Catching Fire...the movie

I know what you're thinking, why is he watching this flick if he hated the first flick and only thought the book was okay.  Well I like movies and after finishing the books I am interested now to see how they compare to the movies.  Of course most of you know but it stars Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson and Liam Hemsworth.  It currently has a 7.7 on IMDB as of 7/21.  If you've read my other reviews you know the drill.  You've got my thoughts as I watch the flick.  I try to avoid spoilers but they may slip in.  You've been warned!

• This movie is two and a half hours?  Really?  Hmmm, as much as I disliked the first one I'm not sure if I should do this
• So Gale is 20 and Katniss is 17 right?  Why do they both look much older then that?
• For being the most famous person in Panem right now Katniss sure can run off to illegal land pretty easily
• KISSING COUSINS!!
• 20....Gale looks like he is old enough to be Katniss dad
• Katniss really is horribly unlikeable
• Is it Katniss or Jennifer Lawrence that is unlikeable?
• The casting in this movie doesn't fit my visions of any of the characters.  Everyone from the first flick seems older then they should.  
• Haymitch and Effie aren't bad
• I don't find President Snow nearly sleazy enough!
• Caesar is pretty exactly how I imagined him.  But what do you expect from an exceptional actor like Stanley
• Effie isn't horrible either, although almost over the top however
• Can someone explain why people like Jennifer Lawrence so much?  She actually makes me hate Katniss more!
• Philip Seymour Hoffman as Plutarch Heavensbee, an interesting choice, however I had more of the guy from Beetlejuice and Demolition man more in my mind.  Glenn Shadix, although he had passed on before the flick.  However this first scene is one of the most uninspired scenes I've seen!  
• Ooooo, I like the casting of Patrick St. Esprit as Thread.  Very close to how I envisioned him in my head.  
• Uggg, Morphling...really?  I hate that!  Just call it morphine!  Did Collins just have a typo and they left it it through three books/four movies?
• I wondered this while reading the book as well, do you think the quarter quell was a set up by the Capital?  I mean that is a huge risk if they are set up by Snow, what if Katniss was to win a second time?  Seems like to big a risk for someone like Snow although Heavensbee could have been behind it
• How do they keep getting out in the meadow without being seen?!  IT MAKES NO SENSE!
• Why aren't the peace keepers beating the hell out of everyone in District 12 like they do the other districts for the boy scout salute?
• Wow the casting of Finnick Odair is NOTHING like I pictured him.  Nothing at all!  I was thinking more Jason Momoa.  He isn't big enough in my mind
• I love Caesars huge smile!  Perfect
• Why would anyone cheer for her?  She is so unlikeable?  I can't get over it and I almost always cheer the horrible unlikeable people!
• Strange casting for Johanna Mason, not quite what I envisioned but better then a lot of the casting
• Beetee on the other hand, nothing like I envisioned, not old enough or crazy enough.  Wiress however is almost exactly what I envisioned.  Great casting there!
• Much like the book, I already don't care if any of the others live or die.  I only HOPE Katniss does...which is probably not what they want
• Why does Katniss care that the last games master was killed again?  
• I just read that Grant Gustin aka The Flash was considered for Finnick.  Perhaps I pictured him differently then everyone else
• Okay I like this Joanna character quite a bit!
• The more over the top Caesar is the more I like him!  
• How stupid are these people?  Why not just walk up and slap the President in the face?  Or kick him in the balls?
• I mean the revolution is one thing but being as obvious as they are is just stupid
• Cinna is getting what he should have expected.  I would have put a little blood on the tube personally if I was directing but thats just me
•  People died that we never actually saw!
• Easy way to thin out the herd but not very exciting from a fans point of view that is for sure.  A weapon/trap that can take out everyone in one swoop is not good from a games master point of view if you ask me.  I think I could make a decent games master however.  Like one of my favorite video games Tecmo's Deception.  
• I will give the flick this, it picks up in acts 2 and 3
• The spinning did nothing but change the time, the tree still tells you where lightning will strike and what not
• The movie makes the Jabberjay trap seem much worse then the book did
• Yep, Joanna is easily my favorite, she is someone I would rally around (and for once I don't mean that as a double entendre...although that works as well)
• Okay Finnick has grown on me.  Still not what I envisioned 
• Uggg, not a fan of that shot.  Contrived that she is right where the light would be.  A beautiful shot and I understand why they did it but just a little to cliche for my taste
• Also probably wouldn't have burst in right where they were, what with stuff falling on the people they're saving and all
• Nathan Fillion?  Oh nope just her dad...I mean Gale....who I realize is the same age (Liam and Jennifer) but they sure don't look it.  

