Happy Spring, Moviecyclers!

Tomorrow morning I get to depart on my first family vacation in 2 years! The destination? The island of Kauai in our most tropical U.S. state!

My kids and I are super excited and I thought it would be cool to highlight one of my very favorite movies set in Hawaii – 50 First Dates.

This is probably on my top 20 list of fave flicks, which is unusual because I normally am lukewarm towards Adam Sandler, but this one makes me laugh and tear up every time I watch it.

The story follows Sandler as Henry Roth, the ultimate bachelor spending every night with a different tourist in need of an island fling. No strings attached and he can be whoever they need him to be…..for one night.  Then he goes to great lengths to ensure the lovely ladies never call him again.

Then he meets Lucy (Drew Barrymore). A beautiful girl sitting in an island cafe, making houses with her waffles.  Henry joins her and they have a wonderful time and agree to have a 2nd date – a major first for Henry. The next day he arrives to find that Lucy has no memory of meeting him. Or any new memories after a near fatal car accident the year before.  She just lives the same day over and over.

What follows is an amazingly adorable story of a man who must make the woman of his dreams fall in love with him every single day and convince her that they can make a life together….even if she can’t remember it.

This movie is filled with a hilarious supporting cast. Rob Schneider, Lusia Strus, Dan Akroyd, Blake Clark and others  provide non-stop giggles. So do a few choice marine animals. Henry works at an aquarium and his walrus sidekicks are awesome.

My favorite supporting character has to be Sean Astin as Lucy’s brother Doug, a steroid-injecting, mesh shirt-wearing hothead with a wicked lisp. I barely recognized him the first time I saw it and his jokes always make me laugh the most.

This film has it all – great cast, great jokes, the ability to see Adam Sandler in some kind of romantic light (at least they point out that his head is shaped like an egg), a beautiful island setting and an amazing soundtrack that will put you into a laid back mood.

If you haven’t seen this movie, come on down to Moviecycle and we will set you up with a copy for $6.99 or less ( I am pretty sure I saw a copy on our sale table…). You won’t be sorry.

Aloha!

Last night I watched the cute roller derby flick “Whip It.” The directorial debut of one of my favorite comedic cuties, Drew Barrymore and based on the novel “Derby Girl” by Shauna Cross who also penned the screenplay.  It was an admirable effort by Barrymore and I think she could really grow into a great director one day. For being in the biz since the age of 5, she seems pretty comfortable getting what she wants from the actors and scenes.

The film stars Ellen Page (“Juno”) as Bliss Cavendar, a 17 year old girl living in the nowhere town of Bodean, Texas. Her mother, played by Marcia Gay Harden, is pushing her into a pageant filled life that does not seem suited to Bilss’ alternative style. On a shopping excursion to nearby Austin, Bliss finds a flier for roller derby tryouts and becomes intrigued. She tries out and lands a spot on the underdog team, The Hurl Scouts, and discovers her true…uh..Bliss.

Yeah. I said it. Cheesy I know.

The misfit derby chicks that Bliss finds herself thrown in with become her second family and show her what it means to be a tough cookie (coincidentally the name of the L.A. derby team the Hurl Scouts was based on is called The Tough Cookies). Bliss gets taught how to perfect her alter ego as “Babe Ruthless”  by her teammates (Barrymore, Kristin Wiig, Eve), her opponents (an awesomely villainous Juliette Lewis) and her under appreciated coach, Razor  (Andrew Wilson, one of the lesser known Wilson brothers).

The highlights of this picture for me were the supporting characters. Kristin Wiig is so on my heart list for her role as Maggie Mayhem. Her scenes in the car with the boy who plays her son reminded me very much of how I see derby moms interact with their kids. And Jimmy Fallon nailed the dorky and slightly creepy emcee, ‘Hot Tub’ Johnny Rocket.

The downside? Unnecessary underwater scene. I will say no more.

If you have not been to a real derby bout yet, then check out who your local team is and get some tickets. They kick as much butt in real life that they do on the silver screen.  It is a great sport that encourages girls of any age/shape/size to skate fast and hit hard. On the track and off.

Bottom line, this is kind of your standard sports movie (underdogs, teen romance, lessons learned, etc), but it has the bonus of depicting a sport that has not really been spotlighted by Hollywood before and  has been steadily growing in popularity for years now. Derby can only benefit from the publicity of this touching little story.

P.S.

Another great derby flick to check out? “Blood on the Flat Track”, a film featuring Seattle’s Rat City Rollergirls.

I’ve been meaning to weigh in with my Guilty Pleasures post, but I’ve been kinda wrapped up with behind-the-scenes blog stuff this week. I do hope you’re all enjoying the addition of a searchable  inventory.  Now that we have that feature working, it’s time for me to play.

Like Geoff, I doubt that I might feel “guilty” over these choices, but I do recognize that they may not be movies many people would admit to liking. My tastes are my own, and I’m okay with that. My primary expectation from any movie is that I’ll be entertained and I have to admit I’m easily amused. But hey, enough of my yakkin’. Whaddaya say? Let’s boogie!