WHIP IT

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WHIP IT IS RATED PG-13

Sports movies focusing on women are few and far between. And not since A League of Their Own has a female-centric sports story captured our hearts and inspired women to reach for their dreams.

Drew Barrymore’s directorial debut, "Whip It," not only does both, but it enters a new league all its own. It’s a fun, feisty film that reminds girls (and women) it’s okay to be different—and that it’s actually pretty cool to be a chick. But guys, don’t roll your eyes just yet. It’s not a total chick-flick. There’s also plenty of action and humor to keep your attention.

The story revolves around Bliss Cavendar (Ellen Page), a social misfit forced by her well-meaning mother (Marcia Gay Harden) to enter beauty pageants. With little going on in the small town of Bodeen, Texas, Bliss is living anything but a blissful existence. Her life is going in circles, and she feels like she’s going nowhere . . . until, that is, she discovers the sport of roller derby and joins a league called the Hurl Scouts.

Soon, going in circles begins to makes sense. In her journey to find a place she fits in, Bliss learns she can create a new life for herself without completely letting go of the one she’s always known.

Drew Barrymore, Kristen Wiig, Juliette Lewis and Jimmy Fallon round out a perfectly chosen cast. And Barrymore has brought about a real sense of camaraderie among everyone involved.

The movie’s message is clear: Other people may believe in you, but it’s only after you begin to believe in yourself that a whole new world of possibilities opens up.

Throughout the film, we are urged to embrace who we are. And that means embracing all of our imperfections, quirks and eccentricities. As the tagline says, Be Your Own Hero.

Who knows . . . you might finally discover that inner hero who’s been waiting to emerge.

BIG FAT LIAR

BIG FAT LIAR IS RATED PG

”Two friends are about to cut one Hollywood big shot down to size.”

Who’s afraid of the big, bad wolf? Not Jason Shepherd (Malcolm in the Middle’s Frankie Muniz), that’s for sure. Shepherd must face hot shot Hollywood producer Marty “the Wolfman” Wolf (Paul Giamatti) when he goes on a quest to Los Angeles to retrieve his hijacked homework assignment, which was to write a 1000-word story, and prove that the blockbuster hit of the same title was his idea. In the process, he teaches Wolf a valuable lesson: what goes around comes around, so your best bet is to be nice to everyone you meet—especially in Hollywood. You just never know when your actions may come back to haunt you.

"Big Fat Liar" is a smart, sassy comedy that examines ethical issues like lying and stealing in a humorous, ironically, honest way. Shepherd and his friend Kaylee (Nickelodeon’s Amanda Bynes) travel to the City of Angels—which is anything but angelic—to hunt down his paper and the purely pompous producer who is claiming the concept as his own. People who leave this “town of dreams” many times feel battered, broken-hearted, and disillusioned compared to their starry-eyed arrival. Luckily, Shepherd has a plan, and ends up getting his Hollywood ending. Thankfully, many of the people that Wolf wronged rally around Shepherd giving him the support he needs to overcome doubt, and see his idea through. Good once again prevails and the bad guy gets what he deserves—in the movies anyway.

From the first five minutes of film we know chaos will ensue. The opening sequence shows Shepherd sharing three blatant lies with his parents, a few to the big bully on the way to school, and a huge whopper to his teacher—right in front of his entire class! The whole day ends up being one enormous lie.

If Shepherd wants to avoid the consequences of his constant need to stretch the truth, inspiration better come fast. “Making up stories seems to be your God-given talent,” a frustrated father fumes at his compulsive fabricator of a son. Just the inspiration the little liar needed to complete his assignment.

Through circumstances too complicated to go into, Shepherd ends up in Wolf’s (a.k.a. “the meanest man alive”), limousine. By accident, the tale he has transcribed is left behind, setting the whole story into motion.

“You grow up the day you have the first real laugh—at yourself,” claimed actress Ethel Barrymore. Unfortunately, Wolf is forced to laugh after he turns Shepherd’s tall tale into a movie with the typical Tinsel Town flair, and then must suffer the ramifications of his actions when he is confronted by the furious junior high schooler time and time again. At one point, Wolf ends up looking like the fourth member of The Blue Man Group after Shepherd and Kaylee pour dye into his pool. And to think, he could have avoided all of this inconvenience with one simple phone call. All Shepherd wants is for Wolf to call his father and tell him the truth so he will be trusted again. But Wolf, being the egomaniacal, stereotypical Hollywood producer-type, absolutely refuses to do a kind deed.

Shepherd is the smartest 14-year-old fibber from Michigan and Wolf is the dumbest thirtysomething fibber in Hollywood, and together they create a comedic team that will cause non-stop laughter throughout the film and along the journey toward truth. Muniz and Giamatti are a dynamic duo that play nicely off of each other. With an undertone of the Home Alone movies, Big Fat Liar will thrill children and young teens, while still managing to engage parents.

Cameos by Donald Faison (Clueless), Jaleel White (a.k.a. Steve Urkel), and Lee Majors (Colonel Steve Austin from The Six Million Dollar Man TV series), round out the humor factor.

Taking place almost entirely on a soundstage at the Universal backlot, Big Fat Liar creatively utilizes all of the props available to make moviegoers feel as if they are right there with Shepherd and Kaylee.

Lost in the land of glitz, glamour and fame it is easy to become swept up into the hurricane of lies. But Shepherd learns that no matter what, it is important to resist any temptation to join in.

