Whip It (2009)

Bliss Cavendar’s (Ellen Page) mother believes she can win beauty pageants, but Bliss has a different idea. She’s more into the alternative scene, however one would define that. Her choice alternative scene is of the punk-rock type. When buying boots, she is witness to the girls of roller derby and falls in love. One thing leads to another and she tryouts and makes the team. From there we follow Bliss in the ups and downs of the league, while she tries to figure out her niche in life.

Whip It is hilarious at times and at other times it just like every other sports movie in the world. Jimmy Fallon plays the roller derby announcer and is probably the one consistently funny person throughout. Towards the end their is that one heartfelt scene, which is very well put together by first time director Drew Barrymore, that makes up for the cliche parts before it. The roller derby parts would be unbearable if it weren’t for Fallon. Ellen Page is extremely likable as well as her nemesis, Juliette Lewis. I’m convinced if the film has entertaining ending credits it will sit a whole lot better than the boring rolling credits, and Whip It’s ending credits are awesome!

I liked it, didn’t love it. This is the type of movie that will be overlooked because it’s not the best movie of any of the actresses in it. I’d recommend this movie if you’re doing nothing on a Sunday and aren’t looking for anything too serious.

dunk-o-meter: 7/10

Javale McGee Block-Party

And you get an invite to the party, and you get an invite to the party…

Baron Davis to Alonzo Gee

Cleveland finally gets their revenge against Lebron

Alice Greczyn

Wow… Just wow. http://www.maxim.com/girls/girls-of-maxim/44935/alice-greczyn.html

Blake Griffin Fastbreak Alley-oop

Oh me oh my!

Blue Valentine (2010)

I’ve never been more annoyed with the two main characters in movie before, but Blue Valentine leaves me with a brilliant story that I loved. Dean (Ryan Gosling) and Cindy (Michelle Williams) are a young, married couple that live the up and down relationship of the modern day with their daughter Frankie. Both come from unbalanced backgrounds, Cindy grew up in a family with no love, and Dean is a high school drop out that never knew his mother. From beginning to end flashbacks are thrown in to show how they met and the reason why they might not be as happy as they used to be.

Blue Valentine has some of the more gut-wrenching moments in a love story I’ve ever seen. Originally rated NC-17, Blue Valentine appealed the rating and ending up getting the R.  That speaks to how genuine the story is. I ended up hating both characters for how stupid they were because they were terrible at talking to each other in key moments, which exemplifies how close to real-life certain situations are. There are two perspectives or sides the viewer can take, the guys or the girls. I have the guy’s perspective of what’s happening but, I’d really be interested in the girl’s perspective to get a better understanding of the emotions Cindy is going through.

Gosling and Williams, as well as the director, did not stick to the script. They had the general outline of where to move the plot, but all of the conversations were improvised. This is another reason why I think the movie felt more alive and with a heartbeat, somehow the viewer could tell they weren’t sticking to a script. In the way they interrupted each other and spoke at the same time brought life to the conversations that could never be duplicated reading the same lines over and over.

Love or hate the people, the story is what really matters.

dunk-o-meter: 8/10

Lucia Dvorska

So sexy in lingerie http://www.celebies.com/update/1580/lucia-dvorska-lingerie-pictures

What is a Lifestraw?

Everyday most of us walk into our kitchen and fill up a glass of water from the tap. We walk down the street to a gas station and buy a bottle of water. Something most of us probably take for granted is clean drinking water. Water is the source of life and many people throughout the world die from drinking bacteria filled water. According to the UN, 6,000 people a day die from drinking contaminated water. This staggering statistic led many groups to try and create a product that could effectively filter water and make is safe. In 2005, a Swiss corporation, Vestergaard Frandsen, developed what we now call Lifestraw. Lifestraw is a 10 inch tube that works just like a normal straw. The user will put it in the water and suck the water into their mouth. The reason why Lifestraws are so safe to use is because of their simple yet effective filtration system.

First, the water will pass through a 100 micron thick mesh that will weed out any large particles. Then, a polyester filter with holes one tenth the diameter of a single strand of hair, or 15 microns wide, filters out almost all bacteria. Most bacterias are larger than 15 microns so they get caught at the polyester stage. After that, the water passes through iodine-coated resin beads, which kills parasites, viruses, and the smallest of bacterias. The last stage is a carbon filter that takes the iodine taste from the water as well as kills the last pathogens to have gotten through. This process adequately catches 99.9% of bacteria and viruses present in the water.

The personal Lifestraw lasts for 1 year and allows the user to drink one quart in 8 minutes. The Family Lifestraw, which is bigger and more effective, lasts for 3 years. The reason it is more effective is because it has an extra filter that cleans the water of heavy metals such as arsenic and fluoride that the personal Lifestraw can’t.

Lifestraw is a great start to solve the problem of world thirst, but it is not the solution.

Rodney Stuckey over Chris Bosh

The Boshtrich has been hunted down!

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World (2010)

The only thing wrong about this movie is that it ended. Scott Pilgrim (Michael Cera) falls in love with a girl, Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), and he finds out she has 7 evil ex’s. But, they’re not ordinary ex’s, Scott has to fight them to the death in a mortal combat type battle. Each battle has it’s own twist and they are each amazing in their own way.

This movie is hilarious! It’s one of those movies that knows it is ridiculous and plays off of it perfectly. For instance, every time this one character swears, a black bar goes over her mouth along with a random sound effect. Too funny. The artistic flow of this film is dream-like. The way you see sounds adds so much to the obscurity of everything that you forget it is even happening. Oh, did I mention it’s based on comics by Bryan Lee O’Malley? Director Edgar Wright has made one of the most fun films to watch and be entertained by ever. With every scene there is homage paid to once and still great series’, whether that be video game or TV…

This film is completely polarizing. Either your friends will love this movie (and be cool) or hate it (and be too cool). Strongly recommended for anyone who enjoys their imagination.

dunk-o-meter: 9/10