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TRAILER&REVIEW:The Perks of Being a Wallflower

If there’s one potent truth I could tell you about the teen film genre, it’s this: There’s a profound difference between a teenage movie and a movie about teenagers.


Teenage movies are a genre unto themselves. And, often, they are built upon flash cuts of willful stupidity. Shallow, inane and forgettable seconds after the movie ends, these films aren’t content with just being mindless, they dare to commit a more egregious sin; they treat their primary audience as if they are just as stupid, shallow and crass as the film itself.


A film about teenagers sees its subjects clearly and respects them. They may contain humor and warmth, but they refuse to shy away from poignancy and the painful truths of adolescence. Whether they are fun trifles (Clueless, Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist) or darker, more serious-minded affairs (Boy A, Chronicle) these films distinguish themselves with their uncommon depth, intelligence, wit and, ultimately, respect for its audience.


The Perks of Being a Wallflower belongs squarely in the latter category and, in one scene after another, demonstrates that it deserves its place among the very best of them.


Written and directed by Stephen Chbosky, who authored the celebrated novel the film is based on, Perkstells the story of Charlie (Logan Lerman), a newly minted freshman in the early 90’s who starts out with a mission that seems pretty simple, but is actually packed with potential landmines.


Charlie decides he needs to “participate” in his own life.


An extremely bright teen that is also painfully shy, isolated and barely keeping a lid on some serious pain and loss, he navigates hallways filled with noise, bullies and isolation. His mission will not be an easy one.


After many fumbled attempts, Charlie finally catches a break when he meets Patrick (Ezra Miller), an out gay senior who almost redefines the term “free spirit” and his step-sister Sam (Emma Watson) whom Charlie is instantaneously smitten with.


As populated as their worlds are with both friends and lovers, Patrick and Sam are also, in their own ways, outcasts and when they find a kindred spirit in Charlie, the result is a bond that forms almost immediately.


An early, and beautifully rendered, scene at a party has Patrick leading a toast to the newest member of their “’Island of Misfit Toys.”


“I didn’t think anyone noticed me,” Charlie tells him.


“Well we didn’t think there was anyone cool left to meet.”


Emma Watson, Logan Lerman and Ezra Miller


It’s through Patrick and Sam that Charlie is first introduced to the joys of parties, the pitfalls of recreational drug use, and the liberation of Rocky Horror Picture Show midnight screenings. Most importantly, he gains a true sense of what it means to really belong somewhere. Anywhere.


You’d be forgiven for thinking, at this point, that Perks sounds like nothing more than some mawkish ode to friendship and the power of love. And in lesser hands, this film would have sunk into an intractable goo of nostalgia and sentimentality.


But the film derives its impact by first, complicating these friendships with surrounding (and palpable) dramas. Secondly, the film withholds, then gradually reveals past trauma that Charlie hasn’t really faced and still seems all too ill-equipped to confront but will viciously claw their way back to the surface to possibly destroy him.


It’s this ever present and adroitly paced tension that gives the film its distinctive engine and prevents it from veering into pat predictability.


If this all seems vague, it’s because to reveal more would give away aspects of the film that are best left to discover on your own. But I will talk about the performances.


As Sam, Watson is a radiant presence. Gone are the all the mannered gestures and clipped stiffness of her only other character of note, Hermione Granger. Here, she finds the bad girl-gone good fragility of Sam and avoids all traces of twee, even if she can still be caught slipping into her natural British accent in one or two scenes.





While completely wasting the talents of Dylan McDermott (American Horror Story) and Kate Walsh(Private Practice) and giving particular short shrift to the group’s shoplifting rich girl, Alice (Erin Wilhemi, we hardly knew you), it does give us the scene-stealing Mae Whitman (Scott Pilgrim vs. The World) as Mary Elizabeth, Charlie’s the accidental and unwanted girlfriend.


Logan Lerman and Mae Whitman




But the two powerhouse performances of the film belong to Miller and Lerman.


Cr:BriOut

TRAILER:The Impossible

An account of a family caught, with tens of thousands of strangers, in the mayhem of one of the worst natural catastrophes of our time.



