March 27, 2014 - God's Not Dead
March 28, 2014 - Noah
April 11, 2014 - Divergent
April 19, 2014 - Heaven is for Real
April 20, 2014 - X-Files: Fight the Future
April 23, 2014 - Frozen
April 24, 2014 - Catching Fire
As a Christian, I feel it is important to support Christian movies (God's Not Dead, Heaven is for Real).
I was so sick and tired of hearing people gripe about Noah before it had actually opened that I went to see it to find out for myself if it was really all that bad. (Read all about my Noah thoughts at: http://lynzmediathoughts.blogspot.com/2014/03/noah-splash-of-apocalypse.html).
So many people have harassed me about not seeing Frozen, that I finally caved in and watched it. To one dear friend who was giving me a hard time, I said, "You haven't seen Desolation of Smaug. I haven't seen Frozen. We're equal."
Okay, my friend (you know who you are), I saw Frozen. Now, it's your turn.
And I'm officially ready for X-Files: I Want to Believe, Insurgent, and Mockingjay Part 1! Woo hoo!!
I bet you're all wondering what I thought of all of the above movies, but I'm just going to focus on one of them for now.
Back in April 2012, a friend loaned me one of her two copies of The Hunger Games after learning (much to her distress) that I hadn't read the books up to that point.
I finished it in twelve days.
This was an unfathomable amount of time for avid readers who can finish an entire monster book in two or three sittings.
However, considering that I have always been a slow reader due to a lazy eye and an audio/visual processing difficulty, twelve days was a record for me (19 days being my previous record).
As it turned out, The Hunger Games was required reading for my college level creative writing class that Fall. Funny how things work out sometimes.
So, when the movie-edition of the second book was released in October of 2013, I ordered it from Amazon ($7.50-something!). As I'd learned when The Hunger Games and The Host came out, trying to rent a book of a popular new-release movie from the library is like having a tea party with Sasquatch. You wait at the end of a five hundred person waiting list for three years, and by the time you finally get your hands on it, the third movie has already come out. So, as I did with The Host, I bought the thing for myself. And, as was my logic back then, "If I'm gonna buy the thing, I might as well get the copy with Jennifer Lawrence's face on it."
I made it to Chapter Eight before Ender's Game opened in theaters, and my other friend loaned me her copy of the book. To date, I still haven't finished Catching Fire.
The Fire Starter
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| The Girl on Fire and the Boy with the Bread Could it possibly be love? |
Let it be known, my Dad HATES sad, violent movies (he doesn't understand why I like reading/watching sad or Holocaust related stories for this reason). When I left to obtain my THG dvd, I explained that THG wasn't the sort of thing he'd like (kids killing kids isn't my idea of a fun family movie). He said he understand.
When I returned after my "Hunger Quest", tired and footsore, he said, "Okay, let's start watching the movie while you eat dinner!"
He lasted all of twenty minutes.
They hadn't even left for the Capital, and he was like, "I'm done."
It's kinda sad to say that my reaction was, "But, they haven't even started killing each other yet!"
To date, I still haven't seen the end of The Hunger Games. And not because my Dad stopped watching twenty minutes in. I made it all the way to the end of the Games before my nausea became unbearable. For most people, the unnecessarily shaky camera work that makes up the vast majority of the movie was just kind of distracting and annoying. It made me motion sick.
Besides that, I was very disappointed by what I saw.
The soundtrack could have had a much more active role in the overall film. Stephanie Meyers and her works may receive a large portion of criticism and pounding from my fellow Whovians, but at least The Host had an AMAZING soundtrack that really complimented the talents of Saoirse Ronan, Max Irons, Jake Abel, and Diane Kruger.
Meanwhile in Panem, everyone gathers for the Reaping, Prim's name gets called, Katniss volunteers, and Peeta gets selected...before the music finally decides to kick in.
And someone please explain the significance of that random scene where Katniss is playing with the habitat mode of the wallpaper in her Capital room?
