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Whip It, a review by Critter

Whip It



Director: Drew Barrymore

Writer: Shauna Cross

Plot: 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.

Cast:
Ellen Page - Bliss Cavendar
Alia Shawkat - Pash
Drew Barrymore - Smashley Simpson
Landon Pigg - Oliver
Andrew Wilson - Razor
Juliette Lewis - Iron Maven

My Thoughts

This is Drew Barrymore's directorial debut and it shows. With Whip It Barrymore played it as safe as someone could making their first film by following a formula of these "teen breaking out of a rut" type films that seems to have developed over the years. She stuck to this forumula and followed all the regular conventions and cliches so closely in fact that I often felt while watching the film that I had seen it before.

That said however this still was a cute and easily enjoyable film, it just didn't break any boundaries or bring anything new. Ellen Page seems to be playing the same character over and over these days of the quirky and often misunderstood teenager. And while I must admit she's good at it it would be nice to see her go back to the days where she had a larger variety of roles such as An American Crime, Hard Candy and X-Men.

One thing this film does succeed in doing is educating the world of the sport of 'Roller Derby' which really is the highlight of the film. The derby scenes are fast-paced and in my opinion very well shot which made them a delight to watch. Especially for those of us who didn't even know of the roller derby sport before this film (keep in mind I'm from a small town in Australia )

Overall this film is light-hearted and quite enjoyable with some funny and memorable characters yet still brings nothing new to the table.

Rating: 3/5

(From Critter's Films at Cinemas Reviews on December 13th, 2009)

Ted, a review by Dragonfire

Ted



I went to see this Friday and loved it.  It is hilarious..truly one of the funniest movies I've seen in a long time.  The theater was packed..more than I had thought it would be. 

The story is interesting and on the original side with having a wish make a teddy bear come to life.  That is covered well in the first few minutes of the movie, with a narration by Patrick Stewart.  By the time the credits are over, the movie has jumped forward and John is 35 and has a few issues to deal with..some of which are tied to the fact that he still lives with his teddy bear.  The movie is very funny, though there is a more serious bit that turns up later on.  That part doesn't blend as well with the funny stuff, and it does mess up the pacing just a tad.  The movie is very entertaining overall though.  The humor is a bit rude at times and some people will be offended.  Anyone that has issues with Family Guy should probably skip this one since the same type of humor is used.  The movie just goes further with the rudeness than the series can.  Some of what is done is definitely twisted...but it is funny.  The movie deserves the R rating and is definitely not a movie for families.  Ted may be a cute looking talking teddy bear, but he drinks, smokes pot, swears like a sailor, and picks up hookers.  He is light years away from Winnie the Pooh.

The characters are very entertaining and John and Ted are great together.  Lori, John's girlfriend, starts off being very understanding about Ted, but then that changes a bit.  Donny is sort of a fan of Ted's..and really creepy. 

This is a really good, entertaining, and funny movie that is worth watching.  It isn't for everyone and the movie will probably offend some people.  It is not a kid movie, but unfortunately, people have ignored the ratings and been taking little kids too it.



I did manage to get a review posted on Epinions - before the cable went down after the nasty storm.

Ted


(From Ted on July 4th, 2012)

"Stargate SG-1" Marathon, a review by DJ Doena

Synopsis: SG-11 mines an ore called Trinium. This ore is especially hard and SGC wants to use it for armor plates and other things. One week SG-11 doesn't call in as planned and SG-1 goes to the planet. There they meet a tribe that descends from native americans and their "spirits" who protect the tribe.

My Opinion: What I like most about Jack are his high moral standards. He has no problem with confronting his superiors when he thinks that something is morally wrong. In this episode he draws parallels to the colonization of the american continent, especially the dealings with the indians.

Synopsis: SG-1 returns to a planet where they wish to examine a wheather control system. But it was stolen and thiefs seem to have come from the SGC (Stargate Command). As it soon turns out, these people didn't come through the gate in Cheyenne Mountain.

My Opinion: This was an indirect continuation of the previous episode. Was the device stolen by someone under the order of SGC? The peek into Area 51 was also very interesting. But in general this episode was an average one.

Synopsis: Sg-10 didn't make it back through the Stargate. When a connection from Earth is opened it can't be closed anymore. One of the two suns of that system has recently collapsed and was transformed into a black hole. Through the open wormhole SGC and Earth are also effected by it.

My Opinion: Whether or not this episode made sense from an astronomical POV doesn't matter to me. It was very exciting, especially with the several lapses of time within the base and beyond. I liked it a lot.

Synopsis: On a remote planet the Stargate seems to be enclosed in a room with no exit. But there is a ring of text written in the same language that was found on Ernest's planet (The Torment of Tantalus). Jack accidentally activates a machine that downloads all the knowledge of the Ancients - one of the four old races - into Jack's brain. And that has unexpected side effects.

My Opinion: I love episodes where the actors are condemned to silence because their character has lost the ability express himself/herself. It's funny to see the desperation on their faces.
The scene at the end where the Asgard and O'Neill shake hands strongly reminded me of E.T. with Jack obviously being Elliot.

(From "Stargate SG-1" Marathon on March 7th, 2008)