Director: Juan Antonio BayonaWriter: Sergio G. Sánchez (screenplay)
Stars: Naomi Watts, Ewan McGregor and Tom Holland 

TRAILER:Cloud Atlas

An exploration of how the actions of individual lives impact one another in the past, present and future, as one soul is shaped from a killer into a hero, and an act of kindness ripples across centuries to inspire a revolution.



Directors:Tom Tykwer, Andy Wachowski
Writers:David Mitchell (novel), Lana Wachowski (written for the screen by)
Stars:Tom Hanks, Halle Berry and Hugh Grant

PIC&GIF:Emma Stone

TRAILER&REVIEW:Breaking Dawn Part 2

Four-and-a-half years after the world first glimpsed Stephenie Meyer's romance-ready vampires onscreen, the sun is finally setting (Or is it rising?) on The Twilight Saga. Assuming no one in his or her right mind would go watch the final film in the series without some familiarity, let's jump right in.
When we last left her, heroine Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) was giving birth to a human-vampire hybrid/demon child that was seemingly sucking away her life-force and leaving her a brittle husk. The omen-baby arrived in the world with a bone-crunching crack, followed by Bella awakening, her eyes a blood-thirsty scarlet.

 
Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart nuzzle. They could be brainstorming new scents for a Twilight cologne, Eau de Cullen (Andrew Cooper/Summit Entertainment)
 
The new film picks up with the new-and-improved Bella. Now, as one of the undead, she sees the world in vampire vision: able to zoom in on a single dewdrop or watch dust motes dance in the light. She revels in her new powers and even her husband Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson) seems to enjoy egging her on.
Frankly, Bella may be undead, but her character finally has a pulse. The most odious part of the series has been its theme of self-sacrifice. Bella is a bright girl who left school, her friends and her father and risked a dangerous pregnancy all for her eternal love, Edward.
But as a "newborn" (a human recently bitten), Bella is feisty and almost feral as she zips around the forest like Speedy Gonzales and slurps mountain lions for protein. Fangs or not, it's an improvement.
This time around, it's the storyline that could use some pumping up. The movie's soapy middle devolves into what you might call Lifestyles of the Pale and Eternal, as Bella settles in to enjoy life as a newlywed and new mother to her instant daughter, Renesmee.
The rapidly aging infant could be Benjamin Button's sister (Was that CGI or animatronics? Either way, the toddler looks as convincing as the dancing baby from Ally McBeal). Meanwhile, since Edward and Bella don't need to eat or sleep, they've apparently got a lot of time to catch up on all those years of repressed passion.

 
Hybrid child Renesmee (Mackenzie Foy, seen at left with Kristen Stewart) ages so rapidly, she could be Benjamin Button's sister. (Andrew Cooper/Summit Entertainment)

It would be an eternal paradise of the lovers boinking around the clock, except for those pesky Volturi -- the grumpy clan of Dracula wannabees, who hide underground in Florence dressed like Siouxsie and the Banshees. They don't care for the idea of human-vampire half-breeds. Soon, Alice (the psychic vampire) receives a premonition that causes Bella and her daughter to go into hiding. Well, that's what any rational parent would do. But, I suppose the Volturi might smell them or something.
Instead, the Cullens travel the world gathering a United Nations of vampires to support them. It's like The X-Men, with extra eyeliner, and each new addition has special powers. There are Amazonian vampires who cast illusions. A vampire from India controls the elements. There are even Irish vampires, but they just look sad and wear tweed. They all gather on a field, along with their furry wolf buddies, and await the battle.
Oh right. I can't forget the shirtless wonder, Jacob (Taylor Lautner). Yes, he returns -- and strips down in one scene that could give Magic Mike a run for his money. Jacob's role seems mainly to consist of mooning over his love-to-be Renesmee (He imprinted on her. It's a wolf thing. Don't ask.) and making bad jokes about the red-eyes.

So, back to that final battle. It's a grey winter's day as the two forces meet on a Vancouver sound stage on an empty plain in Washington state. The Volturi and their army arrive, led by Aro (Michael Sheen). Imagine Count Chocula crossed with Liberace and you've got the picture. Sheen's a fantastic actor who seems to have embraced the "vamp" in vampire for this outing. Aro, naturally, doesn't like the looks of this mixed-species child, so -- channelling Braveheart with some extra black leather thrown in -- the battle begins.

