2018 Blind Spot Picks

December 16, 2017December 31, 2017 | Rachel's Reviews

I know I should be giving you my written reviews for Last Jedi and Coco and I apologize for being woefully behind. (I do have reviews of those and Ferdinand on my youtube channel and will be a writing machine over the Christmas holiday because my family is all abandoning me LOL). However, I am not in the mood to write a review tonight but will instead give you my next 12 picks for the Blind Spot series!

The Blind Spot series is something I have been doing for the last 2 years where each month I watch a movie I’ve never seen before that is highly regarded and give you my thoughts. Nobody has seen every movie and I certainly have my fair share of big gaps. Participating in this series allows me to fill in some of those gaps and have a little fun while I’m at it. I encourage all of you to participate if you have a blog or youtube channel! It’s a ton of fun.

So here are my next round of picks:

January

The New World- Director and Writer Terrence Malick

It’s a new year so why not start with A New World? I have long been a Malick defender as he makes art pieces over traditional narratives but here is a narrative about Pocahontas that I have long wanted to see. I love Collin Farrell and am not a big fan of the Disney version so this will be nice to see.

February

The Palm Beach Story- Director and Writer Preston Sturges

February seems like the perfect time to catch up on my Preston Sturges viewing. If you don’t know Preston Sturges was the king of romantic comedies in the 40s, so that is of course right up my ally. In The Palm Beach Story he directs Claudette Colbert and Joel McCrea in a comedy where a couple decides to divorce so she can marry a millionaire to help support his big inventions.

March

The Seventh Seal- Director and Writer Ingmar Bergman

I have a confession. I have never seen an Ingmar Bergman film. As a film fan of course I know the name but have never seen any of his films. Well, that changes this year with The Seventh Seal. I don’t know much about the film except it is about a knight playing chess with Death personified and that Roger Ebert declared it ‘one of the masterpieces of cinema’. That’s good enough for me to give it a watch!

April

The Green Mile- Director and Writer Frank Darabont from Stephen King novel

Based on the Stephen King novel, The Green Mile is one of the few Tom Hanks films I haven’t seen. It tells the story of a death row corrections officer during The Great Depression. It was nominated for best picture and best supporting actor for Michael Clarke Duncan, so I look forward to watching it.

May

Gallipoli- Director Peter Weir

Gallipoli is my friend Phaedra’s favorite movie. Enough said. I will watch it! It’s directed by Peter Weir and stars a young Mel Gibson about 2 Australian sprinters who are sent to fight in Turkey during World War 1.

June

The Cat Returns- Director Hiroyuki Morita

In 2018 I will finish watching all the Studio Ghibli films. One that remains on my list is The Cat Returns. It is about a young girl that gets engaged to a cat prince in a magical world where she must rely on a dapper cat statuette come to life to save her. It looks like a ton of fun!

July

The Last Emperor- Director and Writer Bernardo Bertolucci

I had long heard about The Last Emperor but hadn’t seen it probably because it is nearly 3 hours long. However, it won 9 Academy Awards including best picture and it is time to check it off my list! This epic film tells the story of the last emperor of China Pu Yi.

August

The Young Girls of Rochefort- Director and Writer Jacques Demy

I love the Umbrellas of Cherbourg so I want to check off more of Jacques Demy off my list and so in August I will watch The Young Girls of Rochefort. This stars Catherine Deneuve who is also in Cherbourg along with Francoise Dorleac and Gene Kelly. It is about two sisters who head to the city in search of romance and are hired at a carnival. Kelly plays an American musician one of the girls falls for

September

Ikiru- Director and Writer Akira Kurosawa

In September I will move over to Japan and acclaimed director Akira Kurosawa’s film Ikiru. I have seen Throne of Blood and Seven Samurai and enjoyed both of those. Ikiru is another long movie from Kurosawa but it sounds like a very good film. It is about a bureaucrat wasting away at a terrible job (a theme I love) that finds out he has cancer and must come to terms with his life.

October

Scream- Director Wes Craven

Yes, believe it or not I have never seen Scream. I just have never been that into horror movies so it didn’t appeal to me. Over the last few years I have been trying to expand out of my comfort zone so, I think October will be a good time to check this horror classic off of my list. This is a horror comedy I am told so hopefully it will be fun.

