Tag Archives: ellen page

Ellen Page on Women, Roller Derby and “Whip It”

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Ellen Page and Alia Shawkat take time for a behind the scenes interview about Drew Barrymore's "Whip It" at the Toronto International Film Festival. This interview captures the spirit of roller derby which includes team spirit, feminism, fun, diversity and a DIY culture. Page talks about how much she loved the "Whip It" script and working with director, Drew Barrymore. She especially likes how the movie sends a positive message for young women to accept themselves as they are. "We have a constant saturation in the media, especially with stories about women that involve a lot of judgment and a lot of nastiness" Page said. "Here's an atmosphere where women...can be really aggressive and that's okay...but also have this sense of camaraderie, you know; beat the crap out of each other and then go have beers afterwards, and laugh about it and to really be there for each other and to have a world that's just judgementless. And that's pretty nice." I agree, that is pretty nice. That's why it's worth it to go see this movie and take a young woman that you care about. Opens in theaters on October 2. For more information about Whip It, click here.

Waiting Patiently for October and ‘Whip It’ Roller Derby Movie

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Technically, I wanted to see this movie 33 years ago but Drew Barrymore was in no position to direct it then and Ellen Page wasn't even born yet. This roller derby movie is for any girl who was, or is 50% tomboy, 50% girly-girl and 100% misunderstood. It might not have the budget or hoopla of Harry Potter but it'll probably make you feel pretty powerful. It's a story set in Bodeen, Texas of an indie-rock loving misfit and ex-beauty pageant contestant (Ellen Page) who finds a way of dealing with her small-town misery after she leaves her crown behind and joins a roller derby team. Starring Ellen Page, Drew Barrymore, Juliette Lewis, Marcia Gay Harden and Zoe Bell. Whip It also features L.A. Derby Dolls Iron Maiven and Krissy Krash. Release date: October 9, 2009. Watch the trailer on YouTube.

Get Super-Hero Status: Join Roller Derby and Choose a Kick Ass Name

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[caption id="attachment_1624" align="alignleft" width="488" caption="Ellen Page attends an L.A. Derby Doll bout in preparation for her role as \"Babe Ruthless\" in Drew Barrymore\'s directorial debut, \"Whip It\""]Ellen Page attends an L.A. Derby Doll bout in preparation for her role as "Babe Ruthless" in Drew Barrymore's directorial debut, "Whip It"[/caption]Yesterday USA Today posted an article titled: "Having a roller-derby name is 'kind of like being a superhero" complete with a cool photo gallery. The article is about Drew Barrymore's upcoming roller-derby film "Whip It" starring Ellen Page. My roller derby name definitely gave me super-powers even though I never did play on a team. After about 3 months of skating with the Fresh Meat of L.A. Derby Dolls I challenged myself I come up with a roller derby name. I wanted something I could be proud of, something I felt good about and something that encapsulated who I wanted to be. I chose the name Gal VanIZed. It wasn't as sexy and violent as everyone else's derby name but it gave me an inner strength that was lacking in my life. The name was inspired in part by the song Galvanize by the Chemical Brothers (link goes to iTunes). I sectioned it off into two words so I could have a first and last name: Gal VanIZed. I loved that my first name meant "woman, girl, female" because I wanted to re-claim my femininity. I liked the word Galvanize because it means "strong, reinforced." Skating in Fresh Meat Practice, Showing off my Push the Button sticker from the Chemical Brothers The more I thought of myself as Gal VanIZed and listened to the words of Galvanize by the Chemical Brothers, the more powerful I felt. Being Galvanized is about not holding back and not caring what other people think. Doing derby and being Galvanized gave me the super-power of inner freedom. So, for me, even though I was never on a roller derby team, I would have to agree that my roller derby name makes me feel like a super-hero, therefore, I have decided to keep it permanently. If you'd like to give roller derby a try, there's a new league forming in Long Beach. E-mail longbeachrollerderby {at} gmail.com for details. If you live closer to Los Angeles and want to check out the L.A. Derby Dolls, try freshmeat [at] derbydolls.com To read the lyrics and listen to the song Galvanize, go here.

Roller Derby: ‘Hot chicks kicking ass on wheels’

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I spent the weekend at a Roller Derby tournament in Los Angeles. I was surrounded by hot chicks who kick ass. How can that NOT have a positive influence on you? I didn't come up with the phrase 'It's hot chicks kicking ass on wheels'. That's the title of an article that appeared on L.A. Com earlier this week. But it's a great title and it pretty much describes how I feel about Rinkrat's LAist.com photo gallery from this weekend's roller derby tournament. I'm gonna post a few teasers here, but if you love derby like I love derby, you'll probably go to the gallery and look at each photo about 27 times each. (Click on photos to see a larger version). Kung Pow, LA Derby Doll is practically airborne Kung Pow Tina finally squeezes her way through the powerful blocking force of Team Awesome. The question is, will she fall or will she recover? Tara. Tough and nails, smooth as silk. Tara Armov of the L.A. Riettes Ellen Page cheers for Axles of Evil from the LA Derby Dolls I'm not a very observant star gazer but I can appreciate the publicity power of a well-known name, so I will go out of my way to blatantly use the name Ellen Page of Juno in my blog post and keywords. And it IS a pretty sweet picture of Ellen Page cheering for Axles of Evil don'tcha think? Why is she there you ask? Because if you haven't heard yet, she's starring in Drew Barrymore's directorial debut, Whip It along with Juliette Lewis (see below), Marcia Gay Harden, Kristen Wiig and Zoe Bell. This movie takes an up-close and personal look into the life of a derby girl and roller derby culture. When the Derby Dolls door staff saw Stephanie walk towards us in her Hot Dog on a Stick uniform, we burst into spontaneous applause. There really is nothing like a Hot Dog on a Stick at the Roller Derby Tournament. Don't forget the fresh squeezed lemonade. Juliette Lewis celebrates with Derby Dolls at the Doll Factory in Los Angeles, CA Hey look, it's Juliette Lewis (Natural Born Killers, Strange Days, Cape Fear) gettin' cozy with Derby Doll's: Suzy Snakeyes, V. Lee and Trixie Biscuit. Pretty in Stereo was a half-time band during the 2008 Battle on the Bank roller derby tournament. These were some rockin' young women AND for the first time ever at a live music event, the band members threw panties at the audience, not the other way around. So, I am literally wearing a pair of hot pink panties with a Pretty in Stereo logo on them as I blog. My hubby caught them for me :) Hey, wait a second I almost forgot, Burt Burcharah was there too! My hubby shot a photo of him with Derby Dolls co-founder, Demolicious (aka Rebecca Nimby).