Make You Feel My Love

When the rain
Is blowing in your face
And the whole world
Is on your case
I could offer you
A warm embrace
To make you feel my love

When the evening shadows
And the stars appear
And there is no - one there
To dry your tears
I could hold you
For a million years
To make you feel my love

I know you
Haven't made
Your mind up yet
But I would never
Do you wrong
I've known it
From the moment
That we met
No doubt in my mind
Where you belong

I'd go hungry
I'd go black and blue and
I'd go crawling
Down the avenue
You Know there's nothing
That I wouldn't do
To make you feel my love

The storms are raging
On the rolling sea
And on the highway of regret
The winds of change
Are blowing wild and free
You ain't seen nothing
Like me yet

I could make you happy
Make your dreams come true
Nothing that I wouldn't do
Go to the ends
Of the Earth for you
To make you feel my love, To make you feel my love

Don't Kick The Chair

Have you ever felt like everybody's watching
Waiting for you to lose
Have you ever felt like you're living in a spot light
Searching for the real you
Tell me have you ever woken up
Just to wish you could close your eyes
Getting hard to find a friend in a city like this
Where you can't even trust a smile

There are lonely nights when you see no hope
And you're feeling short of breathe
Like a whole damn world is a braded rope
In a noose surround your neck

[Chorus]
Don't kick the chair
It's gonna get better
Don't kick the chair
It can only get better

[Dia Frampton - Verse 2]
Have you ever felt love, really really felt love
The kind I could save a life
But right before you know it you find out in a moment
You're gonna have to say goodbye

There are lonely nights when you see no hope
And you're feeling short of breathe
Like a whole damn world is a braded rope
In a noose surround your neck


[Chorus]
Don't kick the chair
It's gonna get better
Don't kick the chair
It can only get better

[Kid Cudi]
Yep yep you know
If I can make it through then you can to
Yep yep I'm good focus like always
Feels like I've been hit hit by ten brick walls
Some people like you just sit sit and wait for you to fall
Then bound back way quicker than you fell down
Laugh in their face like what
See nothing can break me
No no no no listen
If you gotta think twice about life
Some really ain't right
You don't need no help
You could be better all by yourself
You could be better all by yourself
You could be better all by yourself yeah
You could be better all by yourself ooh

[Chorus]
Don't kick the chair
It's gonna get better
Don't kick the chair
It can only get better

Don't kick the chair
It's gonna get better
Don't kick the chair
It can only get better

You Belong With Me

You're on the phone with your girlfriend, She's upset
She's going off about something that you said
She doesnt get your humour like I do

I'm in the room, its a typical Tuesday night
I'm listening to the kind of music she doesnt like
And she'll never know your story like I do

But she wears short skirts, I wear t-shirts
She's cheer captain and I'm on the bleachers
Dreaming bout the day when you wake up and find
That what you're lookin for has been here the whole time

If you could see that I'm the one who understands you
Been here all along so why can't you see?
You belong with me
You belong with me

Walkin the streets with you in your worn out jeans
I cant help thinking this is how it ought to be
Laughing on the park bench thinkin to myself
Hey isnt this easy?

And you've got a smile that could light up this whole town
I havent seen it in awhile, since she brought you down
You say you find I know you better than that
Hey, Whatcha doing with a girl like that?

She wears high heels, I wear sneakers
She's cheer captain and I'm on the bleachers
Dreaming bout the day when you wake up and find
That what you're looking for has been here the whole time

If you could see that I'm the one who understands you
Been here all along so why can't you see?
You belong with me

Standin by, waiting at your back door
All this time how could you not know that?
You belong with me
You belong with me

Oh I remember you driving to my house in the middle of the night
I'm the one who makes you laugh when you know you're about to cry
I know your favorite songs and you tell me about your dreams
I think I know where you belong. I think I know it's with me.

Can't you see that I'm the one who understands you?
Been here all along so why can't you see?
You belong with me

Standing by or waiting at your back door
All this time how could you not know that
You belong with me
You belong with me

Have you ever thought just maybe
You belong with me
You belong with me