The new movie adaptation of The Perks of Being a Wallflower is really, really good.

Author Stephen Chbosky wisely never optioned off the rights to his beloved 1999 YA novel; he wrote and directed the film after tinkering with the screenplay for years, and the result is one of the best teen movies in years. The movie is faithful to the spirit of the book, if not every letter; in some ways, the story has been improved in the retelling. (I've always had issues with the book's ending—no spoilers, but the book's big reveal is handled much more gracefully in the movie.) If you were a teenager in the '90s, or a music-loving oddball at any point, it's really worth checking out. ("Tugboat" is on the soundtrack, for fuck's sake.) Try not to die from nostalgia.

And Elinor Jones got to interview Stephen Chbosky for the Mercury this week, and it's a really smart and interesting and funny interview, full of tidbits about how he adapted his own books, and what it was like to work with Hermione Granger. I'm wildly jealous—Chbosky sounds like the nicest guy ever.