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Hollywood Halloween: 10 Costumes Inspired by This Year's Movies

BuzzSugar — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 16:30:59 -0700

Still hunting for that perfect Halloween costume? Never fear, for I am willing to share some of my ideas with you, culled from this year's flicks. Everyone loves a good pop culture reference, and the best part is that these are super easy to put together last minute. From spooky to hilarious, there's a little something for everyone, so take a look.

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7 Things I Learned About Girl Power From Watching "Whip It"

TresSugar — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 15:00:00 -0700

It's rare to see empowering chick flicks (even that genre name is a little annoying), but Whip It, starring Ellen Page, Drew Barrymore, Kristen Wiig, and the terrifyingly awesome Juliette Lewis, was fun and inspirational.

The film is about teenager Bliss Cavendar (Ellen Page), who would rather skate on a roller derby team than don an evening gown and compete in beauty pageants as her mother wants her to. The following is what I learned about that outmoded term "girl power" from watching it:

1. Your mom may not realize she's keeping you down with the same things that kept her down. Communicate with her - it may help you both.

2. Being true to yourself may not just make you happier, it may make everyone around you happier. A lot of unnecessary tension ensues in Bliss's life because she hides her true self from her family.

3. Boys can be fun, but they aren't everything. Wait for the right one (if that's your thing), and in the meantime, find yourself. To find out what else I learned, read more.

4. It's OK to be competitive with other women if you aren't hurting or undermining anyone. Competition between women abounds in both of Bliss's worlds, the pageant world and the roller derby world, some good and some bad. It may not be as culturally acceptable for women to be competitive with each other, but a healthy dose of it keeps you in top form.

5. It's important to find an activity that not only challenges you but brings out your signature strengths. Bliss is certainly challenged by beauty pageantry - but not in a good way. Roller derby brings out her best traits.

6. Friends really can be the family you wish your family was. (Although you should give your family a chance!)

7. Taking risks in your life can pay off. It would have been just as hard for Bliss to continue with the pageant world, but by going out of her comfort zone and reaching for something that scares and excites her, she comes out on top.

Zombieland Eats the Competition Alive at the Box Office

BuzzSugar — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 07:30:55 -0700

Well, it looks like Très isn't the only one who loves a good horror comedy - Zombieland took the top spot at the box office this weekend with $25 million in ticket sales. Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs slid to No. 2 with $16.7 million, followed by the Toy Story 1 &2 3-D double feature with $12.5 million.

The Invention of Lying made its box office debut in fourth place with $7.35 million, and Surrogates rounded out the top five with $7.4 million. Drew Barrymore's Whip It couldn't hack it in its opening weekend and finished in seventh with $4.8 million, right behind Michael Moore's Capitalism: A Love Story.

Photo courtesy of Sony Pictures

Weekend Movie Reviews, Dave's Multiple Affairs, and the Kanye/Gaga Tour Gets Canceled!

Molly — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 23:09:01 -0700

Trying to figure out which movie to go see this weekend? Check out our one-sentence movie reviews of Whip It!, Zombieland, and The Invention of Lying. Plus, find out what we're thinking about the David Letterman affair/extortion bombshell and possible reasons behind why Kanye West and Lady Gaga canceled their tour. Watch the weekend edition of PopSugar Rush now!

Drew Makes Her Debut in Red, White, and Blue

PopSugar — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 16:00:59 -0700

Drew Barrymore beamed last night as she answered fans' questions at a special screening of her directorial debut Whip It! in NYC. Her film hits theaters today, and everyone seems to be loving it, from her boyfriend Justin Long to BuzzSugar - make sure to check out their review. There won't be much rest for Drew after she waits for the box office numbers to roll in over the weekend, as she'll spent next week gearing up for her sixth turn hosting SNL.

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Weekend Movie Reviews, Dave's Multiple Affairs, and the Kanye/Gaga Tour Gets Canceled!

Molly — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 14:50:00 -0700

Letterman's Multiple Affairs, Jon Gosselin's "Epiphany," & Our Weekend Movie Review!

PopSugarTV — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 14:44:13 -0700

David Letterman says he's slept with more than one woman on his staff, Jon Gosselin wants TLC to stop filming his kids, and Matt Damon is an intense charity advocate on Entourage.

