatee and a posse working to keep you down. This movie just feels like life.

That said, Billy Mitchell might be the greatest documentary antagonist of all time. He’s dramatic, he speaks in monologues, he sends VHS tapes through intermediaries instead of showing up in person. He throws twists into the story. Truly an all-timer.

Updating this in 2026 because the Twin Galaxies drama has been a whole saga. He got stripped, then reinstated as the Donkey Kong world record holder, and I have to say I am a truther. There is no universe where that man isn’t fudging numbers by any means available to him. The guy has been running the same con since the Reagan administration and we just keep letting him.

This is peak documentary as a genre for me. The “slice of life from a niche community you’ve never heard of with insular drama that turns out to be Shakespearean” subgenre is unbeatable. Tiger King, Wordplay, Cutie and the Boxer, all in the same family. The pettier the stakes, the better the movie.

Also on Letterboxd