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 Spellbound [2003] (DVD)
Description: Genre: Television / Theatrical Release: 2003 / Director: Jeffrey Blitz / Actors: Harry Altman, Angela Arenivar, Ted ... more  Spellbound [2003] (DVD) ... Brigham ... / DVD released 22 August, 2005 at Cinema Club / Features of the DVD: PAL / Who would have thought that a documentary about US spelling bee contestants could be as suspense-filled as a Hitchcock thriller? Spellbound, which follows eight children from their early victories in regional spelling bees to the national competition in Washington DC, is an out-and-out nail-biter. The children range from a quietly driven African-American girl from a run-down DC neighbourhood, to a genial Connecticut girl who talks about bringing her au pair to a previous competition, to an almost zombie-like boy whose immigrant father has paid 1,000 people back in India to pray for the boy's success--gets captured so vividly that you can't help but get emotionally immersed in their brave, nerve-wracking struggle to spell slippery, treacherous words. Along the way, Spellbound contrasts the crazily different populations that make up the USA and shows how this facet of intelligence truly makes everyone equal on the podium. This is a riveting, wrenching, must-see movie.--Bret FetzerNewest Review: ... to help them learn new words and with parents, friends or teachers pushing them on. These kids have devoted their lives to ... more ... spelling and only Emily seems to have any sort of life outside of learning words and practising, practising, practising!
This is the most absorbing part of the documentary, you find yourself picking out your favourites, deciding which one of the eight you want to win. You cannot help it; you are drawn into their lives and automatically choose the two or three you like the most. In my case this was the ones who had a real love of words, who wanted to learn as opposed to those that were being pushed into it by family...more |
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Spellbound [2003] (DVD): A stylish D-O-C-U-M-E-N-T-A-R-Y about speeling! (1079 words)
by Ailran - written on 23.10.05 (Very useful, 232 readings)
Rating:
“Everyone Wants the Last Word” Spellbound is the story of 8 young Americans who live to win, to be no 1. The competitive American spirit lives in their veins but their focus is not on the physical, sporting competition but on academic rivalry instead. All eight of them train hard for the Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee, a competition so big that the entrants number in the millions and ESPN televises the final stages live! The director, Jeffrey Blitz, starts off by introducing us to the eight competitors, out of 250 odd finalists, that the documentary crew followed throughout the finals. Some of them are self trained or ...
Under Hitchcock's spell (766 words)
by radams - written on 01.08.02 (Very useful, 165 readings)
Rating:
Hitchcock’s "Spellbound" is an intriguing movie, but also an irritating one in many ways. It has been said that the plot is not very convincing, and even that the story (based on a novel by Francis Beeding) is not very interesting. On the whole, I’d agree with this, but it does have a lot to recommend it - romance, suspense and a famous dream sequence by Salvador Dali. A young doctor (Gregory Peck) arrives at a psychiatric institute as its new director, and immediately falls for Ingrid Bergman (who also plays a doctor – not just a nurse, but a clever doctor). A female protagonist like this was certainly not commonplace in ...
