Fun Spot

Go SEE this documentary.

Not only will you find yourself rooting for a high school math teacher:

You will also find yourself hating this guy:

His name is Billy Mitchell. At one point he was the best gamer out there, scoring a perfect score in Pac-Man and the highest score on the incredibly difficult Donkey Kong arcade game. But he hasn't really been playing games anymore.

That's when unassuming dad Steve Wiebe steps in and proceeds to strip Billy's overinflated mafioso world down, piece by piece. It's beautiful filmmaking and a true human story for our time.

And it's probably only playing tonight and tomorrow at the Bijou, so go see it!

But if you also happen to be from New Hampshire (or visited there once), you might have fond memories of Fun Spot at Weirs Beach, on Lake Winnipesaukee. Apparently it's the epicenter for classic video games. (People who want to have the highest score in a particular game will make the pilgrimage here to prove themselves on Fun Spot's machines, as Wiebe does in the film ... and Mitchell does not.)

When I visited Weirs Beach six years ago, a Harley Hog rally was taking place. Wind-toughened, meaty guys and their sun-scorched honeys pulled up on their choppers and bought ice cream cones. I didn't know Weirs Beach also attracted the largest classic gaming geek population in the States. But the writing was on the wall at Fun Spot: A four-foot poster of Billy Mitchell giving the thumbs-up and wearing his American Flag tie was on the wall, denoting his Pac-Man record (which he achieved at Fun Spot). I remember snapping a pic of the poster and then eventually photoshopping my head in Billy's place. The pic below isn't the one I took, but you get the idea.

So, in a lot of ways this documentary really made things come full circle for me. Now I just have to go see Into the Wild because a year ago I went to a casting call for the movie up in Astoria and they said I was perfect for a stand-in double for Emile Hirsch, the main character. But, wait, I wasn't so perfect: I was an inch too tall. So, for the record, I didn't get the gig, I didn't get to go to Alaska and Emile Hirsch is 5' 7".