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Catching Fire review-conclusion and some spoilers

If Francis Lawrence can repeat Catching Fire's heart and soul with both Mockingjay films, I have no doubt that fans of the books will be satisfied that Collins' work is finally being given the film treatment it deserves. Catching Fire *almost* makes up for the first film's shortfalls. On another note: I'm still not really happy with the music, soundtrack or inspirational soundtrack. It's not what I'd like to hear for the franchise, but I guess we're stuck with it. If you're wondering about the violence in this film: I thought it was a little less one-on-one violence than film one. It is less jarring because it's no longer children against children, but two children against a swarm of adults (really, you can't call Katniss and Peeta children anymore; the Games have changed that). I thought there was a lot less blood in this movie than in the first one, which is surprising considering that the books get progressively more violent. The monkey mutts were terrifyingly well done, and the jabberjays? I felt as terrified as Katniss and Finnick. That was another scene lifted perfectly from the book.

My rating: 4.5/5 stars.

I feel like I'm not doing the movie justice, but I'm starting to forget everything I wanted to talk about, so maybe when I see it again, I'll write a better review. And apparently it was so long I had to split it into two posts. Wowzers.
 
X-Men Days of Future Past. I did not like it one bit. I thought it was dull and boring and the story seemed like was adapted from someone's first draft. It had nothing to elicit emotion and that "edge-of-your-seat" excitement. I'll give it a B for Boring.
 
Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 1

SPOILERS below!!!!!!!!!!!










What a film. My expectations were high considering the quality of an adaptation that Catching Fire proved to be. Granted that it has been at least a year since I've read the trilogy, so I may be stretching some of my praise of the film. But first, I felt like the first half of the book was captured in the movie. Mockingjay is a very dark book, and as such has a lot of depressing moments in it. I liked that it opened with Katniss playing her 'real' game: "I'll start with what's real: my name is Katniss Everdeen. I'm from District 12. I survived the Games. Peeta was left behind/is in the Capitol", etc. This isn't how the book began, but it gave us a pretty good starting point at where Katniss is emotionally and psychologically. She's a completely shattered heroine, the tolls of being strong for those around her showing through her cracked facade. And it was a good way film-wise to include a great many pieces of the book in just one 2 minute scene [the book has a lot of little moments where Katniss completely loses her mind and has to be sedated]. So on this note, can we please just discuss Jennifer Lawrence and why she's a several times Oscar winning/nominated actress?! We've seen a steady progression of Katniss: in movie 1, she was a reluctant hero for her sister. In movie 2, she's a broken but ready to fight individual who wants to ensure Peeta survives. In Mockingjay, she's a combination of the two, more broken than willing. her accumulated personal losses have caused her a great deal of emotional damage, as evidenced in the book. In many ways, she's only a puppet for the rebellion, her strings pulled by various parties in District 13 [a fact emphasized by the numerous 3rd person mentions of Katniss while she's in the room; they talk about her as if she's not there in person]. But she has the mental faculties to make several personal demands to President Coin if she becomes the Mockingjay. She wants Peeta and the other victors freed (funny how Enobaria wasn't mentioned in that demand; wonder where she ended up), as well as wanting them to let Prim keep her cat. Jennifer does an excellent job playing this side of Katniss: at times strong, but most of the time completely lost and in pain.

Peeta. Oh Peeta. you were one reason I was dreading this movie so much! The progression of Peeta's torture was one of the things I didn't want to see, but see it we did. he starts out relatively unchanged and by the end of the film, I don't even know the character anymore. Hutcherson did a terrific job conveying all of Peeta's nuances in this film; I won't even talk about how the hate in Peeta's eyes at the end was completely believable. It'll be interesting to see how he brings Peeta to life in the next film.

Gale. I still hate the character, even though he's really not all that unlikable in the film(s). I just don't like Gale, and I still feel like he's a bit of a pansy in this installment; they should have made him tougher or something. I don't know. I didn't like his portrayal all that much. But President Coin. I know what happens to her at the end of the story but she is the one new person I dislike the most. Maybe it's BECAUSE I know what happens to her in the end, but she's just...ick. Like a two-faced snake. And in passing I'll mention some of the newcomers, Cressida, Boggs. I had my reservations about Boggs at first, but I actually really liked him. And Cressida. And the film crew (though we don't see them much at all). Part 2 will be difficult. Really difficult.

Can we also just talk about The Hanging Tree? When I first heard it, I thought, "eh". It wasn't what I pictured. But as I've listened to it, and after having seen the film, it's grown on me. It was an important song from the book, and I feel as if the filmmakers captured it in the right way. Though I would have preferred a little more build up to the song [I think I remember Katniss telling a story about it in the book], but overall it was satisfying. And while at first I disliked Lorde's "Yellow Flicker Beat", it's grown on me as well.

Music was much the same as previous films, I wasn't overwhelmed by anything.

Okay so if you've gotten this far and you STILL haven't seen the movie, I want to warn you about the ending. It's ridiculously INTENSE. I knew more or less what it would be from comments I'd read about the movie, but I didn't realize how intense it would turn out. And for all those crying about how it ended, let me remind you: the book splits pretty evenly at chapters 13 and 14. Chapter 13 ends very similarly, and since there are 27 chapters in the book (minus the epilogue), then this was an adequate place to stop. Part 2 will be hard enough with the attack on the Capitol (and everything that comes with).

Rating: 4.5/5. It's the best of the 3 so far. Go see it!
 
Hmmm thanks for the review Avaris. It seems that there are two sides to this film. One side says it's the weakest, and the other the greatest. It's like this film has no middle ground. Well different strokes for different folks.
 
