There are certain films that most movie goers believe don’t need to rebooted/remade/ruined, but Beauty And The Beast is happening whether we like it or not.

So, while there is little hope that the project won’t come to pass and the 1991 animated version can stay the childhood benchmark that it’s been, there is at least some exciting talent signing up. Dan Stevens (Downton Abbey, last year’s unnervingly cool The Guest) will join the endlessly charming Emma Watson (The Bling Ring, Noah, Harry Potter). Stevens will play the Beast to Watson’s Belle—a pairing that is obviously in the running for most attractive fairytale couple ever.

Shortly before Walt Disney Pictures confirmed Stevens part, it was revealed that Luke Evans would play Gaston. Evans, quite frankly, is a far less inspired choice than Stevens, having played a baddie in two Fast and Furious pics and starred in the also-unnecessary Dracula Untold. Bill Condon (the forthcoming Mr. Holmes and a pair of Twilight movies) will direct the Steven Chbosky (The Perks Of Being A Wallflower) script.

All in all, we’re staying faithful. Watson and Stevens are both tons of fun and getting to see them play opposite is enough to get us onboard.

Why on earth would this post-modern feminist put a crass, self-referential, bro-mantic apocalypse film in her top 5 of the year (thus far)? Because Seth Rogen and super side-kick Evan Goldberg (Superbad, Pineapple Express), hit it on the head with this film. Everything’s been done before. Stoner comedy. Check. Apocalyptic bromance. Check. Crazy amounts of cameos. Check. A healthy dose of celebrity voyeurism? Wait a second boys, I think you may be on to something.

From scene one in this film as Seth Rogen waits at the airport for his buddy from Canada, Jay Baruchel, to arrive for a visit, it’s apparent Seth is, well, real-life Seth. “Give us your trademark Seth Rogen laugh” an asshole with a camera at the airport chides. And he does, establishing that yep, he can turn it on and turn it up, and you’re going to eat it up. Seth takes Jay home and its established Jay isn’t a big fan of LA and it’s pompous Hollywood types. So the two stay home for gaming and smoking, until Seth throws out that maybe they pop over to James Franco‘s housewarming party. Jay is hesitant, they aren’t his crowd, and they represent Seth’s new Hollywood life.

They go anyway. Cameo after cameo of young Hollywood comedic actors pop up. Hello, Craig Robinson. Hello, Jonah Hill. Hello, Micheal Cera (busily casting off any semblance of George Michael Bluth by baring his ass while receiving “favors” from another party guest and blowing coke into peoples faces; not unlike a few of his other films coming out this year, ahem, Crystal Fairy and Magic Magic). Hello, Mindy Kaling. Hello, Aziz Ansari. Hello, Rihanna? Ok, who invited her?

Yes, it’s exaggerated, but it all just feels somewhat likely. For all we know these actors have weekly ragers at Franco’s house. Eventually Jay feels a bit stifled by Seth’s new group, and the two walk to the store for munchies. Queue the apocalypse, or as Jay will later devise, the Rapture, complete with blue light sucking the enlightened into heaven. Jay and Seth make it back to Franco’s house in time for most of the party to die via sinkhole in James’s front yard (or Cera by even more hilarious means) and Jay, Seth, James, Craig, and Jonah manage to survive and horde themselves into Franco’s house, immediately fortifying it with duck tape and barring the doors with Franco’s eclectic art collection as protection. Danny McBride shows up shortly thereafter, an oblivious and unwelcome member of the group.

The film is endlessly hilarious and it seems to manage this with the perfect amount of self-awareness. The actors trash talk each other in their tell-all room camera and we think, yeah, I bet Danny McBride is a pain in the ass. And when they sit around the dinner table describing just how difficult it is to be an actor because sometimes you have to pretend it’s hot, when it’s really freezing cold, it’s funny because as comedic actors (ironically, all who are now taking on much more serious roles, Jonah Hill is Oscar-nominated for Pete’s sake) we’d possibly expect them to be so shallow. One of the more hilarious bits is when Emma Watson shows up and the guys sabotage her stay by being overly sensitive to her role as a woman. In fact the lack of sexist jokes is worth noting.

In This is the End, during which I literally slapped my thigh and gasped for air at numerous times, Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg have created a film that maintains a steady comedic ride that never lets up. A feat I’d consider much more difficult than tugging at my heartstrings. As each of these actors recognizes they weren’t “good” enough to make it up to heaven and attempts to make up for that, we wonder in earnest about their fate. If living in sin is as funny as they make it out to be, could being good people possibly be as hilarious? It could. It can. It is.

