Being a Wallflower has its Perks

 Stephen Chbosky is a native of Pittsburgh.  He grew up in Upper St. Clair, and made sure to include his love of his hometown in the movie.  The actors stayed in Bethel Park and had nights at the movies and at Eat N Park.  They experienced what it is like to be a teen in Pittsburgh.  Stephen Chbosky is the writer and director of Perks of Being A Wallflower, something that only a few people in history have had the chance to do.

  If Stephen Chbosky is feeling infinite these days, who can blame him?

Blessed arrivals are all around him. His wife, Liz, gave birth to their darling daughter in August, and he has spent the past couple of weeks crisscrossing the continent to promote "The Perks of Being a Wallflower."

In the rarest of triple plays, he wrote the novel and then adapted it and directed the movie version in his hometown of Pittsburgh, where the story is set.

Chbosky making appearances

If you want to meet Stephen Chbosky or have him sign your copy of "The Perks of Being a Wallflower," you are in luck. The novelist, screenwriter and director is scheduled for multiple appearances:
Friday: Mr. Chbosky will take questions after the 7 and 8 p.m. shows (movie will be on multiple screens) at AMC-Loews at the Waterfront. He also will do a book signing and meet-and-greet at 10:15 p.m. and introduce a 10:45 p.m. screening there.
Saturday: Mr. Chbosky will do a book signing and meet-and-greet at 6 p.m. in the lobby of the Manor Theater, Squirrel Hill. He will field questions after the 7 p.m. show and introduce a 9:50 p.m. screening.
He also will introduce "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" at Dormont's Hollywood Theater at 10:30 p.m. See www.showclix.com/event/RockyHorrorAtTheHollywood for advance tickets, $7.
Sunday: Mr. Chbosky will take questions after the 2 p.m. show at the Manor in Squirrel Hill.

He assembled a cast, led by Emma Watson, Ezra Miller and Logan Lerman, that is hip, hot and highly talented. If someone comes to see Hermione graduate to a new role or revisit the stars of "We Need to Talk About Kevin" or "Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief," all the better.
"Emma has been a great advocate of the movie, she's wonderful in it, but what I discovered is the people who go, it's a pretty even split between Emma's fans and the book's fans, and Ezra certainly has a lot of people who love him and Logan has his fan base.

"Look, whatever gets people into the theater, then they can judge for themselves, I'm all for it," the 42-year-old said during the Toronto International Film Festival. For someone who had arrived three hours earlier and is the father of an infant, he looked remarkably well rested or maybe just happy.
Entertainment Weekly has called "Perks" a "graceful and beguiling drama." Teens everywhere are making plans to squeeze it in between homecoming and the SAT, and Pittsburghers finally will get a look at the homegrown movie Friday when it opens at AMC-Loews at the Waterfront and the Manor in Squirrel Hill.

(The movie debuted at four locations in New York and Los Angeles five days ago, averaging an astonishing $61,000 per location, or almost 10 times what "The Master" raked in per venue.)
"Perks" is about the traumatic and triumphant freshman year of Charlie, a precocious student and social wallflower who is taken under the wing of two free-spirited seniors and stepsiblings. He shares, through letters or narration, first-time emotions and experiences, perceptive observations about the people around him and, eventually, heartrending memories that belatedly surface.

In advance of the "Perks" world premiere here, Summit Entertainment set up camp on the 23rd floor of the luxurious Trump hotel to arrange interviews in 9- or 15-minute increments (in most cases) with Mr. Chbosky and the cast.

The Upper St. Clair native recently had been in Seattle where he shared a stage with his mentor Stewart Stern, screenwriter of "Rebel Without a Cause" and inspiration for the model English teacher played by Paul Rudd in the film.

A seminar led by Mr. Stern at the University of Southern California convinced the Pittsburgh teen to enroll in the filmic writing program there. When the famous scribe suffered a major heart attack not long after, Mr. Chbosky wrote him an anonymous letter, much like Charlie does in the book, to say, "Thank you, you changed my life."

The 90-year-old and his wife attended an advance screening of "Perks" earlier this month, and he loved it. "Loved it-loved it," Mr. Chbosky reported.

