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July 15, 2007
Documentaries that Have Helped Me Realize that I’m Not So Abnormal After All
Last week, Susan over at Chicken Spaghetti posted about reading Word Freak by Stefan Fatsis, which got me thinking about one of my favorite documentaries, Word Wars, which led to thinking about Wordplay and then Spellbound. That’s when I realized that there’s a whole genre of documentaries I enjoy because the people in them make me feel like I’m not a complete freak.
Home Movie
This film takes a closer look at five unusual homes and their owners: a guy who lives on a houseboat in Louisiana, a woman who lives in a tree house in Hawaii, a couple that has adapted their home for their cats, a family that converted a missile silo into a home, and a guy who filled his house with all these robots and automatic things. The thing about this film is that I thought I’d like to live in all these people’s houses, except for maybe the houseboat guy. (I like alligators in theory more than reality, and that particular houseboat looked a bit, well, “unkempt” is a word.) It’s one of those documentaries that made my brain work and gave me lots of ideas.
Spellbound
This documentary about a bunch of kids preparing to compete in the National Spelling Bee made me feel like a lazy, lazy girl who lacks discipline and hangs out doing essentially nothing all day. After watching these kids work like crazy, it was hard to watch some of them lose, but their determination is inspiring.
Trekkies and Trekkies 2
Trekkies is the film that initially hooked me on documentaries. While I am only a mild Star Trek fan (have seen all the original eps, all the films, most of TNG, and have a passing familiarity with the other spinoffs), but I am a fan of sci-fi in general and can completely identify with this kind of rabid fandom. On the one hand, these guys are funny, but, on the other, I respect people who are so unapologetically who they are. Trekkies 2 didn’t really add to the original film, other than that I, for one, was genuinely interested to know where all the folks featured in the first film were several years later.
Word Wars
The Scrabble movie. Olivia just kicked my butt at Scrabble yesterday, reminding me that, yes, I do lack discipline – in this case, the discipline it takes to become a first-rate Scrabble player. This movie is more of the same. The thing that is vastly entertaining about this film (and the like-themed Scrabylon) is that the people who play competitive Scrabble are really, really interesting – just the kind of people I like to hang out with.
Wordplay
Ah, yes, the crossword puzzle movie. Everyone knows that crossword puzzles are better than Scrabble and spelling bees, which is why Jon Stewart is in this film. Really, though, I found it so interesting to learn more about how crossword puzzles are made. It’s one of those things I hadn’t given a thought to that turned out to be completely fascinating.
Posted by adrienne at July 15, 2007 10:04 AM
Comments
Your comments about Trekkies made me think of the two guys who showed up at the Harry Potter movie yesterday wearing Quidditch uniforms. They were in their late 20s or early 30s. I heard one say to the other, "Dude, we need a girl with us so we don't look ridiculous," prompting the girl who *was* with them to say "Dude, you *have* a girl with you and you still look ridiculous," causing them all to just dissolve into laughter.
Posted by: Patty at July 15, 2007 12:57 PM
Oh, that is brilliant. I've been tossing around the idea of dressing up when I go to work on Friday. It feels like a holiday.
Posted by: adrienne at July 15, 2007 01:06 PM
You played very well on Saturday. It's not like the score was one-sided or anything. :) And even though I play competitive Scrabble, please kick me if I ever become like the guy in both films who plays Scrabble for a living and lives in his parents' basement! (His name omitted out of semi-politeness.)
Posted by: olivia at July 16, 2007 09:39 AM
You are just trying to get me to play again, Olivia. I know your tricks. :)
Posted by: adrienne at July 16, 2007 01:06 PM
Yes, you do know my tricks, but really, you played very well. :) And I know you'll play again. You can't resist!
Posted by: olivia at July 16, 2007 01:46 PM