November

Whisper of the Heart- Directed by Yoshifumi Kondo Screenplay by Hayao Miyazaki

Whisper of the Heart is the final Studio Ghibli film for me and I will have seen the entire canon. It is one of the only films not directed by Miyazaki or Takahata but it definitely has their influence. It’s a love story between a girl who loves reading books, and the boy who checks out all the library books she chooses. That sounds adorable and I can’t wait to watch it.

December

Desk Set- Director Walter Lang

I must admit I didn’t love another pairing of Katherine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy called Adam’s Rib, but hopefully I will like Desk Set better. It is set during the holidays and it is about 2 strong personalities who must work together to modernize Hepburn’s computer machine and her entire studio. This seems a surprising plot for 1957 so I am intrigued to watch it. I’m running out of Christmas movies I haven’t seen so hopefully this will be a good one!

So what do you think of my list? Have you seen any of these films? Let me know your thoughts and I look forward to a fun 2018!

Blind Spot 24: We’re No Angels

December 7, 2017July 25, 2023 | Rachel's Reviews

It is very exciting we have reached my last Blind Spot pick for 2017. I hope you have enjoyed the 12 films I have reviewed this year and I look forward to picking 12 more for next year. If you have a blog I encourage you to participate in the series and finally check some of those films off your list you have been wanting to see.

Unfortunately it’s too bad I can’t end the year on a more positive note. My pick for this month is a supposed Christmas film called We’re No Angels. This is the original 1955 version not the 1989 remake. I know other people love this dark comedy but it was not for me. I honestly found it pretty hard to get through.

The story is about 3 convicts (Humphrey Bogart, Aldo Ray, Peter Ustinov) who escape from prison just before Christmas. They go to a shop and after spying on their daughter (Joan Bennett) they decide to steal from the family and then escape off of the island. Things get complicated when a snobby relative (Basil Rathbone) comes in and wants to take over the store.

I said in my 3 Billboards review that dark comedies are not my thing and it is true here. I know these men are supposed to be bad guys, convicts, but I found them uncomfortable, awkward, perverted and not the least bit funny. They literally are staring at the family and daughter through a window for a good chunk of the movie. They bicker and are cruel in ways that didn’t amuse me at all.

The only person who worked for me a little was Peter Ustinov who always gives a funny/strange performance. But even he couldn’t save this film because the writing wasn’t good and the characters are so unlikable.

Basil Rathbone’s character is supposed to be a character of ridicule but I frankly thought the 3 anti-heroes were much worse. They are manipulative, cold and worst of all boring. This movie is dull and sorely lacking in charisma or fun. It certainly has no Christmas charm or cheer.

I can see how those that like dark comedies will enjoy it but it was not for me. I really didn’t enjoy it and will never watch it again. The costumes were nice so I guess there is that but I can’t think of anything else to praise.

If this is a Christmas film you love please tell me why you like it. I just didn’t get it.

Lady Bird Review

December 1, 2017December 1, 2017 | Rachel's Reviews

Coming of age movies are some of the most important yet tricky movies to master. The teenage experience is so unique and sacred in a way that capturing it in film so many people can relate to is very difficult. For example, I love Perks of Being a Wallflower. It felt completely authentic to my experience, like someone had been filming my friends and I in high school; yet, I know others who that film rings completely false. I also love Juno, which many people find overwrought and annoying. To me it is funny and sweet, and I love it. Dazed and Confused and Dirty Dancing are two more favorites. However, other films like Edge of 17 or The Breakfast Club that others love don’t work for me. Today I went to see the latest entry in the genre, Lady Bird and for the most part I enjoyed it. I didn’t LOVE it like many seem to but it was good (I have a feeling this movie will be this year’s La La Land where merely liking it isn’t enough for some people. Sigh).

Lady Bird stars Saoirse Ronan (who I adored as an older character in Brooklyn) as a senior in high school in Sacramento (my parents lived in Sacramento for 9 years so I recognized many of the locations!). She is a sullen, angry teen who hates Sacramento and mostly hates her Mother. This is similar to the character in Edge of 17 but with a little bit more warmth than that film. I’m not going to lie I find this type of teenage character very uncomfortable to watch as it was totally me as a teen. I was pretty grumpy and hated my small town/parents who had a small baby at the time. I wanted nothing more than to get away from all of them and spread my wings (luckily I was also a die hard Mormon so didn’t get into much trouble!).

