The South by Southwest Film Festival has selected Park Chan-wook's surreal romance I'm a Cyborg, but That's OK as its closing-night film. The South Korean feature, from the cult director of Oldboy and Sympathy for Lady Vengeance, will be making its North American premiere March 17 at the Austin fest, which kicks off March 9. Other films added to the SXSW slate Thursday include D.J. Caruso's thriller Disturbia and three new documentaries: Eric Chaikin's A Lawyer Walks Into a Bar ..., Kris Carr's Crazy Sexy Cancer and Shannon O'Rourke's Maybe Baby.
- 2/23/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
E-Wolf Prods.
PARK CITY -- A crowd-pleasing if calculated documentary about the professional Scrabble circuit, "Word Wars" will inevitably be compared to "Spellbound", though it was started before that film came out. The film adheres to the formula of following eccentric characters in a competitive situation. Without a story that demands to be told, it lacks the urgency and significance of a great docu but still offers a diverting entertainment for a television audience.
The action picks up six months before the National Scrabble Championship in San Diego as four disparate characters try to whip themselves into mental and physical shape. Joe Edley, the defending champion, is the most controlled of the contestants. He practices tai chi, eats well and has a somewhat normal family life. He has memorized the dictionary several times over and bones up by going over cue cards while driving in his car.
Marlon Hill is the nonconformist in the group. A dreadlocked black man from Baltimore, he's an anomaly in a community that values athletic prowess more than mental accomplishment. With a fondness for pot and prostitutes, he's the wild man on the Scrabble circuit.
As much as he tries to keep himself together with an array of herbal mind-enhancing drugs, Matt Graham is his own worst enemy. A talented player who likes a little wager on the side, he melts down before the end of the championships.
The most colorful character is "G.I" Joel Sherman. "G.I" stands for gastrointestinal -- he regularly swigs from a Maalox bottle. A wisp of a man who is propelled by nervous energy, he arrives in San Diego with huge dark rings under his eyes.
Unlike "Spellbound", where the contestants don't interact outside the contest, the four characters here are alternately competitive and supportive outside the arena. Their passion is admirable, but the pursuit seems a bit arcane as they lay out words you've never heard of. Directors Eric Chaikin and Julian Petrillo keep things moving with the help of some cool graphics, but everyone may not care as much as they do about Scrabble. The 700 contestants filing into the nationals look like extras from "Night of the Living Dead".
PARK CITY -- A crowd-pleasing if calculated documentary about the professional Scrabble circuit, "Word Wars" will inevitably be compared to "Spellbound", though it was started before that film came out. The film adheres to the formula of following eccentric characters in a competitive situation. Without a story that demands to be told, it lacks the urgency and significance of a great docu but still offers a diverting entertainment for a television audience.
The action picks up six months before the National Scrabble Championship in San Diego as four disparate characters try to whip themselves into mental and physical shape. Joe Edley, the defending champion, is the most controlled of the contestants. He practices tai chi, eats well and has a somewhat normal family life. He has memorized the dictionary several times over and bones up by going over cue cards while driving in his car.
Marlon Hill is the nonconformist in the group. A dreadlocked black man from Baltimore, he's an anomaly in a community that values athletic prowess more than mental accomplishment. With a fondness for pot and prostitutes, he's the wild man on the Scrabble circuit.
As much as he tries to keep himself together with an array of herbal mind-enhancing drugs, Matt Graham is his own worst enemy. A talented player who likes a little wager on the side, he melts down before the end of the championships.
The most colorful character is "G.I" Joel Sherman. "G.I" stands for gastrointestinal -- he regularly swigs from a Maalox bottle. A wisp of a man who is propelled by nervous energy, he arrives in San Diego with huge dark rings under his eyes.
Unlike "Spellbound", where the contestants don't interact outside the contest, the four characters here are alternately competitive and supportive outside the arena. Their passion is admirable, but the pursuit seems a bit arcane as they lay out words you've never heard of. Directors Eric Chaikin and Julian Petrillo keep things moving with the help of some cool graphics, but everyone may not care as much as they do about Scrabble. The 700 contestants filing into the nationals look like extras from "Night of the Living Dead".
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