"When the screenwriter of 'Rebel Without a Cause' gives you any compliment it means something, but he had already read the script, so he knew the script," but didn't know how Mr. Chbosky would translate it. "He said the tone, it's perfect. It's exactly what youth is, and it meant the world to me."

Paying respect to elders closer to home, Mr. Chbosky cast his parents in a "Perks" scene filmed in Bethel Presbyterian Church, dressed as a Catholic church, complete with twin Communion lines. He paired Lea and Fred Chbosky with actors Kate Walsh and Dylan McDermott, who play mom and dad to Mr. Lerman's character.

He purposely mirrored his fiction family with his real family, but not everyone got equal screen time.
Talking about his retired dad, he said, "Because it was better to open the scene with Dylan McDermott in a close-up, he's only in the very tail end of the wider shot. So he's bummed. But my mom is right there, and she does a great job." His sister, Stacy Chbosky, also turns up as a young mother.

Most of what Mr. Chbosky shot is in the movie, but some scenes with Charlie's suicidal friend, Michael, and a subplot involving Charlie's sister didn't make the final cut. The individual scenes and sequences are beautiful and the acting by Owen Campbell and Nina Dobrev fantastic, he said, but they proved to be too much.

"One more thing, I think, would have tipped it," he said of the movie's delicate emotional balance. The inclusion also might have robbed the power from other wrenching moments.

Mr. Chbosky's affection for his hometown, evident in the way he uses the city and its suburbs, is boundless. "I love Pittsburgh so much, I have everyone drinking the Kool-Aid," including the cast who stayed at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Bethel Park in spring and summer 2011.

Like real-life teens who rewatch Harry Potter movies instead of starring in them, the actors spent evenings playing music, talking, being silly, going to Eat'n Park or occasionally slipping away to the mall and movie theater across the street.

In a nod to the movie's signature scene, the filmmaker has offered to take visitors through the Fort Pitt Tunnel, music blaring, seat belts firmly in place. Although if the passengers twist around, they might see the vantage point on display early in the film.

"You know when you're a kid and look out the rear window? It's child-like, it's very almost hypnotic, there's something calming about it."

Mr. Chbosky, who is writing a book he calls a loving tribute to Stephen King, is that rare director who doesn't dream of more time or money to tweak his project. He finished the sound mix on the film in April, and the distance has given him the chance to see the project through fresh eyes once more.

"Look, to be a first-time studio director and to finish a movie and to look at the screen and say, if they gave me $20 million and another year to reshoot anything I wanted -- or gave me almost like a magic wand -- I wouldn't touch a frame of the movie.

"I wouldn't change a cast member, I wouldn't change a song and I'm really grateful to be able to say that, and I'm proud to be able to say that. I'm not saying it's a perfect movie, by any stretch, but even the mistakes became part of what I think is charming about it.

"I think it's an authentic celebration of what it means to be young, and it's everything I wanted the movie to be."


Read more at the Post Gazette.

Dark Knight Rises is the 10th Highest Grossing Movie of All Time

Dark Knight Rises is now in the top ten highest grossing pictures of all time.  The movie has passed the $600 million mark. The success of the movie continues globally where it has earned $1.041 billion.  All these figures make this movie the 10th highest grossing movie of all time. 

A quick ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ box office update for ya! The Wrap bring word that the exhilarating conclusion to Christopher Nolan’s Batman saga has passed the hefty $600 million mark at the international box office, having earned $603 million – well ahead of the $469.7 million international haul of ’The Dark Knight.’ 

As of Sunday, ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ has earned $437.8 million at the US box office for a worldwide box office total of $1.041 billion. The two previous Dark Knight instalments, ‘Batman Begins’ and ‘The Dark Knight,’ ended their theatrical runs at $372,710,015 and $1,001,921,825 global totals, respectively. ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ is currently the 10th highest grossing movie of all time at the worldwide box office, just behind the $1,043.9 billion that ‘Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides′ made in 2011. It has also become the 8th highest grossing movie of all time in the US, trailing the $441,2 million haul of ‘Shrek 2.’

