The Place Beyond The Pines (2013)

[SPOILER! SPOILER! SPOILER! SPOILER! DO NOT READ IF YOU PLAN TO WATCH!]

This adrenaline infused film starts with a very cool opening scene without a single cut, ending in the motorcycle ball of death. I wish the director would have kept up with this style, but I didn't notice anything else worth mentioning on the direction side, though I will check out Derek Cianfrance's other films. I went into this feature without reading anything except, "stunt motorcyclist robs banks" and the 2h20m runtime, so I was shocked when Gosling died early in. I like how Derek Cianfrance showed the aftermath that one death can have, he took the movie in a direction that caught me completely off guard. The characters are all realistic and believable. This was a great cast for Gosling, he pulls off the 'man of few words' character nicely. I think he almost broke character while doing his high pitched  'get on the fuckin floor' voice in one of the scenes. During the first bank robbery I thought my heart was going to pound it's way through my rib cage, but it doesn't stop there. This film triggers a lot of emotion while telling a very unique story.

VERDICT: WATCH IT ON THE BIG SCREEN!

7.75/10

The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012)

"Right now we are alive and in this moment I swear we are infinite."
I liked this movie, but with mixed feelings. There is a common symptom films set in high school (Chronicle, for example) suffer from that leaves them feeling so... unbelievable, for lack of a better word. Maybe it's the cliches or the overdeveloped characters with flaws that shouldn't be there. Regardless, the story is good and the characters were fun. I found it funny how Charlie gets high and suddenly 'wakes up'. A really likeable (likable?) group of actors. I haven't read the book, but it's cool to see an author make a movie about his own novel.

6.75/10

VERDICT: WORTH A WATCH!