Whip It Tagged Articles at Cinematical

I picked a good year to start writing a column about women in film. More than ever before, women are gaining ground in Hollywood. We've got seasoned pros like Kathryn Bigelow finally getting mainstream clout. A number of high-profile projects are being made by women. And we're also seeing a distinct rise in the do-everything femmes like Felicia Day and Diablo Cody.

But it's not all roses. First Jennifer's Body went from long-term big-buzz to big-time flop, and now Whip It is sadly following suit. If you caught Eugene Novikov's Weekend Box Office, you might have noticed that while Zombieland kicks all sorts of living butt, and the 3-D Toy Story double feature grabbed spot #3, Drew Barrymore's kick-ass roller derby pic came in a supremely disappointing 7th Place.

One could argue that Body's questionable showing was at least partly due to the mixed reactions from critics and fans. Cody's horror pic couldn't even grab a half-and-half balance, nestling in at 42% fresh at Rotten Tomatoes. Some loved it, others hated it. But even with some really bad reviews, it still beat Drew. Whip It! earned almost double the critical love (82% fresh), but pulled in a whopping $2 million less than the Body in its opening weekend ($4.85 million). 2 mil might not mean as much when you're in the hundreds, but it sure as heck means a lot when you can't even bring in 5.

What went wrong, and how can we fix it before this excellent cinematic momentum is halted?

Welcome back to another edition of insert caption -- the game that's, well, more than a game ... (okay that one was too easy). Last week we asked you to whip up some captions for a photo from that new coming-of-age flick starring Ellen Page and a pair of badass rollerskates called Whip It. Congrats go out to our three winners for successfully pushing and shoving their way to the top.

1. "With Ellen Page as the lead, critics were extremely surprised at the success of the new hit show on Broadway: Peter Pan - The Full Contact Musical." -- Evan T.

2. "Her teammates began to notice that Ellen's fish grew larger every time she told the story." -- James H.

3. "This is a never before seen casting session photo of Ellen Page trying to convince Sam Raimi, et al. that she would make a perfect Green Goblin." -- Stephen C.

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This week we're running up and down the court with basketball's golden boy, LeBron James, who stars as himself in a very entertaining coming-of-age documentary about friendship and overcoming adversities in order to achieve your goals. It's called More Than a Game, and it's in theaters now -- so check it out. In the meantime, the b-ball haters behind our three favorite captions this week will fast-break away with one More Than a Game poster, one More Than a Game soundtrack, one More Than a Game T-shirt and one More Than a Game calendar. So put on your game face and sound off below ...



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It's no Citizen Kane. It's not meant to win awards. I watch movies to enjoy them. These standbys are frequently trotted out before us fuddy-duddy critics whenever we decide that a movie ostensibly meant to be two hours of pure mindless fun simply isn't very good at doing just that. More often than not, it seems that films are championed for their laziness, their relentless adherence to formula, and rarely do these formulas serve a story that's worth more than the sum of its beats. School of Rock managed to work wonders with its wholly predictable plot; I'd vouch for Fever Pitch in much the same way. And joining their ranks of surprisingly satisfying comedies is Drew Barrymore's directorial debut, Whip It, a coming-of-age tale fused with an underdog sports story that hits all the expected developments with unexpected personality and grace.

Welcome back to another edition of Insert Caption -- the game that whips out funny captions faster than it takes me to fall down while rollerskating (ie: pretty damn fast). Last week we asked you to churn out your best "Let's make fun of those artsy kids" captions for a photo from the remake of Fame, now in theaters. Congrats to our three winners, all of whom will graduate our non-existent caption school with honors.

1. "Coming this fall... Matrix: Dance Dance Revolutions!" -- Zach B.

2. "This is what the world's largest game of "The Floor is Lava" looks like." -- John R.

3. "This is what happens when a group of arachnophobics all see a spider at the same time." -- Amanda P.

See full image and all captions



This week we're speeding down the skate-track with Ellen Page and her crew in Drew Barrymore's coming-of-age directorial debut, Whip It. The folks behind our three favorite captions this week will skate away with one Whip It poster and one Whip It soundtrack. (And in case you're not lucky enough to win our spandex happy caption contest, definitely make sure you pick up this pretty killer soundtrack right over here.) Now lace up and show us what you got!



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There are always a couple of titles that get pushed at Comic-Con, only to have those first impressions fade from memory as their opening gets shoved further and further back. Case in point: Whiteout, which showed up at San Diego in 2007, only to find itself a home next month -- over two years after.

Now, if Box Office Mojo is to be believed (and they're pretty reliable), Seth Rogen and Michel Gondry's The Green Hornet will now debut over a year after making a modest presentation at this past Comic-Con, having been bumped back from next July to the following December for reasons unknown.

