kali
Sloane Ranger
Posts: 2,446
Jul 1, 2008 23:07:20 GMT -4
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Post by kali on May 18, 2011 18:37:57 GMT -4
She looks like a Lara Croft mock-up.
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huntergrayson
Guest
Apr 26, 2024 20:33:57 GMT -4
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Post by huntergrayson on May 18, 2011 18:42:48 GMT -4
Haven't read the books, haven't seen her in anything outside Winter's Bone, but given how I keep hearing about how these books are SRS BZNESS and the best thing EVAH and whatnot, I'll echo Jezebel (or was it Slate?) saying that maybe it's more important that they hired an Academy Award-nominated actress for the lead than a perfect physical doppleganger. Okay, yes, true, they did that very thing with Angelina as Lara Croft and she was pretty much just cheesecake, but given the way they're casting this thing - Tucci! Banks! etc -- it seems like they're focusing really hard on getting good actors first.
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Post by Witchie on May 18, 2011 18:53:08 GMT -4
Haven't read the books, haven't seen her in anything outside Winter's Bone, but given how I keep hearing about how these books are SRS BZNESS and the best thing EVAH and whatnot, I'll echo Jezebel (or was it Slate?) saying that maybe it's more important that they hired an Academy Award-nominated actress for the lead than a perfect physical doppleganger. Okay, yes, true, they did that very thing with Angelina as Lara Croft and she was pretty much just cheesecake, but given the way they're casting this thing - Tucci! Banks! etc -- it seems like they're focusing really hard on getting good actors first. This.
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Deleted
Posts: 0
Apr 26, 2024 20:33:57 GMT -4
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Post by Deleted on May 18, 2011 19:02:48 GMT -4
Haven't read the books, haven't seen her in anything outside Winter's Bone, but given how I keep hearing about how these books are SRS BZNESS and the best thing EVAH and whatnot, I'll echo Jezebel (or was it Slate?) saying that maybe it's more important that they hired an Academy Award-nominated actress for the lead than a perfect physical doppleganger. Okay, yes, true, they did that very thing with Angelina as Lara Croft and she was pretty much just cheesecake, but given the way they're casting this thing - Tucci! Banks! etc -- it seems like they're focusing really hard on getting good actors first. This. Seconded. She's a good actress, so I don't see why her casting is supposedly such a huge mistake.
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Deleted
Posts: 0
Apr 26, 2024 20:33:57 GMT -4
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Post by Deleted on May 18, 2011 19:19:06 GMT -4
That's a Canadian fashion magazine. It is usually pretty mediocre.
I am sure she will do a competent job in The Hunger Games. None of the casting is terrible per se. Just all the choices feels really safe. I think the movie will be enjoyable in a completely generic safe way. There is nothing wrong with that and I don't think the books are the best things ever. But the books especially the first one are good enough that they could be really interesting under a bolder director. I just don't see that from the director of Seabiscuit.
Getting back to Jennifer Lawrence, she was great in Winter's Bone but I would like to see her in something else to see if she actually has range.
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SApril
Blueblood
Posts: 1,262
Mar 17, 2005 17:35:34 GMT -4
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Post by SApril on May 18, 2011 19:19:50 GMT -4
I don't think the two guys playing Peeta and Gale can act at all, especially Miley's ex.
The casting call for Katniss was for Caucasian actresses only (they didn't audition any other actor except Jennifer anyways). So, no non-whites need apply. Many readers, including myself, thought that the character was not white. And then on top of that, the director? said something along the lines of it doesn't matter who gets the role, they can just dye their hair and use makeup to make the actress fit into the role.
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huntergrayson
Guest
Apr 26, 2024 20:33:57 GMT -4
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Post by huntergrayson on May 18, 2011 19:23:19 GMT -4
I do concur that the studio and the director handled the ethnic/racial ambiguity question HORRIBLY in terms of how they were responding/what they were saying about it. Other actresses - of several ethnicities - should have definitely been considered and auditioned if that aspect of Katniss is up-for-debate/ambiguous in the books & fandom. However, wasn't the Word of God from Suzanne that Katniss was definitely Caucasian? Or was that something she only answered/made explicit after Lawrence was cast to save face? Not that Greecies here did this, but I was more stating Lawrence's acting chops as a response to ridiculous fangirl/boy appearance quibbles like "no, Katniss's hair is supposed to look JUST LIKE THIS. Here, lemme show you in this sketch i made! And here's one with me with Edward Cullen!" or that she's "too curvy/fat" for the part. Because, you know, actors never change weight for a role. So not having read the books, I can't weigh in on what race/ethnicity I thought Katniss would be and if this is a case of the Race Lift trope, but I do think that the studio responded to the controversy poorly.
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kali
Sloane Ranger
Posts: 2,446
Jul 1, 2008 23:07:20 GMT -4
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Post by kali on May 18, 2011 19:35:56 GMT -4
Something she answered afterwards. Whether it was to save face or not is anyone's guess.
I don't think the books are that great. But what bugs me about the casting is that the two things about the books I DID think had potential were that these characters were CHILDREN being forced into fighting a war, and that the Districts were so clearly drawn and the social structure of the world so specific. And those are the first two things they tossed out from the second they started casting this film.
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huntergrayson
Guest
Apr 26, 2024 20:33:57 GMT -4
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Post by huntergrayson on May 18, 2011 19:45:24 GMT -4
I think that the whole children-actually-age in real life thing was what prevented them from casting Hailie Stanfeld (who was widely-rumored as being in contention). Yes, more obviously a child and therefore more horrible a dystopia, but if they're going to shoot this over several years, it could cause problems if she went through puberty and then was too big/booby/tall/looked entirely different than in the first film.
This is why in Lost the character of (old Lost spoiler for anyone still watching DVDs) Walt had to leave the Island. Because he GREW at a rate exponentially higher than how time was passing on the show.
I actually didn't like Winter's Bone much but thought Lawrence did a swell job.
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Post by incognito on May 18, 2011 20:22:15 GMT -4
Nope. She gave a very wishy-washy, "Well, yanno, I never EXPLICITLY said that Katniss was POC!" Of course in the next breath she heavily implies that Katniss is supposed to be multiracial, as she says that there's been a lot of ethnic mixing in the future. Essentially, I got the distinct impression that Collins has no idea what the hell she's saying. She may be the author of this series, but that doesn't mean she knows fuck all about race issues.
At the very least, it looks like Katniss is supposed to be ethnically ambiguous, and putting makeup on a lily white girl to make her look darker and therefore more "ambiguous" is gross. This is nothing like (for example) people who were grousing that Daniel Radcliffe's eyes weren't green for the Harry Potter movies. I'm sure that there are plenty of people only bitching because they really wanted Kaya Scodelario or something like that, but I think it's unfair to dismiss everyone out of hand by saying that we're only complaining because of something trivial like the wrong hair color. (not that you were doing that, huntergrayson, the last comment is meant more generally)
And as far as getting a talented, Oscar-nominated actress goes... well, see, but white actors aren't inherently more talented than POC actors. I'm sure that there are plenty of talented POC actors. They're probably not winning Oscars or other awards because, well, they're hardly ever given a chance to show their stuff in Hollywood, this movie being a perfect example.
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