The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Introduction: I had a double dose of "Perks of a Being a Wallflower" today, because I spent two and half hours finishing the novel before going to the movie. I really liked the combined experience because both are thoughtful and emotional. It is a seamless experience because author Chbosky is also the screenwriter and director. 

The book is outstanding, and the movie is excellent too. Like the book says, a movie is good when you feel different after you leave.

Plot:  Charlie (Logan Lerman) is a freshman in a new school. He falls in with seniors Sam (Emma Watson) and Patrick (Ezra Miller). Charlie and Sam find a bond because they both had traumatic childhoods. They have high school adventures with first dates, getting high, making out, getting in fights and also reading classic novels. In the end, the seniors all get ready for college, and Charlie learns not to be a wallflower.  [imdb]    [photos]

Review: Director Chbosky and actor Lerman have mastered how to convey nervousness at everyday high school situations, and he does it with humor.  I could not help sympathizing with him in all these  situations. 

Ezra Miller's Patrick is so fun and full of life that everyone would like to know someone like that. Miller is the best actor in the group. Watson's Sam is cute and quirky and hints at a dark side that we never quite see. 

Unlike Breakfast Club and Juno, the dialog is less the important than the events the characters experience. Director Chbosy, who also wrote the movie, throws in some philosophy into the dialog which either makes it "meaningful," or makes it "preachy," but I liked it. I think it earned the right to be preachy with all the authentic experience of being an out-sider.

In the book and the movie some aspects of the plot are left vague. It is unclear what Aunt Helen's relationship to Charlie really was, and how this related to whatever mental illness Charlie had.

Downsides are that Perks can be overly sentimental, and that it spells out its messages rather than letting people figure them out on their own. The book is especially open to this at the end, but it worked for me.

The music is split between late 80's music and a forgettable orchestral score. The photography is uninspired. 

Fun to watch. Worthwhile.

Cast: Logan Lerman, Emma Watson, Ezra Miller

Written and directed by: Stephen Chbosy, who also wrote the novel.

Rating: 3.5 stars -- because I liked it so much. It might not get any awards, but you should see it. 

More: A key scene is driving out of Fort Pitt tunnel immediately into downtown Pittsburgh. In real life the contrast between being the tunnel and then suddenly downtown is striking, and in the movie it is more so on the back of a pickup with cool music. I wonder what another director could have done with that moment. I spectacle of the real drive does not translate to the screen. 

Even more: The book is better than the movie. On the other hand, someday I want to see the movie again, and I doubt I will re-read the book. 

Argo

Plot: During the Iranian revolution in 1979, the American embassy was overrun, and six staffers escaped to the Canadian ambassador's house. Tony Mendez (Ben Afflack) sets up a back story involving a fake movie, and attempts to smuggle the refugee staffers out of the country as a film crew. [imdb]    [photos]

Review: Argo makes good use of the tension of the revolution to make the hostage-taking event immediate and gripping. The over-running of the embassy is dramatic, and the actors appears to be afraid, although maybe not afraid enough. 

Ben Affleck's role is much larger than anyone else's. He acts well, but is too cool and non-emotive. Besides Affleck, only Bryan Cranson's Jack O'Donnell has a sizable part. Cranson does a great job in depicting stress and tension as he thrashes around at the CIA HQ. 

Argo creates echoes of the more recent terrorist plots and middle eastern political drama make this more immediate and poignant. 

I liked the Tehran bazaar scene which was so colorful and confrontational. I liked the way they argued with the merchants. The John Goodman and Alan Arkin scenes in Hollywood provided lightness, and made the movie a bit more realistic. I also liked the preamble where we get a bit of Iranian history that includes the 1941 revolution that brought the Shah to power. (This was a little more Americo-centric than it might have been.) The post-script where we see the real characters was pretty cool too.

