Tag: barrymore

0

Whip It review

Synopsis: 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 Being Drew Barrymore's directorial debut, I wasn't sure what to expect. Seeing the cast that was involved with this film, I was slightly impressed. Ellen Page (Juno, The Tracey Fragments), Alia Shawkat (Arrested Development), Kristen Wiig (Knocked Up, SNL) to name a few. Whip It was a great film. That's putting it real bluntly. There were so many elements to this film I thoroughly enjoyed, but one of the main elements which really impressed me was the performance by Page. Although she had already impressed me with her past work, I felt as though her character in Whip It was perfectly suited for her. Drew Barrymore, playing the brilliantly named 'Smashley Simpson' had a semi-prominent role in the film, playing one of the 'Hurl Scouts' more experienced roller-girl. I have to address the scene with Bliss/Babe Ruthless and the boy from the band; I wasn't a fan. There were shots during this scene I admired, but ultimately really thought they should have been left out of the final cut, simply because I didn't think they belonged. Overall though, Whip It had a good mix of humour, emotion, a little action (In the form of Roller-Derby-ing), and of course, sex appeal. With an admirable story and a mix-bag of talent, Whip It definitely delivers and definitely an excellent directorial debut by Smashley Simpson. 8/10 Kazed

0

He's Just Not That Into You review

Synopsis: I was insanely hesitant to watch this film, as it never occurred to me that romantic comedies can also be full of complexities and finely woven stories which intertwine with each other. He's Just Not That Into You was a film that was quite different to those rom-coms I've seen in the past. It wasn't just a simple guy-falls-in-love-with-girl-encounter-a-problem-then-get-back-together-story, it was much more than that. Considering the film was adapted from a self-help book of the same name, it made it even more interesting to see how such a book could be made into a film. So Gigi(Ginnifer Goodwin) is the girl who needs the help, funnily enough, and the events that unfold were ever so cringe-worthy, not because they were badly acted out(because they weren't), but because the things that she was doing were ever so hard to watch. It was precisely the scenes with Goodwin in I enjoyed the most because of her ability to portray such an awkward character. Justin Long playing Gigi's friend and confidant was a role which he fit in, up until a certain point I thought he was gay, reminiscent of Zack and Miri, but I was proved wrong later on. There were times within HJNTIY which were definitely clichéd and redundant, there were even instances where I said "I KNEW that would happen!", but no matter how many of these moments were in the film, there was always a counter-balance to these clichés, which eventually outweighed these negative factors. He's Just Not That Into You was a film that was, to some extent, a 'traditional' rom-com simply because of the predictability that seems to be present in a vast amount of romantic comedies these days, but nicely back-pedals due to some unique storytelling. Good film, interesting story with several sub-plots and twists, He's Just Not That Into You delivers an unexpected array of goodness in the form of a contemporary romantic comedy with a difference. 8/10 Kazed