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by Fussbett 05/28/2003, 2:30am PDT |
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Spellbound was one awesome documentary. Reminded me a lot of Errol Morris' Gates of Heaven and the little known documentary called Wonderland, with a little "watching kids strive for greatness" of Hoop Dreams. We learn about eight gifted kids who are competing in the 1999 National Spelling Bee championship. We don't follow them around, as it's mostly just interviews with the kids and their families days before the big event. As in an Errol Morris documentary, and as it has been spoofed by Christopher Guest ad nauseam, we learn that if you film normal simple people enough, they'll say some funny shit that makes it into the final cut. On top of that standard documentary goodness is the fact that this shit was riveting. Near the end when some of these kids spelled a word wrong, I think I might have let out a sound of some sort. This would seem more gay if the whole theatre wasn't doing the same right along with me, only louder. Those spelling bees are pressure cookers, yo. There was less audience reaction to Matrix Reloaded.
There is an element of Jonbenet Ramsey beauty pageantry where the parents are living vicariously, but mostly it's just geeky kids being geeky, to which I'm sure most of you will relate.
As the sign on the Hooters in Nupur's hick hometown said: "CONGRADUL TIONS NUPUR". Congradul tions to you too, Spellbound! |
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