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Definitely looking forward to it this weekend. And based from the reviews we've been getting, i think this will be a legitimately good film as well.
I doubt this will do the monster numbers that Twilight/Harry Potter does. But so long the adaptions are faithful and great, I don't really care all that much.
P.S- For the Mods. When your Review Thread comes up, maybe you could merge it with this one? That way, we'll get a unified Thread for this film.
I just wanna know the story behind Elizabeth Banks' getup.
What Gary Ross said was that he thinks of her like Joel Grey in CABARET (which Banks also mentioned) in that her look is good from the stage, but up close is unsettling.
Hated it.
I don't know if the problems are with the book, haven't read it, but Katniss is a cold fish who undergoes a mini-character arc all the way up to the point where they get to the forest. From that point on, she's just a boring action automaton.
This movie's INCREDIBLY serious and dreadfully boring. It should be neither once we hit the big city and everyone's dressed like a Buckaroo Banzai outtake, but we're given so little time at home with Katniss (literally the first fifteen minutes of the movie, and then never again) that we don't understand the different dynamics between the poor electricity-free cabins of District 12 and the shiny excess of the big city. It's all surface level, humorless satire without a thought in its head.
I'm not willing to say Jennifer Lawrence is a bad actress, but she's got no chemistry with other actors, particularly not Hutcherson or Hemsworth. All the kids are deadening and bland and the adults are all CAMP CITY HERE WE FUCKIN' COME! When more than one adult is onscreen, its like a fight to see who can chew more scenery.
There's three major black people in this movie, and their jobs are to have no inner motivations or goals except to make things better/easier for Katniss. Two of them pay for this with their lives. The future is white.
Once they get to the forest, it's all kill-or-be-killed survival, but Ross shot in the cheapest forest available, so it looks like they're just re-using the same half-mile of land over and over again. Some of the violence is queasy in nature, but Ross' brilliant way of shooting mass killings for PG-13 is just shaking the camera around. I normally don't complain about shakycam, but this was headache-inducing. He does it in non-action scenes too - the first twenty minutes of the movie are shaky handheld cam shots.
I really wanted to like this, it sounded way cool to me. But it just felt like a chore. Judging by my screening, I may be in the minority. We'll see.
Is there a pre-release thread I'm missing here? I find it odd that a movie that's supposed to turn out to be this huge hit only has four posts. What's the target demo?
Hated it.
I don't know if the problems are with the book, haven't read it, but Katniss is a cold fish who undergoes a mini-character arc all the way up to the point where they get to the forest. From that point on, she's just a boring action automaton.
This movie's INCREDIBLY serious and dreadfully boring. It should be neither once we hit the big city and everyone's dressed like a Buckaroo Banzai outtake, but we're given so little time at home with Katniss (literally the first fifteen minutes of the movie, and then never again) that we don't understand the different dynamics between the poor electricity-free cabins of District 12 and the shiny excess of the big city. It's all surface level, humorless satire without a thought in its head.
I'm not willing to say Jennifer Lawrence is a bad actress, but she's got no chemistry with other actors, particularly not Hutcherson or Hemsworth. All the kids are deadening and bland and the adults are all CAMP CITY HERE WE FUCKIN' COME! When more than one adult is onscreen, its like a fight to see who can chew more scenery.
There's three major black people in this movie, and their jobs are to have no inner motivations or goals except to make things better/easier for Katniss. Two of them pay for this with their lives. The future is white.
Once they get to the forest, it's all kill-or-be-killed survival, but Ross shot in the cheapest forest available, so it looks like they're just re-using the same half-mile of land over and over again. Some of the violence is queasy in nature, but Ross' brilliant way of shooting mass killings for PG-13 is just shaking the camera around. I normally don't complain about shakycam, but this was headache-inducing. He does it in non-action scenes too - the first twenty minutes of the movie are shaky handheld cam shots.
I really wanted to like this, it sounded way cool to me. But it just felt like a chore. Judging by my screening, I may be in the minority. We'll see.
I guess I'll soon find out this weekend.
Battle Royale Lite???? The only reason why I'm seeing this is for Jennifer Lawrence, she got that cream face pie look if you know what I mean, lol...
