Honestly, welcome to the world of the documentary.

The success of King of Kong did in many ways bring this one out. But King of Kong was almost entirely a fabrication. If you've seen it, know this - Billy Mitchell was not actually the record holder at the time. During the filming of the movie, he actually came and played a game publicly at the 2004 Midwest Gaming Classic (according to the movie, which he never does) and he set the "Public World Record" on it because the private one was actually owned by Weibe the whole time. But, if you hear Walter Day talk about that movie, he says that he appreciated what it did by highlighting competitive gaming so that people knew it existed, and it found a way to tell a good story.

That's the problem with Special When Lit. It doesn't know what it wants to be. Is it there to make fun of the people or celebrate them? Who knows! The world championship happens in Pittsburgh? But no one knows! HA! But it looks so interesting, let's feature that!

In the end, it's a collection of oddly strung together short stories about people in the pinball hobby. Nothing more, nothing less. And not entertaining.

Tilt is a great documentary because you can tell that they set out to tell the story of pinball closing and were only swayed by the people who they did interviews with. I suggest that one to everyone.

If you're looking for a shorter but really nice documentary, check out Star Worlds: Pocket Full Of Quarters and I'm Headed to the Arcade. It's short (about 30 minutes) but encapsulates an amazing little old-school arcade that is not just kicking but thriving in DeKalb, Illinois. I've known them for years because of the Midwest Gaming Classic, and it really helps to explain just how into it they are. Great guys.

If you're interested in either one of those two docs (Star Worlds / Tilt), PM me as I have a bunch from the MGC sitting around waiting for next MGC to sell