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Thread: The Hunger Games films

  1. #51
    Oliphaunt Rube E. Tewesday's avatar
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    He stayed up too late reading the second book again last night. He said something like, "It's the most exciting book I've read since.....ever."

  2. #52
    my god, he's full of stars... OneCentStamp's avatar
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    That's awesome. That's about how my oldest (11 at the time) was about them, only he's not very effusive, and very too-cool-for-this, so he was like, "Yeah, they're pretty good," which from him is like doing cartwheels.
    "You laugh at me because I'm different; I laugh at you because I'm on nitrous."

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  3. #53
    Oliphaunt Rube E. Tewesday's avatar
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    Now on the third book, he is dubious about the rebels. He thinks that Capital is at least better than District 13, and he's unhappy about the prospect of abolishing the Hunger Games. He thinks the games themselves are awesome, and just need to be reformed.

    The kid's always had his own take on things.

  4. #54
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    Quote Originally posted by Rube E. Tewesday View post
    ... He thinks the games themselves are awesome, and just need to be reformed.


    Reformed, like ... giving all the kids paintball guns and having them play a giant game of capture the flag? 'Cause that would be kind of cool

  5. #55
    Oliphaunt Rube E. Tewesday's avatar
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    No, I think he's more like turning it into a professional sport with volunteers instead of conscripts, something like that. The violence he really likes.

    He's an eleven year old boy.

  6. #56
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    Quote Originally posted by Rube E. Tewesday View post
    No, I think he's more like turning it into a professional sport with volunteers instead of conscripts, something like that. The violence he really likes.

    He's an eleven year old boy.
    It's not an inconceivable thing; the Games in the original books were already no stranger to volunteers. The books establish very early on that there's a strong tradition of kids from wealthier districts training from a young age specifically so that they can volunteer, presumably in search of personal or district glory - the whole "Career Tribute" idea.
    "You laugh at me because I'm different; I laugh at you because I'm on nitrous."

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  7. #57
    A Groupie Marsilia's avatar
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    I've actually heard about schools/classes running their own Hunger Games, though I've not read any real details. I'd assume something on the order of flag football, only without the ball....
    So, I'll whisper in the dark, hoping you'll hear me.

  8. #58
    Oliphaunt Rube E. Tewesday's avatar
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    He's currently kind of keen on sentencing convicted criminals to participate in the games.

  9. #59
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    Quote Originally posted by Rube E. Tewesday View post
    He's currently kind of keen on sentencing convicted criminals to participate in the games.
    Ah, so an analogue to The Running Man film, rather than book, as it was convicts in the former, the poor in the latter.
    Last edited by OneCentStamp; 02 Feb 2012 at 12:24 PM.
    "You laugh at me because I'm different; I laugh at you because I'm on nitrous."

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  10. #60
    A Groupie Marsilia's avatar
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    Look what I found....
    So, I'll whisper in the dark, hoping you'll hear me.

  11. #61
    Oliphaunt Rube E. Tewesday's avatar
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    Saw a commercial for the movie for the first time last night. Kid looked awestruck, he and his mother (who's been reading the books on her own, just ahead of him) are planning to go see it.

  12. #62
    A Groupie Marsilia's avatar
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    I'm taking Zuul!
    So, I'll whisper in the dark, hoping you'll hear me.

  13. #63
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    Now all of my friends have read the books, and we are all getting super-psyched. The movie does look really good.

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    my god, he's full of stars... OneCentStamp's avatar
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    I've heard wind of people complaining that Katniss' actress doesn't match the book description, who is "olive-skinned and dark-haired," but for those of us who learned to love Morgan Freeman as Red in The Shawshank Redemption, we'll live. The girl in the previews seems a solid piece of casting, especially as she is not ridiculous Hollywood hot.
    "You laugh at me because I'm different; I laugh at you because I'm on nitrous."

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  15. #65
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    For some strange reason, a bunch of people got it into their heads that Katniss should be played by a woman of color. Since she has a blonde sister, I think "white girl with a tan" works just fine.
    So now they are just dirt-covered English people in fur pelts with credit cards.

  16. #66
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    Quote Originally posted by OneCentStamp View post
    The girl in the previews seems a solid piece of casting, especially as she is not ridiculous Hollywood hot.
    Having been completely impressed by Jennifer Lawrence's performance in Winter's Bone*, I am sure she'll be excellent. (Although I do think she's pretty damn hot.)

    *A movie everyone should watch, because it's awesome for the squirrel-shooting scene alone.

  17. #67
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    Quote Originally posted by Zuul View post
    For some strange reason, a bunch of people got it into their heads that Katniss should be played by a woman of color. Since she has a blonde sister, I think "white girl with a tan" works just fine.
    One would think "white girl with a tan" would make the most sense, considering Katniss has a blonde sister and mother. But, the people who are really upset by the caucasian casting are saying things like "I know lots of blondes who are biracial," and "If the author meant for a character whose struggle is so analogous to that of young women of color in this country to be white, the story becomes 100% worse." I've even seen them go so far as to claim that "a Latina would have had the right coloring," then scoff at suggestions of light skinned women with Latin or South American roots.

