- Fun, fun, fun!
- You may or may not have noticed my increasing irritation with how women get handled on screen in most Hollywood movies. Drew Barrymore mentioned before the film that what she loves about this film is that you get to see the kinds of girls and women who never otherwise make it into films featuring actors people have actually heard of and that, ultimately, is exactly why I loved this movie. This movie is all about Bliss (Ellen Page) and her love for roller derby, a sport she comes to love on her own, not because of peer pressure from her friends or to make a boy like her more, but because she’s interested in it. Interested. Interested! Why are do so few girls on film have actual interests in things? The world needs more Bliss Cavendars and fewer Bella Swans. The Twihards really need to take a step back and examine which movies they’re going to in droves; I feel confident, though, that enough of them like Drew Barrymore that they’ll actually see this movie and hopefully realise that, hey, girls can be awesome!
- I have an agenda, clearly. And I don’t care. Not all agendas are bad.
- When NPR had that article with a plea for Pixar to come up with some female leads, someone directed me to a post on cool ladies movies that Pixar could do. I’m re-sharing because I feel like they fit the attitude of this film.
- The Notebook FULL OF DRAWINGS OF TIGERS
- Breakfast at Tiffany’s HOUSE OF MARTIAL ARTS
- Bridgette Jones’s Diary OF COMPLEX TIME MACHINE BLUEPRINTS
- The Wedding Planner AND DESTROYER
- He’s Just Not That Into You BUT HE DIGS YOUR COLLECTION OF PISTOLS AND SWORDS
- While You Were Sleeping SHE PAINTED THE KITCHEN, CURED AIDS, INVENTED TIME TRAVEL AND RAN FOR PRESIDENT
- The Time Traveller’s Wife IS A WHOLE PERSON AND NOT A QUIRKY OBJECT OF DESIRE
- The Sweetest Thing IS A LASER-SHOOTING T-REX
Okay, that last one was mostly for my own amusement. Still, this is what Whip It is about: BEING AWESOME.
- This may be the first teen movie where a boy likes a girl just as she is without her having to put on a fancy dress and take off her glasses for him to see what’s been there all along. This may also be the first teen movie where even though he does like her just as she is, she’s still able to call him out on being a complete dickwad and dump his ass because he’s so not worth it. Dysfunctional relationships? In this movie? Not a chance!
- I really liked Kristen Wiig in this, if only because she was the most multi-dimensional of the roller derby girls. I think there’s a tendency when trying to combat the prissy, princess type of girl that you swing too hard in the other direction and end up with GRRLZ who are just violent and uncouth, but Wiig’s character was clearly able to enjoy her roller derby ways while balancing it with her other life issues. It’s not all or nothing when trying to figure out what kind of girl you are.
- As a film, it’s entertaining and sweet and endearing. For a first time outing as a director, I think Drew Barrymore did pretty well for herself. The messaging is the most important part of this movie, though, I think, and I think she hit the ball out of the park on that, so ten points to her.
- This screening is a prime example of the way certain types of films don’t work at this film festival. Huge sections of the theatre were taken up by the various production companies involved with the film and this would have been fine if any of these people actually exhibited any interest in film in the first place. It’s called come into the theatre and take your effing seat, people. The event gets treated as a pre-party for the after party and no one is there to actually see the movie. They all just mill around socialising, delaying the start of the film. Unfortunately, the general public who does want to see the movie is mixed in with these people.
I also feel like this kind of movie is more about the star gazing than the film watching. I’ve been to many other screenings with celebrities in attendance and at none of them has the audience lost their minds and stood around staring and photographing any celebrities who show up. Michael Cera, looking like the skinny and adorable twelve year-old that he is, showed up and his presence created this huge bottle neck of people in the aisles and no one could move. The ushers and staff at this event really failed on crowd control, oh my god.
Also, douche five seats down from me: you cannot waltz in and save five seats in one row and not expect people to get mad at you. You can save one seat, maybe two, but not five. That’s not how this works, buddy. Also, your daughter was completely annoying.
- Nearly everyone from the huge cast of this film was there: Drew Barrymore, Ellen Page, Alia Shawkat, Kristen Wiig, Juliette Lewis, Zoe Bell, Marcia Gay Harden, Daniel Stern (omg Home Alone!), Eve, and a couple of other minor cast members. Since I’ve long had a dislike for Drew Barrymore, I was surprised to find myself really liking her in the pre-screening introductions. She was pretty eloquent and humble and, I don’t know, I don’t think I can dislike her anymore. I didn’t hate her acting in this either, so that goes a long way towards this.
Despite the fact that the entire cast was there, there was no Q&A. WTF? Drew Barrymore basically had to stand up in the middle of the theatre while people shouted congratulations. For me, the entire point of attending screenings with the filmmakers and cast present is for the Q&A, not for the celebrity gawking; had I known they wouldn’t talk, I might have gone to a different screening of this movie.
- Other random celebrity sighting: Justin Long. Are he and D.B. back together again? I don’t follow these things.
Whip It
[Insert Devo joke here.]
IMDB Plot Synopsis In Bodeen, Texas, an indie-rock loving misfit finds a way of dealing with her small-town misery after she discovers a roller derby league in nearby Austin.
I agree – it was a fun movie with a good message that wasn’t over the top, in your face, which I appreciated. I did feel Ellen Page was a little dry in the movie, and wished there was more Alia Shawkat, who shined every time she was on screen.