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Copernicus wants to WHIP IT in Toronto!
I've seen some incredible stuff at the Toronto Film Festival this
year, including new movies by The Coen Brothers, Pedro Almodovar,
Jason Reitman, Michael Moore, and even the Palme d'Or winner, Michael
Haneke's THE WHITE RIBBON. And yet, my favorite movie of the fest so
far is WHIP IT, directed by Drew Barrymore in her first outing behind
the lens. And judging from the frenzied crowd reaction at the world
premiere in Toronto, I'm not alone. In fact, I was comparing notes
with some friends after the screening, and the only film the group of
us could all agree was a work of pure genius was WHIP IT. Many of the
films at the fest have been innovative and important, but few can
match the charm and spirit of this movie. It has a great story, a
note-perfect perfect cast, and is expertly directed. The plot mixes
familiar coming-of-age and sports drama storylines, yet still manages
to feel fresh and original. The closest comparisons in recent years
may be LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE and JUNO -- both were family comedies with
heart by emerging talents, and each share at least one other element
in common with WHIP IT, beauty pageants in the case of LITTLE MISS
SUNSHINE, and Ellen Page as the quirky teen protagonist in the case of
JUNO. Both went on to both box office and award success, and WHIP IT
is sure to follow the same trajectory.
The story, based on a novel and screenplay by Shauna Cross, follows
Bliss Cavendar (Ellen Page), a teenager pressured into entering beauty
pageants by her overbearing mother (Marcia Gay Harden). Bliss is a
waitress at Barbeque joint in sleepy Bodeen, Texas, along with her
best friend, Pash (Alia Shawkat, aka Maeby from Arrested Development).
By chance, Bliss learns of a Roller Derby match happening in nearby
Austin, and convinces her friend to go on a secret trip there where
she meets Rollery Derby participants with names like Smashley Simpson
and Bloody Holly, played by Drew Barrymore, Kristin Wiig, Juliette
Lewis, Zoe Bell, and Eve. Before long, Bliss finds herself in a
secret life as a member the Hurl Scouts, a hapless, but fun-loving
team that can barely win a game. The impressive cast is rounded out
by Daniel Stern, Bliss' lovable redneck father, Jimmy Fallon as the MC
of the Roller Derby matches, and Landon Pigg as an indie rocker and
love interest. A good bit of the film focuses on the Roller Derby
competition, which keeps it unique, and the assembled actors have a
great chemistry. But most of the drama centers on the relationships
between Bliss and her family, her boyfriend, and her best friend Pash.
At some point she has major clashes with each, and not all end as you
might expect.
My favorite city, Austin, is almost another character in the film --
the allure of its indie rock and offbeat culture is ever-present,
pulling Bliss out of her provincial life into new realms of
self-discovery. And ground zero for film geeks, the Alamo Drafthouse,
even makes a cameo. In as much as DEATH PROOF and SLACKER are love
letters to Austin, Drew Barrymore has managed in some ways to upstage
Quentin Tarantino and Richard Linklater -- WHIP IT captures the
essence of Austin without being showy or overindulgent about it -- she
scarcely uses dialog or establishing shots to set the scene -- you can
just feel the place though the mentality of the characters.
Who knew that the up and coming director to watch this year would be
Drew Barrymore? Holy shit -- she's the real deal. At the premiere
she mentioned that she put her heart and soul into making this movie,
and drew upon every bit of experience she had. It shows. In a sport
where almost no one in the audience even knows the rules, she still
manages some clever camera work and editing so that you always can
follow the action and know what is going on. Michael Bay could take a
few pointers. And love scenes are as old as cinema, yet Barrymore
manages to deliver something fresh with a rocking underwater disrobing
scene that is a revelation. She has a Tarantino-like gift for
transporting the viewer through the use music that not only amplifies
the mood of the scene, but evokes personal memories, specific to each
viewer. The soundtrack gets a bit of roller-derby spirit from The
Breeders and The Ramones, and a touch of country from Dolly Parton,
but topping it off are some of my favorite indie acts like Clap Your
Hands Say Yeah and Jens Lekman. Finally, the blooper-reel,
freeze-frame closing credits are second only to THE HANGOVER in pure
grin-inducing glee.