“This is Hollywood,” said Wolf, “it’s a dog-eat-dog town.” It may be. But that doesn’t mean you have to purposefully serve up your enemy at the next victory bash. After all, a little honesty goes a long way.

MY BEST FRIEND'S WEDDING

MY BEST FRIEND'S WEDDING IS RATED PG-13

In the painful game of love, the transition from lovers to "just friends" is never an easy one—inevitably feelings will be rekindled, and someone will get hurt. "My Best Friend's Wedding" is a romantic, comic tale about that game we all play.

Julianne Potter (Julia Roberts) and Michael O'Neal (Dermot Mulroney) are best friends who make that mysterious leap. One fateful day, while still in college, they make a pact that if neither finds someone to love by the age of 28, they will marry each other, a joke at the time. But years later, the arrangement begins to appeal to Julianne—just as Michael pops the question to someone else. Julianne realizes what she wants only as she sees it (or him) walking away. And so she decides she'll stop at nothing to get back the one man she knows she loves.

Kimmy Wallace (Cameron Diaz) is the naive, almost too-good-to-be-true betrothed heiress who stands between Julianne and Michael. With the help of Julianne's other best friend and imaginary fiance, George (Rupert Everett), she fights to regain the adoration of her lost love.

You'll laugh, you'll cry, you will think you have it all figured out—but you're still in for a shocking surprise at the end. The risks we take when we attempt to gain affection from the object of our desire—and the consequences of that affection—make perfect ingredients for a funny flick that shouldn't be missed. By the time this movie ends, you will think twice before letting your "best friend" out of your sight.

ED'S NEXT MOVE

ED'S NEXT MOVE IS RATED R

Driven by dialogue, details, and social confusion, rather than raging hormonal urges, "Ed's Next Move" is closer to the reality of romance than what is portrayed in some more serious, larger budget movies. For every romance that begins with steamy, ravenous sex, there are romances that start out more humble and perhaps bizarre—such as when your cat throws up a fur ball in the lap of the person you're trying to impress.

Falling into the same category as Reality Bites and Singles, Ed's Next Move is about the struggle to fit in, discover who you are, and find "the one."

Eddie Brodsky (Matt Ross) is a nice guy from Wisconsin who tries to survive the harshness of New York and ends up falling for Lee Nicol (Callie Thorne), a feisty musician. Though the first date miraculously occurs, the romantic momentum comes to a screeching halt when a couple of mice get caught in a glue trap. As poor Ed attempts to put the mice out of their misery, his dream woman feels the need to go home. "It was a good first date," he explains later to his roommate. "Then I committed two murders."

This charming tale about falling in love when you least expect it is a must see—so make it your next move.

OUTBREAK

OUTBREAK IS RATED R

A suspenseful medical thriller, "Outbreak," broke-out into theaters Friday. With lethal implications, this thought-provoking thriller calls our government's relationship to its people into question.

"Outbreak" follows the spine-tingling course of a deadly virus, carried by a monkey, from the African rainforest to a small California town. Colonel Sam Daniels (Dustin Hoffman) and Dr. Roberta Keough (Rene Russo), infectious diseases specialists, race to stop the virus before it spreads worldwide.

Colonel Daniels must also break the silence of his government superiors, who are unwilling to unleash a plan that will contain the virus (in a manner as uncompromisingly lethal as the outbreak itself).

Hoffman and Russo add the necessary tension and wit. As the two lead doctors assigned to contain the spread, they must also deal with their recent divorce. Hoffman's character refuses to accept that the love is gone. This enhances the story because it expresses the notion that there is hope for the couple.

The race to find an antiviral serum is further threatened by one of the nation's highest-ranking military officers, General Donald McClintock (Donald Sutherland), has vowed not to let the virus (or its secret history) out of the small California community—"at any cost."

The seriousness of this terrifying epidemic is understood when Colonel Daniels, in a moment of realization, mutters with intensity, "it's airborne!" From this point, mass chaos begins to take over.

The traumatic experience of this tiny town, Cedar Creek, will make you cover your mouth the next time you cough or sneeze, and remind those around you to do the same. It is a hair-raising escapade that will introduce you into a 3-D impression of the mysterious, yet horrific, world of germs; and more importantly, how contagious diseases are spread from carrier to carrier.

A man, unknowingly infected with the virus, is sitting back in the theater watching a movie when he nonchalantly coughs—without considering that he isn't the only one in the room. As the camera lens zooms in, we see an infinite number of minuscule, potentially dangerous particles sailing through the air.

With an unpreventable magnetism compelling them, the germs move toward other persons in the movie theater. Shivers are sent up your spine as the reality of this scene jumps off the screen and into our own little world—where we think that we are invulnerable to anything that could harm us.

Another critical scene is when Sam Daniels (Hoffman) discovers where this deadly disease evolved from. He is shown in a newsroom, holding the picture of the host monkey and the Center for Disease Control telephone number urging anyone who has any information to please call.

Despite the serious content of the film, there were moments of interspersed humor to lighten the mood. Certain comical statements were made which helped to ease the reality of the issue being dealt with.

Overall, the movie was exciting, suspenseful and an all around edge-of-your-seat thriller. First-rate acting and a perfectly picked cast help to make this film a must see. A tremendous amount of information is covered, but there still may be a lingering question that eats at you; "exactly where did the original host contract this killer virus?"

All in all, this film leaves you with a frightful realization that wherever you go, no matter how far you run, you can't escape the danger of an airborne virus. You can't see it, you can't feel it, you can't taste it—truthfully it could be devouring you at this very moment.