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Whip It starring Ellen Page, Drew Barrymore and Juliette Lewis

Posted on February 4, 2010 Written by ripitup

Whip It, starring Ellen Page, Drew Barrymore and Juliette Lewis

Fun. This movie was just really fun. Roller-skating, dreams, romance, family issues and friendship came together beautifully.

Ellen Page (Juno, Inception) plays Bliss, a 17-year-old girl more into indie and bohemian stuff rather than her mother’s (Marcia Gay Harden) obsessive interest in beauty pageants. Bliss and her best friend are bored to death by their small town Bodeen and Bliss finds the perfect escapism when she gets a flyer for a roller derby in Austin.

These roller-skating chicks fascinate her. She works really hard and manages to get into a team. This is where the fun actually starts. Her team mates (rap singer Eve, Drew Barryomore, Saturday Night Live’ s Kristen Wiig) are all fun loving young(ish) women with fun nicknames. Their coach is a nice guy named Razor (Andrew Wilson) whose problem is that while his team loves the game, they don’t seem to mind losing all the time. So he is delighted to have Bliss: she is fast and determined. She has many problems though: She doesn’t seem tough enough and her biggest rival Maven (Juliette Lewis) really hates her. She has lied about her age to get in and her parents have no idea what she is really doing….

Yeah, this is one of those coming-of-age stories. We watch Bliss’ first passion, first love (band singer Oliver, played by Landon Pigg), her relationship with her not-always-understanding parents. But Drew Barrymore (also the director of the movie) has done a great job of entertaining the audience and making us empathize with the characters. Despite all the themes you have seen before (maybe with the exception of a roller derby), the movie has a certain freshness to it. All the actors are lovely but of course Ellen Page owns the film. The movie is based on the novel of Shauna Cross. Shauna Cross wrote the screenplay herself.

Rated 7.1 on IMDB. I think anywhere between 6-7 is just fine.

Fun Facts:
– Despite looking really 17, Ellen Page is actually 23 in this movie.

– Landon Pigg is really a singer in real life, this is first major role.

– The coach is played by Andrew Wilson, who is the brother of Owen Wilson and Luke Wilson.

– The roller derby is host is played by Jimmy Fallon.

– Pay attention how “Pash and Bliss” rewrite the lyrics of the song Joleen for Bodeen.

Edge of Darkness starring Mel Gibson

Posted on January 30, 2010 Written by ripitup

I’d been waiting for this movie for ages. I am a great fan of Mel Gibson’s work. Yes, he was a looker in the 70s-90s but the reason he became an A-lister had a lot to do with his talent. Want proof? Go see Edge of Darkness. Mel is no longer fit or pretty. But the intensity he brings to such roles is a ll there and he is so good, he lives and breathes through his character.
Craven is a police detective, happy to have his 24-year-old daughter Emma (Bojana Novakovic) back home again. But he can only enjoy this event for about 5 minutes. His daughter is killed, right in front of him, and there are signs that indicate the intended victim was Craven. But Craven knows he doesn’t have enemies. So the deeper he digs, the more he realizes that they really did aim at Emma. Craven is haunted by the images of his daughter and does his best to stay focused. Emma worked in a company that dealt with nuclear energy. Obviously she was going to expose something. She wasn’t the only one murdered and the company is determined to get rid of everyone who gets in the way…

Does it sound ordinary? Trust me, it is not. The movie does not waste any scene. There are no unneccessary lines. Craven is your hero but he does not go all Rambo on us like Liam Neeson did in Taken. Don’t get me wrong, I love taken. It is an amazing thriller. But Edge of Darkness is a wonderfully dark drama with interesting characters and events that you don’t see coming, or events that you know that will happen but they still manages to shock you with “how”. It is heavy but only because it intends to be. Craven is smart and his actions are very humane. He is your hero all the way. This movie is not about who the good guy is. We know who he is. We know who the bad guys are. We also have another (Ray Winstone) leading character whose motives are not all that clear.

See this movie and you will know what I am talking. Yes, the father is after answers and vengeance. But how the concept is dealt with is very refreshing. This is a very solid drama with disturbing tension. I have to add this movie to my all time favorites.