And why, oh why, was the bread tossing scene in the rain so incredibly short? Plus, it just kind of randomly shows up in the middle of a dinner scene, there's no dialogue, and I know for a fact that people who hadn't actually read the books had no idea what was going on. I have a friend who's little sister was (or maybe still is) a Hutcherson fangirl. Thus, my friend ended up seeing the movie when her when it came out back in March 2012. After I told her about what was supposed to be happening in that scene, she said, "I didn't realize that scene was so important. I thought [Katniss] was just sick or something."
Sick, sitting out under a tree in someone else's backyard, in the rain. Makes perfect sense to throw some bread at her, right? Yeah...no.
My two biggest complaints were the soundtrack and the shaky camera.
The cast was really good. The sets and CGI were amazing. If that stupid camera had held still for more that 2.7 consecutive seconds, I might have been able to enjoy it a little more.
Panem Catches [on] Fire (and burns...slowly)
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| The Mockingjay Revealed |
Note the fact that I know next to nothing about the story, as I got to chapter eight before giving up.
The things I do know about that I noticed have been changed were done so in a way that flows very well with the overall story. None of it seems forced or jarring. And the filmmakers actually used a tripod this time! Therefore, I was finally able to enjoy a Hunger Games movie without almost getting sick to my stomach! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
Maybe it's the new director? Maybe it's the better, more active soundtrack? Who knows.
One thing that really stood out to me throughout the film was how Jennifer Lawrence did a spectacular job of consistently portraying Katniss as emotionally disturbed by what she's experienced in the last Games. She imagines that she's shooting at people when she's hunting. She jumps and draws an arrow at every sound she hears.
There's a scene in particular that I'm watching right now when Peeta whacks a force field and "dies", but Finnick revives him. The entire time, Katniss is crying and freaking out, to the point that once he's revived, she kisses him and hugs him (willingly, not just to make President Snow happy). And she's shaking the entire time. Which I thought was really realistic...until I remembered that it was really Jennifer Lawrence in a wetsuit in front of a camera with a very much alive Josh Hutcherson lying at her feet. And then I was like, "Wow! This lady is good! How did I not notice this before now?" Maybe because I couldn't make anything out through the shaky camera in the first movie? Maybe because I haven't taken the time to watch Winter's Bone or X-Men: First Class yet? Who knows.
The other thing I realized was the lack of bad language content. I only remember two uses of objectionable language in the entire film (well, ok, maybe three).
1. Johanna, notably the most out of control character in the arena, shouts the F-word at the crowds during her pre-Games interview. Mercifully, this is muted out so we don't actually hear her say it, but it's still pretty obvious what she's saying.
2. A mentally/emotionally strained Katniss freaks out at Haymitch after learning that one of her friends has been captured by the Capital. During this epic Katniss freak-out scene, she slaps him and calls him, "You son of b----!"
3. There were, perhaps, a handful of "Oh God" and "Oh my God" uses splattered about in the film.
And while we're on the subject of Joahnna Mason, viewers should be warned of her "strip" scene. Basically, she strips down in an elevator with Haymitch, Peeta, and Katniss present. It's all filmed very carefully so that nothing more than a bare back and shoulders are shown, but it's still pretty obvious what's going on. So, I guess that would be four moments of objectionable content that bothered me.
On a more positive note, did I already mention that Catching Fire and Desolation of Smaug have something in common? Katniss and Bilbo both have "Tree Scenes", where they climb up trees to get a better view of something.
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| Katniss in a Tree Nov. 2013 |
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| Bilbo in a Tree, Dec. 2013 |
The Fire Hazard
And I don't mean in the way you think; that she's a danger to the Capital and the governmental [dictatorship] structure of Panem.
She's a fire hazard to herself.
She's a ticking time-bomb of insanity. The only thing left to figure out is when. Avid Hunger Games fans probably know.
Jennifer Lawrence, as mentioned before, did a phenomenal job of portraying Katniss' slow decline into insanity. After all, how is a sixteen year old girl going to cope with the traumatic memories of the Games?
