Sci-Fi Friday Movie Review: THE HUNGER GAMES

 The Hunger Games (film) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

(The first part of this review contains minor spoilers for The Hunger Games novel. The second speaks about a few departures/additions the movie made. Proceed with caution if you haven't read and seen both!)

In August, 2008 I first started hearing about The Hunger Games. Three and a half years later, that amazing story I heard about and loved passionately has finally made the leap to the big screen.

Naturally, I needed to see this movie ASAP. Not only do I love The Hunger Games, but I love going to midnight movie screenings in general. There's something invigorating about sitting in a theater with a bunch of other super fans, and knowing that there are thousands of people around the country (at least in your time zone), doing the exact same thing. At the exact same time you are, they are also seeing Katniss volunteer as tribute, Effie sniff about manners, Peeta paint himself into a tree, and Rue...

Oh, Rue.

Sniff.

Ahem.

Director Gary Ross does an amazing job showing, and not telling, in this film. That's kind of a weird thing to think about, because aren't movies inherently about "showing" as a visual medium? But what I mean is that he relies on his audience to pick up on the subtext of character actions. Katniss spends a lot of time in her own head in The Hunger Games - she's a taciturn person by nature, the book is narrated in the first person, and she spends chunks of time in the Arena by herself. That doesn't leave a lot of room for natural-sounding dialogue. Ross recognizes that and just allows Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss to perform as this girl, lost and scared and fighting for her life and to make her little sister proud of her. Katniss doesn't say anything when she figures out the trap the careers have laid, or why she creates the memorial for Rue, or say anything about being terrified before entering the tube to be taken to the Arena. That's a moment that sticks out in my mind, for the amazing scared rabbit look Katniss gives, when the countdown begins.

Almost every actor is superbly cast in this film. Jennifer Lawrence truly inhabits Katniss, of course. Josh Hutcherson is sweet and vulnerable as Peeta, and the two play off of each other well. My husband commented at the end at how well the pair played off their love story: nothing needed to be said about whose affections were real and who had been putting on an act. It was all there in their faces.

Stanley Tucci is awesome as Caesar Flickerman, and the script gives him several extra commentary scenes to justify casting such a fantastic actor in what is a rather small role in the books. Donald Sutherland is imposing and conniving as President Snow, who also had a few extra scenes written for him. Woody Harrelson is charismatic as hell as Haymitch, which is quite a departure from the books. As I explained to my husband, Harrelson's Haymitch is a joy to watch, filled with subtlety and depth...and not nearly as much liquor as he should have had. This Haymitch is not exactly the Haymitch of the books, but he's so excellent it hardly matters. He's another actor who can do a great job communicating with just a few facial expressions - watching him watch the people of the Capitol really foreshadowed slightly what may have driven this man to dedicate his life to drinking and rolling his eyes at most of the Tributes placed into his care.

The one weakness for me is Liam Hutcherson as Gale. And part of that is a costuming and makeup issue: that boy is far too clean cut to be a child of the Seam who spends his time out in the woods. Also, dang that dude looks old. I only felt anything for him because Lawrence does such a great job showing how much she cares for this boy. Hopefully once he's given more material to work with in Catching Fire we'll see more personality come from this kid.

(Here begin the movie spoilers...small ones though)

There are several small departures from the books, starting just a few minutes in with Buttercup mysteriously being a black and white cat (that Katniss threatens to cook). Madge, the mayor's daughter, isn't a character at all - the mockingjay pin has a new origin that absolutely works within the context of the story. The film has two hours to tell a mini-epic, which means some streamlining is necessary, and the filmmakers have an advantage over us readers, and even Suzanne Collins as an author: they know exactly how the story ends, who's important and who isn't, etc. If this film had come out before, say, Mockingjay was published, an outcry over the lack of Madge might have been reasonable (just before Mockingjay was published, I predicted we were going to learn that Madge was a rebel. I...was wrong). Since we know she doesn't add much to the overall story now, I was okay with her quiet removal from this iteration and replacing it with a story that strengthens Katniss' character and relationships.