Still, whenever I watch these kinds of movies I want to call my Mother and apologize for how horrible I was. I remember one time throwing a book at my Dad because I was so angry at him. Another time storming up the stairs in one of the rare instances of my life I used profanity against my Mother. I remember feeling like nobody was listening to me. One time I screamed at my whole family “you’re the weird ones. I’m the normal one except in my own house”. LOL. I was not pleasant to live with. I’m not saying this as a knock against the movie. I’m just trying to give some context into my response.

Lady Bird’s mother is played brilliantly by Laurie Metcalf. In fact, I kind of wish the movie was about her rather than her daughter. She’s a very interesting character where Lady Bird I’ve seen many times before. She loves her daughter but also finds her a royal pain, something most parents of sullen teenagers can relate to.

I also loved Lucas Hedges in this as Lady Bird’s first boyfriend. He is rapidly becoming one of my favorite young actors with his performances in this, Manchester by the Sea, and 3 Billboards. He felt very authentic and gave the movie some of the warmth I was missing in Edge of 17.

I know some people don’t like the glib dialogue in Juno and if that is the case then you will love Lady Bird. It’s very well done and feels authentic and natural. I prefer the more comedic, heightened dialogue of Diablo Cody but this is executed well.

I do have some negatives for Lady Bird. First, I did not feel the second boyfriend played by Timothee Chalamet worked. He didn’t feel authentic or real to a high school student and it was just bland. Perhaps this is because I loved Lucas Hedges’ raw performance so much that the new boyfriend fell flat? I’m not sure, but I didn’t like those scenes.

Also the movie should have ended with her leaving for college. Instead it goes on for another 15 minutes or so and this was anticlimactic. They had the perfect ending and stretched it on too long. I don’t know if I completely bought Lady Bird, with her personality, going for the popular girl either and leaving her best friend for a time. That didn’t quite feel true.

But that’s about it on the negatives. Lady Bird is worth your while if you like coming of age films and certainly if you are raising a teenager watch it! It will be very cathartic for you!

Overall Grade- B

Lady Bird is rated R for some sensuality, drug use but mostly language. It is fine for teenagers.

3 Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri Review

November 29, 2017November 29, 2017 | Rachel's Reviews

If I was going to subtitle this review I would say 3 Billboards: Voyeurism in 2017 Film. What I mean by voyeurism is the sense of glee we feel in watching the pain or difficulties of another person. This can be in dramatic or comedic form and it has long existed on television in shows like Snapped or sensationalized murder dramas. I personally felt there was a sense of voyeurism in Martin Scorsese’s Silence- that watching these Christians suffer for nearly 3 hours was somehow cathartic for some (I found it repulsive). The Glass Castle, which I hated, also had a sense of voyeurism and false heroism in the father and the treatment of these children. In comedy it has taken a different turn where the voyeurism is focused on a particular class of people- Middle American Trump voters.

There’s no doubt that most in Hollywood are angry at anyone who elected Donald Trump. Meryl Streep in her Golden Globes speech described the attitude of most when she said:

“So Hollywood is crawling with outsiders and foreigners, and if you kick ’em all out, you’ll have nothing else to watch but football and mixed martial arts, which are not the arts.”

It’s kind of ironic because Hollywood has been doing a pretty good job lately of kicking themselves out with all these sexual abuse scandals! But listen to the disdain she holds for the middle America, average American with their football and mixed martial arts “which are not the arts”. She doesn’t care about mixed martial arts. It was her way of taking a dig at a class of people she finds beneath her and is repulsed by.

Many who feel this way are angry and want revenge and since marching doesn’t seem to be doing much good they work it into their art, which they have every right to do. However, I don’t have to like said art! Earlier in the year we got Beatriz at Dinner, which actively irritated me. There is literally a dream sequence in that film where the character gets to murder the Trump/1% clone. If that’s not voyeurism in film then I don’t know what is.

The latest journey into voyeurism is from writer and director Martin McDonagh called The Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri. In the dark comedy Frances McDormand plays a grieving Missouri mother who is angry at the lack of progress in her daughter’s case, so she buys 3 billboards outside the town.