There were a several plot that (I thought) were contrived Hollywood additions to add drama at the end. This is the weakest part of the movie. I did not expect a documentary, but it would be more impactful if it stayed realistic. See Even More below.

Cast: Ben Affleck, Bryan Cranson.

Directed by: Ben Affleck

Rating: 2.5 stars: Positives are the true story and revolution scenes, but downers are the plot devices to create tension that are too cumbersome to be believable, and the acting that was hit-and-miss. 

 

More: The real story was not as cut and dried as the one in the movie. Actually the people stayed in multiple locations, for example. 

Even More: [SPOILER] Three things feel too Hollywood for me; the phone ringing in Hollywood and Lester Siegel (Alan Arkin) busting past the security guard to answer it on the last ring, the reservation just showing up when they are standing at the ticketing agent, and the police cars underneath the wings of the plane upon departure. Just does not feel right. If this really happened -- it would be pretty cool though. 

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The Master

Plot: Freddie Quell (Joaquin Phoenix) is in the navy on a beach with other sailors, and he makes a sand sculpture of a naked woman, and then has sex with it -- as the other sailors watch and laugh. Later when the other sailors are gone, he lies on the beach with the sand girl, his arm around it -- as two lovers might lie in bed.  Freddie gets in trouble for fighting, and a navy doctor shows he is sex obsessed. Freddie is pathetic and unlikeable.

When Freddie gets out of the navy, he stows away on a ship leased by Lancaster Dodd (Phillip Seymour Hoffman.) He makes a hootch, a cocktail made from paint thinner and liquor, and he shares it with Lancaster. Lancaster sees himself in Freddie -- and this symbolic link between Freddie and Lancaster is basic to understanding the rest of the movie. Freddie is the dark side of Lancaster.  Freddie signs on a sailor on the ship, and afterward joins Lancaster's troupe as he travels the country teaching. 

======= Spoilers after this point. Start reading again at the Review paragraph to avoid. ======

Lancaster is a spiritual guru with a program called "The Cause", and his crowds become large. Lancaster gives lessons including "Processing," which involves repetitive questions and hypnosis. At one lesson a skeptic argues with Lancaster, and afterward Freddie kills him. 

Lancaster's wife, Peggy, (Amy Adams) hates Freddie as he represents the evil side of Lancaster. He tries to reform Freddie, and later to send him away -- because she is trying to shape up Lancaster. Peggy is seen to be the real power in "The Cause," but remains on the side in the shadows.

At a party, Lancaster is singing and dancing, and both Lancaster & Freddie are imagining all the women naked -- as if to say that "The Cause" is a way to fuck with people's minds in Lancaster's case and to fuck women in Freddie's case. 

Lancaster gets a new motorcycle, and they go riding in the desert. Freddie gets on and never comes back. He visits his old girlfriend's house, but she married and moved away. At the end, he visits Lancaster, who has moved into a very large building with many students, and Lancaster begs him to stay, but his wife (Amy Adams) sends him away. Lancaster begs him to stay by singing him a love song; Freddie cries and then goes.

The movie ends with Freddie picking up a girl at a bar, and asking her Lancaster's "Processing" questions -- as he has sex with her. This makes literal the metaphor about "The Cause" fucking with people. In the end Freddie is shown lying on the beach with the sand sculpture girl from the beginning of the movie -- rather than the real girl he picked up in the bar -- which shows the Freddie has not changed. [imdb]    [photos]

Review: This movie is always interesting, but it is really slow paced. "The Master," is more fun after the film when you can think about what it meant, then while you are there where it is gruelingly slow. Freddie Quell is unlikeable: dirty, angry, base, and no friend to the women that he fucks.  It is not fun to watch him for so long. 

Phillip Seymour Hoffman shows (again) that he is a master actor, and his craftsmanship is fun to watch. Joaquin Phoenix's performance is probably just as difficult technically, but it did not draw attention to itself as being outstanding. He did cry during the closing song, which has got to be hard. Amy Adams is great, but her part is small. She is, of course, too young for Hoffman.

