What could make a film about women's roller derby that stars Ellen Page and is directed by Drew Barrymore even cooler? Think hard. I'll give you a second.

OK, time's up. Have you guessed? The answer is, of course, a really cool supporting cast of actresses. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Ellen and Drew will be joined in their upcoming film Whip It! by Juliette Lewis, Kristen Wiig, Marcia Gay Harden and Zoe Bell.

The film follows Ellen's character, Bliss Cavendar, a small-town Texas girl who runs away from her ex-pageant queen mom played by Marcia. While her mother wants her to follow in her tiara-wearing ways, Bliss would rather strap on some skates. So instead she joins a roller derby league in Austin. … continue reading

Yesterday, Variety reported that Ellen Page has signed on to play a roller derby queen in Drew Barrymore's directing debut, Whip It!

I'm going to ignore the Variety headline for the moment ("Ellen Page to 'Whip It!' for Barrymore") because, well, eww and eyeroll. Let's focus on the plot summary: Page plays Bliss Cavendar, a blue-haired Texan misfit whose mother keeps pushing her into beauty pageants. Bliss "finds herself" when she joins a roller derby team.

This has so much potential, I don't even know where to begin. First, roller derby? Campy, retro and almost as gay as billiards! And it's about time somebody made a roller derby flick, so I can stop mourning that A&E series Rollergirls. … continue reading