Thursday, June 7, 2012

The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Truth be told, I am afraid of the outcome that is The Perks of Being a Wallflower the movie. Maybe I wouldn't be as fearful had I not read it earlier. I read the book years ago. I was fourteen. I had developed such a kinship with the book that I can't explain. It's my book.



Pre- trailer, I hated the sound of it. Logan Lerman, Emma Watson, Ezra Miller, Paul Rudd, Nina Dobrev, Johnny Simmons, Mae Whitman and Kate Walsh in one movie? I mean, they are all great actors and I do like them (maybe not so on Kate Walsh and Mae Whitman) but them(all of them?!) in TPOBAW? I see it a little differently at first.







(a) I thought Ezra Miller was Charlie at first  because he was ever so haunting in We Need to Talk About Kevin (I also imagined Charlie to be stick- thin as was the case of the clinically different characters). Ezra Miller was insane as Kevin in the said film but then again maybe too creepy looking. He would be a great Marcus in Suckerpunch (not the 2011 film but the 2008 book) though.

(b) Kate Walsh, mum, ew.

(c) Mae Whitman, in my head, for sure she'll be cast as Mary Elizabeth. That I know with her dark look in Scott Pilgrim and Parenthood. But I imagine Mary Elizabeth more different. Thinner, scarier, maybe Rooney Mara + Kristen Stewart- ish.

(d) Emma Watson was an okay choice but her English accent puts me off. I did however imagine that Sam has a pixie cut just like Emma Watson eventhough in the book she had long hair.

(e) Paul Rudd, too funny to make TPOBAW. I don't know why but I had Aaron Eckhart in mind as Bill and especially, when Logan Lerman was cast as Charlie, I immediately thought of Eckhart. Maybe because of his previous movie with Logan Lerman (Meet Bill, 2007) in which they both were great in!

(f) Nina Dobrev, I kind of had her face in my mind as Charlie's sister when it is said that a movie is being made based on the book. So, yay!

(g) I thought Johnny Simmons was going to be Patrick. He can be gay without looking gay. But him hooking up with a hot football hunk is ew, weird. Johnny Simmons as the hot football hunk? What?!

(h) Logan Lerman is simply not weird enough or psychologically troubled enough. I mean, he could be but not in the Charlie- esque sense.

However, post- trailer (and the re- reading of the book), my views changed a little and after seeing Ezra Miller all tanned last night at the MTV Awards, my views on Ezra Miller changed a lot.














(a) Ezra Miller is too tall, too hot, too charismatic and also too old to be Charlie but he seems cool enough to be Patrick. Just weirded out by the 'be aggressive! Passive, aggressive!' . Patrick's not that gay. He's more of a normal, cool, kind- of hipster guy who just happens to like men in a sexual way.

(b) Emma Watson's American accent is just fine. But ugh, I also imagined Sam to be a little Alaska Young- ish (from Looking for Alaska- a book by John Green) without the moodiness. But Emma Watson looks too popular crowd- ish to be Sam. Ugh, dilemmmmaaaaas!

(c) My views on Paul Rudd did not change.

(d) Johnny Simmons can't be Patrick or Brad. At all. He could be Bob. But Bob's much older.

(e) Logan Lerman is just fine too. I mean, Charlie's not retarded or psycho. He's just a kid. But maybe they could cast a younger looking actor but never mind.

(f) Mae Whitman and Logan Lerman dating? Um, no. No matter how much Mae Whitman embodies Mary Elizabeth, the look of them together is weird eventhough their relationship is supposed to be awkward- looking but this is just different. The angle of awkwardness is different than what I imagined.

(g) No Kate Walsh, please.

(h) The pallette and the ambience better feels like it is the 90's because if it turned up looking very modern, I'd be very very disappointed.

(i) The songs in the movie better be fucking amazing because I sure as hell be disappointed of the soundtrack sucks. Fortunately, an individual named Alexandra Patsavas is involved with the music direction. I don't know who she is but she was involved in several shows/ films that has great music in it i.e. Twilight Saga, Gossip Girl and Grey's Anatomy. So far, the song in the trailer, thumbs up! Imagine Dragons ftw!





(j) We were infinite. And in that moment, I felt that we were infinite. Since the movie is more of a narration (I hope it is since the book is), shouldn't it remain its nature? I mean, he is reliving each moment by writing an anonymous letter, right?


(k) Bill was the one who said "We accept the love we think we deserve" but then again, some lines probably are manipulated to fit the film.

(l) If I were to watch this movie, I have to watch it alone because to watch TPOBAW with the company of others is like reading a book when someone is staring at you. Reading is personal. This book is personal to me. The movie is personal to me.

(m) I think I will cry watching this movie. Especially if the soundtrack is mindblowing.

(n) Hope this movie actually do hit local theatres unlike Scott Pilgrim and Whip It (both didn't end up premiering here) or (500) Days of Summer (two weeks run at Sunway Pyramid and a few other theatres in Malaysia)

(o) I'm too obsessed with the book. Then again, I have read it so many times that I remember it by heart.

But no matter how much I whine and complain, Stephen Chbosky is overlooking the production of the film and the producers of Juno is producing this film and with the Patsavas person (or whoever) and the movie is already completed anyway, they know what they're doing. They are great people. I just hope that the film turns out great too. I just hope that there aren't too many people bimbos who pretends to like the movie later on when they don't even understood it.

Current Location: Tree Hill, One. Tree. Hill! Woo!
Current Mood: perfectly fine
Current Music: Naive- The Kooks

p/s if there's a guy named Ezra who's cute and around my area and age range, please say hi to me. I'm happy to fall head over heels over you :)