NarnianWarrior said:
Hmmm thanks for the review Avaris. It seems that there are two sides to this film. One side says it's the weakest, and the other the greatest. It's like this film has no middle ground. Well different strokes for different folks.
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I'm guessing it would depend on how much of a purist those in each side are. I haven't really noticed too many people calling it weak or bad (it's got its flaws for sure), and as far as I remember, it's a pretty faithful adaptation with minor changes. That's why I like it so much. And I think it's a pretty good movie overall. I still have an issue with Howard's underwhelming score, which is the pretty much the same from Catching Fire and THG.
 
Alien Abduction 2014

Plot: Yes, you guessed it: “Alien Abduction” consists almost entirely of footage supposedly shot by Riley, whose world actually gets very, very scary as he and his family witness such unsettling portents as downpours of dead crows and dozens of abandoned cars scattered along roadsides and inside tunnels.

Review: One of last years best movies. 9/10
 
Before I begin I would like to say that my review is based on a series, but I like to consider it one long movie.

Tales from Avonlea/Road to Avonlea season 1 (1990)

Plot: The series is set on Prince Edward Island in the small town of Avonlea. The time period is from 1903-12. Sara Stanley is sent to Avonlea by her wealthy father to get to know her relatives after he is falsely accused of a crime.

The series is loosely based off of several novels by the author of the Anne of Green Gables books L.M. Montgomery. Sara Stanley is ever delightful as Anne Shirley and portrayed brilliantly by Sarah Polley who evokes the big word usage and spirit of Anne Shirley.

After being let down by the Emily of New Moon t.v. series, and the falsified rendition of Anne Shirley's beginnings in the film Anne of Green Gables: A New Beginning, I was highly impressed with how beautifully Polley brought Sara Stanley to life from the pages of The Story Girl. Tales of Avonlea had that warm and wholesome feeling of the first two Anne of Green Gables movies, and incorporated further stories, places and characters of Montgomery's works and the world of Anne Shirley like her adopted parent Marilla Cuthbert, neighbor Rachel Lynde, and of course the house of Green Gables. Even Anne was mentioned in one of the episodes, now being married to Gilbert Blythe and having several children at this point.

Sara Stanley earns her name as the Story Girl because of her knowledge of words, and the tales she tells. She is some ways as heedless as Anne Shirley, but tends not to make as many mistakes as her. Sara becomes acquainted with her Aunt Hetty when other relatives say they don't have room for her. I look forward to finding the second season to watch, and see how marvelous it will be further adapted from more of Montgomery's works.

Rating: 5 Anne Shirley heads out of 5. A much watch for anyone like me, who is a fan of L.M. Montgomery's works and Anne of Green Gables.
 
Thanks NBW! I am always looking for series like this to watch on my Kindle when I'm too tired to read.
 
Anne Of Green Gables 1934/1985

Anne Of Green Gables from 1934 starts off as a pretty good movie. The actress(Dawn O'day) who portrayed Anne Shirley in this adaptation did such a splendid job of bringing the personality and spirit of Anne to life. As I was watching the film I fell in love with Anne as I did when I first read Anne Of Green Gables as a child. The compelling spell of Anne was brought out well. I really enjoyed the scene where Anne is riding out to Green Gables with Matthew, and she pauses in speaking, and gets a dream like look upon her face and in her eyes that radiates the character of Anne Shirley well.

Matthew Cuthbert is represented by O.P. Heggie fairly well in this adaptation. He has some comedic parts where he strikes a match on his shoe as Marilla says that Anne should go back, and gives an amused look as he does so, and displays the shyness of Matthew pretty well. Helen Wesley doesn't have the personality of Marilla that I come to enjoy from the books or that Collen Dewhurst brings to the table in Anne from 1985. I was somewhat disappointed with the combing of Diana's mom and Rachel Lynde into one character. It was just awkward, since Marilla isn't all too fond of Mrs. Barry in some parts of the book, and is more friendly towards Rachel Lynde, since they have known each other for awhile. I know that they had to cut down on some things for time, because the movie is only an hour and seventeen minutes or so.

The worst part is when Marilla interferes with Anne and Gilbert getting close, and tries to separate them in almost a class system way, or like Romeo and Juliet. The other thing that I didn't like is that Matthew lived in the end. It was a nice ending to have him live, but that is not true to the original source material. I give Anne Of Green Gables 1934 4 Anne Shirley heads out of five, because it follows the story faithfully up to a point, and because Dawn O'day aka Anne Shirley does such a splendid job.

Anne Of Green Gables (1985)

What can I say about Anne Of Green Gables from 1985. Everything about this film is perfect. Megan Follows works wonders as Anne. Follows gets Anne's spirit and spunkiness down pat. Colleen Dewhurst has the strictness and heart felt moments portrayed brilliantly. Richard Farnsworth as Matthew displays more of the characters traits than was brought out in the 1934 version.Patricia Hamilton is Mrs. Rachel Lynde she embodies the way Mrs. Lynde is outspoken marvelously. As I continued to watch it, it felt as if all of the characters and sequences from the book we're coming to life. Although Matthew dies different in the book, the fact that they included his death in the film, and he has a talk with Anne before dying in her arms is so much more poetic. At about 4 hours of running time, this is truly a delightful adaptation I could write more of a review of the 1985 version, but I'll have to think more of what to put. I give the 1985 version of Anne of Green Gables five Anne Shirley heads.
 
Holllow Man

Plot: Scientists discover how to make people invisible, but their test subject becomes an insane killer who stalks them.

Review: Worth the Oscar nomination. 10/10
 
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