THE KING OF KONG: A FISTFUL OF QUARTERS

Long before this season's big blockbuster release Minecraft, videogames have informed the art and culture of modern movies. Our latest repertory series Pictures of Pixels, which anticipates the April 4 release of Minecraft on IMAX, illustrates the lively and dynamic relationship between games, gamers, and an array of memorable cinematic achievements.

Two expert gamers duke it out for a record-breaking Donkey Kong score in Seth Gordon's acclaimed documentary, which transforms the insular world of 1980s arcade games and transforms it into a riveting sports movie. The drama revolves around Twin Galaxies, an organization run by the eccentric singer-songwriter Walter Day, which has tracked the top scores of arcade games for decades.

For years, the egomaniacal Billy Mitchell has maintained the top Donkey Kong score, but when a humble engineer from Redmon, Washington named Steve Wiebe steps up to challenge that legacy, Mitchell goes into survival mode. What follows is a thrilling and often hilarious David-and-Goliath saga that resurrects the blend of silliness and obsession that defined a generation reared on button-mashing pastimes.