Bridesmaids (2011)

While this movie didn't totally live up to all the hype surrounding it, Bridesmaids was still a funny movie in the vain of most Judd Apatow flicks. Except this time the characters were girls.

Thirtysomething Annie (Kristin Wiig) is at a crossroads in her life. Her business has recently shut down, she has a menial service job, her roommates are utterly ridiculous and her relationship status is virtually nonexistent. To make matters worse, her best friend Lillian (Maya Rudolph) is getting married and she's asked Annie to be her maid of honor. Of course Annie excepts the offer, but she soon finds out she's in over her head. On top of all that, Annie has to deal with fellow bridesmaid Helen (Rose Byrne). Helen is Lillian's fiance's boss's wife, so naturally she wants to fit in. Helen is constantly trying to usurp Annie's maid of honor role and Annie is slowly but surely starting to crack under the pressure. Her mother, her quasi-boyfriend and the rest of the bridesmaids are no help. What Annie's going to do to get out of her rut is anyone's guess.

One element that did live up to the hype was Melissa McCarthy. She was absolutely hysterical as one of the other bridesmaids. While Ellie Kemper and Wendi McLendon-Covey did well in their roles, the only one who made me eagerly wait for her next line was McCarthy. All that said, there were still problems with this movie. I really could've done without the needlessly ridiculous British roommates and while I appreciate all of the improvisation, some of it dragged on for no reason other than to show the audience "Hey, they're comedians." I liked this movie, but definitely not enough to call it the best comedy of 2011 as most critics have noted. Grade: B+

Whip It (2009)

This was a fun time at the movies. Nothing great, nothing bad, just a fun time. Drew Barrymore did a fine job in her directing debut. Much better than Michael Keaton and John Krasinski's 2009 ventures.

Bliss Cavendar (Ellen Page) is from a small town in Texas and has ambition to leave that small town. Unfortunately, that probably won't happen. Her mother (Marcia Gay Harden) is constantly making Bliss try and relive her own pageant glory days. Whether it's her fault or not, they never seem to end well. By chance, her and her best friend head out to a roller derby in Austin. It's there where she sees Maggie Mayhem (Kristin Wiig) and the rest of the Hurl Scouts whip around the derby track and leave carnage in its place. Bliss lies about her age in order to try out for the team's open spots and, while shaky and small, her speed lands her a spot. While she's having the best time of her life on the track, it's only a matter of time before her parents find out about the brutality and the team finds out she's not who she says.

There were some trouble spots in the story of the movie, some plotlines that were either glossed over or completely skipped but, that doesn't diminish the fun time I had watching this film. The skating action scenes were well shot and very entertaining. There was no overwhelming quality to this film and I'm sure it won't go down on a list of best movies but, Barrymore's directing skills are on the up & up and she has the talent to make another good movie.