Perks Of Being A Wallflower: Book and Film

Its really unfortunate that this movie only had limited release. I had to to drive almost an hour to the closest theater that was playing it. I was extremely excited to watch this movie and had been waiting for its release all summer. Although there could have been some little changes that would have made this movie a lot better, I wasn’t to disappointed on the way it turned out.

If you are familiar with this story you know that is based on the critically acclaimed book of the same name written by Stephen Chbosky. Now this book I have heard about for a long long time but never read. I heard so many good things about it, even that it has actually saved peoples lives.  Although the story is directed towards teens and the painful journey through high school, I read it before the movie came out as a 30 year old women and all though I am an adult I still related to the anguish that poor Charlie the main character in the book was going through. I had so many flash backs as a teen reading this book, especially being a teen in the 90’s. This is an amazing book.

The book is nothing but letters written by freshman in high school Charlie. Who he is writing to, no one knows. He never gives the name as to whom he is writing to and also states that Charlie isn't even his real name. Charlie is an extremely shy, emotionally damaged boy. His “favorite person” Aunt Helen died in a car accident when he was very little when she went out to buy his birthday gift plaguing Charlie with guilt for her death. He had only one friend and he killed himself shortly before the start of high school , which caused Charlie to have to enter high school alone. Not to mention his friend didn’t even leave a note as to why he committed suicide, so Charlie struggled for a reason why his friend would do such a thing. All this weighs down hard on Charlies mental state. 

When he finally friends a couple older teens Sam and her charismatic gay stepbrother Patrick. This small group of misfits except Charlie for who he is, weird quirks and all. He surrounds his whole life around them.  But friends and the loss of loved ones isn't the only cause of Charlie’s mental state. After his first sexual encounter with Sam, he has a flashback of something terrible that it seems his mind made it a point to forget. I don’t want to give spoilers because it actually is a pretty big shocker. 

Anyways lets talk about the movie. One reason I was extremely excited to watch this movie is because the writer of the book Stephen Chbosky is also the director of the movie. He has stated in interviews that several people have come to him asking for the rights to make this movie and he has refused every time unless they agreed to let him direct…which finally they did. Now after all that you would expect the film to be almost perfect….but it wasn’t. Now I know there is always big differences when you make a film based off a book, but being the actually writer of the book, there were a lot of things missing that actually played HUGE parts in the book that I was so surprised that he left out. For one as soon as you start to read the book you know there is something wrong with Charlie. You know he has pretty bad emotional problems, he was constantly breaking down in tears in the book for anything. But when I watched the film, I think I saw him cry once maybe twice and Charlie out of all the characters seemed like the most normal character in the entire film. You Don’t even realise that there may be something wrong with him until towards the end. He basically seemed like just a normal awkward teen that is having trouble fitting in. Another thing I would have liked for them to of included is maybe showed more of the impact his best friends suicide had on him because all they do is mention it and that’s it. In the story his Charlie had a lot of confusion as to why his friend would do this. Those are just some examples that should have been included.

Although there were things I would have changed, I did really enjoy the film. Being that it was based in the 90’s and the fact that I was a teen in the 90’s, it was very relateable.The actors they picked I thought were very good choices. Logan Lermer played Charlie very well and that is always how I pictured Charlie to look like. Ezra Miller who I loved in “We Need To Talk About Kevin” played Patrick perfectly..such a likable character and I am so happy with the way Ezra played him.  Emma Watson didn’t do to bad as Sam, although I don’t think she played the part as well as someone else probably could, but she did do a great job.  Their were some surprise casting such as Nina Dobrev as Charlie's sister and Dylan McDermott as Charlie's father (both I would have liked to see play a bigger part in the film) As far as Stephen Chbosky's directing ability, I think it needs a lot of work. But all in all I was happy with what I saw…would have fixed a couple things but I would definitely watch it again and recommend it to others.  Also I cried a lot while reading this book and really expected to be crying through out the entire movie so I was actually happy it wasn’t quite as sad as the book because I don’t mind crying in privacy reading a book but not in a movie theater lol….

