I did a major no-no this past weekend. Something I can’t remember ever doing.

I watched a movie before I read the book it was based on.

The movie was The Perks of Being a Wallflower. Those who know me will tell you that I’m not a big movie person; I rarely watch them, and I even more rarely have an opinion on them beyond a shrug and an ‘eh.’

It’s rare when a movie will really appeal to me, and I can probably name them on my fingers: The King’s Speech, Lincoln, The Social Network, Never Been Kissed, Juno, and a few more that I can’t recall at this moment.

But The Perks of Being a Wallflower was really good. Great plot, really well-executed, and with a great cast. I know a lot of to-do has been made about Emma Watson‘s post-Hermione career, and she was pretty good in this role (her accent could have used a bit more work.)

But the star of the thing was it’s lead, Logan Lerman. Who knew Percy Jackson, The Lightening Thief could act? I didn’t, and let me tell you, that kid’s performance was incredible. He played Charlie, this socially-inept, troubled kid, with a sensitivity and depth that I wasn’t expecting.

I could rave about his performance for days, but I don’t want to overhype it for those who haven’t yet seen the film.

I do wish I had read the book before seeing it. I’ve downloaded it to my Kindle and will hopefully tackle it this weekend.

P.S. The movie has one of the best soundtracks I’ve heard since Never Been Kissed (don’t knock it till you hear it :p) And one of my favorite scenes from the movie involved one of my all-time oldie’s-but-goodie’s..

Come on, Eileen by Dexys Midnight Runners

Here it is, courtesy of 80sMuzic on Youtube