Devin called it better than Battle Royale.
Devin called it better than Battle Royale.
Im sure. Battle Royale is fun but it's not that great. I had been wanting to see it for years and after coming to the realization that I have Netflix and can see anything I want(blockbuster never stocked it and I don't buy things sight unseen) I finally saw it. And you know....ehhh. It was fun and I know why people dug it but you could EASILY improve upon it, specifically the relationships and characters.
First half of my roundtables with cast members:
I saw Battle Royale in 2002 and even then I didn't really see what the big deal was. It had an interesting concept but it wasn't executed nearly as well as people made it out to be. I assume its reputation had more to do with being "banned" than because it was a remarkable film.
That said, I just could not care less about this movie. It all seems flat, cold and plastic, as if a slight step up from the look of Narnia. If I already saw the more honest version of the ideas present in this film (as well as The Running Man, Surviving the Game, etc.), I can't see how a watered down one is going to win me over. I'll wait until it hits home.
Battle Royale had the excitement of the subject matter, its exploitational element, and an operatic rawness that made me a fan for life. Perfect circumstances. I'm also completely taken with how vague it is about everything. The whole program makes no sense. Thus, I use the "IT'S A FABLE!!!" defense!
I was insane about Battle Royale for a couple of years. Looking forward to seeing Hunger Games on Friday, and then a midnight movie showing of Battle Royale on Saturday.
I think it's been a good long time since we all were reminded what a massive tool Jeffrey Wells is, so here you go. "Beware of female critics and their susceptible lady parts."
Is there a pre-release thread I'm missing here? I find it odd that a movie that's supposed to turn out to be this huge hit only has four posts. What's the target demo?
My own sense is that organized nerd/geek culture (and I consider CHUD to be a media organ that represents nerd culture) has massively misunderstood the demographics of The Hunger Games, dismissing it like it was Twilight when in fact it's closer to a crossdemographic YA hit like Harry Potter. So there's not nearly as much excitement from the geek media as there should be, because people got confused by the Team Peeta/Team Gale stuff. (Just my take on some of the reviews I've read, which bring up Twilight but not Potter.)
My own sense is that organized nerd/geek culture (and I consider CHUD to be a media organ that represents nerd culture) has massively misunderstood the demographics of The Hunger Games, dismissing it like it was Twilight when in fact it's closer to a crossdemographic YA hit like Harry Potter. So there's not nearly as much excitement from the geek media as there should be, because people got confused by the Team Peeta/Team Gale stuff. (Just my take on some of the reviews I've read, which bring up Twilight but not Potter.)
Hunger Games may cross the gender barrier like HP, but it really does not compare to HP.
What Gary Ross said was that he thinks of her like Joel Grey in CABARET (which Banks also mentioned) in that her look is good from the stage, but up close is unsettling.
...But she doesn't look good from the stage either.
And Hunger Games isn't a Potter-sized dynamo, but I personally know that college students devour those books. Also, just browsing showtimes tomorrow, I'm finding that literally every screening is sold out. Diculous.
I rocked my Hunger Games shirt today and had a wee little girl joyfully scream HUNGER GAMES! at me. Another guy stopped me to ask if it would be safe to take his kid to. I can't wait for midnight. They shot the movie not too far from me, so local media around here has been losing its collective shit that a movie from here is getting so much attention.
What'd you tell him?
What'd you tell him?
I told him that if his kid can handle PG-13, his kid can handle Hunger Games. He thanked me and said that his daughter's been begging to go. She's 13, and I said she'd be fine.
I know very little about the Hunger Games but I find it very interesting that we now live in an era where horror and science-fiction movies are being designed which are primarily aimed at young females, when they were previously aimed at the other gender. I can't think of another Hollywood era quite like it and I suppose that's down to the changing nature of teen fiction, where we've gone from stories about the lead female character romancing the most popular guy in high school to her romancing monsters or aliens. I guess Harry Potter was perhaps at the forefront of this recent trend but those books probably had a fairly balanced gender split in the fan base (mainly because of the main character), and so it seems that it was Twilight which made Hollywood fully aware of the money that could be made by focusing on the young female demographic. With Hunger Games appearing to be a certain success, it'll be interesting to see how well the movie adaptation of Meyers' The Host does and where this trend continues to take us.
