Drew Barrymore kept an eye on things from behind the scenes on the set of her directorial debut Whip It in Austin in Monday as Ellen Page got a piggyback ride from a costar. Their project is carrying on despite Justin Long dropping out earlier this Summer when he was too sad about the split to work with his ex Drew though he seems fine consoling himself with Kirsten Dunst. Meanwhile it looks like Drew is pouring all her energy into her career — her production company recently acquired the rights to turn the book How to Be Single into a movie.

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Variety has issued its annual Women’s Impact Report, highlighting women who have made an impression at all levels of entertainment. Just like last year, the list includes executive powerhouses, household-name performers, and lesser-known talents. Over the next couple of weeks, I’ll be spotlighting some of the women whom I find particularly noteworthy. Today’s pick: the screenwriter and the star of Juno, Diablo Cody and Ellen Page.

Variety has a whole category devoted to Diablo Cody and Ellen Page, titled “The Muse and the Messenger.” I had no way of knowing back in December when I first saw Juno that it would explode on the movie scene as much as it did. It even went on to earn Oscar nods as one of the few heartwarming Oscar films, and one of the even fewer female-centric Oscar films.

We can thank screenwriter Diablo Cody for dreaming up the sweet script, but it was the combination of that and a smart, sassy, lovable lead character that so endeared this film to many people. For more on these two ladies,

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All of the new DVD releases hit stores (and Netflix) on Tuesdays. So each week in What to Netflix: New DVD Tuesday, I sort through the best of the batch and tell you what to add to your queue.

Smart People
I had high hopes for Smart People, mainly due to the stellar cast that includes Sarah Jessica Parker, Ellen Page, Thomas Haden Church, and Dennis Quaid.

The story takes place near the Carnegie Mellon campus and centers around a family headed by a widowed professor (Quaid) who are all having a terrible time relating to each other and the outside world, despite how book smart they are. When the professor’s free-spirited brother (Church) crashes into their lives they all start to thaw out a bit and discover how far a little humanity can go.

The movie didn’t quite meet my expectations but it’s certainly a worthwhile rental if you’re looking for a few laughs and a genuinely talented ensemble cast.

Special features include interviews with the producers, cast and crew of the movie, commentary from the director and writer, a collection of outtakes, nine deleted scenes and exclusive footage from the premiere of Smart People at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival.

Two more new options on DVD if you

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Smart People is a blackly comic drama set in Pittsburgh, which focuses on widowed professor Lawrence Wetherhold (Dennis Quaid), his study-mad daughter Vanessa (Ellen Page) and his student poet son James (Ashton Holmes).

Lawrence struggles to communicate with his family and his colleagues at the university where he teaches literature, even though his is a “smart person”.

When his adopted brother Chuck (Thomas Haden Church) moves in, the slacker brings some much needed warmth in to the family, which is further improved when Lawrence gets involved with another “smart person”, Dr Janet Hartigan (Sarah Jessica Parker).

To find out what I thought about the film just

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OK, look: we all gotta make a living, I understand that. But this commercial for the family resort Atlantis featuring the Moldy Peaches single “Anyone Else But You” is kind of crazy. The song was made famous by Juno and to many it will remain a delicate and simple love song that Paulie Bleeker (Michael Cera) and Juno (Ellen Page) sing to each other. Whenever I hear it I think of things like falling in love with your best friend, teenage crushes, loving someone warts and all, etc. You know what I don’t think of? Swimming with dolphins and golfing.

This is the cheesy kicker: The commercial changes the lyrics to better suit a commercial aimed at getting families to go on fun-filled vacations in the Bahamas. For example, in the original song, the first phrase goes like this:

You’re a part time lover and a full time friend/The monkey on you’re back is the latest trend/I don’t see what anyone can see, in anyone else/But you.

And has been changed to the following for the commercial:

Let’s go ride a couple of dolphins/Or maybe play tennis or do some golfin/Oh what a wonder/A wonderful world can be.

Sigh. To see the whole thing for yourself and let me know if this breaks your heart a little,

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