Anyone else watching the documentary tonight?
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watching it right now. so far i have to say that it is nothing short of incredible.
EDIT: stayed strong all the way through. What a great doc-- Iād love it even if it had nothing to do with pinball. I regret not purchasing it instead of renting. I will definitely want to watch this again in the future.
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is this gonna come out in theatres?
Itās fantastic and even held my wifeās attention throughout the entire film, which is no small feat for something featuring pinball!
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whoaaa I should try that! 
My wife and I were all excited to watch it this Saturday night, organised a dinner and everything. Then we found it that itās restricted to USA and Canadaā¦ Thanks internet.
Same here. Restricted in the UK. Really hope this is a goof and can be corrected. I want to pay for this film and really hope it succeeds, but if itās still restricted in a few months and a pirate copy became available ā¦ would be difficult to resist 
Wow! Excellent doc!
Yeah, only available in the US and Canada
I bought the film anyway by using a VPN service called tunnelbear for this.
I know those restrictions are there for a reason, but I was really looking forward for this doc for a long time.
This movie is awesome. My wife and I were captivated throughout. Everyone go watch it!
Thanks, Phil, for posting the review. This choice is exactly what I was contemplating. I will now purchase instead of rent it.
Yeah, I blew it by renting as well. Next time I feel like watching it, Iāll probably just buy it then.
Thankfully the PAPA TV stream was available to capture his win at PAPA and they were able use it for a perfect happy ending to the film. It was great to watch that happen live and see Maurizoās emotional response to Robertās victory. Such a long road theyāve had as a family, it was really touching to be there for that moment.
Great job by the filmmakers using so much home video and taking all the tournament trips to really weave everything into a cohesive storyline along with his current adjustments into adult life. Thereās plenty for both the rabid pinball fans and non-players who just love a good documentary. Hopefully this makes the rounds at film fests in the upcoming year and gets the attention it deserves!
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Was at the premiere last night - there was Q&A afterwards with Robert/Maurizio, and Nathan/Jeff (the directors).
For anyone interested, the question/answers I recall: (wordingās likely inaccurate)
Q: Roberts Favorite Machine?
Robert: Twilight Zone.
Q: Were (the directors) pinball players? How did you become aware of Robert?
N/J: Werenāt pinball players. A friend of ours, brennan, whoās also mentioned by Mac Demarco in the film, played pinball in Vancouver, and told us about Robert. We went and met the family, and played pinball for a couple hours, first time we had really played. After two years weāve gotten a bit hooked, Iām trying to buy a machine nowā¦ (audience laughter)
Q: Thereās a Mustang out in the lobby arcade, have you played it?
R: owns one, but hasnāt played this one.
Maurizio: Robert was playing one at a friends yesterday, and reached the wizard mode ball one.
Q: What misconceptions would you hope people change about autism?
R: Passed the question to Maurizio
M: Started answering about Robert not being stressed, how he actually gets very worked up, choked up and had to pass the mike.
N/J: Misconception about being anti-social. Robert is a very social individual.
Q: For Nathan and Jeff, were you guys watching the Papa world champ stream, and can you describe your response.
N: we werenāt actually watching - Jeff was in (ā¦) working on a different project, and I was in Oakland at a friends. I got a call from Maurizio that Robert had made the final 8, and told him to film what he could if Robert made the final four. We had frozen the movie a few days before, so had to contact our editor to tel him we were going to have to re-open the movie. Two weeks before we were due to showā¦ (Auditorium burst out laughing). Nathan named and thanked a bunch of editors/sound, etc. for helping them pull that off last minute.
Some Thoughts
- the pinball community I think comes out looking pretty good.
- Robertās IFPA Nationals victory is left out of the film entirely.
- perhaps this might have been the original conclusion of the film, and the late edit didnāt leave time to place it elsewhere in the film?
- I really like the game footage shown. You can catch an example in the trailer.
- Thereās a line in the film from Robert surprised about a successful musician (Mac Demarco) being interested in pinball. Ed Robertson was at the premiere.
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The film crew wasnāt at 2015 Nationals.
They werenāt at Papa 19, either, so I donāt think that would have stopped them.
As far as I know, Maurizio wasnāt video recording at Nationals, so the only footage would be Karlās stream. On top of the reasons you mention and the limited footage, thereās also the fact that theyād need to take time to explain how a Canadian won the US championship. Or ignore it and hope no one would notice. 
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How did everyone feel about the scenes where it showed some players being dismissive of Robert?
Though I would like to think Iām not guilty of that, I am almost positive that I have been before. My wife was especially bothered by this scene and her quote was āthis is similar to how I feel and am treated at a tournament.ā
Fortunate enough for me I wasnāt caught being dismissive on tape (unlike ZACH - boom!)
In all seriousness I think thereās context here that needs to be taken into account, and thatās the fact that weāre often distracted as players watching another game on the monitors (especially if youāre involved in another match - or wanting to get a read on bounces or kickouts on a specific game thatās currently being played). Thereās a good chance I did miss whatever unfortunate thing happened to the person saying āOMG did you see that?ā when they turn around and Iām the one standing right there.
I think the slight awkwardness comes from Robert continuing the conversation as if you saw what happened, when a) you didnāt, and b) youāre still engaged which whatever you happen to be still be watching at that moment.
Thereās also other times when players are getting mentally prepared to go to war or whatever, and itās just ānot the timeā to want to have any conversation with anyone about anything.
I think thatās where Robertās self admittance of not knowing those social cues just causes for another awkward moment. There are absolutely times when I donāt mind having a conversation with Robert as to how much I can bench press compared to Zach (spoiler alert - Zach and Robert can bench press more than I can) . . . however, sitting there waiting to step up to ball 3 of an elimination game at PAPA finals just isnāt the right timing for that to happen.
My wife and I did joke though that my brother was a total asshole
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Like Basler pretty much being at deathās door with the flu during those finals
Yeah well, as I said my wife and I organised a dinner to make a night out of the viewing this Saturday. I havenāt actually broken the news to her that we canāt legally buy it yetā¦ So who knows what will happen.
Must be a big blow to the film you would think, as everyone internationally (as in, not in the USA or Canada) will be caught in the hype and want to watch it now, and you would imagine a lot of those people will find other ways to satisfy that.