Just got home from the midnight showing. I'm way too tired to go into depth about what I liked about it. So for now I will just say that I really enjoyed it. They did what I expected them to do to, and more. Overall, a great start to the trilogy and I cannot wait to see it again.
I need to just stop reading books, period. It only leads to heartache.
Believe me when I tell you that I understand 100000% that changes must be made to adapt a book for the big screen. I DO. I went through this with Potter and I made it out unscathed. But when you make nonsensical changes that rob scenes of their dramatic power, that's when I gotta bust out the FUCK YOUS. So....
FUCK YOU for not explaining what the Muttations were. Or even having them as what they are in the book. What are they, you might ask? Well, those fucking Hulk dogs near the end are actually meant to be mutated forms of the dead Tributes. OH YES. Katniss looks at one of them in the book and realizes that it looks just like Foxface, and she puts 2 and 2 together. Here? RANDOM ASS HULK DOGS. Way to go, hiding their shitty CGI forms under cover of darkness. GOLF CLAPS FOR YOU FUCKS. That moment was horrific and terrifying in the book. Here? RANDOM ASS HULK DOGS.
FUCK YOU for not clearly delineating that Katniss is not in love with Peeta by film's end. Remember the moment right before the final interview where Katniss is coached by Haymitch on what to say, and we see her looking at Peeta adoringly? FOR SHOW. On the train, Peeta is fucking GUTTED when Katniss reveals that it was all for show, that she did not love him, and Katniss is shocked as hell when she finds out that Peeta truly did love her, that he wasn't lying, that those stories he said were the gospel truth. When Haymitch is coaching her at the end, she asks what Peeta is going to say and Haymitch answers, "Don't worry, he's already there." she doesn't figure this out until the end. Already there=he's in love with you and he won't have to act like you will. Removing that made no damn sense to me, and I can't convey in words how disappointed I was that they chose to let that plot thread just slip away.
There's other changes here and there that honestly didn't bother me, and even enhanced the story, but two big moments that I was excited to see got dicked. Jen IS Katniss. I was worried about Lenny Kravitz, but he's the perfect Cinna. Woody is the perfect Haymitch. Banks is great as Effie. Neither Lego Head or Thor's Brother made any impression on me.
P.S. The Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter trailer got laughed out of the theater. Vocal shrieks of "Are you KIDDING me?!" I was sitting back, waiting on that title to come up, and the audience did not disappoint.
So... thumbs up overall?
Or maybe you need a hug?
I'm not chomping at the bit to watch it again, put it that way.
Katniss not loving Peeta was - I thought - pretty apparent, but some people need a sledgehammer, I guess.
Might have been clear to you, but it wasn't to Peeta.
Just so I'm not confused, Peeta and Gale are both boys, both of him want Katniss?
FUCK YOU for not explaining what the Muttations were. Or even having them as what they are in the book. What are they, you might ask? Well, those fucking Hulk dogs near the end are actually meant to be mutated forms of the dead Tributes. OH YES. Katniss looks at one of them in the book and realizes that it looks just like Foxface, and she puts 2 and 2 together. Here? RANDOM ASS HULK DOGS. Way to go, hiding their shitty CGI forms under cover of darkness. GOLF CLAPS FOR YOU FUCKS. That moment was horrific and terrifying in the book. Here? RANDOM ASS HULK DOGS.
FUCK YOU for not clearly delineating that Katniss is not in love with Peeta by film's end. Remember the moment right before the final interview where Katniss is coached by Haymitch on what to say, and we see her looking at Peeta adoringly? FOR SHOW. On the train, Peeta is fucking GUTTED when Katniss reveals that it was all for show, that she did not love him, and Katniss is shocked as hell when she finds out that Peeta truly did love her, that he wasn't lying, that those stories he said were the gospel truth. When Haymitch is coaching her at the end, she asks what Peeta is going to say and Haymitch answers, "Don't worry, he's already there." she doesn't figure this out until the end. Already there=he's in love with you and he won't have to act like you will. Removing that made no damn sense to me, and I can't convey in words how disappointed I was that they chose to let that plot thread just slip away.