The music is pretty special -- I bought five songs from the soundtrack. The soundtrack was written by Johnny Greenwood, formerly of Radiohead. There were some very nice visuals especially the water churning under the boat. 

The naked party scene has this allegorical value described above, but it is too much like a Showtime/HBO movie where they use nudity to keep viewers because the plot line is too complicated and slow to watch otherwise. 

After ninety minutes, I was slouched over the side of my chair because I couldn't generate the energy to keep sitting up straight -- I did not sleep though because the plot moves -- just slowly. 

Cast: Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Joaquin Phoenix, Amy Adams. 

Written and directed by: Paul Thomas Anderson

Rating: 3.0  stars:  A substantive movie that is not fun-to-watch, and more enjoyable as you talk about it afterwards. 

More: There was press that "The Cause" was actually Scientology, and that Lancaster is actually Scientology founder "L Ron Hubbard." This isn't really true. Most Hollywood movies that are actually biographies are barely factual, and this film has many stories with no relation to Hubbard or Scientology. 

Even more: The Master's title slide plays silently on a black background, and then the screen fades black as the audience waits for the film. Movies that start like this are never "Fun-to-Watch." It shows the director's contempt for the audience. The Master is a drama, but a beginning like this in a comedy is a cue to leave the theater, and slip into another movie at the megaplex.

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Looper

Plot: Joe (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is an assassin who kills victims sent back from the future. One day Joe's older self (Bruce Willis) is set back to be killed by younger Joe. Old Joe survives and soon young Joe and countless villains are chasing old Joe around. Old Joe is trying to kill his future adversary as a child to change the future -- like the Terminator  movies. [imdb]    [photos]

Review: Looper has a complicated Sci-Fi story that enables some clever interplay between a young man and his older self. This is the best part. The weakest part are the alternate future scenarios that sometimes did not make sense. We see future Joe coming back to young Joe three times -- I still don't understand that.

The future scenarios set up the paradoxes for the final scene -- the final scene is one of the great science fiction endings. It pays off all the investment in the Sci-Fi premise and puzzling out who is who and when is when. 

The character interactions between the two Joes and Emily Blunt are interesting enough to make this a solid movie that people will be downloading for years to come. 

Aside from the time-travel, the floating motorcycle, and the new model cell phones, the future seems pretty retro. Emily Blunt is living in a simple farm house. The child plays with toy fire trucks. 

The special effects and production values are not so great, and the sound track is forgettable. There is no humor in the entire film. 

Having said that it was interesting throughout, and I enjoyed it. 

Cast: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Bruce Willis, Emily Blunt

Written and directed by: Rian Johnson

Rating: 3.0 - stars:  Interesting and enjoyable. One of the great Sci-Fi endings.

 

More: The idea that the best way to assassinate people is to ship them to the past seems silly. There have to be easier ways like tossing them in the ocean or sending them back to dinosaur times.  Director Johnson needed this premise is to set up the time loop at the climatic resolution, but he should have worked harder on it. 

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End of Watch

Plot: Brian (Jake Gyllenhaal) and Mike (Michael Pena) are two LA cops who become friends as they patrol South LA. They talk in the patrol car about themselves and their families. Gang member and drug dealer encounters lead to the final action with a drug cartel. Brian is taking a film class and has set up cameras -- so there is grainy video from odd angles of everything they do.  [imdb]    [photos]

Review: Vivid characters, snappy dialog, and suspenseful police action make End of Watch top Hollywood entertainment.  Actors Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Pena are up to the challenge in both the talking and in the action scenes. They have realistic emotions, as the switch from the serious, to the the comic and sometimes the sleazy. There are a several well-done action scenes, but what distinguishes End of Watch is the rest.

The script is a big star. Gyllenhaal and Pena spend screen time talking in the car about themselves, but at the same time, they are building toward a climatic event with its personal sacrifice and life altering consequences. 

