Ya know how after, the captivating doc about spelling bees and the kids who make themselves insane in pursuit of winning them, we got the slew of imaginary spelling-bee motion pictures? Well, brace yourself for another onslaught of word-nerd motion pictures, since Wordplay, Patrick Creadon's, yup, bewitching doc about New York Times crossword-puzzle editor Will Shortz and the crossword geeks who worship him has arrived, and it is a charmer.
It's so rare, and so wonderful, to see a film that unabashedly celebrates folks who are supersmart and feel no requirement to conceal it that that alone is factor to examine out this unexpectedly captivating film. But Creadon mines real suspense from his coverage of the 2005 Competition, with its interpersonal rivalries that are nevertheless designs of intellectual integrity foes do not think twice to speak out when an opponent has actually been cheated of points.
How revitalizing is that? (Technorati tags: Wordplay, crossword puzzles, Will Shortz, documentary).
Explore a world of horrific puzzles, mindbending discoveries and the strangest people on earth. Go Here For the Details examines the people who enjoy crossword puzzles so much that they are prepared to contend in cage matches to show their dominance to the world. In reality, individuals who delight in crossword puzzles are neither the strangest people worldwide, nor odd at all.
Then again, aside from those competing for world dominance (or simply a few-thousand dollar reward), the crossword puzzle cult also consists of such members as Jon Stewart ("The Daily Show") and some person called Expense Clinton. Wordplay focuses on the main man, a. k.a. The Man, a. k.a. Will Shortz, the crossword puzzle editor at The New York Times. Personally, I don't do crossword puzzles nor do I check out the Times, but obviously he's popular stuff, and apparently the puzzles get increasingly harder with each passing day of the week to the point where, on Friday, the rate of suicides in New york city goes up dramatically. Just joking. Or am I? The motion picture, while concentrating on Shortz, includes a lot more, and director Patrick Creadon, whose specialty so far has been a variety of Maxim videos (the lucky bastard), does an excellent job of product packaging everything together.
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