Caesar Flickerman's biggest expansion is as a commentator for the Games, alongside Claudius Templesmith. This is how a lot of the background information is delivered to the audience, through cutaways to what the audience in the movie is seeing as Caesar and Claudius talk about strategies and traps and dangers in the Arena. We get to see what Katniss only imagines is happening in the books - not only as what the Panem audience sees, but also behind-the-scenes cutaways to what's happening with the Game Makers. We get to see the fire attack on Katniss planned with pinpoint accuracy, and the creation of the Mutts. It really hammers home the idea that nothing happens in Panem by chance - it's all carefully orchestrated by those in charge.

Despite having one of the worst audiences in history (dear kids sitting behind me: was it necessary to run down every single difference between the book and the movie in real time? And do it loudly? I know you're Team Gale, but please stop laughing as Peeta is almost dying. It's unbecoming), I enjoyed this film so, so, much. I highly recommend it to fans of the books, and I think it will do an excellent job in bringing in the half-dozen people in the US who have managed to not read the books yet. (Seriously. Who hasn't read this book?!)

Nonfiction Monday Review: Reel Culture by Mimi O'Connor

A lot of the nonfiction I've been reviewing has been quite serious in nature - Civil War prison camps, anorexia, bullying and feminism have all been covered recently. So Reel Culture is a nice change of pace!

Mimi O'Connor highlights "50 classic movies you should know about (so you can impress your friends," as the subtitle explains. However, from the introduction it's clear this is less about impressing your friends than gaining a quick understanding of where lots of American cultural catch phrases and images come from. It's like Cliff Notes for US popular culture.

These aren't necessarily the 50 most popular movies, critical successes or big money makers - these are films that have contributed to US culture but might not be known by today's teens. Thus a culturally important movie like Star Wars isn't included, because we've all already seen that. Instead there's Sunset Boulevard, Taxi Driver, Harold and Maude and 2001: A Space Odyssey - basically the syllabus for my 200-level film course in college (we mercifully skipped 2001 - I tried watching that in high school after I spent the summer reading all of Arthur C. Clarke's books in the series. I don't think I lasted an hour). Then there's more popcorn quality movies included, too: Jaws, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Mad Max 2 and The Rocky Horror Picture Show. And that's just a fraction of the total. Each movie gets a 2-3 page spread, describing the plot (including - spoiler alert - the endings), trivia about the making of and reception of the film, highlighting important scenes, memorable quotations (and their original context), as well as mini-filmographies for the actors and directors.

I found this to be a pretty comprehensive little book. I'd be hard pressed to think of a significant movie from 1938 to 1991 that was left out (the last entry is Silence of the Lambs because later movies haven't been established as truly culturally significant. I think you could argue about that, but on the other hand, more recent movies are more likely to have been seen already). The only possibility I can think of is from before 1938 - why not go back to the dawn of talkies with The Jazz Singer and it's famous quotation - "You ain't heard nothin' yet!" Otherwise, I'm happy with the selections.


My one complaint is the book is slightly uneven with it's social commentary on the films. When the entry on Gone with the Wind didn't earn a single mention of the enduring Mammy stereotype, which existed before the film but was certainly cemented into place in our culture upon its release, I first thought the book was going to avoid discussions of race or controversy in general. But skip forward a couple of decades to Breakfast at Tiffany's and under the "Stuff people still talk about" heading is Mickey Rooney's portrayal of Mr. Yunioshi - a Caucasian actor playing a Japanese character that is "now considered somewhat racist and offensive." I haven't actually seen Breakfast at Tiffany's, but while I don't doubt the role is considered racist now, is that really a more enduring legacy than Mammy?


A movie buff who's truly immersed herself in film isn't going to learn much from this book - the movies in there that I have seen I already knew the trivia about. However, if you've got large gaps in your movie knowledge, this is an excellent way to quickly see what you've been missing and get a few recommendations for your Netflix queue.



