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Waste of time

It's funny watching the elements come together in this complicated scam. On one hand, the set-up isn't quite as complex as it seems, but there's an easy sense of fun in every exchange.

Great movie. Not sure what people expected but I found it highly entertaining.

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

This movie is a love letter to crossword puzzle lovers! This movie is intelligent, cultured, suspenseful, and lot of fun to watch. I know that this movie will be appreciated by those gamers. Directed by Patrick Creadon, the documentary go into deep detail, what it takes to compete in one of the world's toughest words tournaments and on what makes a good crossword puzzle champion. Without spoiling it, the final championship round was incredibly intense, and watching it was just, edge of your seat, thrilling. Mad props to those crosswords contenders feature in this film. People like three-time champion and professional puzzle-maker Trip Payne. Other people like Al Sanders, the middle-aged man who never seem to rank above third or the prodigious twenty-year old Tyler Hinman. They're all very well-informed. Scrabble and spelling bees require knowledge of a lot of words, but crosswords require unlimited facts, encyclopedic knowledge, and an ability to figure out the author's unstated assumptions about the nature of the clues. The movie structured remind me of two similar documentaries, 2002's Spellbound & 2004's Word Wars, in which the movie shows us, an inside look at a few of the contenders, and then see them compete against each other in the finals. Just with that along, the movie seem very standard, and doesn't really shine; but a few differences, do make this movie stand out from the rest. One big different, is that this movie introduces interviews with a lot of celebrities fans, such as Senator Bob Dole, President Bill Clinton, comedian Jon Stewart, filmmaker Ken Burns, baseball player, Mike Mussina, writer, Daniel Okrent, and singers, the Indigo Girls. While, the celebs interviewers, don't really effect, the story of the competitors. They do, give a lot of insight on how popular, crosswords are. They serve as filler. Nothing more than that. I do have to say, that the film is a bit biased, when it comes to who makes the best crosswords puzzles; all the interviewers are praising how New York Times's editor Will Shortz is, and how the New York Times is the top dog and flag bearer for good Crosswords puzzles. I really doubt that. Some really good interesting puzzles have come from widely-distributed American newspapers such Washington Post, Boston Globe, & USA Today. In my opinion, the most challenging English ones have come from international venues, such as the Times, Daily Telegraph, The Guardian & Sunday Express from the U.K. Also a lot of those good puzzles have also been found in magazines, internet sites, and even dollar store puzzle books. Will Shortz does a good job as a crossword editor, but he's no better than any other crossword publisher. I love him, reading the hate mail. That was a highlight. Don't get me wrong, New Year Times have great puzzles. I love, the ones that they showcase, here. My favorite has to be the 1996 "Election Day" crossword made by math professor, Jeremiah Farrell. I love how both Dole and Clinton remember that on the day after their presidential campaign, one clue asked for the name of the winner. Diabolically, the correct seven-letter word could be either Clinton or Bob Dole. That one is pretty crafty. Sadly, the movie doesn't really focus, too many of these. Most of the good ones are in the bonus section on the DVD with the "Every Word" music video by Gary Louris & the "Waiting for the New York Times," a short film by Patricia Erens. I felt all that, should had been added to the film. I think, another highlight from the film, is seeing famous puzzle constructor Merl Reagle, creating a daily crossword right in front of the camera, and explaining the logic behind it. I also love the idea of seeing the contenders & celebrities try to do that crossword puzzle in 2 minutes or least in one especially ingenious montage, with interlocking shots. Director Patrick Creadon made it easier to understand what's happen on screen, with graphics that show us crossword grids with the problem areas highlighted, and then we see the letters being written in. During the final championship round, with three contenders working on giant crosswords on a stage, he makes their progress easy to follow, by showing each person's process. I love how the movie is edit, each sequence kinda connect with each other, with narrative word phrasing. I love how one guy mentioning Barry Bonds, and the film cuts to stock baseball footage of interviewer Mike Messina shutting down Bonds in a baseball game. Very clever. The movie has a lot of good information, but a few things are so dated like the Marriott in Stamford, Connecticut, being the event place. It's no longer, as increasing popularity, causes it to be moved in 2008, into the Marriott Brooklyn Bridge in Brooklyn, New York, but beginning in 2015 the tournament will again be played in Stamford. I also love how Will Shortz says Pluto is a planet. It made me laugh, how incorrect some of these clues to the puzzles, are. Another is how computers can't do crosswords puzzles. In 2012, a robot call Dr. Fill compete in that tournament against Tyler Hinman. Another problem of the film is the lack of diversity, feature. I think a lot of minorities play crosswords puzzles, too, but the film doesn't showcase, many of them. I wish, they did. Another fault is some of what the celebrity talking heads are honestly saying. Ken Burns looks like a kook, & Jon Stewart really doesn't add much, besides yelling. It's somewhat disappointing. Other than that, the movie is pretty good. I love how the film influence, a 2008 episode of The Simpsons, "Homer and Lisa Exchange Cross Words". Overall: Words connect us, and you can see, all its glory, here with this documentary. It's a must-watch.

