Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!: The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012)

6/09/2014

The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012) - An instant classic

♥♥♥♥♥♥

+ Best Movie of the Year
+ Best Adaptation of the Year
+ Best Pennsylvania Movie of the Year
+ Best Youth Movie of the Year

The young stars posing for Stephen Chbosky's The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Charlie starts in high school without any friends and serious, personal baggage. He finds two friends, Sam and Patrick, and they teach Charlie how to participate actively in life.
Right from the youthfully enhanced lights and darks in the film's aesthetic design, - photographed skillfully by Andrew Dunn (Precious (2009)), - over the eminent choice of music to the editing concept (by editor Mary Jo Markey (Star Trek Into Darkness (2013)), script, - author Stephen Chbosky (The Four Corners of Nowhere (1995)) adapted and directed his own novel, - costumes (charmingly achieved by David C. Robinson (Donnie Brasco (1997))) --- Perks is a glorious, deeply moving experience.

Ezra Miller and Emma Watson are both fantastic in Stephen Cbosky's The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Foremost though, of course, are the performances, and they leave nothing left to be wished for: Emma Watson (This Is the End (2013)) portrays maturation in-progress with extreme delicacy; Logan Lerman (Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters (2013)) is the perfect, emotional anchor of the story as Charlie; and Ezra Miller (We Need to Talk About Kevin (2011)) radiates his character's eccentric life and struggles unforgettably. - The secondary cast members are also all pitch perfect.

Logan Lerman in one of the many poignant, beautiful, evocative scenes in Stephen Chbosky's The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Perks became an instantly beloved new youth drama classic that spurred many comparisons to the highlights of the genre's late champion, John Hughes (Sixteen Candles (1984)), yet the film is totally its own. For youngsters everywhere, it became a beacon of light; for grown-ups, an unexpected and astounding return to frightening and exciting times in their own youths, as the film seems to ask its viewer implicit questions like; Can you remember ever feeling like this:

Emma Watson is infinite, in Stephen Chbosky's The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Beautiful, funny, romantic, hopeless, realistic, sad, The Perks of Being a Wallflower nails it in every aspect possible; a masterful film, the year's best.
- Watch it!

Logan Lerman and Emma Watson around their favorite buddy Ezra Miller in Stephen Chbosky's The Perks of Being a Wallflower

While Chbosky unfortunately hasn't begun any new film project, the three young stars are all involved in interesting projects: Watson will star in Alejandro Amenábar's (The Others (2001)) new memory-loss-thriller, Regression (2015). Lerman has a big part in Brad Pitt's WWII-movie Fury (2015) by David Ayer (Sabotage (2014)). And Miller, the most interesting of the three, who's also the one who has the most great movies and performances under his belt as of yet, counting City Island (2009), Another Happy Day (2011)) and We Need to Talk About Kevin (2011), is still going to star in the many times delayed Madame Bovary (2014) by Sophie Barthes (Cold Souls (2009)) as well as Judd Apatow's upcoming comedy - co-starring Tilda Swinton, his mother in Kevin - Trainwreck (2015).
Hooray for youth!

Related posts:

2012 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED V]
2012 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV]
2012 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2012 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2012 in films - according to Film Excess

Pick a movie with something real on its heart: The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Budget: 13 mil. $
Box office: 33.3 mil. $
= Box office success

What do you love most about The Perks of Being a Wallflower?
Do you have a special story about the movie or the book?

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William Friedkin has died

Born in Chicago, Friedkin accrued TV credits prior to his advance to the big screen as the director of Good TImes (1967), The Birthday Party (1968), The Night They Raided Minsky's (1968) and The Boys in the Band (1970) before his major breakthrough, The French Connection (1971), for which he won his only Oscar. He followed it up with the even bigger smash, The Exorcist (1973), arguably the best horror film of all time, for which he was Oscar-nominated. Later credits include Sorcerer (1977), Cruising (1980), To Live and Die in L.A. (1985), Rampage (1987), Rules of Engagement (2000), Killer Joe (2011) and The Devil and Father Amorth (2017, documentary). Friedkin passed away at age 87. R.I.P.

Louise Fletcher has passed away

Born in Alabama to deaf parents, Fletcher got her first credits in late-1950s TV-series.She took a 10 year-long sabbatical to devote her time to motherhood after the release of A Gathering of Eagles, but then came back and soon saw her career's most important part, as Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), for which she won her sole Oscar. Later credits include Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977), The Lucky Star (1980), Brainstorm (1983), Two Moon Junction (1988), Cruel Intentions (1999), A Perfect Man (2013) and many more. Fletcher passed away at age 88. R.I.P.