I am glad to have Mel back. He picks great scripts (with a couple of exceptions) and puts his heart and soul into it.

Keep your expectations straight. There is no romance or no eye candy for either gender. There are no action sequences or no special effects. It is all about the story and the direction and the acting. And it is not surprising that the movie is great because of these three. Directed by Martin Campbell. Written by William Monahan and Andrew Bovell, based on the TV series, written by Troy Kennedy-Martin. Vastly underrated at 6.7 on IMDB. 10/10 from me.

Other Posts featuring Mel Gibson

MEL GIBSON TOP 10: The movies that prove he can act, direct and entertain better than anyone

All About Mel: A Fun Yet Fair Mel Gibson Tribute

8 Reasons to Love Braveheart- Braveheart Movie Review

MEL GIBSON IS A DAD. AGAIN!!!

Mel Gibson: what in the world happened to you?

Favorite Revenge Movies

The Boys are Back starring Clive Owen

Posted on January 28, 2010 Written by ripitup

The Boys are Back- Clive Owen — The Boys are Back stars Clive Owen. No, he does not hold a gun throughout the entire movie. Refreshing and beautiful gem of a film.

Joe Warr is a successful sports writer. He lives in Australia with a wife that he adores and a little son he really loves. So his whole world comes crashing down when he loses his wife to cancer. He has to deal with his wife’s death, help his son cope with his mother’s absence and juggle his work and family relationships…And just when he think he is getting the hang of it through trial and error, his older son from his previous marriage decides to come for a visit. He is a 15-year-old teenager who blames Joe for leaving. Patching things up with him won’t be easy. And it is another problem that the brothers seem to be getting attached to each other. What the hell is Joe going to do when his older son goes back to England?

The movie is just so beautiful, heart-breaking, fun and moving. It touches you, makes you smile and gives a lot to think about. Clive Owen magnificently portrays the lovable yet flawed Joe. Just when you think that you get him, his actions and reactions baffles you. When his past proves disappointing compared to his present, you still find yourself forgiving him. The movie is based on a memoir by Simon Carr so every bit of is real. If you expect another Clive Owen movie with guns, running and breath-taking action, you are in for a big surprise. This is a wonderfully humane story- full of ups & downs and rich with both external and internal conflicts.

This time it is art imitating life and it has done a great job. The scenery is also amazing. The movie made me fall in love with Australia all over again. Wild-life surrounding Joe’s house is just as wonderful as the rest of the movie.

[pro-player width=’530′ height=’253′ type=’video’]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DdnTibGABAE[/pro-player]

Derailed starring Clive Owen and Jennifer Aniston

Posted on January 27, 2010 Written by ripitup

Derailed movie review, starring Clive Owen and Jennifer Anniston

Charles (Clive Owen) is depressed. His once good marriage to Deanna (Melissa George) is shadowed by the fact that their daughter (Addison Timlin) is type 1 diabetics, which means she has to live with a dialysis machine in the house. Charles loves his daughter and what she is going through is killing him- which is why he feels refreshed and alive when he meets Lucinda (Jennifer Aniston) on his commute to work. She is pretty, smart, fun and understanding. She seems to provide perfect escapism and he seems to embrace this. When they decide to actually have sex, they go to a hotel. However they are caught in the middle of the act by a brutal gunned man who beats the hell out of Charles and rapes Lucinda. Knowing all about their identities, he is after cash. Lots of it. Charles can’t go go the police- after all, Lucinda’s husband will take her daughter away if he finds about their affair. He has to find the money but there are two problems: Charles is not wealthy. Their entire savings are done to be able to afford a drug for their daughter…

I liked Derailed. I like both lead actors. Plus Vincent Cassel is a pretty neat psycho. It comes all so naturally to him. And don’t listen to people who say Jennifer can’t act or she will be stuck as Rachel for the rest of her life (even though Ricky Gervais made a good joke about this at the Golden Globes).

The story is good. It has some cool twists and turns and the storytelling made even the predictable ones enjoyable..

Verdict: Clive Owen+ in a well-paced thriller = Success. 6.6/10 on IMDB. 7.5/10 from me.

Buy Derailed on amazon. com

Posts on Clive Owen and His Movies

Clive Owen Trivia: 21 Facts about Clive Owen