Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Spellbound (2002)

This is topic Spellbound (2002) in forum Film Handlers' Movie Reviews at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

To visit this topic, use this URL:
https://ft-forum.com/ft/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=4;t=000588

Posted by Scott Norwood (Member # 30) on 06-06-2003, 12:42 PM:

A spelling-bee documentary? Yes! And it's good!

(minor spoilers below)

The filmmakers picked some interesting characters for this, whom they then followed through regional competitions on their way to the national spelling bee, where 249 contestants compete for the championship. As I just said, the characters are great (and an interesting cross-section of America; the spelling bee means many different things to many different families); unfortunately, the one who wins is the most boring. The more interesting ones range from the daughter of an illegal immigrant from Mexico to (my personal favorite) the poster boy for Ritalin. Anyway, though there's a surprising amount of drama and tension here, punctuated by the occasional bit of humor. It's almost like watching a sports movie, which is perhaps appropriate given that the national spelling bee is televised on ESPN.

Go see this. It's fun. And it will appeal to a wide variety of audiences and thus should do great business.

Posted by Ian Price (Member # 14) on 06-06-2003, 03:23 PM:

We just opened it here. Unfortunately in spite of a 3-star review, only 23 people came to the first show.

I saw it yesterday with 40, 3rd grade and 4th grade students from the local elementary school. The 3rd graders were a little restless as the film is slow paced. The 4th graders were spellbound. [Smile]

The movie, (Video) is good but a little slow paced. The back-stories are fascinating. In spite of the fact that the winner was perhaps the most boring personality, I loved her story with the 3 toughs on the playground recounting their loss to her in the school spelling bee.

Last week I watched the National Spelling Bee on ESPN2. It was fascinating all by itself without any commentary. I found the narration in the movie to be a bit much and I wish they had stayed with the spellers as they spelled out their words more. The drama is right there, they didn't need to enhance it with narration. Plus they cut away too quick sometimes.

Now let me run this through spell check to see if I made any mistakes. [Roll Eyes]

I am an awfull speller.
(There were 7 misspellings.)

Posted by Charles Everett (Member # 889) on 06-08-2003, 03:18 PM:

Princeton Garden Theatre, Princeton NJ, 6/7, 5:00 PM show. Hall #2, attendance ~25-30. Two families (mother and daughter, mother and 2 daughters), otherwise all adults.

When I was in elementary school I had a spelling test every Friday. Usually I did well on the spelling tests. Unfortunately the school I went to didn't have a spelling bee -- otherwise I would have entered it. Maybe I would have wound up like one of the kids in Spellbound.

I didn't find this film slow at all. The producers set it up so students would understand it as well as adults. The fade-ins and fade-outs hint that Spellbound could fit into a two-hour slot on TV once the film has its run on HBO.

Find a theater that's playing Spellbound and see it. It is highly R-E-C-O-M-M-E-N-D-E-D.

Presentation: Show was missing a lights-down cue at the start. Lights were up full for the trailer (Whale Rider), went down halfway at the start of the feature and stayed halfway for 5-10 minutes. Projectionist stopped the show for about 1 minute to reset the lights. Image framed too low on the screen, thus some of the captions got partially cut off. Video-to-35mm transfer was excellent.

Sound: SR even though it was in a Dolby Digital hall -- I heard a loud pop in 2 (mid-frame) lab splices. Also got to hear the "beep" after the fade-out at the end (thanks for the alert, Scott). At least the end of the show had all its cues.

Posted by Gerard S. Cohen (Member # 994) on 06-09-2003, 02:07 PM:

At the Film Forum in NYC, Spellbound attendance has suddenly risen, with lines for tickets stretching down the block. It's become a sort of interactive cult film, with audiences at some screenings chanting out the spellings. Sort of like The Rocky Horror Show. A newspaper reporter suggested it must strike a chord with out-of-towners, since spelling bees have not been a feature of NYC schools in recent generations. At the Film Forum, screenings have been sold out.

Posted by Charles Everett (Member # 889) on 06-09-2003, 03:45 PM:

Gerard: Spellbound moved over to the Quad (13th Street near 6th Avenue) from the Film Forum last Wednesday. The AMC Empire also picked up Spellbound last week.

Posted by Gerard S. Cohen (Member # 994) on 06-10-2003, 05:54 PM:

Thanks for the update, Charles!
I always enjoyed working at the Quad, from back when they had Meopta projectors. They show fine foreign and indie films, and their audiences are very well-behaved and appreciative. I used to enjoy dimming the lights manually--they had rows of globe lights along the walls. The male manager had been a projectionist, and his European female co-manager had a real knowledge of cinema art and a cute accent.
When they converted from a twin to a quad, they installed small-diameter Potts platters in each corner which were awkward to operate, and the plastic mode knobs kept breaking off--they kept a drawer full of replacements on hand. The booth is small and quite crowded, but I enjoyed working in an art venue.
--Gerard