In fact, the credits imply that there were many more scenes shot, that
seemed like a blast, but were cut. My only complaint is that the cast
is so perfectly offbeat, I wish I could have seen a bit more of the
Derby girls' off-the-rink interactions. Ultimately though, Barrymore
almost certainly made the right decision in putting the story first
and only leaving in the material that furthers the plot.
WHIP IT may not be as important as some of the other films I've seen
so far at Toronto -- sure isn't isn't exploring the roots of Nazi
Germany, how people handle death, or the problems of capitalism. But
this isn't just pure popcorn either -- it has an empowering message
for girls -- for many it may well be the most important movie for
them. But for me it means the discovery of a new talent -- director
Drew Barrymore, and I can't wait to see more.
Copernicus
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and who doesn't love Drew Barrymore...
I'm glad it got some kudos. -
And I think Drew could be a very capable Director. It sounds like she's finally proved it!
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You thought this was a work of genius? GENIUS? Jesus. Kubrick's a genius. Kurosawa's a genius.
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Nice "review"
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The cast alone has me sold. Psyched.
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Copernicus is one of the older AICNers. But my god, your review is so glowing, I feel like I should buy you a pack of smokes or something to help you through this post-coital bliss.
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No it isn't.
If anything, EPIC is the most raped word in the English Language. "That's so epic!" "That's EPIC!" "So EPIC!" It's like GODDAMMIT anyway! Christ, people have truly lost the sense of what "epic" is. But I do kinda agree, "genius" is also abused. -
she didn't make all the Derby girls hot (yet somehow stayed away from making them all look hit)...I fucked a Roller Derby girl once and it was a "how much hair can you pretend isn't there" contest. But I'm a pig. I think if I was 14 and female, this would probably be my watch again and again and memorize all the lines movie. It will do excellent on DVD, mark my words. And Roller Derby really does kick ass. I love how girl sports can be so intrinsically violent, men dare not play them for fear of mutilation. Or that the girls don't start a football team, it has to be fucking RUGBY. I fucked a girl on a female rugby team once and she was tough as shit. Manly as all get out too.
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Man I've read the typical blowjob reviews here, but this one takes the cake. Drew must have loved him long time.
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I like cutesiepoo movies.
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Sep 14, 2009 12:00:05 PM CDT
detectivesoap, Dude missed the Austin Derby tv show eh
by evilwizardglick
A couple of years ago there was an Austin based Roller Derby Girls tv show. Some of them were quite hot. Punky Bruiser managed to snag a role in Death Proof. Waitress in the bar. I think she sat on QT's lap.
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If Copernicus had gotten so much as a wink from Drew, I would have heard about it by now.
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I wish they would shot more than just a few exteriors here and given this town more work. It looks like a good film though.
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Yes, of course - Epic! (with exclamation point) is right up there too. Its almost as overused as 'Dark'...
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It's called opinion, and everyone is free to have their own. Like, for instance, I think Kubrick was in many ways vastly overrated. Don't be so pretentious. There are a lot of popcorn films I would call genius ranging from THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE all the way to WHAT'S UP, DOC, and I'm sure you have some yourself - unless you're just a complete snob. Anyway, you haven't seen the damn movie yet. The Variety review was equally as ecstatic, so maybe you should close mouth, listen and wait.
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Sep 14, 2009 1:59:03 PM CDT
So if it's like Juno and LMS then it's overrated junk
by industrykiller!
Im pretty sure we've pretty much decided that Juno was one of the most embarrassing cinematic obsessions since Twister. Seriously no one thinks thats genuinely a good movie anymore, more like a guilty pleasure. one of the most dishonest films I've ever seen. LMS fares slightly better, but is still merely popcorn quirk with nothing actually to say.
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Underneath all the "honest to blog" bullshit dialogue, Juno was a good movie. Overrated? Yup. But not nearly as bad as some people have made it out to be, in my opinion. Little Miss Sunshine I couldn't get into though. Aside from Grandpa, Steve Carrels character and the vans horn problem, it didn't really work for me.
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Sep 14, 2009 2:26:00 PM CDT
The glow coming off this review does imply something more than a
by duanejones
But just going by the trailer alone, this looks like epic genius. Plus, I wish to be whipped by all the principals, albeit not Mr. Fallon, who can, let's face it, be cuter than Ms. Lewis. That surely includes the just-about-hot-finally Maeby Fünke.
