Customer Reviews

Scrabylon

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

"Scrabylon" takes a look at the world of competitive Scrabble players and what a world it is. It's a great companion piece to the book "Word Freak" (the book's author, Stefan Fatsis, gives a brief history of the game, and the director of the National Scrabble Association is featured prominently).

It starts out with some good background info about the game and then introduces some of the top players. Petersen intercuts between the World Championships and several players from around the world (Canada, Thailand, Malta) as they describe their obsession with words, letters, studying and trying to psyche out other players (a cabbie visualizes how certain letters look like objects while another finds an ice scraper on the street and makes a tile rack out of it). It's quite a humanizing portrait of the players and the Scrabble community as a whole. All of the players come across an intelligent and compelling, if a bit unique.

Most "living room" Scrabble players will be surprised to learn that competive players consider it a "math" game as opposed to a "word" game. This is illustrated by former Scrabble prodigy Brian Cappelletto, who is interviewed at his job on the floor of a stock exchange. His co-workers try to stump him in a casual game of anagrams, but he wipes them out quickly. Although the players have considerably different occupations (professional gambler, stay-at-home mom, social worker, teacher, fork-lift salesman), they are all math wizards.

Overall, "Scrabylon" is a fun and quirky bit of Americana and very enjoyable.

Most viewers will enjoy this funny little documentary, regardless of their knowledge of U-less Q words. It gives a great overview of the subculture, both in history and the unique members of the subculture. Scrabble champ GI Joel Sherman, an unlikely Scrabble mom, and a guy who drinks vinegar straight from the bottle are highlights. Like the players, Scrabylon has huge amounts of personality and laughs.

The deleted scenes go into a little more detail of how the game is played and the director's commentary provides insight into how the movie was made.

Check it out and bust out the Scrabble set in your closet.

This film is as much a portrait of the people who become obsessed by Scrabble and by words themselves. They vary from stand up comics to professional psychologists to option traders - and all of them approach Scrabble wtih seriousness and great passion.

Make no mistake - Scrabble players can make some money and Chris Cree actually won an additional $250,000 plus gambling in Las Vegas during a tournament.

Even if you aren't crazy about word games, you'll find thes people fascinating and you may learn something about game strategy along the way.

If your a word game addict such as myself, then "Scrabylon" is an interesting view into the competetive world of Scrabble players and tournaments.

It mostly consists of interviews with the top rated players in the nation....and their thougts and strategies on the game.

It also gives a nice look into the tournament scene, and provides a little background on the history of the game.

Not a whole lot here to make a movie about - but it is a nice look at an interesting subculture

Recommended for word freaks only!!

Late in Scrabylon, "GI Joel" Sherman explains that if he didn't play Scrabble, he'd probably spend most his time sleeping. This is pretty much all you need to know about Scrabble tournament players and their world. They are obsessive and just a little odd. But this movie's strength is that, while it's very funny and charming, it's never condescending to the players. It's quite eye-opening to see how advanced these players are compared to your Mom, friend, co-worker, etc.. Scrabble skills notwithstanding, most viewers will find Scrabylon to be a smart look at a world in which very few will get to personally experience.

The production quality of this award winning documentary leaves a lot to be desired, but the content is worth watching. Most of this video comprises spot interviews with past champions such as Joel Sherman, Brian Cappelletto, Joe Edly et. al. Match coverage is limited, for the most part, to the final series of the 2001 Las Vegas World Scrabble tournament sponsored by Hasbro, the exclusive producer of Scrabble in the U.S.

I suppose if the World Championship of Scrabble can only dish out $20K to the champion, one should not expect substantial funding for covering one of these events in a documentary. Nevertheless, if you're a fan of the game, you will find this video entertaining and informative.

So there are two decent documents about Scrabble subculture: Word wars and Scrabylon.
I've seen both movies and the first one was much better.

Scrabylon is chaotic and incoherent. It's not a bad movie - all i'm saying is that after watching Word wars (which is excellent document - tour de force) watching Scrabylon was a waste of time. I was very dissapointed.
Most of characters from Word wars are also present in this movie, but with no clear purpose.

It looks like amateur wedding video...

This is a fun look at a very unique subculture - expert Scrabble players.

'Scrabylon' features some very interesting characters. Many come across as a bit odd or even obsessive about the game. Some of these top players work on their Scrabble skills 3-4 hours per day. Their knowledge of vocabulary and game strategy is amazing.

One of the most unusual characters is G.I. (gastrointestinal) Joel Sherman who is almost as renowned for his bodily functions as his amazing game play. Several other top notch players are also featured.

This is an entertaining video to watch for anyone who has ever played any competitive Scrabble as well as those who are just interested in a subculture that one does not encounter every day.

I recommend this along with the excellent book by Stefan Fatsis Word Freak: Heartbreak, Triumph, Genius, and Obsession in the World of Competitive ScrabblePlayers.

This Scrabble documentary was less professional than some of the other options. I'm surprised to see that Stefan Fatsis was involved, because his book was great! I definitely recommend Word Wars as a more enjoyable alternative.

This documentary is fun for Scrabble nerds, but lacks the production value for great viewing. The titles and the music are poor, but the interviews are good. Most of the narration is given by the President of the NSA, though all the charm is in the players and champions. Thankfully, there is enough footage of the idiosynchrasies (sp?) of the players to make it enjoyable.
If you want a GREAT documentary about the world of Tournament Scrabble, check out "Word Wars."