As the argument goes, it is rare to find a film that is better than the novel it is based on. This is simply because the cinematic representation can never quite hold the writers imagination or match the depth and layered details found amongst the printed page. The Perks of Being a Wallflower directed by Stephen Chbosky however holds a defiant advantage in the fact that it was also written by Stephen Chbosky. As a coming-of-age tale the film owes its success to the dazzling reality of the situations as if stolen from the audience’s very own adolescence. It is in these subtle moments that the film comes alive, with the quiet realizations that everything happening on the screen is not just about Chbosky’s characters but all of us, as well.

Charlie (Logan Lerman), the character in question, is a young freshman starting his first year of high school and he narrates us through the story from his perspective partly involved, and partly detached up on the wall as a ‘wallflower’. Obviously a unique person, Charlie at the beginning of the story is something of an introvert without any friends outside his family. However this changes when he meets Sam (Emma Watson) and Patrick (Ezra Miller), two seniors who take an interest in him and show him an alternate life. For the first time ever, Charlie goes to parties, music shows, hangs out with people and most importantly feels noticed, as if he is participating more in life.

The problem with this film is reading a review or hearing about it from someone simply cannot do it justice. That is thanks to countless terrible high school and college set rom-coms, which tarnish the whole subject greatly. The Perks of Being a Wallflower however is different and so should be treated differently. It holds a perfect balance in between a film with no substance and of one entrenched too far in the wrong emotions, tackling deep life issues but with humour sprinkled in the right moments. Underpinning this all is the psychological elements that Charlie and the other characters face stemming from some past traumatic events, which is something that adds character depth. This appeals to a wide audience and is again a reason for the film’s success as many people can connect with the issues on screen, ranging from, paedophilia, domestic abuse, suicide, homophobia, sexual exploration and of course unrequited love. This all becomes obvious between the characters through subtle, shared moments much like in real life and to the audience through the use of dream-like flashbacks, which adds an element of surrealism.

Helping greatly in the film’s success is the outstanding acting talents that shine through the film. Logan Lerman playing Charlie pulled off the awkwardly unique freshman perfectly and set himself out boldly as a new face. Emma Watson playing Sam pushes herself in all the right directions away from previous roles to mature and expand into new realms of cinema. However the main credit must fall to Ezra Miller playing Patrick, very much a dark horse he appears to be doing everything right to progress in the acting world, and he is doing so at an alarming rate. All three of them, brilliantly casted, really do make the film what it is and watching from the audience, you can’t help but think that Logan, Emma and Ezra have been waiting for these roles.

Anyone who watches The Perks of Being a Wallflower without prior knowledge of the story is in for the emotional and strikingly real performance promised, something you will wish could be relived. And likewise anyone who is already a fan of the novel will be happy to see the characters they know and love in a different format, continuing on past the pages onto the screen, as if they truly do mean something.

David Lynch fans rejoice, soon there will be nearly an hour of deleted scenes from Blue Velvet. Deleted scenes from the cult classic 1986 noir Blue Velvet were found on the blu-ray edition of the film but have recently made their way to YouTube. [Dangerous Minds]

Penelope Cruz has been confirmed for upcoming Ridley Scott and Pedro Almodovar films. Her extensive previous work with director Pedro Almodovar makes the news less surprising but still welcoming. The name of the film will be called Standby Lovers. She will join the cast of Ridley Scott’s The Counselor which is comprised of huge names including Michael Fassbender, Brad Pitt, Cameron Diaz, and Javier Bardem. [The Playlist]

Images from Michel Gondry’s upcoming French production Mood Indigo surfaced this week. Audrey Tatou (Amelie) will be the lead in the adaptation of Boris Vian’s 1947 novel Froth On The Daydream. The stills definitely appear to have Gondry’s creative touch to them. [Twitch]

Philip Seymour Hoffman goes agentless after leaving Paradigm after 18 years with the agency. Aside from appearing Paul Thomas Anderson’s The Master he just finished a role which director Mike Nichols has said may be the most taxing stage role on an actor. [Deadline]