Sure, it could be more time for effects work (the alibi given for 2012's similar shift this year), or maybe Sony didn't relish the chance to open a crime-fighting action-comedy opposite a Predator(s) reboot and a mere week before the already anticipated Inception. At any rate (or date, rather), let's just hope that it doesn't turn out to be nearly as goofy and stylized as last winter's The Spirit first revealed itself to be at -- you guessed it -- Comic-Con.

I went back and forth for about a half hour as to whether or not I was going to post about this, but in the end I figured I owed it to the three people out there who enjoy looking at new images of Megan Fox from Jennifer's Body. Luckily, though, there's more for the lot of you as MTV has just revealed their big fall preview full of new images from a ton of upcoming films, like The Lovely Bones, Ninja Assassin, Sherlock Holmes, Amelia, A Christmas Carol, Whip It, A Serious Man and many more.

In Jennifer's Body (which, mind you, I've been hearing good things about), Megan Fox stars as a hottie cheerleader who turns all demonic and begins to off the boys at her school in the most horrific ways. Amanda Seyfried stars as her best friend, who eventually has enough of it all and attempts to stop her devilish gal pal before the end credits begin to roll. Juno scribe Diablo Cody wrote the script, and it's due out in theaters on September 18.

Also, in related news, Megan Fox will host the season premiere of Saturday Night Live, which I hope will include at least one sketch about lame internet bloggers who constantly write flattering things about the girl because she looks good in a tight skirt but has very little talent.

Check out a larger version of the above image below, and the rest over at MTV.

So in the midst of all the Avatar hullabaloo, we haven't yet addressed the major move on Friday of Martin Scorsese's Shutter Island from this October 2nd to next February. Considering the negative connotations that tend to come with most films pushed back, many were quick to defend the move as a savvy business strategy for a pulpy-looking film that wasn't a primary contender all along.

Fair enough. Plenty of studios made major shuffles to deal with post-strike gaps (Harry Potter, anyone?), and now they're concerned about being more fiscally responsible with what's to come. As THR's Steven Zeitchik pointed out, Paramount/Dreamworks already has two front-runners to work with between Up in the Air and The Lovely Bones, and somewhere between the reportedly sharp comedy and the prestige-heavy drama, a distinctly genre work like a Leonardo DiCaprio thriller does seem a bit like the odd man out.

In the wake of the move, two comedies -- Zombieland and Whip It -- have moved up their own October release dates to fill the void, and if there's any justice, we'll see Woody Harrelson accept a blood-splattered Oscar in DiCaprio's stead. And if Coming Soon and Box Office Mojo are to be believed, Wes Anderson's Fantastic Mr. Fox will now get a limited release on November 13th before going wide on the 25th, where I suspect it will still get crushed by the likes of Old Dogs across the Thanksgiving stretch. Pity.

Despicable Me
This animated comedy about the world's greatest super villain looks pretty cute and I definitely didn't see the big gag coming. The bad guy is shown in profile silhouette and is it just me or does he look like Danny Devito's Penguin from Batman Returns? Things get dastardly on July 9, 2010.

Whip It!
I had assumed from the title that this was a Devo biopic, but it's actually about a young girl from a small Texas town who grows tired of the beauty pageant scene and joins a roller derby team. Ellen Page stars and this marks Drew Barrymore's first theatrical film as director. Things get rolling on October 9.

Call it Juno on Wheels. The first image of Ellen Page in the upcoming roller derby flick Whip It has been released, showing her strapped into a girl scout uniform as she skates around a track with Drew Barrymore and Kristen Wiig. The photo above, and several others, can be viewed at USA Today (additionally, check out two extra images below)

The film represents Barrymore's directorial debut. Page stars as 17-year-old Bliss Cavendar, who is tired of competing in beauty pageants at the insistence of her mother (Marcia Gay Harden). She rebels by joining the Hurl Scouts, a women's roller derby team in Austin, Texas, and finds her true calling -- or, at least, a good place to unleash some pent-up aggression. Barrymore skates with the Scouts, as does Saturday Night Live's Wiig and the great Zoe Bell (Death Proof). Juliette Lewis is described as the villain of the piece, an opposing player determined to defeat Page and the Scouts, and the players all have cool nicknames: Smashley Simpson, Maggie Mayhem, Bloody Holly, and so forth.

As Jenni Miller advised, Fox Searchlight will distribute the film, which is set for release on October 9. Roller derby vet Shauna Cross (AKA Maggie Mayhem) wrote the screenplay, based on her own novel, Derby Girl. A very good doc about the Austin roller derby scene, Hell on Wheels, is available to view at SnagFilms (we also embedded it after the jump), and if Whip It can approach that real-life excitement, it could break out of the fall pack. Since nicknames are de rigeur for roller derby players, what nickname will you choose if you decide to see Ellen Page Whip It?