This mildly diverting documentary shows that even bookish people who get their workouts sharpening pencils (with erasers, of course) can participate in a sporting event.It's the annual competition of crossword puzzlers, founded by Will Shortz, puzzle editor of the New York Times and a personality on NPR.Judging by this film, puzzlers tend to be non-flashy, male, articulate, self-deprecating, and just as competitive as your average ball player or hoop dunker.I was surprised to see that puzzling has become a spectator sport. This film proves it by showing a pair of top-ranked, ear-plugged puzzlers battling it out on wall-sized grids as experts broadcast commentary to a hotel ballroom full of onlookers.Though a variety of hip afficionadoes are interviewed on their avocation -- folks like Jon Stewart and Bill Clinton -- it's implied here that most puzzlers are fairly nerdy. One top contender was shown at home with his male lover, but little is said generally about these players' private lives. Which leaves one wondering a bit about the rest of the story, since so many of these enthusiasts are hyper wordy. With this exquisite sensitivity, one wonders if and how they "click" with non-wordsters outside of this rarefied fold.

Wordplay: 5 out of 10: In reviews of Robert Redford's delightful movie Quiz Show critics lamented on the disappearance of the middle class intellectual since those storied fifties. Turns out they are alive and well and doing the New York Times crossword, in ink no less.Wordplay is a documentary about such people and the puzzles they love. Like the New York Times resident enigmatologist Will Shortz, Wordplay is genial to a fault.The fact is for many people doing the daily crossword is the only intellectual exercise their brain gets all day and is the total sum usage of a four year liberal arts degree. Lets face it knowledge of Sophocles doesn't come up often at the daily grind. (Or as Sir Humphrey Appleby said in Yes Prime Minister what use is knowing Latin if I can't even use it when talking to the Prime Minister.) So doing the crossword is often the best intellectual stimulation an over-educated person can get in his or her daily life. (Alas some people simply write movie reviews instead.) Does Wordplay touch upon these larger issues? Not on your life.Instead we get an assortment of celebrity moments some insightful (Bill Clinton) some humorous (Jon Stewart) and some downright creepy (documentarian Ken Burns).There is a very perspicacious look inside the creation of the crossword with enigmatologist (I love that word) Merl Reagle but alas it is over just as it gets interesting.There are also the painfully non-judgmental profiles of the fanatics. Those people who dedicate themselves to solving puzzles in record time and winning the crossword championship. So screen time is spent not just watching the crossword championship talent show but watching the baton twirling practice in the park for the same.The film is very slick with excellent graphics but it certainly isn't at all deep for such an intellectual pursuit.

The commercial success of documentaries in recent years has led to a spate of money moving into various projects that would have never been seen in theaters five years ago. This rash has lead to many films that approach the method as novice polemicists that have little understanding of the documentary form. The presentations tend to feel more like textbooks than works of art ('Enron, the Smartest Guys in the Room', 'Outfoxed').The best documentaries are those with oblique presentations of a world you may know little about. The goal is often to leave you illuminated, the best leave you inspired. Quality documentaries work either from the inside out or the outside in. The first type presents some source whose story offers up a world or view of a world that we never had the privilege to see before. The second category presents glimpses of various views of a subject and alters these viewpoints as it moves toward illuminating the topic. 'The Fog of War' and 'A Brief History of Time' are marvelous examples of inside out presentations. 'Harlan County, USA' and 'Fast, Cheap, and Out of Control' are amazing outside in story lines.'Wordplay' is the best documentary I have seen since 'The Fog of War' and this came as a complete surprise. I expected a textbook presentation by a puzzle obsessor about those like him and their inspiration. I got a wondrous, understandable exploration of a world I knew little about from a guy whose major claim to fame to date was filming hot Maxim babes.The film is an outside in presentation of the crossword world using four views from the edge. There is the history of the form that centers on its development by the NY Times and the paper's first and current Crossword Editors. Then you have the constructors, the guys who weave these puzzles into shape, the philosophers of the art. You see a view from the fans, the best of which are Ken Burns, Bill Clinton, the Indigo Girls, Jon Stewart, and Mike Mussina. And there are the fanatics, the pastiche of intellectual weirdos who make a science out of it and participate annually in the World Championship.The film crisscrosses the edges of these oblique views toward a center of what could have been a pedestrian presentation of the 2005 championship. The director actually turns this into a meditation on the zing one gets from successfully doing puzzles while allowing you to take sides with one or more of the fanatics. I found myself utterly mesmerized by this, feeling exhilaration, disappointment, inspiration, appreciation, and most importantly, respect for this cast of zanies. The net effect of this experience was a huge smile that I felt on my face as the adventure wound down. The energy of this comes from the amazing use of juggling split screens that I won't even attempt to explain. Just see it.And I haven't tried to do a crossword puzzle in years.I certainly hope this guy has graduated to a new level of film-making and is given whatever he needs for future projects. I am so honored to have been introduced to him in this way rather than in a titillating Maxim video.Not that there is anything wrong with ….