I don't mind about the Mutt thing. But i agree that the Book ending would've been the logical and correct way to end the film (My take is that Katniss definitely feels something for Peeta. But its probably not romantic love. Not yet anyway).
Dammit...sometimes i wonder if us Book Fans hold a lot of baggage that prevents us from fully enjoying the film. Would a fresh perspective cause us to enjoy the film better? 
Just curious, Harley, but how did the audience take to the film? Did they like it? Dislike it?
Yeah, that was odd. To say the least.
Didn't mind them not doing the "muttations." I thought that moment in the book was way too over-the-top, and I kind of expected them to drop it, since it was so CGI intensive. But doing it, and removing the aspect that's supposed to make it emotional... that's just weak. The only other book change that I think hurts the film is not explaining the origins and thus the significance/symbolism of the mockingjays. Sort of leaves the illiterate in the weeds as to what message Katniss sends by wearing that pin.
It was... okay. I liked it more than the book, I suppose. First off, all of this:
Is accurate.
This movie suffers heavy Harry Potter syndrome. It's not really its own thing so much as it is a visualization of the source material. It just feels without a real pulse so much of the time. I'm kind of stunned that Soderbergh fell into this shaky-cam chaos cinema bull. Gale is just an awful character. He's a complete blank (Hemsworth is the weakest part of the cast), but worse, it's obvious that he's only here to set up a plot thread for the next film. That kind of commercial cynicism wears on me (and yeah, hated it in the book as well).
And finally, the PG-13 rating on this film is utterly fucked. I'm not original in pointing this out, but this child slaughter gets a pass while Bully gets a R for a few F-words? Fuck you, MPAA.
As to the divide that apparently exists now whereby people must choose whether this or Battle Royale is better, I have to say that... I reject the comparison and will not engage it.
Yup. Trailer for Breaking Dawn Pt. 2 got jeers as well, which warmed my heart.
So what I'm hearing is that overall the movie's a decent visual exploration of the book's world, but they screwed up both the execution and the reveal of the climactic effects moment. Also, some stiff acting or bad direction bulldozed some subtle character moments.
Exactly what I expected from a novel-to-screen adaptation! Guess I'll be checking it out after all.
I haven't read the books or seen the movie but the Harry Potter comparisins intrigue me. The first few HP movies were weak but eventually only got better and better. Yes I'm in the minority of being happy with what Yates did. Also, it helped that the books continued to get better and more complex.
I have heard nothing but bad things about the last two books in this trilogy so I'm wondering if these films will get better and thereby best the actual books
Was just reading some box office forecasting for the weekend. Wow. Predictions are this will be HUUUUUUUGE. Gonna be some wicked backlash on the film after that. Especially in the JOHN CARTER thread!
Just curious, Harley, but how did the audience take to the film? Did they like it? Dislike it?
People liked it. The big moments played very well (I could hear sobbing for Rue and for Prim), but as I was eavesdropping on people as they left, EVERYONE was saying "The book was better".
Agree with Whiteboy that not explaining what the Mockingjay means was a bad move, too.
This thread is like eavesdropping on the droogs at the Korova Bar.
I do wonder how this plays for people who haven't read the books. A friend who hadn't read the books was asking me the significance of the three-finger hand salute that you see throughout the film.
I do too. How eerily specific!
Anyway, I love how a huge bulk of the beginning of the movie is spent getting Katniss suitable for the "sponsors" and then not a word is mentioned of it later - seemed like a lot of effort to go through to explain two goddamned parachutes.
Should I blast through the book before I see this? The visual aid criticisms have me worried that I'm going to miss stuff.
Watch the movie first, then read the book as a supplement.
I do too. How eerily specific!
Anyway, I love how a huge bulk of the beginning of the movie is spent getting Katniss suitable for the "sponsors" and then not a word is mentioned of it later - seemed like a lot of effort to go through to explain two goddamned parachutes.