There's an icy silence between her and Peeta after the Games. Gale isn't available very much anymore because he's now 19 and old enough to work in the coal mines for which District Twelve is "famous". Her sister and mother certainly have no idea what she's going through, or how to help her. The only other victor is a drunk. She could hunt, but every time she draws an arrow to shoot, she images she's killing someone again.
She's a combustible firebomb waiting for a spark.
On top of this, she's now a "beacon of hope" to the other districts. On the one hand, people look to her with dreams of hope and freedom from the Capital...and especially from the Games. On the other hand, she's got President Snow threatening her life and the lives of everyone she holds dear if she doesn't make the Districts believe she's just another victor like all the rest - and instrument of the Capital.
Of course, if this plan had gone accordingly, there wouldn't be a story here.
However, the plan does backfire, and soon all of the other Districts are in turmoil. The Rebellion as started, and she is to be their Mockingjay.
I don't care what anybody says, but the weight of the world is too much for a sixteen or seventeen year old to handle. Especially an emotionally distressed one such as our friend Katniss.
Admittedly, this is weight she never asked for. She just wanted to go back home and forget about everything that happened. But, the Capital, and even the Districts, won't let her go that easily. The Capital wants her to bash the District's hopes, and the District's want her to bash in President Snow's face.
And thus the firebomb is lit.
But, there's a long trail of gunpowder between the spark and the firebomb. So long, in fact, that it will take another entire book for the firebomb to eventually explode.
Katniss will lead the Rebellion as their Mockingjay. More or less, she will win the Rebellion. But, she will lose her sanity, even if it's only temporary. Sorry to spoil it, guys.
The events that seals the fate of Panem is the death of a loved one during the Rebellion. After that, one thing leads to another, and Katniss,herself, eventually ends up on trial for murder. She's only saved by a plea of temporary insanity, which I actually thing is quite literally her exact situation.
But it all starts here, in Catching Fire, as Katniss Everdeen begins her spiraling descent into insanity.
The Fire Storm (is coming)
Remember how I've been saying I know next to nothing about Catching Fire and Mockingjay? Well, I lied.
I know the general plot lines or both books, and the manner of death for some of the major characters.
THGians know what I'm talking about.
Everyone else is probably completely lost.
Taking what little knowledge I have into consideration, I think I can safely project as to how the third movie will end.
Remember, those wonderful guys over in Hollywood split the third book into two movies.
Which really shouldn't be surprising after Peter Jackson and Company managed to squeeze three movies out of one book.
I'll try to be very good and not drop too many spoilers for those who found themselves in the "completely lost" category.
There is a certain character who dies a tragic death in the third book. This person's death, along with a bunch of other events and other deaths, cause Katniss to really lose her sanity (which then capitulates at the climax of the third book).
I have a theory.
I think the third movie will either end with or shortly after this character's death.
There will be an explosion. Katniss and Company will search the wreckage, and there will be the body of said character. Katniss will freak out and rush to lifeless body. She will gather body in her arms and wail and cry, and the audience will either be in complete shock and crying as well.
Camera will cut into a close up of Katniss's tear streaked face. She will look up at the camera with that same expression she gave us at the end of the second movie, and in that moment we will know beyond the shadow of a doubt that Katniss is tipped over the edge of sanity.
Cut to black.
Oh, misty eye of the mountain below...
Jennifer Lawrence
Keep careful watch of my brothers' souls...
Josh Hutcherson
And should the sky be filled with fire and smoke...
Liam Hemsworth
Keep watching over Durin's son...
You've been watching The Hunger Games: Mockingjay...part one
Tune in next year for the conclusion of the story.
Keep careful watch of my brothers' souls...
And should the sky be filled with fire and smoke...
Keep watching over Durin's son...
Tune in next year for the conclusion of the story.
Roll Credits
Other than the Hobbit references, I See Fire by Ed Sheeran would be perfect! If for no other reasons than the fire references.
But, seriously, other than the music, I really think this is how the third THG movie is going to end. I guess we'll find out in November.
