111 - The Perks Of Being A Wallflower

Connection To THE BLING RING - Emma Watson.

I was invested in this film from start to finish - pretty noticeable for me since it came right after watching The Bling Ring... This film had characters you could get behind and even a neat twist towards the end of the film.

For me this is the first bonafide proof that Emma Watson can make it away from Harry (her fun turn in This Is The End came after and is basically an extended cameo despite her name making it onto the poster) who too me carried off the American accent - generic as it may be - pretty well, but that's just the opinion of a Brit and I do think she is the best thing about this film. You could say why our main guy would hold her up as the ideal woman.

The film is set in the early 90's but it's really not that clear in a lot of ways to be fair - it's following the book but they could have moved the time period backwards or forwards and I don't think it would have had an effect either way - maybe it would have been easier for the youngsters to know that this super hard song that they don't realize what it is Heroes by David Bowie, if it was set any later or sooner because for it seemed like a song they should have known.

I thought the mental health aspect of the film was covered well in a non judgmental way - I think a lot of because could identify with wanting to fit in with more "normal" people as they see them but know their past experiences could hold them back.

Overall, a really well done film, so many aspects of it I liked - I would recommend it especially if you've felt like a bit of a social outcast or something like that.

110 - The Bling Ring

Connection To GET OVER IT - Kirsten Dunst who has a small role here.

Good on Sofia Coppola - she's managed to put the backlash of her perform in The Godfather Part III behind her and as managed to have a successful career as director, but me the truth is her films have ultimately left me cold, her most acclaimed film so far Lost In Translation just left me bored to tears if I'm honest and I'm a big Bill Murray fan and like Scarlett Johansson too.

I think the story intrigued me of The Bling Ring though, based on a true story in the Hollywood Hills, of a bunch of teenage criminals (mostly girls) who rob from celebrities such as Paris Hilton and Orlando Bloom.

The sad truth is, yeah this left me cold like the majority of her work (Virgin Suicides in fairness I remember liking but it's been so long since I've seen it), like Lost In Translation or Marie Antoinette I felt nothing while watching it. It feels easier to write something when you loved it, or had so much fun watching it or the opposite end where the film was just so bad you can just have a go at what you didn't like about it.

The film brought to mind - Spring Breakers - though both are different films other then pretty girls commit crimes - in the fact that is really what is most memorable about them, we had some ex-Disney princesses in Spring Breakers going against type and here we have Emma Watson and others, I mean there is a lot of prettiness going on here but the entire thing was just nothingness.

The film feels like bored teenagers talking, do robbery, the aftermath, doing it again and repeating until they get caught, are we supposed to feel anything for these bored kids? Because I sure as hell don't, I don't necessarily ask to be able to identify with characters in films but I at least want to feel their motivations perhaps.

The person to me who came out of looking this film the best for me is actually Paris Hilton - who had a small non speaking role - she was one of the real celebrities robbed (multiple times) and actually lets her real house be used in the film, I thought that was actually pretty cool of her and she didn't mind letting herself look stupid.

Overall, the scores on the net suggest the score is a little bit of a notch above average, so there must be people out there who liked it but for me it was such a cold experience that I didn't end up really enjoying.