The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Movies to See Right Now

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Jake Gylenhaal and Michael Pena in END OF WATCH

The best of the new movies is End of Watch, a thrilling cop movie that rises above the genre.   Although there isn’t an unpredictable moment in Trouble with the Curve, it charmed me with its fine acting and baseball nostalgia.  The Master is a visual and acting masterpiece, but the story fizzles out.

We still have a couple of fine comedies in theaters, most recently Sleepwalk With Me.  Frank Langella’s performance in Robot and Frank elevates the film from a pretty good comedy to a revealing study of getting older.

It’s worth seeking out the compelling documentary Searching for Sugar Man, about the hunt to uncover the secret fate of an artist that didn’t know that he was a rock star.

The stylishly violent crime drama Lawless is well-made and well-acted but predictable. The bike messenger thriller Premium Rush is nothing more than a chase scene, but it’s a cool chase. The Dark Night Rises is too corny and too long, but Anne Hathaway sparkles. The Words is a corny drama that insults the audience by over-explaining everything.

I haven’t yet seen the screen version of the coming of age best seller The Perks of Being a Wallflower, the sci fi hitman thriller Looper or the campus comedy Liberal Arts, which open widely this week.  You can read descriptions and view trailers of upcoming films at Movies I’m Looking Forward To.

My DVD pick this week is Bernie, a very funny dark comedy by Richard Linklater, shows off Jack Black’s talents in a whole new light.  Bernie makes my list of Best Movies of 2012 – So Far.

Movies to See Right Now

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Lauren Ambrose and Mike Birbiglia in SLEEPWALK WITH ME

There are some very promising fall movies coming out this weekend (see below) to add to our our current crop of fine comedies, led by Sleepwalk With Me.  The zany French odd couple comedy The Intouchables is a crowd pleaser – and an attendance record breaker in France.  Frank Langella’s performance in Robot and Frank elevates the film from a pretty good comedy to a revealing study of getting older.   Celeste and Jesse Forever is a smart and authentic comedy of best friends too perfect for each other to fall in love at the same time.   Ruby Sparks is a hilariously inventive romance that probes whether realizing a fantasy can bring happiness.

It’s worth seeking out the compelling documentary Searching for Sugar Man, about the hunt to uncover the secret fate of an artist that didn’t know that he was a rock star.

The brilliantly made Louisiana swamp fable Beasts of the Southern Wild enters the life and imagination of a child and celebrates her indomitability. It’s on my list of Best Movies of 2012 – So Far.

Julie Delpy’s 2 Days in New York is a rollicking light culture clash comedy. The stylishly violent crime drama Lawless is well-made and well-acted but predictable. The bike messenger thriller Premium Rush is nothing more than a chase scene, but it’s a cool chase. The Dark Night Rises is too corny and too long, but Anne Hathaway sparkles. The Words is a corny drama that insults the audience by over-explaining everything.

I haven’t yet seen The Master, Trouble with the Curve and House at the End of the Street.  You can read descriptions and view trailers of upcoming films at Movies I’m Looking Forward To.

My DVD pick this week is The Salt of Life, a gently funny and insightful Italian comedy about men of a certain age.

Big fall films – the first salvo

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Autumn is here, and so are the first major film releases for this weekend.  You can read descriptions and view trailers of upcoming films at Movies I’m Looking Forward To.

One of the most anticipated is The Master, directed by Paul Thomas Anderson (Hard Eight, Boogie Nights, Magnolia, Punch-Drunk Love).  A charismatic writer spawns a new religion (like L. Ron Hubbard and Scientology, perhaps?).  The Master stars Philip Seymour Hoffman, Joaquin Phoenix and Amy Adams and got good but not great reviews at Toronto.

Stephen Chbosky directs the screen version of his novel The Perks of Being a Wallflower.  A shy high school freshman is adopted by two unapologetically misfit seniors, played by Harry Potter’s Emma Watson and Ezra Miller (very different here than in We Need to Talk About Kevin).

In Trouble with the Curve, Clint Eastwood stars as an aged baseball scout who takes his daughter (Amy Adams) along on one last scouting trip.  The cast also includes Justin Timberlake and John Goodman.

I don’t go to many shockers, but House at the End of the Street, with Jennifer Lawrence and Elizabeth Shue, could be good.

Here’s the trailer for The Perks of Being a Wallflower.

Coming up this fall

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I’ve recently updated my Movies I’m Looking Forward To (where you can read descriptions and watch trailers) with some upcoming fall releases like The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Seven Psychopaths, The Master, Cloud Atlas, Love and Rust and Bone.

I’ve also added some big films playing at the Toronto International Film Festival that will probably be released in the US this fall:  Robert Redford’s The Company You Keep, Silver Linings Playbook (Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence), the star-studded Jayne Mansfield’s Car, Ramin Bahrani’s At Any Price and Passion, the remake of the French Love Crime with Rachel McAdams and Noomi Rapace.

Seven Psychopaths releases on October 12.  I know that I’m gonna love this movie because I loved writer-director Martin McDonagh’s In Bruges.  Like In Bruges (and The Guard which McDonagh produced), this is a crime comedy.  It stars Colin Farrell, Christopher Walken, Sam Rockwell and Woody Harrelson, plus Mickey Rourke,Tom Waits and Gabourey Sidibe (Precious).  The trailer is freaking hilarious.