Without giving too much away the film becomes a revenge piece with McDormand as the supposed anti-hero. She reams out the clergy, police (literally setting the station on fire), her ex-husband and even young teenagers. The sheriff played by Woody Harrelson is supposed to be her antagonist, but he’s pretty unlikable too. He’s the heart of the movie but then does distasteful stuff, which make him hard to root for.

The anger at cops continues as Sam Rockwell plays a loveable racist cop if there is such a thing. He is an angry character who commits an act of violence against a gay character I had a hard time chuckling along with. The only character I liked was played by Peter Dinklage who is a little person who doesn’t care what others think about him. Lucas Hedges was also solid in the few scenes as Mildred’s son.

It’s not that every character needs to be likable for a film to work, but even an anti-hero needs to have moments of warmth that draw you in. There’s a scene in this film where Mildred kicks young teens in the groin and that is supposed to be funny. It felt more uncomfortable to me.

If you look at many of the reviews you can see this kind of voyeurism. One critic, Katie Walsh, who gave the film a perfect score said ”

“…a cathartic wail against the zeitgeist of rape culture and state brutality. It’s a rallying cry, a right hook to the jaw, and wow, does it ever hurt so good.”

There’s a catharsis in seeing police, religion and other institutions assaulted and torn down. That feels good to people that are angry at said institutions. It’s not helpful or entertaining in my opinion but it feels stimulating for some. Faith based communities have a similar catharsis when institutions and people they hate are torn down in their films. It’s stimulating and even arousing but not what I want out of film.

To be honest Three Billboards wasn’t made for me. In fact, I’m one of the people the movie is mad at with my conservative values and traditional religion. So people would probably get a kick out of seeing a revenge piece against me. More power to them but it didn’t work for me. The performances were all strong and it is well made but I didn’t care for it. They try to tag on a redemptive ending but it didn’t feel earned to me and didn’t work.

I didn’t find Three Billboards to be funny, insightful or have anything interesting to say about religion, politics, art, crime, police brutality or anything like that. I didn’t laugh much; although most of my theater was in stitches. I guess some find repeated assault on characters and on Middle American values to be funny.

I did not…

Last Flag Flying Review

November 22, 2017November 14, 2017 | Rachel's Reviews

After summer months of superheroes, minions, and talking animals, I often find myself yearning for human stories from the cinema by autumn. Thankfully, directors like Richard Linklater step up to the camera and provide us with such films on a regular basis. I loved his recent entries Before Midnight, Boyhood, and Everybody Wants Some. These films allow us to spend time with humans, walk in their shoes, and become better for the experience. Linklater’s latest entry, Last Flag Flying, while not quite as strong, continues this tradition and is a beautiful depiction of male friendship in America.

Last Flag Flying is billed as an ‘unofficial sequel’ to the film The Last Detail with Jack Nicholson. Set in 2003, the film follows three Vietnam War veterans played by Bryan Cranston, Steve Carell, and Laurence Fishburne; Cicely Tyson also has a lovely small role as the mother of one of their marine corps friends. These three men haven’t spoken since the war but are reunited when Carell’s son is killed in the war in Iraq, brought together because Carell purposely seeks them out. Evidently, he doesn’t have anyone else to assist him with this difficult task or, at least, it is never really explained why they lost touch or why he needed them in particular.

At first, they are planning to go to Arlington, and then events take them all up to Delaware and further. All along the way, the men talk about war, faith (Fishburne plays a minister), women, raising kids, and everything else. This is where the movie shines, as expected. The three actors have wonderful chemistry and Richard Linklater is a master at realistic dialogue. It felt emotionally true to the way men deal with friendship and support one another in these difficult circumstances – especially men who are not used to supporting each other.

We also see J. Quinton Johnson as a young marine, an honest voice of the government, who knew Carell’s son. The rest of the military is painting a glossy picture of heroism but he is willing to tell the truth to a grieving father.

Some viewers become frustrated with Linklater’s thin plots and consequently may actually find that Last Flag Flying has more structure, and therefore is more satisfying. However, I felt the film grew a little repetitive at times with the men learning the same lessons over and over again. Also, Bryan Cranston’s character bordered on caricature at times, and his ‘tough guy’ persona got a little old.

In spite of that, there is much to like in Last Flag Flying. The ending particularly worked well and had me tearing up. I also appreciate that it is not an anti-war or pro-nationalism film, but is instead focused on these three men and their friendship, and that is definitely worth watching.