    Oddly, nobody's worried about Haymitch being blond.
    So, I'll whisper in the dark, hoping you'll hear me.

  18. #68
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    Well, from the current press it appears that it is going to try and beat all previous records and wil be bigger than Twilight. The london premiere is up shortly, which will pack out Leicester Square.

    I do have one question though. Considering that people can volunteer to take the place of the randomly chosen, why doesn't one of the Districts just train up some people to be their representatives. Who would be better, a randomly picked 16 year old, or a trained from age 4, 16 year old killling machine?
    In the land of the blind, the one-arm man is king.

  19. #69
    Oliphaunt Rube E. Tewesday's avatar
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    And why didn't the Eagles fly Frodo into Mordor?

    Just go with it, Cat.

  20. #70
    Elen síla lumenn' omentielvo What Exit?'s avatar
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    I thought Districts 1 & 2 did train up professionals. I think they were called careers. I just read the books last month so you would think I would remember.

    I'm interested in the movie and don't care about the casting at all.

  21. #71
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    Quote Originally posted by Rube E. Tewesday View post
    Just go with it, Cat.
    Umm, yeah, ok. I'll shut up now.

    I was just curious, I can't help, its a character flaw
    In the land of the blind, the one-arm man is king.

  22. #72
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    Quote Originally posted by CatInASuit View post
    I do have one question though. Considering that people can volunteer to take the place of the randomly chosen, why doesn't one of the Districts just train up some people to be their representatives. Who would be better, a randomly picked 16 year old, or a trained from age 4, 16 year old killling machine?
    Some Districts do send in 16-year-old killing machines; they are the Districts who usually win the Games. It's described in some detail in the books.

    Quote Originally posted by What Exit? View post
    I thought Districts 1 & 2 did train up professionals. I think they were called careers. I just read the books last month so you would think I would remember.
    What he said.
    Last edited by Orual; 15 Mar 2012 at 10:44 AM.

  23. #73
    Oliphaunt Rube E. Tewesday's avatar
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    So I shouldn't have told Cat to "just go with it". (Hangs head.)

    Obviously my kid left out some details when he was telling me what I thought was the entire contents of the books.

  24. #74
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    If you watch the trailer again, you'll see a big, hulking, spear-throwing guy. That's Cato, one of the Careers.

  25. #75
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    Yeah, the rise of the Careers makes a lot of sense within the context of the books. I thought they were a very logical result of the situation.
    So now they are just dirt-covered English people in fur pelts with credit cards.

  26. #76
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    OK, who's seeing the movie this weekend?

  27. #77
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    We probably will. Sunday or Monday.

  28. #78
    Oliphaunt Rube E. Tewesday's avatar
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    My wife and kid are pretty eager to see it, but I don't know when they get to it.

  29. #79
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    Zuul and I saw it last night, like the nerds we are, and it was exactly right. Not in the sense that it was a line-for-line retelling of the book, but it was an amazing adaptation. The changes between book and film added to the story (or at least didn't detract), the pacing was excellent, Lawrence is perfect, Hutcherson is amazing, Tucci and Sutherland are chilling. Even some of the smaller roles (like the Careers mentioned upthread) were played with more depth than we saw in the books.

    I was impressed. Granted, I'll probably go back and watch it a second time when I'm not on such a fangirl high. It might give me a different perspective.
    So, I'll whisper in the dark, hoping you'll hear me.

  30. #80
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    Argh, I'm supposed to wait and see it with a friend who's out of town this weekend, but it's so hard to resist!

  31. #81
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    First day back at work since the movie opened, and nobody has asked me if I've seen it, but how many times. They know me well.
    So, I'll whisper in the dark, hoping you'll hear me.

  32. #82
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    The books are selling like hotcakes in my store on the back of the film. Shows you how literate a town I live in.

  33. #83
    Oliphaunt Rube E. Tewesday's avatar
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    Wife and kid saw it tonight, liked it a lot.

  34. #84
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    Wife and kids saw it tonight, liked it a lot.


  35. #85
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    Quote Originally posted by The Original An Gadaí View post
    The books are selling like hotcakes in my store on the back of the film. Shows you how literate a town I live in.
    It's a worldwide phenomenon: the first couple of Burroughs' John Carter of Mars books are currently dominating Gutenberg.org for a similar reason.

    I thoroughly enjoyed the first book, but I'm going to let things die down for a weekend or two before hitting the theater...
    "You laugh at me because I'm different; I laugh at you because I'm on nitrous."

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  36. #86
    Oliphaunt Rube E. Tewesday's avatar
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    Quote Originally posted by OneCentStamp View post
    [...
    It's a worldwide phenomenon: the first couple of Burroughs' John Carter of Mars books are currently dominating Gutenberg.org for a similar reason.

    ...
    Based on the article in the New Yorker a few months ago about the making of the movie, I read "A Princess of Mars", the first of the books.

