Thursday, February 02, 2006

"Wordplay" To Be Released June 16

IFC Films, who made one of the first film purchases during the recent Sundance Film Festival, has announced that the documentary film "Wordplay" will enter limited theater release on Friday, June 16.

The film is an upbeat look at the life and career of Will Shortz, crossword puzzle editor of The New York Times and organizer of the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament. Much of the footage for the film was shot at the 2005 tourney, and they couldn't have picked a better year to be there. Much of the drama in the film will come from the most heartbreaking finals performace ever, when Al Sanders was about to totally leave foes Trip Payne and Tyler Hinman in the dust, finishing well before them -- but neglecting to complete the puzzle grid, leaving out two letters in the puzzle's first Across word, ZOLAESQUE.

3 comments:

Ellen said...

While the tournament result is easily findable, I'm hoping the circumstances of the finals aren't widely publicized. The movie's impact will be much stronger if viewers do not know the ending in advance.

Dave Mackey said...

Yeah, the shock element of what Al Sanders did (and his reaction - I was sitting in the third row and saw it all) is certainly going to be something to hang this movie on. (Perhaps Robair can edit his post accordingly.)

It's going to be June 16 in New York and June 23 in LA.

You should get some sort of prize for being our first leaver of comments, Ellen! Stop in often!

SailorCallie said...

I would've sent you the article on the documentary, Wordplay, from Yahoo, but I didn't get a chance to do that at the time. Check your e-mail account for a message that fully explains what has happened to me since Dec. 22nd., 2005.

Callie Ray,
SailorCallie@hotmail.com