Haven't seen yet, but that sounds like a dropped ball between book and film again - the book explains that the contents of the parachutes would cost some of her poorer sponsors a year's salary.
From what I'm hearing here, it sounds like the uninitiated should see the film first and then read the book, as going the other direction has caused some chafing.
I was anxious to see the Hunger Dame's review, and Harley's well-considered words make sense. I can only hope that the mysteries not touched upon in this movie will be revealed in the sequels. I will still see it this weekend, since Kid V is already trying to drag me to the car.
As for the relative blandness of the two male leads, they never seemed that charasmatic in the first book either. It always struck me that Katness didn't need either of them in any kind of way. If anything, Peeta was the Dale Arden of the books, a damsel in distress for Katness to resscue. Sure, he has his moments in the sun, but Katness is the hero and he is but one motivation for her to survive. The other books might change that dynamic.
I was anxious to see the Hunger Dame's review, and Harley's well-considered words make sense. I can only hope that the mysteries not touched upon in this movie will be revealed in the sequels. I will still see it this weekend, since Kid V is already trying to drag me to the car.
As for the relative blandness of the two male leads, they never seemed that charasmatic in the first book either. It always struck me that Katness didn't need either of them in any kind of way. If anything, Peeta was the Dale Arden of the books, a damsel in distress for Katness to resscue. Sure, he has his moments in the sun, but Katness is the hero and he is but one motivation for her to survive. The other books might change that dynamic.
The thing about the Katniss/Peeta ending that really bothered me is that in the book series, Peeta's knowledge that Katniss didn't love him has ramifications for their relationship for the next two books. By omitting that, they have changed the dynamic of their relationship going forward. I just can't think of a good reason why they would do that. Similarly, by not explaining that the mockingjay is a symbol of rebellion, the moment near the end where President Snow sees the pin on Katniss has no weight.
There were changes that I really liked. I loved seeing the control room during the Games, and adding Caesar as a play-by-play commentator was a genius way of getting some important info across concerning the tracker jackers. District 11 going batshit after Rue's death was a nice touch, too. Also, seeing the Reaping was much more emotional than reading about it. I choked up when District 12 gave Katniss the hand salute.
As someone who went into this completely fresh--no synopsis, no cliff notes, and especially haven't read the books--it's pretty OK. I really felt there was a good, timely sci-fi action story getting set up, I'm invested in a sequel, but you know what dragged it down the most? All the romance horseshit. The lunk at the beginning--vapor trails. Who is this guy? Katniss sure didn't seem that attached to him outside of the friend zone. And Peter (I know it's "Peeta" but holy shit, this isn't the flashback sequence from Hook) is such a wet blanket. These are seriously the two choices? I got more spark and interest out of the District 11 guy in his brief 45 seconds of screentime. They both loved Rue, which is way more of a solid foundation than either of the other two Whiteys give us. I know Peter's a sap and she doesn't really love him, but the character's pretty whiny. Irritating. They make a big fuss about his ability to throw giant shot puts around, but it's never implemented. Also, anyone who can toss one of those things should be able to make it up a rope ladder. Jus' sayin. Maybe Lunkhead and Peter are more of a struggle to choose between in the books, but in the film, it left me wondering why you would choose either.
There's a lot to like here: Jennifer Lawrence continues to prove herself as hot stuff, Banks and Harrelson inject some levity and weight into the leadup, Tucci is a blast (though why bother getting Toby Jones for 2 lines and a creepy smile? That bugged me), and Sutherland made for an entertaining puppetmaster. The game itself would've done well to abandon the shakycam approach (there's a difference between handheld and shakycam, and filmmakers not named Greengrass would do well to stop trying to do the latter). I know they had to get the carnage and still keep it PG-13, but there are other options. Spielberg slaughtered a whole battalion of soldiers and their horses a few months back and kept the action clear and concise without ever showing any gore. There are ways to do it.