    A few thoughts:

    -It was exciting reading, at least maybe the first four-fifths, but it didn't make a lick of senses, and it was no shock to find that it was the first book the author sold, and was published in installments in pulp magazines.

    - Perfectly adequate movie versions of the John Carter of Mars books have already been made. They were called the original Star Wars trilogy.

    - When your story line basically revolves around a psycho killer surrounded by psycho killers so crazy they make him blanch, and everybody's running around naked all the time, maybe you don't have great source material for a PG-13 Disney movie directed by the guy who wrote "Finding Nemo".

  37. #87
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    Quote Originally posted by Rube E. Tewesday View post
    Based on the article in the New Yorker a few months ago about the making of the movie, I read "A Princess of Mars", the first of the books.

    A few thoughts:

    -It was exciting reading, at least maybe the first four-fifths, but it didn't make a lick of senses, and it was no shock to find that it was the first book the author sold, and was published in installments in pulp magazines.

    - Perfectly adequate movie versions of the John Carter of Mars books have already been made. They were called the original Star Wars trilogy.

    - When your story line basically revolves around a psycho killer surrounded by psycho killers so crazy they make him blanch, and everybody's running around naked all the time, maybe you don't have great source material for a PG-13 Disney movie directed by the guy who wrote "Finding Nemo".
    I read A Princess of Mars a week or two ago as well, and would echo your sentiments, adding only these two:

    - This book read like a book that was written and finished as a (rather pulpy) Western, and whose characters and settings were changed at the last minute to make it Martian. I know that isn't really what happened, but it sure felt that way.

    - You can tell what a big influence this stuff must have been on L. Ron Hubbard.
    "You laugh at me because I'm different; I laugh at you because I'm on nitrous."

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  38. #88
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    Unlike the Hunger Games though, the John Carter film is on its way to be one of the biggest flops ever. We're talking Cutthroat Island levels of flop.
    In the land of the blind, the one-arm man is king.

  39. #89
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    Going to see it tonight! :happy dance:

  40. #90
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    I give it a solid 3 stars. I liked the additions with the behind-the-scenes game stuff and the riot in District 11. Also the small bit of extra characterization that was shown for the other Tributes. Woody Harrelson was awesome and whoever played Effie Trinket was perfect. Jennifer Lawrence rocked.

    There were a few moments that I would have liked to see done differently or highlighted more, but that's to be expected with any book adaptation. The book is so entirely in Katniss' head - we always know what she's thinking and why she'd doing what she's doing, and I didn't feel like we got that in the movie.

    I actually think Catching Fire might make for a better movie, since there is more character interplay and less Katniss up a tree by herself.

  41. #91
    my god, he's full of stars... OneCentStamp's avatar
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    The early word from several of my friends who have seen it is that the film is Vomitron 3000(TM) in the shaky-cam way of most action movies since the second Bourne film. Yes?
    "You laugh at me because I'm different; I laugh at you because I'm on nitrous."

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  42. #92
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    It wasn't as bad when Zuul and I were sitting off to the side but she got pretty sick when we were sitting front and center.
    So, I'll whisper in the dark, hoping you'll hear me.

  43. #93
    Oliphaunt Rube E. Tewesday's avatar
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    The harsh review in the "New Yorker" had many bad words about the shaky-cam style.

  44. #94
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    Yes, they definitely overdid the shaky cam.

  45. #95
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    Quote Originally posted by Orual View post
    Yes, they definitely overdid the shaky cam.
    And it isn't just them. It's become de rigeur for action movies, especially PG-13 action movies, where the director needs something other than blood to make scenes feel visceral and violent. It's lazy and annoying.
    "You laugh at me because I'm different; I laugh at you because I'm on nitrous."

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  46. #96
    A Groupie Marsilia's avatar
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    So, I sat back a little and to the side on my third viewing, and it really wasn't as shaky as it had seemed when we sat in the center.
    So, I'll whisper in the dark, hoping you'll hear me.

  47. #97
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    Woody Harrelson as Haymitch Abernathy is really excellent casting to me. A good choice.

  48. #98
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    Quote Originally posted by Marsilia View post
    So, I sat back a little and to the side on my third viewing, and it really wasn't as shaky as it had seemed when we sat in the center.
    Well sure, but that's somewhat akin to saying "well, I rode that roller coaster three times, and the third time I sat 2/3 of the way back, and that was totally the trick! I totally didn't barf!"
    "You laugh at me because I'm different; I laugh at you because I'm on nitrous."

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  49. #99
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    Actually, it wasn't so bad when we went opening night, either. It was the second of three times that it was really distracting.
    So, I'll whisper in the dark, hoping you'll hear me.

  50. #100
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    Just saw the movie with husband and 14-year-old son - we all enjoyed it. In fact, my husband came home and started reading the books.

    I have nothing original to observe, as I agree with most of the comments - great casting, generally well-done, but eeeee that "shaky-cam" was horrid. What possessed them to do that?

    I was a little surprised not to hear the Taylor Swift "Safe and Sound" song in the soundtrack, but now I see that it is referred to as "companion music" or "inspired by" or some such thing. What an odd concept.

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