Shorties: quick and dirty reviews for fall

In a stroke of "what do you mean she's NOT chained to her desk?" I have been out and living my life of late and have thus negated my duties in completing reviews of the films I've seen. To that end-- and in hopes that you too are out experiencing the world and its many pleasures-- I have put together few short reviews so as not to take up too much time that you could be using effectively.

See! I'm being a good citizen who encourages her fellow to go outside. But first read on.

EXTRACT...
...was not what I was expecting it to be and I was quite pleasantly surprised. And you know what I was thinking. As soon as you see Ben Affleck's Jesus hair in the trailer you find yourself pushing aside images of your friends shoving chemical enhancement on you so you'll enjoy the movie as much as they do. That said, there IS certainly a scene of that magnitude but overall I found the movie went for the commercial laugh rather than the underlying stoner one (a la Pineapple Express). Plus, I really can't get enough of Kristin Wiig. I think I have another girl crush (those of you who read often will already know I have a thing for Sandra Bullock).

WHIP IT...whip it goood!
Ellen Page, Kristin Whigg (again!), Juliette Lewis and Drew Barrymore, with a special mention to Zoe Bell (for Kathy) and Eve (for Matt) come out swinging in this girl power commercial offering from first time director Barrymore. Although the roller derby scenes could have (in my opinion) been a little tighter and more action packed, Barrymore does a remarkable job of balancing the two aspects of the film: that of the young Bliss (Page) who is growing into a woman and that of the fledgling Hurl Scouts who have never won but are fighting Rocky-style for the top. While this is not the indie darling it could have been (especially with Page in the lead) the film does "legitimize" itself a little through its soundtrack, which is full of hipster tracks that will really make you feel you're unique. Is it commercial? Yes. Does it push boundaries? Less than you'd think, but it remains an enjoyable romp through an as yet commercially unexplored world. Did I ultimately come out wanting to know more about roller derby?

Hells yeah I did.

COCO AVANT CHANEL
Went to see this over the long weekend and frankly I was quite disappointed by the offering. Having been a huge fan of Audrey Tautou since the French darling Amelie swept her to mainstream stardom I really wanted to love this film but the pacing just killed me. The premise (for those who are unaware) is the life and times of Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel before she hit it big as the designer who would create the now infamous fashion house. The problem being that a lot of her life prior to the designing wasn't particularly interesting. Certainly Chanel was an interesting person and as character studies go the film is constructed well but the slow pacing and the manner in which she is framed (which frankly isn't very sympathetic) caused me to wonder if it wasn't simply a representation of history. I have never found historical re-creations in themselves to be interesting...it has always been the questions raised and the tensions and obstacles met that compel me to sit through "another historical drama" as they say. For me this film fell flat, but there are others that I was with who appreciated the slow pacing. To each his (or her) own I suppose but if you're not a fan of the slowly paced, quiet character study...skip this one.

I'm sure there are more movies (and thus reviews) in my immediate future but for the moment I will leave you with this suggestion: it is the Shakespeare Festival at Stratford. GO!

That is all.