I also liked the villains -- especially cartel thugs Wicked (Diamonique) and Demon (Richard Cabral.) 

The foreshadowing is fun as Ayer leaves subtle clues about where the film is going.

It has two or three excellent songs coupled with a few beautifully photographed images of LA at night. The artistic photography contrasts with the home video feel of the action scenes. Despite the home video premise, the shakiness was not distracting. 

Cast: Jake GyllenHaal, Michael Pena

Written and directed by: David Ayer

Rating: 4.0 stars:  Best movie of 2012 so far.

 

More: I liked the fight scene as shown by the camera on Pena's shirt. 

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ParaNorman 3D

Plot: Norman can talk to dead people. In his New England town, there is a long dead witch who cursed the town years ago. Norman needs to talk to her, so she will call off a zombie plague.

Norman can't quite manage that so the zombies show up to harass him, his sister, his friend Neil, Neil's brother, and a bully from school. 

Soon the people of the town are out to lynch the zombies, and Norman has to puzzle out the answer before its too late.  [imdb link]    [photos]

Review: ParaNorman is a light-weight kid's horror movie that is not really scary, not really funny, and that has limited depth of characters. It has some sitcom humor and a bit of interesting satire. The monsters are more ugly than scary. I got tired of looking at their unlikely unpleasantness. 

The story is resolved with a fairly obvious role-reversal. The 3D make the visuals a little crisper, but there is not much interesting to see.  No spectacle to see and limited imagination aside from the scenes of the sky. 

Overall, ParaNorman lacks anything of value. It was over-rated by the critics who give dynamite ratings to any kid's movie that isn't complete drival. 

I wish I'd seen something else. 

Directed by: Chris Butler, Sam Fell; written by Chris Butler. 

Rating: 1.5 stars

More: Writer-director Chris Butler worked on the 2-star Coraline and the 2-star Corpse Bride - both stop-action animation like this one. 

Even more: Speaking of Corpse Bride, the best thing about that movie is the dancing skeletons, and the Corpse Bride song. (This version has the dancing skeletons, but the music is not as good.)  ParaNorman could have used dancing skeletons. Probably could have used the Flying Elvises too. 

Celeste and Jesse Forever

Boring poster, right?  

Plot: Celeste (Rashida Jones) and Jesse (Adam Samberg) live in LA have been married for six years, but they just got separated. They obviously still love each other, and want to get back together, but they insist they want to be just-friends. As time passes, they start dating other people, which brings their relationship into focus. imdb link]    [photos]

Review: This is "light drama" -- not a "romantic comedy." Specifically, it a "relationship-oriented drama" -- a "chic-flic," but I liked it, so I'm calling it a "relationship-oriented drama!"  Even though it has Andy Samberg, it is not ha ha funny.

Celeste and Jesse Forever is really all about Celeste, how she lives through her divorce, and learns about herself. Samberg's Jesse is a well-acted supporting character, and Samberg underacts.

Happily, writer/producer and star Rashida Jones is up to the role, and she is likable and sympathetic. There is a little sit-com humor, but mainly it is Celeste getting over her perfectionism, and becoming a better adjusted adult.

I enjoyed this film. It is not superlative because only Rashida gives a knock-out performance. It is a good co-star short of being a top movie of the year. I liked it because it gives a window into what it is like to be someone else. 

The end -- ahh the end. I liked the end. Not everyone will.

Cast: Rashida Jones, Andy Samberg

Directed by: Lee Toland Kreiger;

Written by: Rashida Jones

Rating: 3.0 stars, I am tempted to give higher. This makes it comparable to Woody Allen's To Rome with Love, and not as good as my 2011 favorite Young Adult -- also a "relationship-oriented drama."

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More: Rashida Jones is the daughter of music producer Quincy Jones and Mod Squad actress Peggy Lipton.

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