FEBRUARY 1 2008
AMERICANWAY 59
ThisDisney classic from the golden era of arcade
games boasts the actorwho later bowled hisway
through
TheBigLebowski
playing a programmer
whose video-game ideas are stolen.
In thismovie, a high-stakes game of global ther-
monuclearwar nearly brought about a conflict be-
tween theUnitedStates and theUSSR.
A comedy, it features TV’s KevinArnold taking his
brother on a cross-country trip that culminates in a
triumphant video-game-playing competition. Hint:
This film also stars Jenny Lewis, now frontwoman
of RiloKiley (it’s one of her early roles).
Themain character in this raunchy comedyworks
as a video-game tester; themoviewas producedby
SaturdayNight Live
alumAdamSandler.
A horror-fueledfilm inwhich a group of teens tries
to solve themysterious death of a friend in the
chillingworld of an online video game. A certain
Malcolm in theMiddle
star is the actorwe’re look-
ing for as the extra-credit answer.
Was there a turningpoint for you in terms ofbeing
able to seewhat the storywas?
The critical moment
was in understanding that SteveWiebe, who talks about
himself like he’s a loser—whose friends, whose parents,
whosewife all talk about him like he is a loser— isn’t
really a loser. He’s just the guywho always came in second
place. Oncewe understood that, it allowed us to seeBilly
as not just the guywho is the bigwinner but as someone
who is constantly living up to an idea of himself that he
createdwhen hewas 17 years old, where he is totally
perfect. Oncewe had thatmore complicated understand-
ing of the two of them, that’swhenwe felt the storywas
taking shape.
Though themovie centers on video games, it’s not
really about the games, is it?
I think the basic nature of
whatwas at stake herewas uniquelyAmerican and [also],
in someways, very universal.
Kong
is about someone try-
ing tomake history, tomake amark andbe remembered.
In this country, we’re taught that fame, to a certain
extent, is a completely legitimate pursuit, and that’swhat
these guys are after. And I think it’s kind ofwonderful
to see people pursuing that in somethingwhere they’re
creating their ownmeaning entirely. There is no inherent
value in having a video-game record, but they have devel-
oped these elaborate constructs in terms of verifying and
validating these scores, and so that pursuit becomes as
important as sports or politics are to the rest of us.
ShallWePlayaGame?
Match the descriptionswith the appropriate video-game-themed film. Earn extra credit for
naming the lead actor and the year themovie came out.
ANSWERS
1.C;JeffBridges,1982.2.
D;
MatthewBroderick,1983.3.E;FredSavage,1989.4.
A;AllenCovert,2006.5.
B;FrankieMuniz,2006
DESCRIPTIONS
MOVIES
A.
Grandma’sBoy
B.
StayAlive
C.
Tron
D.
WarGames
E.
TheWizard