This week's Nonfiction Monday is hosted by Moms Inspire Learning. Be sure to check out all of the other great nonfiction books being reviewed today!
Review copy sent to me by the publisher, Zest Books.

Review: Freeze Frame by Heidi Ayarbe

Woohoo! First post of 2010!

Hope everyone had a great holiday weekend. I always enjoy New Year's Eve - though now that I live in the celebration capitol of the country I fear for my life if I have to enter Manhattan on New Years Eve. Not because it's actually dangerous, but because there's so many people! But tourist season is officially winding down here, so that means I have a few months of (relative) quiet before tourists start coming back in the spring.

I got Freeze Frame from the library a couple of weeks ago, actually, but it took me a couple of tries to get into it. Not sure why, but when I did finally make it past that first chapter, I couldn't put this book down - I even stayed up late to finish the last two chapters (which actually doesn't happen to me too often anymore - since I know I have a train ride in the morning, I'm usually content to wait until then to do my reading).

On a cold winter morning, after Kyle insults his sister and angers his mom, he and his best friend Jason escape the house to explore the old shed behind Kyle's house. Jason pokes around on the shelves and unveils a gun that was hidden up there.

The next thing Kyle knows, there's a gun shot, and Jason is on the ground with blood flowing from his chest.

At the hospital, at 10:46 AM, Jason is pronounced dead.

Though Kyle can't remember what happened, the court sentences him only to probation, sure that this isn't an act of cold blooded murder. Everything has changed for Kyle, but now that he's on probation he's expected to resume his life: his probation agreement means going to school, getting good grades, and staying out of trouble, all of which are easier said than done since Kyle can't seem to care about school and when he is there, the other students either stare and whisper or harass him outright for being a killer. Home isn't a relief either: Kyle's sister was friends with Jason's brother, and the two families live next door to each other. Also, Kyle has taken it upon himself to look out for Jason's little brother, a target for bullies at his elementary school.

Kyle's one coping method is writing. As a film aficionado, he writes the scene of Jason's death over and over, imagining it as a movie script directed by a different director, each time getting closer and closer to uncovering how exactly he killed his best friend.

Kyle finds two saving graces at school: Clock, another outcast who tells stories through pictures, and Mr. Cordoba, a strict librarian who is the subject of numerous rumors about his past. When the cafeteria becomes unbearable, Kyle starts eating his lunch in the library, and Mr. Cordoba slowly but surely takes the troubled boy under his wing, giving Kyle a place to study in peace in return for some help re-shelving books. He also gives Kyle a series of books to read, and encourages Kyle to talk about them after he's read them.

As Mr. Cordoba's and Kyle's relationship grew, I found myself wondering why we don't see more awesome librarians in literature. We see cool teachers in all sorts of subjects, and sometimes the local public librarian can be an ally if a book takes place over the summer, but school librarians seem to be mostly absent. They certainly aren't as awesome as Mr. Cordoba. Kick ass librarian there.

What kept me up late reading was to see the culmination of the relationships Kyle built over the course of the novel. Before Jason's death, Jason really was Kyle's only friend, and even that relationship was drifting apart as Jason began to make friends among the popular kids. In the aftermath of losing everything, Kyle slowly rebuilds through his friendships with Clock, Mr. Cordoba and Chase, which is what really keeps the novel moving - the scripted scenes are interesting, but I didn't have nearly as much interested invested in those.

Has anyone out there made any reading/blogging resolutions for the new year? I know lots of people try to read 50 or 100 books in a year (I just went back and counted - I reviewed 97 books on here last year, though not all in full posts, which means I easily cleared the 100 book mark as there were a handful of books I read but didn't blog about, including one book that was actually an omnibus of 4 novels and a novella). I'm not setting a goal for myself this year, but one of my handful of resolutions this year is to blog consistently. That means averaging 3 times a week and hopefully building up a backlog of reviews to post automatically should I find myself away for a few days. Fingers crossed!