There's a really awesome tale hidden in here and Katniss is a great character, but if it's all going to be Team Lunkhead and Team , Peter, I'm wary of getting involved. Judging from the group of late 30s to early 40s on-an-extended-lunchbreak squealers next to me (who also CHEERED when the "trailer" for Breaking Dawn 2: Electric Fuckaround played), this is a 1984-esque tale that's going to get co-opted by the Twilight crowd, which irritates me.
All in all, it's a good movie, but the emphasis on the romantic bits are unneeded and unwanted.
I finished the book on Sunday and found them to be pretty damn silly there, too.
I totally agree Greg, although I liked Hemsworths Gale slightly more than you did, if only because of residual Thor love for Chris. He barely has any screen time, but his character is still more sympathetic and likeable than Peeta.
The fashion stuff didn't work for me. I understand that they wanted to take it to 11 to make a point, but frankly it reminded me way too much of the Running Man movie. In that flick, I love and embrace the cheesiness, but with this movies tone it didn't work for me at all. Like I said I wasn't nuts about the Peeta character, the actor was fine and it's okay to be a male damsel in distress, I guess I just wasn't into the love triangle drama torture stuff. Having to lead a guy on to save his useless life, while at the same time breaking Thor's heart just doesn't interest me. Find an interesting romantic angle that isn't a lazy convoluted triangle for fucks sake.
Lastly, the games themselves. Why have all the tributes get themselves murdered instantly? The structure of the fictional TV show is fucking dumb. Running Man had it right entertainment wise, themes and structure and designed reality TV show drama. Who the hell would watch this incredibly boring show? Ten minutes of slaughter followed by days of surviving in the woods? Dumb.
Overall I liked it, I really loved Lawrence and almost all of the older actors, but I guess I don't understand why THIS is blowing up big over anything else. I guess the target demo has just never seen this story done before and it's exciting for them instead of kind of boring and straight forward for me?
It's pretty OK.
Pull quote ahoy.
Never read the books but I felt the movie made it clear that Katniss and Peeta's "romance" is for show and to make sure they survive. It's also pretty clear that Peeta might have developed some real feelings for her but it wasn't vice-versa. As for the movie itself, it was certainly better than I had any hope it would be and was way more satirical and biting of both the "Twilight" property and Reality TV than I expected. 2012 keeps delivering great films where one least expects it and this one is no exception.
Short of having dogs that look like Necomorphs or creatures out of John Carpenters The Thing(which would be AWESOME), that sounds really really dumb. Considering it's for the younger crowd I think avoiding a horrible head on backwards flesh abomination was probably the best choice.
It's never implied that Peeta understands that's what's happening at all.
They seemed really self-conscious about the effects in this film. All of the wide shots featuring the Capitol are literally seen for two seconds. They cloak the Mutts - implied to be holographic in the movie, which removed the sense of disgust from the book when it's revealed that they were actually real animals - with quick editing and nighttime lighting.
Also, I have to disagree about the effectiveness of them cutting away from the Games so much. That control room looked like a rejected Star Trek set design, and ultimately added nothing useful that was worth cutting away from Katniss. The garden scenes and Haymitch? Those worked because they were well-written and had a point. Seeing two goofy commentators tell us beforehand that the camp is booby-trapped when the film already communicates that idea when Foxface is seen moving about, observed by Katniss? Not so much, because it ruins what happens next. Visually, the film communicates a lot; cutting away is redundant and talks down to what the audience can already see.
The film also has a very clinical feel. No, I agree that it should not have been rated R. But the books deal with issues like desperation and dehydration. In the movie, Katniss finds water almost immediately and that sense of struggle is never there. When she has to find something, like Peeta, it literally takes thirty seconds of walking through the woods.
Short of having dogs that look like Necomorphs or creatures out of John Carpenters The Thing(which would be AWESOME), that sounds really really dumb. Considering it's for the younger crowd I think avoiding a horrible head on backwards flesh abomination was probably the best choice.
It's never implied that Peeta understands that's what's happening at all.
I thought it was clear when Peeta mentions his crush on Katniss on the talk show. He might have had real feelings for her but I got the sense he was being political as well. At the end, I agree we're not sure Peeta believes the "romance" is a work but the main point is that Katniss does. Might pick up parts 2 and 3. Are they worth reading?