Okay the flick is over and I'll start with a rating. 6/10.  Jennifer really brings it down for me.  I just don't like her and more importantly I don't like her acting.  I can get past her if I thought she was a good actress but I don't.  However it helps my hatred for Katniss.  

Aside for the weird casting I did enjoy the film.  A little boring in the beginning but once they get to the Capital it gets better.  

To be fair the casting probably fits other peoples thoughts of the characters just not mine.  

Overall I enjoyed it more than the first flick.  I am interested in seeing the last two (uggg, why they are making it two flicks is beyond me).  A little long but when going off a book it is better to be long then to cut too much.  

Check it out if you have time to kill.  I wouldn't set aside time but if you liked the book or if you're bored there are worst movies to check out.  Until next time...may the odds be ever in your favor

Mockingjay: A Book Review

I finally finished the Hunger Games series last night.  You can pick up the series here.  You can find my past reviews of The Hunger Games and Catching Fire on older posts.  

Overall I'd give this a 2.5 out of 5 and the series the same.  Average.  I will admit that I read Mockingjay in one sitting basically.  I wanted to know how the series ended, even though much of it become obvious.  That is a good thing but...

Suzanne Collins has the abilities to make me hate almost every character in her series.  By the end of the series I liked two characters I think.  Finnick and Beetee.  By the end of the series I pretty much hated everyone else.  

From here on out there will be spoilers boys and girls so you've been warned.

I honestly don't know how Collins mapped out her characters but it must be with the idea that everyone in Panem is bipolar!  Okay almost everyone.  Finnick and Beetee are pretty much constant but everyone else flip flops sides so often I think I got whiplash a few times!  Peeta isn't too bad but his decision at the end does make me dislike him.

Lets look at the end first I guess because the idea that Katniss would agree to have one more Hunger Game makes me wish she had died even more then I had before.  It goes against everything she had been for the entire series!  She hated the game but then is willing to send kids from the Capital?  WHAT?!  She is in love with Peeta but often throws herself at Gale.  I realize she is 17 so I give her a bit of a pass on that...I guess.

I am trying to think of another series, book or movie or TV, that I've hated the main character as much as I have "The Mockingjay".  Off the top of my head I can't think of one.  I realize that the character goes through a lot in a few years and that it would mess anyone up but she is just so unlikeable!  Gale isn't much further behind although he is a little more consistent with his hatred.

Collins also didn't hid the fact that President Coin wasn't much better than President Snow.  I found it weird that her right hand man Boggs basically said not to trust her at the end since they were both from 13 and against everything and everyone else.

Overall the book series is a great idea and I am probably being a little hard on the series since it is a Young Adult book meant for a younger audience.  I just feel that just because it is meant for the youth of the world doesn't mean that it has to be dumbed down.  I feel like there was such an opportunity to make younglings think about bigger things and show that anger and revenge aren't the answer yet again and again and again its all about revenge and death.

Oh and the fact that Peeta, even though he loves Katniss, forgives her for things like another Hunger Games made me a little sick.  Love doesn't conquer all and I would think sentencing another generation of kids to suffer like they did is something you can't forgive but I guess I'm wrong.

If you want a fun-ish series that is an easy read this isn't a bad series and feel like there was a miss opportunity for more for the younglings!  Until next time...may the odds be ever in your favor....but don't be like a Mockingjay!