Spellbound

Rating:
Summary: it makes spelling fun (or, at least watching it fun)
Review: A film by Jeffrey Blitz

"Spellbound" is an Academy Award nominated film (Best Documentary) that focuses on eight children who are competing in the 1999 National Spelling Bee. We are given a look at the kids as they prepare for the Regional Spelling Bee. Each kid wins the regional and goes on to the National Bee. The first half of the movie is introduction. We are given a fairly in depth look into the lives of each of the eight kids: Harry Altman, Angela Arenivar, Ted Brigham, April DeGideo, Neil Kadakia, Nupur Lala, Emily Stagg, and Ashley White. This opening part shows how each child (the child must be in eighth grade or below, and be younger than 16 years of age) prepared for the spelling bees, what they study, and what their lives are like. Some of the kids are more interesting than others. I know that is a bad thing to say about real children, but I think it is valid when we talk about the movie. After the segments on five kids I start wondering when the actually Spelling Bee will begin and how many kids are left to introduce. I understand that this is necessary because this distinguishes them from the other children participating in the Bee.

Halfway through the movie we get to the National Spelling Bee. We follow each of the kids through the opening rounds and while we do see the other kids in the Bee, the most time is spent on our eight subjects. As we move into higher rounds, some of the subjects miss a word and are eliminated. After each elimination we hear the responses from the parents and the contestant and without exception they are positive responses. There is joy as the kids do well and they is disappointment when one is eliminated (I had a couple of favorites throughout the movie), but by the end this documentary made me care about an event that I would never have given a second thought to.

Since I am somewhat bookish, I loved this documentary. It was fascinating, interesting, and presented a well told story of the National Spelling Bee. "Spellbound" is an absolutely terrific documentary and is well worth your time to watch.

Rating:
Summary: If This Isn't "Reality" Programming, Then Nothing Qualifies!
Review: 2002's "Spellbound" is a nail-biting documentary, which follows eight young contestants as they prepare to enter the 1999 National Spelling Bee Championship in Washington, D.C.

The pressure mounts for all eight of these charming young spellers (as well as for their tense parents -- well, maybe even MORE so in the case of a few of the parents) as each one wins his or her regional competition, and makes it all the way to the "Big One" in Washington.

You can really feel the nervous anxiety and the stress that these kids are experiencing as the camera zooms in on them while spelling these seemingly impossible-to-figure-out words. You'll find yourself rooting for them, right along with their anxious parents in the audience.

Amazingly, I found that I was actually able to spell a couple of the dictionary behemoths that were offered up during the competition. Of course, less than 1% of the monster words you'll find in a National Spelling Bee are words you've ever even remotely heard of before....and certainly none of these words would *ever* come up in a casual dinner conversation at home (or even at a dinner party hosted by Albert Einstein, I would surmise). But, the kids that participate in these "Bees" are prepared for virtually anything it seems.

Three of the top eight spellers at the '99 National Bee are among the 8 boys and girls featured in some depth during this 97-minute documentary film, including the eventual winner.

I was rooting for each and every one of these nice kids. It's a shame they couldn't all get a trophy. But those that were eliminated took it in stride, showing a great deal of poise and sportsmanship. All of these young folks showed a lot of class -- and I truly *don't* think it was solely based on the fact that there was a camera in their face the whole time. I felt these kids would have reacted in the same classy manner had there not been a documentary being made about them.

This DVD offers up some rather interesting Special Features, too .... including some "Bonus Footage", which is a nice, healthy 24-minute-long segment focusing on three additional spelling-bee contestants.

There's also a filmmaker's Audio Commentary Track, the Theatrical Trailer, as well as some informative text screens on the spellers, including a "Where Are They Now?" section.

In addition, there are also some DVD-ROM features, including a fun "Hangman" game. Even if you don't have a DVD-ROM computer drive, you can still get to the "Deluxe Hangman Challenge!" game by going to the following web address:

http://spellboundmovie.com/dvd/hangman/

Aspect Ratio is Full Frame (1.33:1), with a 2.0 Dolby Digital Stereo soundtrack.

"Spellbound" is indeed a "spellbinding" motion picture. The ultimate "reality" film. So sit back and enjoy this excellent movie...and learn a few new words to boot (you'll never use them, but, what the heck). :)

Oh, and if anybody ever tells you that you're positively "callipygian" -- don't haul off and hit 'em with a frying pan. It's a very nice compliment. Really, it is. Look it up. ;)

Rating:
Summary: Super DVD!
Review: You can't go wrong with this one! Charming would be an understatement!

Rating:
Summary: Rigged contest
Review: The makers of "Spellbound" start with a can't-miss formula-the buildup to a national spelling competition-and use it to explore some classic archetypes of American culture. There are the striving immigrants, the rich kid, the poor kids, the borderline-autistic kids, etc. It's fascinating, but a bit too pat at the same time. Editing choices make the director's allegiances clear and manipulate the viewer's emotions. "Spellbound" reminded me a lot of a recent cable documentary on child beauty pageants--the director used the medium to cast judgment on parents and indict American values at the same time, probably from the comfortable vantage point of S.F. or the Upper West Side. When are documentary filmmakers going to focus their energy on genuine muckraking instead of slinging mud at hapless middle-class folk? It's not like there aren't a lot of real miscarriages of justice out there. Poor Neil's hours with word lists just don't rank up there in my pantheon of atrocities.

