30 Day Movie Challenge: Day 11- The Perks Of Being A Wallflower (2012)

There have been a lot of films that were based off of books that became huge successes like the Harry Potter series, Twilight, To Kill A Mockingbird, The Godfather, The Wizard Of Oz, Forrest Gump, and so many more. That is why today contained an interesting challenge as I was tasked with watching a film that was adapted from a book and so the film I chose was The Perks Of Being A Wallflower which was written, adapted for the screen, and directed by Stephen Chbosky (Beauty And The Beast). The film stars Logan Lerman (Fury) as shy introvert freshman Charlie who is just trying to navigate life through school, but things begin to change for him when he becomes friends with a group of outcast seniors who take him under their wing and show him what the real world is about. The film also stars Emma Watson (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone) as Sam, Ezra Miller (The Stanford Prison Experiment) as Patrick, Mae Whitman (Independence Day) as Mary Elizabeth, Erin Wilhelmi (Unsane) as Alice, Nina Dobrev (Let's Be Cops) as Candace, Nicholas Braun (Good Kids) as Ponytail Derek, Tom Savini (Machete) as Mr. Callahan, Paul Rudd (Dinner For Schmucks) as Mr. Anderson, Dylan McDermott (AHS 1984) as Father, Kate Walsh (13 Reasons Why) as Mother, Julia Garner (Good Kids) as Susan, and  Johnny Simmons (The Stanford Prison Experiment) as Brad.

I thought that this was an amazing film that just took you on a roller coaster ride of emotions through out it's entirety. This is part of the reason why I love doing challenges because you get to see films you might have otherwise put to the side to not watch at all, but when you do watch them you are pleased. First off I have to give kudos to Ezra Miller who was the MVP of The Stanford Prison Experiment and he has done it again in this film as Patrick, a gay kid in love with the star football player and has to deal with those things in secret which is why he likes Charlie so much and why he called him a wallflower. I also have to give kudos the always beautiful Emma Watson who would be my other MVP of this film for her amazing performance as the vulnerable, but loving and misunderstood Sam. Logan Lerman deserves a lot of credit as well in this film for his awesome performance as the awkward freshman which brought back nightmares for me. When I said the film takes you on a roller coaster ride, it really does do that with Charlie and all of his problems and they get dark towards the end. Nonetheless, Chbosky delivered as a true auteur of cinema with this amazing film and I highly recommend this to anyone who enjoys well written films. Great cinematography, great writing, great acting, what more could you possibly ask for from a film which is why I am going to give it an A+ for a final grade. Check it out on Netflix right now.

Good Kids (2016)

After watching the film that I did the day before, I was looking for something to make up for it and I couldn't find a different title. So, I decided that I would once again catch another film from my latest Hollywood crush in Zoey Deutch (Buffaloed) as we watch 2016's Good Kids which was written and directed by Chris McCoy (The Bicycle). The film evolves around four friends who have spent their whole lives in school being good and building up for their futures in College that they forgot to enjoy themselves. So for their last summer before they head off to college, they decided to make a summer of yes and just get wild and adventurous, but even that comes with a cost. The film stars Nicholas Braun (The Year Of Spectacular Men) as Andy, Deutch as Nora, Mateo Arias (Yours, Mine & Ours) as The Lion, Israel Broussard (Happy Death Day) as Spice, Ashley Judd (Kiss The Girls) as Gabby,  Demián Bichir (The Nun) as Yaco, David Coussins (Born Guilty) as Erland, Dayo Okeniyi (See) as Conch, Julia Garner (We Are What We Are) as Tinsley, Virginia Gardner (Halloween 2018) as Emily, Brett Wyman (Dumb And Dumber To) as Plymouth Rock, Eduardo Fernandez-Baumann (Love Is All You Need) as Salavatore, and Nick Chambers (It's Not Funny Anymore) as Cop.

This movie is what would happen if you took the kids from Good Boys as they continued to stay good kids throughout the rest of their school years and then filmed them in a movie again when they're 18. The only thing is that the kids from Good Boys were a lot funnier, but don't take anything away from the Good Kids because they provided me with some really good laughs too. I enjoyed the film because it took everything it meant to be an 18 year old inexperienced kid with no real life experience and summed it up to a T because part of the film was my life and I remember all the awkward moments. I also remember all of the triumphs that came along too and that is what made this film so enjoyable to watch besides the fact that it took place down in Cape Cod (well, it was really filmed in Boston and Duxbury). I kept thinking to myself how I was so jealous that Andy was getting with Ashley Judd who looked fantastic in this film and she is still a fox. I have to say that one of my favorite characters in the film was definitely The Lion who I kept wondering does this kid really know Tai Chi, but when you find out he definitely does not disappoint. One thing that was very prototypical of the type of film we watched is that it has that a-typical storyline where friend finally notices that female friend of the group is actually hot and he becomes jealous. I don't blame them for using it because it was an effective sub plot to use in the film. I thought that this was a really good film and I am happy that I did and with that being said, I am giving the film an B for a final grade.