The Dark Knight Rises’ sees Christian Bale returning to the dual role of Bruce Wayne and Batman alongside series regulars Commissioner Jim Gordon (Gary Oldman), Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman), and Alfred (Michael Caine). Newcomers to Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy include Anne Hathaway’s Selina Kyle/Catwoman, Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s John Blake, Marion Cotillard’s Miranda Tate, Matthew Modine’s Foley, Ben Mendelsohn’s Daggett, and Tom Hardy’s dastardly, physically imposing and oddly charismatic villain, Bane.  The story for ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ is set eight years after Batman took the fall for Two Face’s crimes in ‘The Dark Knight.’ It sees the Caped Crusader resurface to protect a city that brands him an enemy as a new terrorist leader, Bane, overwhelms Gotham’s finest.


Judging by films stunning trailers, its marketing campaign, the first-rate cast, and most importantly; the two previous installments in Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight saga, ‘Batman Begins’ and ‘The Dark Knight,’ I always expected something rather special from ‘The Dark Knight Rises.’ Thankfully, for me, it delivered – big time! 

For more information see Flicks and Bits.

One Week Until Perks!

We have one week to wait until we get to learn about what the Perks of Being A Wallflower are?  The premiere happened in Los Angeles a few days ago, and the stars danced the night away after seeing their work.

 

For the young cast of "Perks of Being a Wallflower," fringe benefits were plenty Monday night in Los Angeles, where a red carpet and screening was held at the Cinerama Dome.



 Nestled in front of the Arclight Hollywood, star Emma Watson stunned with slicked-back hair and a nude Armani gown — a nice nod to her own evolution from 'Harry Potter" darling to grown-up star.

A little, shall we say, more liberated in his look: the scene-stealing Ezra Miller rocking wild hair, drawstring pajama pants and an oversized khaki blazer.

Both young stars were without their lead, Logan Lerman, busy supporting the film at the Toronto International Film Festival, but represented him in spirit by dragging a cardboard cutout of Lerman down the red carpet.

After the screening, nightspot Lure opened its doors to Watson, Miller and several ensemble members like Nina Dobrev, Johnny Simmons and Mae Whitman. 

Two notable young Hollywood stars attended the festivities but seemed much more taken with Ezra than the coming-of-age drama: Shailene Woodley and Rumer Willis.

Shailene, of last year's awards hit "The Descendents," rolled into the party with a faded Jansport backpack on her shoulder (perhaps a nod to the high-school-set film?) and chatted up Miller with enthusiasm, even coaxing him to dance at one point.

Later on Rumer, in a floor-length dress with a lace detail, enjoyed a lengthy conversation with Miller at a dinner table. 

Not to be outdone, the film's adults presented a united front: Dylan McDermott and Kate Walsh, who play Lerman's on-screen parents, sat at adjoining tables and chatted with cast and crew close to midnight.

For more information see the La Times.

Wrestlers Needed for Movie

  A new movie being filmed in Pittsburgh is in need of extras who are familiar with the sport of wrestling.  This includes coaches, athletes, referees, score keepers, and others.  There will be a casting call September 15th at Canon McMillian High School. Keep reading for more information.

Wrestlers are needed for a movie filming in the Pittsburgh area.
Bennett Miller, Oscar-nominated director of "Capote," will be in town casting a movie about Olympic Gold medal wrestlers Dave and Mark Schultz.
According to a notice on the Pittsburgh Film Office website, Miller, who directed "Moneyball," wants to ensure authenticity by casting real wrestlers, coaches, referees, trainers and scorekeepers.

A Sept. 15 casting call will take place at Canon McMillan High School in Canonsburg. The casting session will be for extras and some speaking roles. Advance registration is required by e-mailing WrestlingExtras@gmail.com. Casting opportunities also are available for general extras, and wrestling fans, ages 12 to 65, for filming to take place October through January 2013. Minors must be accompanied by a parent or guardian.

Internet Movie Data Base reports the movie is tentatively titled "Foxcatcher" and will star Channing Tatum, Mark Ruffalo and Steve Carell.

Wrestling choreography and consulting for the film will be provided by John Giura, a two-time World Cup Champion, and Jesse Jantzen, a Collegiate National Champion and four-time state champion.

For more information see Pittsburgh Film Office.