Rating:
Summary: this movie is quite alright.
Review: Like countless Americans, I was shocked to find the National Speling Bee on ESPN. Soon however, I was sucked in and for the last few years I've watched compulsively. This movie captures all of the magic of the live telecasts while also expanding on the snippets of biographical information provided therein. The kids chosen for this film are an amazing ensemble and their vastly different routes to the finals are compelling. Overall this is a well-made movie that dares its audience not to enjoy it.

Rating:
Summary: wonderful documentary with excellent dvd features
Review: This is a terrific and engrossing documentary about eight kids who have won their regional spelling bees and are now preparing for, and later participating in, the National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C. Each teenager is profiled and then the end of the film is the big bee -- and you find yourself wishing that each one could win, and you realize that all 249 contestants have a unique story to tell, and family and friends supporting them. This is a superb film, and the dvd extras are great too.

The commentary track is very interesting, including a lot of insight into the editing process, which was quite a task with 160 hours of film to work with. Also, there are profiles of three kids that had to be cut when the first print of the film was 3 hours long -- these are just as interesting as the eight left in, so don't miss them! "Where Are They Now?" lets you know what each of the kids is currently doing. "About the Filmmakers" tells you about director Jeff Blitz (Wonderland) and his two colleagues. Also included are trailers and interactive web links to a game and an educational guide.

This is a great film about the American Dream, about each family's unique experience in this country, about the powerful diversity we share, and about kids and their families. Highest recommendation.

Rating:
Summary: Appealing documentary about kids competing
Review: Spellbound is an engaging documentary about eight kids who are hopefuls in the national spelling bee, 1999. I mention this first because honestly, I was expecting a scripted comedy film when I rented this based on the iControl description! Well in spite of my mistake, I found a worthwhile film with Spellbound.

Now I know this sounds extremely boring to the huge majority of us out here who have never even considered competing in a spelling bee. Give it a chance -- this movie is really about the individuals and their private dramas as they go through their training processes for the contest. We see a wide variety of approaches to preparing from both the parents' end and their kids': but truthfully, this whole thing reminds me of stage parents getting their children ready for those awful pageants. Almost across the board, pressure is applied to the kids to perform and WIN. For example one dad (who sounds to me like the most extreme perfectionist control freak that ever existed) drills his son on seven to eight thousand words per day and paid hundreds of people to pray for his son to win. He also promised that he would pay for five thousand people in India to have dinner IF his son won first place in the spelling bee. Talk about a heavy burden to put on the shoulders of a twelve-year-old kid!

The two exceptions to this stage parent mentality are interesting. One is the mom of an African American girl from a poor neighborhood; the other, immigrants from India whose daughter is a first generation American. In both cases, the girls were made to feel that they were good enough even without a championship trophy or a medal. There was never any suggestion that they were defined by their success in this spelling contest. I personally believe that of all the contestants, these two kids will have the best experiences in the larger adult world later on because their parents were supportive rather than trying to live vicariously through them or pushing them too hard; plus, these girls were allowed to have a life outside of the spelling bee training, which seemed to be lacking for most of the other kids as well.

Spellbound is an honest look into the world of spelling bees and the lives of the kids who compete in them, often from a very young age. It is relatively entertaining for a documentary, heavily dependant on listening to the dialogue rather than visuals, and sometimes funny in unexpected ways. Recommended for people who like documentaries in general.
-Andrea, aka Merribelle

Rating:
Summary: Just Buy It Already!
Review: This is not a niche film for academic geeks (although they like it), but an intense documentary for all who wish to look outside the box of what is considered "normal." Every young person and adult that I know who has seen it is impressed and inspired (and that would be about two dozen total - not to mention the entire theatre full of weirdo's). At least rent it, so that you don't miss this unique piece of work - then you'll probably be back here to order.

Rating:
Summary: Fun and Intelligent
Review: This movie is fun and intelligent, as my description says. It has lots of hidden "simpsons like" humor, and it makes you think a little :-). The best part is trying to figure out how these children will place based their family background, study habits, and friends. You could almost get a few friends together that haven't seen the movie and place bets on the kids.

Anyway, I recommend this movie for two reasons. First of all, I get bored watching cheesy hollywood flicks with the same characters and the same script. Spellbound takes a subject that America vaguely "knows," and makes it transparent. The children are smarter than most adults, and the plot moves full speed through character introductions and the main competition.

Secondly, it is fun to see what these children are capable of spelling. I thought that I had fairly good spelling skills, but after watching this movie, I felt like a moron. Anyway, spend the $3 to rent this movie, it is definitely worth it.

Rating:
Summary: H-I-G-H-larious
Review: This is the most unintentionally funny, stereotype proving movie I've ever seen. From the plantation owners talking about how "not all the Mexicans is lazy- there's some good ones in the bunch" to the teacher saying how excited she gets "when I get a kid from India in my class" because she knows "they're always the hardest workers," this movie flings stereotypes all over the board. Oh, and let's not forget the one black contestant whose mother speaks in ebonics-style english and whose father is neither present nor mentioned.

I feel bad for the kids and parents portrayed in this movie, because while you feel their anticipation and nervousness throughout the movie, you feel at the end, like Emily, that you are "so happy I never have to do this again!"