The story itself no matter how you see it and no matter how its done …the story itself is still a beautiful story. The story of Charlie is a story of hope. For as painful as a journey this young boy has gone through and the damage it has caused on his mind and emotions, he still manages to see things positively and finds the friends to except him for the way he is and in turn is able to except himself and realize that he is ok and although there will be bad times in life, everything will be ok…he will be ok. Go watch this movie and read the book.

~Jennifer~

Bastard Production Team

Drop Dead Fred Remake

Ok movie spit followers this is my 1st blog so bare with me...
I'm makin it simple with one of my all time favorites "Drop Dead Fred" released in april 1991 by New Line Cinemas.
This movie has all the great elements of a cult classic as well as a family film with british comedian Rik Mayall as the title character, a crazy, creatively destructive menace who plays the imaginary friend of a little girl named Elizabeth (Pheobe Cates as adult Elizabeth).

Directed by Ate de Jong the two are seperated by the "Mega Beast" (Elizabeths Mom) played by Marsha Mason only to be reunited after a decade & return back to the duranged antics in true Drop Dead Fred style, starting food fights, sinking house boats, & beating up violionists in shopping malls giving all she credit to Elizabeth (Phoebe Cates) as being a total nut job since no one can see Fred but her. 
So now it seems Universal has a remake of the 1991 film in the works & Russel Brand has agreed to be the next Drop Dead Fred which will be released sometime in 2014.


Though I am a fan of his work it does make me a bit nervous to see how this flick comes out. I'm not a big fan of remakes specially if its one of my favorites. In my opinion Rik Mayall placed the bar pretty high so it will be interesting to see if Russell will measure up...

Jeremy DeRhodes

Bastard Productions Team

Dark Shadows review

Hello all...hope everyone is having a good week so far. Monday night me and another team member were lucky enough to be invited to the premier of the Dark Shadows at the Grauman's theater in Hollywood. Celebs that attended were Johnny Depp, Michelle Pfeiffer, Jackie Earle Haley, Eva Green, and Isabella Heathcote. I did not see Tim Burton or Helena Bonham Carter but was told they did make an appearance, perhaps while we were already seated.

The movie itself I thought was very funny and very entertaining. Don't expect this tho be a scary vampire movie, it was far from scary. But then again it was based off a sitcom so what do you expect. I loved it. One thing I really did like was that it was in the 1970's. I am so glad that Tim Burton didn't try to create it in present time. One thing I can't stand is when when someone re-creates a movie or a show and try to create it in present time and then almost always never works. Also there are reasons films/shows like these were made then and never done in this time..and that's because there were alot more things you can get away with back then that would make it look cheesy in present time. Imagine if they made Dark Shadows in the 2000's and seeing Barnabas Collins wake up to the year 2013...wouldn't work.

Johnny Depp plays Barnabas Collins a very wealthy heir to the Collins fortune. While having an affair with his maid/witch named Angelique (played by Eva Green), falls in love with a young woman named Jossette (played by Isabella Heathcote). When Angelique (Green) sees Collins and Jossette (Heathcote) together, she curses the two. For Jossette, the witch curses her to commit suicide and for Collins, he was cursed to suffer for eternity as a vampire. When Angelique convinces the towns people that Collins is a monster, they hunt him down and lock him up in a coffin and bury him. Collins awakes 2 centuries later to a very different world that he doesn't recognize. He sets off to find his living relatives and a still living Angelique.