Do You Have a Big Music Collection?

CasaSugar — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 14:00:27 -0700

I'm really excited to check out Whip It!, the Drew Barrymore directorial debut about roller-derby girls, which opens today. This scene, with lead actress Ellen Page, caught my eye, thanks to the retro music collection on display. While I definitely have vinyl records at my home, our electronics are a bit more updated, and we've tossed the cassettes. Still, I love the overall effect of the two characters being surrounded by so much music. What's the music sitch look like at your home?

Say What? Roller Derby Queen Gets Gussied Up to Kick Ass

TresSugar — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 06:00:00 -0700

"I can wear bright red lipstick and go out and play because I want to look good while I'm hitting somebody or while I'm taking somebody out."

- Lyndsay Trader, an education administrator who skates for the roller derby league RollerGirls under the name "Mitzi Massacre." She's part of a growing number of women joining roller derby leagues, which were big in the '60s and '70s - on television, anyway. A true sign of its cultural relevance? Whip It, the Drew Barrymore-directed film starring Ellen Page about roller derby leagues opens today.

Whip It: A Rollicking Good Time

BuzzSugar — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 17:30:56 -0700

Drew Barrymore's directorial debut, roller derby comedy Whip It, is not unlike the actress's persona: cute, fun, and with a whole lot going on.

Ellen Page stars as quiet 17-year-old Bliss Cavendar, whose mother (Marcia Gay Harden) wants to make her the queen of small-town Texas beauty pageants. Bliss meekly goes along with the idea, her voice too small to tell her mom she hates the contests. But one chance visit to nearby big city Austin and everything changes. Bliss admires some intimidating derby girls, and after sneaking off to a match, decides to try out. What follows is a fast-paced, highly entertaining girl-power anthem.

To read more about what I did and didn't like about the movie, just read more.

The movie is perfectly cast; Page plays a shy teen easily, never giving up her sweetness even after she adopts the moniker "Babe Ruthless" and gets repeatedly knocked into the rink sidelines. The team who welcomes her, the Hurl Scouts, is a motley crew: Eve and Zoe Bell don't become much more than background players, Barrymore is an ebullient if minor supporter ("Smashley Simpson"), but team captain Kristen Wiig is one of the hearts of the movie. With a part bigger than the trailer implies, Wiig (I never get tired of the derby names: "Maggie Mayhem") emerges as a mother figure when Bliss's relationship with her own mom is strained. It's nice to see her playing straight for once, and besides Page, Wiig is really the only multi-faceted derby girl.

That's not to say that the derby girls aren't anything special. Beautiful, tough, and impossibly cool, maybe you wouldn't want to meet them in a dark alley, but you'd definitely want to be invited to their party. Juliette Lewis looks every part the queen bee - aggressive and sexy, she'll push you in a locker before you know what hit you. And naturally, there's a love interest, musician Landon Pigg - but he's kind of an afterthought, which I liked. By not giving in to the cliche that a girl gets everything she wants when she finds her passion, it strengthens the movie's pervasive girl power idea.

The movie isn't just about derby; it's a coming-of-age tale too, and Bliss didn't come from a shaky foundation. Alia Shawkat (yay, Maeby!) plays the hilarious and supportive BFF who doesn't exist just to cheer Bliss on from the sidelines. She's got her own thing, and is too confident to be left behind when Bliss gets wrapped up in her new life - a refreshing departure from the typical best friend character. And Harden isn't merely a strict parent caricature; she may want something completely different for her daughter, but her caring nature shines through.

It's not all success on skates, though. Sometimes the portrayal of the derby world gets to be an overzealous glorification. Sure, it's an amazing outlet for a lot of people and one of the few contact sports that really belongs to women, but the movie pushes the sexualization of the players a little too far. It's already sexy that the women play such a powerful sport, so it's not really necessary to do close-ups of the actresses' bare flesh to show the bruises.

There are a few things you could criticize about Barrymore's direction; for instance, Shauna Cross's screenplay is really quite funny, but some of the actors' lines fall flat. Also, the roller derby scenes have such potential to be exciting, and they could have been even more epic. Then again, this is Barrymore's first outing as a director, and it's still what you would expect from her: a fun-loving, freewheeling confection of a movie with a killer soundtrack.

Photos courtesy of Fox Searchlight