Jean-Luc Godard has passed away

Born in Paris, France, Godard lived much of his life in Switzerland. He wrote for French film criticism magazine Cahiers du Cinema and became foundational for the New French Wave that inspired new waves in scores of other countries across the world with his Breathless (1960). Later credits include A Woman Is A Woman (1961), Vivre Sa Vie (1962), Le Petit Soldat (1962), Contempt (1963), Alphaville (1965), Pierrot le Fou (1965), 2 or 3 Things I Know About Her (1967), Weekend (1967), Every Man for Himself (1980), King Lear (1987), Century of Cinema (1995, documentary), Goodbye to Language (2014) and many more. Godard died of assisted suicide at age 91. R.I.P.

Wolfgang Petersen has died

James Caan has died

Caan was born the son of Jewish immigrants from Germany in New York. He got his start on TV in the early 1960s. His credits include El Dorado (1966), The Rain People (1969), Brian's Song (1971, TV movie), The Godfather (1972), - for which he earned his only Oscar nomination, - Slither (1973), The Gambler (1974), Funny Lady (1975), Rollerball (1975), Silent Movie (1976), Hide in Plain Sight (1980), - the only film he also directed, - Thief (1981), Misery (1990), Honeymoon in Vegas (1992), Bottle Rocket (1996), Eraser (1996), Dogville (2003), Elf (2003), Las Vegas (2003-07), Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009) and many more. Caan passed away at age 82. R.I.P.

Jean-Louis Trintignant has died

Born in Vaucluse, France, Trintignant's theatrical debut as an actor was in If All the Guys in the World... (1955). Later credits include ...And God Created Woman (1956), The Seven Deadly Sins (1961), Inferno (1964), A Man and A Woman (1966), My Love, My Love (1967), A Man to Kill (1967), The Great Silence (1968), Z (1969), The Assassination (1972), Three Colors: Red (1994), Amour (2012), Happy End (2017) and many more. He also wrote and directed two films in the 1970s. Trintignant passed away at age 91. R.I.P.

Ray Liotta has died

Adopted from an orphenage at a young age, Liotta got hooked on acting in high school. He had various TV credits in the late 1970s and early 80s, with his film debut in The Lonely Lady (1983). Later credits include Something Wild (1986), Field of Dreams (1989), Goodfellas (1990), Cop Land (1997), Hannibal (2001), Blow (2001), Narc (2002), John Q (2002), Identity (2003), Observe and Report (2009), Youth in Revolt (2009), The Details (2011), Killing THem Softly (2012), The Place Beyond the Pines (2012), Shades of Blue (2016-18), The Simpsons (2018, TV-series), Marriage Story (2019), The Many Saints of Newark (2021), Black Bird (2022, TV-series) and many more. Liotta passed away at age 67 in his sleep while on production in the Dominican Republic. R.I.P.

Philip Baker Hall has died

Born in Ohio, Hall didn't start acting until he was 30. His long list of credits include Zabriskie Point (1970), Miami Vice (1987, TV-series), Midnight Run (1988), Ghostbusters II (1989), Cheers (1993, TV-series), Hard Eight (1996), The Rock (1996), Air Force One (1997), Boogie Nights (1997), Seinfeld (1991-98), Rush Hour (1998), The Insider (1999), Magnolia (1999), The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), Bruce Almighty (2003), Dogville (2003), The Zodiac (2005), Zodiac (2007), Curb Your Enthusiasm (2004-09), Mr. Popper's Penguins (2011), Modern Family (2011-12) and many more. Hall passed away at age 90. R.I.P.

William Hurt has passed away

Born in Washington D.C., Hurt's first film role was the lead in Altered States (1980). Later credits include Body Heat (1981), The Big Chill (1983), Gorky Park (1983), Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985), for which he earned his only Oscar as Best Actor; Chilrdren of a Lesser God (1986), for which he was also Oscar-nominated; Broadcast News (1987), for which he was again Oscar-nominated; Smoke (1995), A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001), A History of Violence (2005), for which he was again Oscar-nominated; The Good Shepherd (2006), Into the Wild (2007), Robin Hood (2010) and many more. Hurt passed away at age 71. R.I.P.

Ivan Reitman has passed away

Born in Chechoslovakia, now Slovakia, Reitman's family fled the Soviet regime to Austria, then Toronto, when he was 4 years old. Reitman broke into movies as a director with Foxy Lady (1971). Later credits include Cannibal Girls (1973), Meatballs (1979), Stripes (1981), Ghostbusters (1984), Twins (1988), Ghostbusters II (1989), Kindergarten Cop (1990), Junior (1994), Father's Day (1997), Evolution (1998), No Strings Attached (2011), Draft Day (2014) and more. Reitman's son Jason Reitman is also a great filmmaker. Reitman passed away at age 75. R.I.P.

Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!

Eagerly anticipating this week ... (5-24)

6/09/2014

The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012) - An instant classic

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