Overall Grade: B

The Son of Bigfoot Review

November 21, 2017November 21, 2017 | Rachel's Reviews

I’m not going to lie to you guys. There are times when I get on here and think ‘ugh I’ve got to tell them about the latest mediocre….movie.” However, other times I approach the keyboard with great anticipation because I can tell you about something that surprised me. It’s like I heard a great secret and can’t wait to share it with all of my friends. Today is such an experience.

Let me tell you about the recent European import The Son of Bigfoot. This movie was not only way better than I expected it to be but it was legitimately a good animated film with tons of heart, humor and an entertaining story.

It’s perhaps especially surprising I enjoyed The Son of Bigfoot so much because it was made by the team who brought us such classics as Fly Me to the Moon and The Wild Life (which I didn’t hate as much as others but this is a huge step up!). It’s certainly much better than such mainstream animated films as The Emoji Movie, The Star and Despicable Me 3.

The story focuses on a very likable teenage protagonist named Adam. His main attribute is his bushy thick hair. His father died when he was little and his Mom struggles to help him deal with bullies and corral his need for adventure.

One day he gets a clue that perhaps there is more to his Dad’s story than he was told. Could he be the mysterious Bigfoot that has prowled the nearby forests? He, along with his buddy animals, set off to find out and in the process he learns a lot about his father, family and himself.

Here’s the trailer if you want to see more:

There is so much to like about The Son of Bigfoot. I really liked Adam as a character. He felt like a typical teenager without being annoying. The relationship between him and his Dad develops in a touching way as he comes to understand himself more in the process. He also has to learn to forgive both his Mom and his Dad and that journey felt authentic and real. There are no celebrity voice actors in the film (yay!) but the professionals they got worked and the dubbing seemed natural. The sidekicks didn’t feel like Minions clones (for once) which was nice and the humor in the film mostly worked for me. The action scenes were fun. The animation was pretty impressive for a small budget. I even liked the music by a band called Puggy!

If I was looking for downsides I guess the evil corporate villain is a bit of a snooze and not every joke lands. It can feel a little overstuffed at times with storylines like the bullying being unnecessary but these are all nitpicks.This is a thoroughly entertaining film that the entire family will enjoy. It also has a sweet message without being a MESSAGE movie.

I don’t want to oversell The Son of Bigfoot. It’s not Your Name or something earth shattering, but I was very excited after seeing it. I even got emotional at certain sequences. Like I cried! This was a really sweet, funny, pleasant movie that I hope you give a chance on demand or from your local library. It’s one I will be picking up for sure.

Justice League Review

November 18, 2017November 18, 2017 | Rachel's Reviews

This weekend our latest superhero movie, Justice League, came out, and I’ve been hesitant to post a blog review. I did a video review right after I saw it, which I would love for you to check out.

Basically I have really mixed feelings about Justice League, which makes it a hard film to write a coherent review about. Let me just give you a few thoughts:

First of all, I have not enjoyed Man of Steel, Batman v Superman or Suicide Squad. I loved Wonder Woman but that had the benefit of director Patty Jenkins over the more problematic Zack Snyder. So needless to say I went into Justice League with pretty low expectations, which always makes me a little more forgiving of its many flaws.

The positives to Justice League is I enjoyed the heroes and I’m a hero girl when it comes to comic book movies. The Flash was fun. Wonder Woman was of course great. Batman was fine and Aquaman was better than you’d expect. I am also so happy to be able to say they finally got Superman right! This is a Superman who is joyous and positive not mopey and ashamed of who he is. This is a Superman that fights for truth, justice and the American way!!! I have been waiting for that ever since Man of Steel made me depressed for days. I had a huge smile on my face for particularly the last 30 minutes of the movie, which gave Superman the time to shine I’ve been hoping for.

I also thought the Joss Whedon influenced dialogue was fun and I laughed a fair amount. One scene in particular between Wonder Woman and Aquaman was especially funny. The Flash had a lot of funny lines and the entire team had a nice chemistry together.

Unfortunately that’s where my praise has to end. A lot of Justice League is a hot mess. The plot is tough to defend with a villain that is poorly developed and a structure that is incoherent and sloppy at best. It wasn’t as badly put together as Suicide Squad but it was close.

