Whip It! [HD]

Rolling with the Punches
"Whip It" is surprisingly good in spite of itself, conventional as a sports movie yet mature in its development of character. It's also an entertaining spectacle, which is relief for me since I've never given much thought to women's Roller Derby (or even sports in general, but that's a topic for another day). Drew Barrymore has done well to hype it as her directorial debut; she proves that she not only has the technical skills, but also the ability to move a story along through dialogue, pacing, and emotion. Having practically grown up in front of the camera, I think it's safe to assume she knows a thing or two about what a film needs in order for it to work. The first thing she did right was cast Ellen Page, who has repeatedly demonstrated just how versatile an actress she is.

She's no exception here. She plays seventeen-year-old Bliss Cavendar, who was raised in a middle-of-nowhere Texas town and gets by as a diner waitress. Her overbearing mother, Brooke (Marcia Gay...

Blu-ray: Enjoyed it more than I expected. Solid PQ, AQ could have been better as well as special features.
Roller Derby. I can easily remember turning on the television and watching the Los Angeles T-Birds. Personally, I didn't know if this was a true sport or if it was like wrestling and it was just sports entertainment. But I was hooked. Not sure if it was the blonde women with poofy hair throwing other women out of the rink or that one person who didn't look should be on the rink, actually kicking butt. Needless to say, that roller derby has had its following for decades and now here we are with a film based on a character who takes part in roller derby competitions.

"Whip It" marks the directorial debut by actress Drew Barrymore ("E.T.", "50 First Dates", "The Wedding Singer", "Charlie's Angels" films) and is an adaptation of the novel "Derby Girl" by Shauna Cross, a fictionalized book of skating with the TXRD Lonestar Rollergirls.

The independent film was released in theaters during the fall of 2009 and now makes its Blu-ray and DVD debut. The Blu-ray...

Whip it good!
It's official: Until further notice, I will happily see any movie featuring Ellen Page. As in previous movies, Page does an outstanding job in bringing her angsty teenage character to life. This time, she's a slightly lost seventeen year old being herded around by a pageant-passionate mother. The first glimmering that she might have goals of her own comes when she sees roller derby girls dropping off flyers for an upcoming event. Of course, she sneaks out to see it using a pretext transparent to everyone but her parents, and she is transfixed. After the show, she tells one of the skaters, "You guys are my heroes!" The tattooed derby girl answers, "Come to the tryout - be your own hero." And she does.

The rest follows an inspiring and hilarious season of sneaking around the parents, doing her part to bring the last-place team to the championship. As you might expect, the poo hits the fan when pageant-panicked Mom finds out that her little beauty queen has another life as...

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