Whip It

Escaping the beauty pagent plan of her smothering mother (Marcia Gay Harden), small-town Texas teen Bliss (Ellen Page) joins an all-girl roller derby team in Austin and begins living a thrilling double life as Babe Ruthless. Drew Barrymore makes her directorial debut and plays fellow teammate Smashley Simpson in this coming-of-age tale. Kristen Wiig, Juliette Lewis, Eve and Jimmy Fallon co-star.

Matt
Rating: 6 out of 10

Grrrrrrllll power!

I love roller derby, not because of the sport or the sex appeal, but because of the empowerment and bond the women share. If you’ve ever known a roller derby chick, they’re very cool, fun people and are a close-knit bunch. While this is a fantasy version of that world, Barrymore delivers a nice movie with a simple message that girls can go after their dreams, make friends, get the boy they always wanted, find success and be someone that matters.

Of course, these themes are also the movie’s downfall. It was hard not to gag a little from the overpowering sweetness, but the movie has enough charm from Page and the supporting cast to make it worthwhile. Lewis is always solid, and Wiig and Fallon are funny people I enjoy seeing on the screen. Harden is very sharp as the overbearing, Texas mother who hides her smoking habit and never looks anything but her best.

Barrymore made a sharp, visually appealing movie with a fun cast, great soundtrack and likable characters. It was a little sappy for my taste, but a fun movie nonetheless.

Inception

Dom Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) cuts a deal with Saito (Ken Watanabe) and agrees to use his ability to enter people’s dreams for a special assignment involving business titan Robert Fischer Jr. (Cillian Murphy). Along for the labyrinth-infused ride is Cobb’s new mind “architect,” Ariadne (Ellen Page). Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Marion Cotillard, Tom Hardy, Tom Berenger and Dileep Rao also star in this sci-fi thriller from writer-director Christopher Nolan.

Brian
Rating: 10 out 0f 10

I actually saw this film on Thursday but need a few days to think about it before I submitted my review. Yes, it really is that thought provoking. In fact, there are so many adjectives to describe Inception that I thought I’d list a few: brilliant, spell-binding, thought-provoking, surrealistic, genius, dramatic, and visual. If it sounds like I’m over heaping praise on this film, it’s because it deserves it. Inception really is one those rare films that comes along every 3-4 years and makes you re-think what’s possible within the boundaries of the medium. I cannot remember a film in recent memory that inspired me as much as this one and it gets my absolute highest recommendation for those that like intelligent cinema.

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the two people that really made this film shine. First, Leonardo Dicaprio; He really is on quite a roll. His resume is becoming legendary and he’s only 35 years old! His performance in “Inception” is excellent and holds the audience’s attention and makes the unbelievable seem believable. The other is Christopher Nolan who has never directed a bad film, and along with the Coen Brothers, is one of the 2(or 3 since they’re brothers) best directors working today.

This is the kind of film where in the hands of someone else could have been a disaster. But, Nolan holds it all together with fantastic pacing, visual excellence, and a storytelling-first mentality. He really has become one of the greatest film making minds on the planet.

Peacock

John Skillpa (Cillian Murphy), a quiet bank clerk living in tiny, 1950s Peacock, Neb., prefers to an invisible existence. This might have to do with John’s secret: he has another personality no one knows about, a woman name Emma who each morning does his chores and cooks him breakfast before he starts his day. Then, in a moment, everything changes. While hanging laundry, a train caboose gets disconnected and crashes in the yard near Emma. People around rush to her aid, and having never seen her, assume she’s John’s wife. John’s life, very secure in unusual routing, is suddenly spinning out of control. Directed and co-written by Michael Lander (Solid Waste).

Matt
Rating: 7 out of 10

Lander brings a fascinating character, or depending on your viewpoint – characters – that are full of quirks, depth without saying too much, humanity, pain, and anxiety. He uses that foundation of depth to build an interesting movie that left me with a tight chest and a spinning stomach.

This script is brought to life by a great cast that includes Cillian Murphy (Batman Begins, The Wind That Shakes the Barley), Ellen Page (Juno), Academy Award-winner Susan Sarandon, Josh Lucas (A Beautiful Mind), and Keith Carradine (TV’s ‘Dexter’). Murphy was exceptional at delivering a man with multiple personalities — a tightly wound, introverted John and the sweet, thoughtful and personable Emma. The film opens with the train crash and moves quickly into the life of John and Emma. We learn about the world he creates with his two personalities — Emma leaves John notes of errands to run and leaves meals while John acts as if he’s never talked with people that Emma has already talked to. The two personalities clash over helping people, the investigation surrounding the train station, and the interaction with people. The suspense comes from never knowing if John will get caught.

But that’s where script problems stem. The director asks us to take some leaps of faith. No one in town ever suspects they are the same person. However, part of the anxiety the viewer feels is wondering if John will be revealed as Emma. It’s a tiny town and both Emma and John interact with a very small group of people; his boss, the mayor and his wife, and Maggie, played nicely by Page. This element, though, is distracting from other parts of the film, like a political rally Emma plans in the backyard of John’s house, a place he guards with the utmost of secrecy.

There are some distractions with the plot, but the suspense, direction, character development and acting are strong enough to carry the movie.