‎WHIP IT
4 out of 5 stars

"YAY! WE'RE NUMBER 2! WE'RE NUMBER 2!" - hurl scouts


this movie reminds me so much like bend it like beckham, with a dash of the humor from juno, and then with a sprinkle of good ol' fashion texas tradition... ;)

sick of pageants, bodeen, the oink joint, and boredom, bliss cavendar (ellen page - well known for her role(s) as juno and hayley from hard candy) decides she wants to join a roller derby team in austin, TX. while on a shopping trip with her mom and lil' sister, she runs into some of the roller derby girls at an austin head shop, and then convinces her BFF pash (appropriately mayby from arrested development) to come out and see these derby girls kick some major ASS! pretty soon, bliss tries out for the team, makes it, and is a rising star in the derby league called babe ruthless. she even has an arch-nemesis by the name of iron maven (a tough juliette lewis), and also catches the eye of a up-and-coming rockstar by the name of oliver. one could say that she has a 2nd arch-nemesis in the form of her mother (a SUPERB marcia gay harden), whose only dream is to have her daughter win a pageant. (or two) the question soon becomes: when push literally comes to shove, who will she choose? her life as babe ruthless or boring ol' bliss? i'll let you find out... ;)

this movie is drew barrymore's directional debut, and it's actually REALLY GOOD... (she even stars as perpetually stoned smashly simpson!) she did a great job getting jimmy fallon casted as "hot tub" johnny rocket as the MC, kristen wiig as cool aunt maggie mayhem, daniel stern as the TX football lovin' father, and of course, marcia gay harden as the strict mother. (one look from her and you are bound to turn to stone! tee hee!) the story is really heartfelt, the austin culture is well represented, and not to mention... HIPSTERS!!! best line is when a girl @ the tryouts tells another girl that she wants her derby name to be jabba da slut. bahahaha! (just an inside joke with some of my TX/rice friends... :P)