Michelle Pfeiffer played Elizabeth Collins and although she didn't have as much screen time as I would have liked, I really liked her character. She always plays a strong character and you feel her presence on the screen. Chloe Grace Moritz played the daughter of Elizabeth Collins. She played the part of a rebellious disconnected teen very well but not much of a stretch for her acting. Helena Bonham Carter played psychiatrist Dr. Julia Hoffman that I found to be a pretty funny character. Being a Dr that is there to help but ends up being drunk all the time...very entertaining to watch. The only character I didn't really care for to much was Jossette/Victoria played by Eva Green. I found her to be very bland and almost boring. I really didn't care for this character at all...not sure if it was the acting or just the character itself. Other characters included Elizabeth's obnoxious brother Roger (played by Johnny Lee Miller), a care taker named Willie (played by Jackie Earle Haley) and Roger's son David (played by Gulliver McGrath) who I actually loved in the film.

All in all a good cast and some very entertaining characters. It was nice to see Tim Burton go back to the style he is so good at. I was a little weary at first because of the disappointment of  "Alice In Wonderland". But this was so much better, back to the Beetlejuice/Edward Scissorhands style that we all love so much and the only way I think Tim Burton should make his movies. Its what he's known for and what we love about him and I was so happy it turned out the way it did. Tim Burton is rumored to direct the movie version of the book "Miss Peregrines Home For Peculiar Children", a book I love. I have been telling everyone that I thought this was a mistake having Tim Burton direct. Now don't get me wrong I love Tim Burton as much as the next but this book was so dark and eerie and Tim Burton's films tend to be yes dark but whimsical and I just didn't think he would be able to pull it off. But after watching Dark Shadows although a funny movie , but seeing that he can still pull off that dark beetlejuice/sleepy hallow look (and not the ridiculously over done CGI of Alice or the over the top Charlie and the chocolate factor) ..made me feel a whole lot better about him directing one of my favorite books and I look forward to it now.

So I do recommend this movie...especially if you just want a fun movie to watch. It is really entertaining and you don't even have to be familiar with the original tv series to enjoy it. Just watching Depp try to get used to his new surroundings and new technology is hilarious. The lava lamp scene is especially funny. But go see it, its worth watching.


~Jennifer~
Bastard Productions Team

We Need To Talk About Kevin : Review

  I knew very little about this movie and haven't any commercials on TV for this movie. I happened to come across an article about it in the Entertainment magazine and the words school murder caught my eye. Now after reading it that wasn't what interested me, what interested me was that the movie wasn't just about a kid killing his schoolmates but about a mother after her child committed such a terrible crime and how she is dealing with the guilt of possibly being at fault and how the community is treating her as a mother of a killer. That is what interested me because after we see such crimes on the news or in the paper, one of the thoughts that we think is "what about the parents? How could they of not known their child was like this?". Thats what this story is about...nature vs nurture.

  I was absolutely amazed with this film. I left the theater with so many thoughts in my head and couldn't stop thinking about it. If any film should be shown in a psychology class..this one should. The story is based on so many different behaviors and how they affect anothers behaviors. Its almost scary how true this could actually be. It really is hard to watch at times because every single one of these characters really do piss you off in one way or another in this film and the actors play the parts beautifully.

  

  Tilda Swinton got alot of praise for her character as Eva, a mother trying to understand the actions for the crime her son has committed. Eva was really a depressing character. Eva is a mother that seemed to never want to be a mother at all. Even while pregnant she just looked so damn miserable. In the hospital while in labor you could hear the doctors telling her to stop resisting as if she didn't want the baby to be born at all. When Kevin was a child he wouldn't stop crying and she just couldn't handle it and seemed like she would crack at any minute. The kids they got to play Kevin were great..that toddler with his evil stare was scary and adorable all at the same time. Also it was really heartbreaking to see her descend from a successful writer to the hated women in her her town. The people in the town really did treat her horrible, including a lady walking up to her on the street and punching her in the face.

                                 

 John C Reilly played Eva's husband Franklin. This character made you so mad and yet you loved him at the same time. He made you mad because he always failed to see any wrong in Kevin and refused to listen or believe anything Eva was telling him about him. He is just a lovable father that wanted to only see the good in his little boy, which also made him seem like a blind fool. You wanted to yell at him to listen to her but he never does and this eventually forms a wedge between their relationship. 