Rumors have been circling that Emma Watson and Ray Winstone could star in Darren Aronofsky’s Biblical epic Noah. According to Deadline Ray Winstone may get a villain role in the film to go opposite of Russell Crowe. Emma Watson is apparently in talks to play Ila, a young woman who befriends Noah’s son, Shem. [Deadline]

The special animated companion to Moonrise Kingdom is now available to watch online for free. This Wes Anderson animated short does not contain any spoilers to Moonrise Kingdom therefore do not be hesitant to watch it if you have not seen the film yet. [EW]

The female cast from Your Sisters Sister sat down for an interview with Coming Soon to talk about the process of developing characters and how much of the film was improvised. One of the most amazing facts is that the entire crew for the film was only 16 people (and the film was shot in just 12 days). The whole interview is worth reading and if you haven’t read our review of Your Sisters Sister check it out now. [Coming Soon]

Talk about timely reviews, approximately 6 months after the movie was released in theaters, and one month after it was released on DVD the world will finally get to hear my much anticipated thoughts on the film. After years of dismissing Harry Potter as a silly children’s series, this 25 year old, chiseled, classically good-looking, professional accountant was swept up by the fascinating wizarding world. It was just too hard to ignore a series that has sold a bazillion copies, and had been a cultural phenomenon for 10 plus years. The books are amazing; JK Rowlings has created an incredible universe that sucks in both kids and adults. I am only truly lucky too not have discovered this series growing up, had I been younger, I guarantee I would have been that kid using spells in class, reading during recess, and realistically asking my teacher if magic was scientifically possible.

I promised myself I would only dedicate one chapter to the film series as a whole. I knew the movies would be just one interpretation of the novels, and in no way would it match up to the way I perceived the books. But as a whole, I have truly enjoyed each and every movie on very different levels. The majority of the film series criticism comes from what was left out of the novels. Many of the novels were over 700 pages long and there was just no way to put it all on the screen, a common problem with all films adapted from novels.

I personally enjoyed the earlier films because they had much simpler source material to cover. As the books progressed, the films became more and more disjointed as confusing plot points had to be condensed or all together left out. I personally feel Alfonso Cuaron’s The Prisoner of Azkhaban was the best film, as it transformed the series from an entertaining children’s series, to a much deeper, darker story, without losing any of the original charm.

As the seventh movie starts, Voldemort is on the rise, he has slowly been gaining power and support as the ineffectual Ministry of Magic has stumbled in their attempts to address the growing threat. Harry Potter and his two close friends, Ron Weasley, and Hermionie Granger, have decided to abandon their seventh year at Hogwarts and go on the run. They search out Horcruxes, pieces of Voldemort’s soul, in an attempt to finally destroy the dark lord. After Ron’s older brother’s wedding is interrupted by the bad guys, Harry and his friends go off the radar to avoid capture. The characters feel lost as Harry’s old school teacher and mentor, Albus Dumbledore, only left a series of mysterious clues and ambiguous plans. The trio feels alone and frustrated, as the pressure starts to mount, they have few allies and they struggle to identify, find, and destroy the remaining Horcruxes.

I was very excited to learn that Warner Bros. had officially decided to break up the complicated epic, that was Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. It truly allowed the first part to be a journey film, in which the true elements of each character are given time to grow and develop on screen. Few elements of the book were cut out as there was just so much more screen time to let the story breathe. Director David Yates, doing his 3^rd Harry Potter film, has put forth his best effort so far, the film is exciting, and visually impressive, yet the frustration and wandering of the novel is conveyed perfectly. The action is intense, the acting has really matured, and the vast characters and dialogue are masterfully condensed into a very focused, entertaining film. A very entertaining animated segment detailing the Tale of the Three Brothers is very concise and well executed. The only major criticism I have of the film, is that the other elements of the wizarding world are lost in the film, as it solely focused on the three characters and their pursuit of Horcruxes. Updates on Hogwarts, the growing threat of attacks on muggles, and the rise of death eaters in the ministry are largely left out.

Hardcore Harry Potter fans will not be disappointed. It is an exciting and faithful adaptation that really captures the essence of the book. Casual fans will enjoy it, as it is visually appealing and is definitely one of the better Harry Potter movies. If you have never heard of Harry Potter, well, I don’t know why you would start with the seventh movie. You will probably not like it as you will really not understand any of the characters or story, and you will probably just lump it in with Twilight, dismiss it, and make fun of anyone who does like it, and you probably have no imagination…or soul.