Aug 26 2009 'Whip It' Poster: Sometimes Roller Derbies are Quiet, Reflective Times

Really captures the pensiveness of girls skating around knocking down other girls in skates, don't you think? You'll only find those kinds of subtle touches in a Drew Barrymore-directed film. She's Spielberg, Kubrick, Truffaut, and Ashby all melted down and poured into a golden mold labeled "America's Sweetheart."

'Whip It' Poster [TrailerAddict]

Jul 16 2009 'Whip It' Trailer: Coming-of-Age by Way of Roller Derby

Former extra-terrestrial savior, fire starter, Scream victim and Charlie Angel Drew Barrymore's directorial debut, Whip It, has got a trailer. Watch it loud so your mom knows that, like Ellen Page, you'd rather be knocking girls over in roller skates than competing in beauty pageants. Or, if you're satisfied with the beauty pageant life, don't even bother with this movie; just keep on looking great.

Here's your trailer, grrls:

Continue Reading " 'Whip It' Trailer: Coming-of-Age by Way of Roller Derby "

Jul 9 2009 First Look at 'Whip It': Ladies in Skates

USA Today has posted the first look at Whip It, Drew Barrymore's Devo-titled directorial debut that stars Ellen Page as a rebellion teenage who enters the roller derby circuit.

I would say this film stands a good chance of bringing attention back to the sport, but I think roller derbies already started regaining popularity a few years ago, so maybe this will arbitrarily re-popularize a different fad sport. Yo-yo competitions? Groups of people shoving themselves into phone booths? Skip-It? Probably Skip-It.

Mar 6 2008 'Smart People' Poster, Because Smart People Play Scrabble

I realize that letters cut from a New Yorker might feel too ransom-notey, but is Scrabble really the best way they could find to identify "smart people"? Since when is Scrabble a game of the intelligentsia any more than Monopoly is the game of wealthy real estate moguls and pewter schnauzers? Maybe it's just me, but I think of Scrabble more as the game for those who have lost their electricity, and need some way to entertain their visiting parents without the aid of CBS's primetime lineup.

And why are they pretending that's Dennis Quaid in the jacket? We can all see it's obviously Steve Carell reprising his role from Little Miss Sunshine.

'Smart People' Poster Premiere [Cinematical]

Mar 4 2008 Lohman Replaces Page--in Hell!

In what I'm obnoxious calling a "casting switcheroo", Alison Lohman, recently seen in Robert Zemeckis's Beowulf and Things We Lost in the Fire, is replacing Ellen Page in Drag Me to Hell. The film, "a morality tale about the unwitting recipient of a supernatural curse," will be Sam Raimi's first attempt at cleansing our collective palette of Spider-Man 3. Oscar nominees lost in the trade: 1. Arbitrary indie cred points lost: 130.

Lohman replaces Page in 'Hell' [Variety]

Feb 11 2008 AM Poster Post: 'Smart People' Continues Trend

I really thought I was kidding a few months ago when, following the posters for Knocked Up and Strange Wilderness, I declared white text on sickly green with a diffused spotlight point as the new trend in comedy posters. Besides being nauseating to look at, it seemed far too specific to be a legitimate trend. Well, as you can see above, it turns out it's very real and very, very green. Now what?

Smart People Poster [IMPA]

Jan 14 2008 Some Other Crap That Happened...

- The final Harry Potter movie may be broken into two parts after the release of the last book left fans demanding more lines to wait in. [Mail on Sunday]

- Ice Cube spoke out about his plans for a Welcome Back, Kotter remake, which he says will only vaguely resemble the original, adding, "You know me, I’m gonna flip it. It ain’t gonna be no Gabe Kaplan shit." It's true; if you knew Cube, you would have already known he'd flip it. [MTV]

- Tyler Perry might be on steroids. Or it might just be a hilarious muscle suit for Tyler Perry's Madea Goes to Venice Beach. [CNN]

- Ellen Page may be up for the lead in the Drew Barrymore-directed Derby Girl, the role of "a precocious teen, full of sarcasm and wit." She'll repotedly follow that up with a role in Typecast. [Film School Rejects]

Nov 30 2007 'Juno' International Trailer Still Overwhelmingly Clever

With all the hugely-positive reviews, movie of the year mentions, and comparisons to indie-smash Little Miss Sunshine (presupposing that Little Miss Sunshine is God), it's practically sacrilege not to dump praise over Juno like it just won a football game.

Isn't anyone else sort of put off by how uber-witty and pop-culture driven most of the dialogue is, and how it's delivered so unbelievably dryly? This international trailer did nothing to curb my fears that it's basically a well-shot Friends episode, where everyone has clever reactions to every possible situation, yet everyone seems unaffected by the constant barrage of witticisms.

Then again, it was great pretty much every time Jason Bateman or Michael Cera were onscreen, so maybe I'll withhold some judgement until I see it, or at least until I'm inundated with people quoting lines.

Juno International Trailer [/Film]

Oct 31 2007 AM Poster Post: 'Juno' Great for Pregnancy Fetishists

I can't believe I used to fear getting a girl pregnant in high school, when it turns out it's a really quirky, indie thing to do. As seen here, a child growing inside a young womb can bring about such things as Arrested Development's Michael Cera, cute hand lettering, and praise from Roger Ebert. And if you get her preggers enough, I've heard indie music even plays and things go slow motion.

Juno Poster [IMPA]

Oct 1 2007 Lesbian Werewolf Film Not as Exciting as Concept Implies

Hey, lesbians and werewolves?! Did these guys get a window into my Native American dreamcatcher or what? So this synopsis for Jack and Diane would imply!

Jack (Thirlby) and Diane (Page), two teenage lesbians, meet in New York City and spend the night kissing ferociously. Diane's charming innocence quickly begins to open Jack's tough skinned heart. But, when Jack discovers that Diane is leaving the country in a week she tries to push her away. Diane must struggle to keep their love alive while hiding the secret that her newly awakened sexual desire occasionally turns her into a werewolf.

But wait a minute, not only is this movie underfunded for shooting, the potential stars, Ellen Page and Olivia Thirlby, went on to explain the reason they can't find backing:

Ellen: They think it's about lesbian werewolves, and it's not.

Olivia: It does happen to be about lesbians and there does happen to be kind of very metaphorical references to werewolves…

Ellen: There's a dream!

So it's just a dream with werewolves? Next thing they'll be telling us they aren't really lesbians, just the type of girls who will get drunk and kiss enough to rile-up a gang of belligerent frat boys.

Also, the inclusion of Ellen Page isn't really making this lesbian fantasy so hot anymore. At first viewing of the Juno trailer, I found her at least moderately cute and charming in her dry delivery, but as I've seen the preview a couple more times, I've come to realize that she's just the latest dreary incarnation of Daria and the girls from Ghost World and, like the girl in high school who seemed too into black & white photography, hearing she's a lesbian comes across more as a "not surprising" than "hot."

Ellen Page's 'Lesbian Werewolf Movie’ Jack and Diane Needs Financing [FirstShowing]