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It sounds smart, well-made, intelligent, funny, sincere and well-acted with a strong-cast. I also L-O-V-E going to roller derby (we've got a great team in Oregno where I live). This news that the movie sounds great, of course, means it won't be able to find a theatrical US distributor, and if it does get released in the US it'll make $7m and bomb. I FUCKING LOVE AMERICA! Spymunk's Prediction: OnDemand/Limited Theatrical of 11 theaters nationwide, followed by a DVD dump with no promotion.
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Sep 14, 2009 2:28:23 PM CDT
"reacharound..." concluded the title of my previous comment
by duanejones
Is storage space too costly for AICN that you have to truncate these titles so much? As my current favorite anti-Twitter t-shirt reads, I don't need 140 characters to say "Fuck you". The titles to my comments, on the other hand...
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I almost walked out of JUNO when I first saw it - the scene with Wilson was painfully phony. But once the story switched around to being about people other than Juno and Michael Cera (don't tell me his character had a name - he's Michael Cera; like Abbot and Costello, who always played Abbot and Costello even by name in their movies, I believe Michael Cera should just skip the formality and call every character he plays Michael or Michael Cera - come on, it'd be funny as hell!) it actually got really good, I think. Like, every time Juno was offscreen, and Jason Bateman and his wife were talking or doing stuff. THEN it was a good movie. It's mostly Juno's fault, which is why I refer to the actress as HARD CANDY no matter who she plays. We will also accept KITTY PRYDE as her name.
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wasnt shot in austin. although i guess you dont have to shoot somewhere to capture its essence. Just saying...as an austinite. I'll try it on cable. Won't get me out of the house. Wow, AICN is lame as hell these days though. No news. Some dull reviews. I only come for the talkbacks. But even those are drying up.
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Another one of those weird Reality Show movie rip off things.
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The film was scripted by a writer-by-day, derby-girl-by-night. It was very well directed and the cast was great. Zoe Bell was Uma Thurman's stunt double in Kill Bill and before that doubled Lucy Lawless in Xena. It's great to see her in her own roll for a change.
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I think the Texas Chainsaw Massacre is genius too. There's genius in The Thing and Robocop. Genius doesn't respect genre or 'highbrow' for me either - if a film is made with genius then that's what it is. Its honestly not to do with being a snob - its just that the word is bandied around too much and loses its value. When I came out of Drag Me To Hell, honestly, I'd had so much fun with that film - but then I'll watch something like Seven Samurai, and its funny and sad and romantic and so exciting and just literally unbelievably well-made, the composition of every shot and the editing and the performances are all so perfect...and you suddenly realise that you've seen some genius. I'm more than happy to anticipate that Whip It will be a great fun movie, but this insane hyperbole...it devalues the truly great stuff when it does come along. I'm not being pretentious, just passionate.
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count me out thanks
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I hope the finished film is as good as you say it is! As to LMS and Juno, sure they were over-hyped, and not perfect films by any means, but they were highly original and entertaining and certainly better than most of the crap that gets shoved down our collective throats. I love how we all bitch about how all Hollywood does is make the same bullshit, "cookie-cutter" and paint-by-numbers remakes and sequels, but when someone DOES make an interesting and original film we shit all over it! I'm just saying...
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Fair enough, and very well said. I can't disagree with that.
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Hey, it looks entertaining and cute, but work of genius?
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Loved when she walked around in knee high striped socks and hot pants. Hated that she burped and farted during sex.
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it must be good. Yeah right. Austin love(aimed at AICN). "It's Juno and Little Miss Sunshine"..publicist/agent speak. She's a female Tarantino? Holy Shit. I'll see it eventually but this reads like such a snow job. Copernicus may have done this movie a great disservice cause it makes me NOT want to see this. I really hope Drew is this great. If nothing else she has literally grown up on a movie set so she would have to be a complete retard to not know how to make a competent movie. Best of luck dear. See you on the rental rack.
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If anything, he wrote a glowing review in order to woo Drew into bed, not because she's already coerced him. Might as well go see the film and judge for yourself but I really think there's something for everyone in it.
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script-wise which ruined it for me. but I'm but unlike LMS (and juno) I actually care about this one
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yeah - someone beat me to it - but they did film it here in Michigan, not Texas. Payback for Robocop being filmed in Houston, not Detroit!
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