To put it simply, Whip It!, was a thoroughly enjoyable and entertaining film. It blended the demands of a mainstream comedy and an indie-hit well, and rarely fell into the potholes both paths can contain. It mostly avoided the cliché endings, the too-witty to be realistic instant comebacks and the sappy feel-good relationships. But what I was most proud of was that it was a film about a girl that wasn’t concerned with boyfriends or shoes! Okay, there was a little bit of both but neither was central to the storyline at all. It was a movie about a girl and sport, and not one where she had to prove herself against a bunch of macho-guys or where there’s a clique of ‘mean girls’ to cut her down at every step. There were many sprinkles of riot-grrl and this movie was fast, fun and well-rounded.

It’s not that it was telling us anything groundbreakingly new. Girls are funny. Girls are smart. Girls are tough. Teenage girls have other concerns then just what to wear to school the next day or if the cute boy made eye contact. Anybody with half a brain knows this. But you’d probably be surprised at the lack of movies that depict such females that also aren’t in constant competition with the other women in the movie. There was a real sense of camaraderie between the women in the film, but it wasn’t sappy or sentimental and it didn’t end with them declaring themselves to be BEST FRIENDS FOREVAH!

As Drew Barrymore’s directorial debut, it was a good one and hopefully with or without the big box-office returns, it can convince her to continue in this vein of funny empowering films that is entertaining to all the girls and boys of the world. 4/5, bebbe.

P.S. The soundtrack was a killer! But this is a pseudo-indie film, nothing less was expected!

My thoughts on Dollhouse and pretty much any show created by Joss Whedon is that I’d always prefer it to be good rather than popular. Last season, with some small exceptions, Dollhouse was neither of those things. The second half was stronger, and there was some great acting by most of the supporting cast but the best episode was the one never aired – Epitaph One. So while I was secretly hoping for Joss to return to form this season, I wasn’t about to hold my breath.

‘Vows’ changed all that. It was vastly superior to the Season 1 pilot and good in its own right as well. Eliza upped the ante in the acting department, the storyline managed to weave the back-story from Season 1 and the ‘unaired 13th episode’ together well, not to mention the new camera work, which I appreciated greatly. All in all it felt like a much smoother and tighter version of a show that we’d been shown before.

What really stood out for me though were the scenes between Topher and Claire, played by Kranz and Acker. These highly charged scenes were emotional, poignant, stressful and most importantly – delved deeper into these characters in a way I was used to with Joss but that hadn’t been explored in Dollhouse. I look forward to seeing these character arcs develop further as the season progresses.

Last thoughts – I was happy to hear they had changed the opening credits. Season 1 credits were dismal in my opinion – aside from the actual theme song, they were cliché, schlocky and focused way too much on Echo when this show should be touted as an starring an ensemble cast. Sadly, they didn’t change that but at least the images used seemed to canvas a broader spectrum of what Dollhouse is really about. Here’s hoping that Season 2 can pay that promise off.

You’re looking for excuses not to go? Why? Can you not even pay penance to her on her own birthday? If you don’t go it will eat at you, yet another thing to place on the ever-filling plate of guilt that you keep at your bedside table, to mull over while you sleep.

But what happens when I do go? I make myself feel better, I pay homage to a piece of rock. It’s meaningless. Still, the thought of that headstone, alone out there in the cold with the grey clouds gathering – it does not leave me feeling neutral, no.

Selfish reasons then, to go or not to go. Not going would mean I could miss out on the silent thirty minute ride that is sure to occur whenever my father and I are in the car alone. He has nothing to say to me, or bites his tongue if he does.

I won’t go. I’ll light a candle by the mini-shrine I made for her, that is her home for now. He can make his peace there, I will make mine here. It will do for now.

Okay, that was the conversation that took place inside my head. It didn’t end up happening like that though; a force greater than myself seemed to push me out of my room and into the awkward confines of the metal box that would take us to our destination. I had to do it, regardless of why I was doing it.

It’s someone else’s birthday, anyway, you do things for that person not to make yourself happy.

It’s been a long time and the nights ain’t getting any shorter. Miss you.