Also the action was an orange and gray mess. It looked like a video game especially any fighting with the villain. If you like Zack Snyder’s aesthetic than you will enjoy it but I’ve never been a fan and this was really rough to look at. A lot of people complained about the action at the end of Wonder Woman. This is much uglier than that but throughout the movie. The only movie I can think of that looked worse this year as far as action was King Arthur: Legend of the Sword. The CGI was also poorly executed and once again looked like a cheap video game. It was also a bummer to see his leering camera over Wonder Woman and the skimpy outfits the girls wore in Themiscyra.

Much was made about Danny Elfman using the original Superman and Batman scores for Justice League but nothing really stood out to me music-wise.

But all this aside I can’t deny that when I saw Superman fighting for truth and justice it made me really happy. I’m just so torn on this one.

I guess since it did make me smile I will give it a smile worthy but just barely.

Wonder Review

November 17, 2017November 14, 2017 | Rachel's Reviews

Adapting a popular novel is always a tricky undertaking for a film studio. They could stay close to the source and please the die-hard fans, of which there are many, or they can make changes that work better for a cinematic experience. In the new film, Wonder, the creators have chosen the former and stayed very close to R.J. Palacio’s 2012 novel of the same name. Therefore, I can only imagine that fans of the book will be very happy with the adaptation. Unfortunately, as someone who was meh on the book, I had a lot of problems with it.

Wonder tells the story of Auggie (Jacob Tremblay), a little boy who has a facial deformity that makes it hard for him to fit in with other boys and girls his age. His parents, played by Julia Roberts and Owen Wilson, have finally decided to put him in public school. This is scary for the entire family, including Auggie’s long-suffering sister Via (Izabela Vidovic). Just as in the book, the film alternates narrators, and we see perspectives of Auggie’s schoolmates and family as he experiences a year of school.

All of these experiences have nice moments but, as a victim of childhood bullying myself, others rang false. Firstly, the film creators reduced Auggie’s deformity; he’s supposed to be so disfigured he barely has a functional face. If you look at the cover of the book, you can see that his eye is the only ‘normal’ part of his face. I had a hard time buying that kids would bully the adorable looking Tremblay. He’s also not that socially awkward either. He’s a little shy but nothing crazy. I think the pudgy girl or girl with an accent or something like that are far more likely to get picked on than Auggie for his mildly abnormal face.

But let’s go with his face is so horrific that he is bullied, which isn’t shown to us in a compelling way either. This is going to sound unfeeling but I often wanted to tell Auggie to buck up a little more. He is extremely sensitive and expected to be treated with unreasonably soft kid gloves, rather than simply expecting to be treated like a normal kid. In fact, almost all the students and staff seemed to go out of their way to be nice to him. The school even has kids, including the bully, take time from summer break to give him a tour of the school. At the end of the year, he is given an award for courage, which I didn’t think was earned. Frankly, the kids who gave him the tour and were nice to him probably deserved it more.

There is one point where Via says to Auggie, “not everything in the world is about you,” and this needed to be said much more frequently. In fact, I often felt like all of the characters were more interesting than Auggie, especially Via. Izabela Vidovic is excellent in the role and she’s a character that is constantly ignored in favor of her high-maintenance brother. She plays this with the right amount of kindness and irritation. Her romance subplot is also really sweet.

This is the risk a movie takes in having more than one narrator. It may expose the flaws of one narrator and leave the viewers preferring others. Like I said, I liked all of the characters more than Auggie and was disappointed whenever we went back to him.

It’s not good in a movie like Wonder when the bullies’ parents are explaining their point of view and I, a former bully victim, actually agree with them. Auggie is never asked to see things from others’ points of view, or to try to help those around him. It’s all about how he is hurt from the slightest things and, if such a hurt occurs, those ‘guilty’ people need to be punished and removed. Shouldn’t he be taught to deal with difficult people or to turn enemies into friends? That takes real courage.

I suppose there are some kids with facial deformities like Auggie who are as sensitive but it didn’t feel authentic or emotionally true. If he really was so fragile, it probably isn’t a wise time for him to be entering public education. Maybe even a private school would have been a better choice?

Nevertheless, if you like the book Wonder, then you probably will enjoy this movie. The acting is good, and it’s well-made by Stephen Chbosky, who also made one of my favorite movies, Perks of Being a Wallflower. Yet, in the end, the film was just too vanilla with a plucky kid that was more self-absorbed than wonderful.

Overall Grade: C