Alpha Dog & The Perks of Being a Wallflower now streaming on Netfllix

April 6th 2020, 12:07pm

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

Two very different coming of age films are no we available to stream on Netflix during a time we're stuck at home looking for something new to watch or merely films to rediscover. ALPHA DOG, directed by Nick Cassavetes, & THE PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER, written & directred by Stephen Chbosky, are now streaming on Netflix as of April 1.

Both films deal with the difficulties of growing up but from very different angles. ALPHA DOG is based on the tragic true story of the kidnapping and murder of 15 year old Nicholas Markowitz, a teenager who was taken due to a feud over drug money between his half-brother Benjamin Markowitz and Jesse James Hollywood. Initially the kidnapping is viewed as a sort of party to Markowitz, who is allowed to party with his would be young adult captors but soon the situation grows very serious as it becomes clear the party is truly over. Released in 2007, the film stars Emile Hirsch, Justin Timberlake, Anton Yelchin, Bruce Willis, Shawn Hatosy, Ben Foster, Olivia Wilde & Sharon Stone. I own this film but it's great to see it finally available on streaming because it's a solid and harrowing effort with standout performances from Hirsch, Timberlake and the late Anton Yelchin, who gives one of his best early performances in the film.

Also know available on streaming is THE PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER, based on the book by Stephen Chbosky. Adapting his own book for the screen, Chbosky crafts a coming of age film for the ages that captures all of the angst of high school and the desire to find your people and simply fit in. The film follows an introvert freshman who is take under the wings of two seniors who welcome him to real world as they all teach each other something new about themselves. The movie stars Logan Lerman, Emma Watson, Ezra Miller, Paul Rudd, Dylan McDermott, Kate Walsh, Nina Dobrev, Johnny Simmons, & Mae Whitman. Interestingly enough, Logan Lerman, who is now starring on the Amazon Prime Video series Hunters, trended on Twitter when THE PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER hit Netflix because a lot of people were discovering the 2012 film for the first time and realizing that one of the stars on this series was featured prominently in the film. Just goes to show you that it's never too late to discover good films, especially when we have all the time in the world right now to give them a shot.