The Hunger Games- reactions? — Page 4

Finally saw it. It was okay. It's absolutely too long, by at least 25 minutes, and has pacing issues... or maybe dramatic-tension or stakes issues. Dunno. I was bored in stretches throughout. But the action scenes were filmed well, and when things got intense, they were intense. Jennifer Lawrence is a perfect Katniss. The supporting cast ranges from good to bland, though Stanley Tucci has some very good moments. The direction felt a bit... perfunctory? at times, but the production design and overall aesthetic was wonderful, a very sharp and clear vision of the "Hunger Games" world. So, decent, but it would be tough to sit through again. I was ready for the end.

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The second book is the best of the three!

You thought so? I just found it mostly redundant.

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Everyone I know who's read the series say the books are less engrossing as you go on. I hesitate to say "get worse as they go," but that's what seems to be implied. They all made it through the third one because they'd come so far... but they felt it had grown pretty tedious by the wrap-up.

I, for one, only have a couple of vague ideas about where the story goes and will try to remain spoiler-free for the movies, as the first half of the first book was enough for me to know I'll probably never read the whole series.

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Brian, the film holds back on the violence shown, but you're right that the US is someplace where--take network tv for instance--you can get away with violence much more than sex or nudity (unless they're violent sex and nudity--take some of the procedural shows). You notice even a large difference between there and Canada. Bizarre--you read about parents who barely think twice about letting their kids watch some gory movies, but if there's a sex scene they get up in arms.

Michael Arndt ('Little Miss Sunshine', 'Toy Story 3') has been hired to rewrite the script for 'Catching Fire'.




Toy Story 3 Scribe Hired To Rewrite The Hunger Games Sequel, Catching Fire

Updated On: 5/6/12 at 11:33 AM

^ The deal is not official yet, but he will have to work double-time to get the script ready for post-summer production.


Michael Arndt in Talks to Re-Write 'Hunger Games' Sequel 'Catching Fire' (Exclusive)

Just saw the movie for a second time. Definitely enjoyed it more, knowing what was left out, and such. But boy, was the ending rushed. I was too busy being upset about the mutts not having tribute eyes to notice just how rushed it was last time.

Re: favorite books...I agree that most people loved Hunger Games, liked Catching Fire, and were so-so about Mockingjay -- most of my friends anyway, but while I loved both HG and CF, and couldn't say which I prefer, I loved loved loved Mockingjay. It actually took me a couple of days to take it all in and absorb everything to sort my feelings, but once that was settled, I realized it was just epic. A lot of people I know felt it went away from the other 2, but I loved it for that. I felt it took what was a great story, and just brought it to a completely new level. You think about the characters, the villains, the philosophy, the events...it's just close to perfect I think. But I think it was also a little too depressing for some people.

I'm not necessarily a fan of this new break-down-the-finale-into-two-movies for the sake of making money, but considering how much I love that book, I'm okay with it.

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Whatever else I liked or disliked, this has to be the first movie ever made in which the heroine spends the majority of the movie running through the woods being pursued by people who are trying to kill her--and she never once trips, sprawls full-length on the ground, and takes twenty minutes getting up again. (I know she tumbles down a hill once, but that isn't treated in the "I'm a woman, I don't know how to run" style of every other horror movie/thriller.)

SPOILERS: I thought the film was fine, if a little uninspired. Gary Ross seems to have the same problem that Chris Columbus had in the first two "Harry Potter" movies--the fear that "too much" imagination, or a distinctive style, will turn off literal-minded fans of the books. The movie's faithfulness also means that it replicates the book's major weaknesses--namely, that the Games themselves are less compelling than the setup, and that Katniss is never faced with a real moral decision until the end. She always kills in self-defense, and we aren't asked to identify with her victims--they're just evil killers. Rue, the tribute she befriends, conveniently dies at someone else's hands--the scene is affecting, but what would have happened if Rue had been in the "Final Three" with Katniss and Peeta? You know from the beginning that nothing so morally tangled will happen--and that Katniss and Peeta will have to survive for the sequel. Other than these basic flaws, I can't point to anything else major, except for an observation that Liam Helmsworth's Gale apparently spent the apocalypse stockpiling skin and hair products--his shots looked like pseudo-rural Abercrombie and Fitch layouts.

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Surprised this is out SO early but will of course purchase:
Aug 18

This is hilarious.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AxsjRmN9syc

I'm like the last person on earth who still hasn't seen the movie. I am ready to go camp out at the Red Box to make sure I get a copy.

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Well, my husband went out and bought the movie tonight and he, my daughter, and I just finished watching it. I did like the movie. I didn't LOVE the movie but I did enjoy it. I never read any of the books and just took it for what it was. My husband thought it was slow in some parts but I do think Jennifer Lawrence did a great job.

don't understand the hysterical love for this work. the need to fill a niche for strong women is well understood, but is seriously undercut by odd nods to the "tween" element (the scene where the girls are giggling over whether she just "likes" the boy or "likes him likes" was particularly disconcerting, as well as having a fey ally who thinks the principal way to help her out while other teens were hunting her down was literally to make her as fabulous as possible).

lord of the flies did children killing each other for sport better.