  Ezra Miller plays Kevin as a teen...the "main" Kevin in the film. If anyone in this film that needs to be praised for their acting its Ezra Miller. He was absolutely fantastic in this film. He was so creepy and at times actually made you feel uncomfortable. Very few veterans actors can pull off this kinda of acting and this 20 year old pulled it off to perfection.  Kevin is a very sadistic kid but in some ways it seems he is doing this to get attention, any kind of attention even bad from his mother. All the bad things he does, its in front of his mother. Which makes you think had she of given him the maternal bond to begin with then perhaps he wouldn't have turned out the way he did. 

    You can point your finger at just about everyone in this film. Anyone could have been the blame. Eva could of been the blame for not nurturing him as a mother should their child. Franklin could of been the blame for always caudaling him. Or both of them for not taking him to a freakin therapist which is what he needed. The title of the movie explains it all because they need to talk about Kevin, but they never actually do. Eva either is frantic about it or Franklin just doesn't want to listen...they need to really sit down and "talk about Kevin". There was obviously something mentally wrong with him from the beginning and perhaps had he of gotten the professional help he needed the crime may have not taken place. Or Kevin just could of been a bad seed and nothing his parents did or didn't do could of changed what was going to happen.

  There wasn't a real answer as to why Kevin did what he did, but it didn't bother me. It was ok that it didn't have an explanation. I don't think there really could have been an explanation to why he did it. He didn't even know. It was just such a amazing story that will stick in your head for a long time and really make you think. Thats all I've been doing since I saw this film is think about it. To see the other side to the story..the mothers side of the story and to witness the struggles of parenthood and the fear of blame on yourself..it was just outstanding. The only thing I would have liked to of seen is Kevin's school life and how he was around his peers...for this I am ordering the novel that this film was based on with the same name because I just can't get enough of it. I am seriously shocked that it didn't get an Oscar nod. I highly recommend this film to everyone...although painful to watch at times, it is something we all need to think about. Sometimes our own actions can affect anothers actions in ways we can't even imagine. In another note...if your kid wants to  take up archery....SAY NO!!! Thanks for reading.

~JENA~
(Bastard Productions Team)

Friday The 13th

                    First of all welcome everyone to our new blog. This is the first blog and with Friday the thirteenth just passed, what better movie to write about then Friday The 13^th.  A lot of you only know of Jason Voorhees as a killer and don’t really know the history behind him. Here are just a couple of fun facts. I hope you all enjoy.

Friday the 13^th Films were originally produced by Shawn Cunningham to finance a television show that he thought was going to be his moneymaker. Back in 1980 there weren’t any franchise names so he thought he was just doing the first movie and that was it. It was Tom Savini’s idea to create a Jason type figure for the ending scene in the first movie. After this character was greated he became a mainstay in the franchise. Jason went from an ambiguous secondary character to the main attraction. Through out 10 sequels he has traveled from Crystal Lake to Manhattan to Space and even Springwood, as his rampage is so unstoppable that that he killed countless numbers of people. Some say he was a mongoloid until Friday the 13^th pt. 6 when he became a Zombie by being regenerated by a bolt of lighting that struck his grave. His main weapon is usually a machete but he has been known to improvise using gardening tools, random fence spikes and an assortment of knives and other basic hardware.

Most people think that Jason kills because of his repressed Sexuality but there are a few inconsistencies .For example in Jason Goes to hell its bought to light that he kills to supply himself with fresh bodies to become able to shape shift from body to body. Other notable inconsistencies are that in the original Friday, his mom was his soul family member. In parts 9 Its revealed that Jason not only has a half sister, his half sister daughter and that in order to repel this curse he has to kill all Voorhees family members and their kin. Taking the saga into “Halloween” franchise charted territory.

Mike

(Bastard Productions Team)