The Hunger Games

[SApril]

JLaw is slim to me. I was just bringing up some of the character descriptions from the book and she was towering over Josh and it was very noticeable.

I got roped into a midnight showing on the 22nd. I've never done this before. I'm going with a bunch of women and we are all in our 30s and 40s. They've done this before with Twilight and HP.

[Deleted]

Mar 13, 2012 18:27:17 GMT -4 Babycakes said:

Mar 13, 2012 5:33:18 GMT -4 SApril said:

Katniss is supposed to be short, slim, emaciated maybe. Some tributes (from 1 or 2) are supposed to be tall and robust. Jennifer Lawrence is like a head taller than the guy who plays Peeta. How is the romance angle going to work.

She was wearing heels at the premiere last night, normally she's only about an inch or two taller than Josh (Peeta). Liam is just a freaking giant though.

I don't have a problem with JLaw's weight for the role, but she has fat cheeks which scream robust and healthy, and thst was majorly distracting at first.

I like that she wasn't asked to slim down for the role. I'm pretty sure that in the very near future some producer will make her feel awful about her body and make her starve herself. I bet she looks too healthy and happy for most of Hollywood's taste.

As for Josh's height...since Peeta was such a damsel in distress most of the time in the books, I never imagined him being all tall and super strong. I think that Gale is supposed to fill that role.

[Deleted]

Footage has been cut in the UK, in order to receive a 12a rating.

I'm annoyed, but I'm more annoyed that film studios will never accept making less money by allowing a film to take a higher, and often more appropriate, age classification. I don't think children younger than 12 really do need to see this movie, tbh.

[Deleted]

Early review of Hunger Games is mostly positive. This is the first full review I have seen. Lots of praise for the acting and the story. Says it is both epic and smart. The only thing that sounds worrisome is they mention they use the handheld frenetic visual style a lot which makes the action hard to see. I don't mind the handheld style in certain cases, it worked well in the Bourne movies. But generally I think it is overdone. Hopefully it is not too nauseating. Still overall it sounds like it turned out as well as one could've hoped.

[kostgard]

The reviews I've seen have been overall positive too (and they all praise Jennifer Lawrence's performance).

The main complaints I've seen is that they kinda went light on the hunting and the violence, clearly to keep from offending people and to get that PG-13 rating. The Hollywood Reporter also noted that they don't linger on the special effects shots much, probably because they didn't have the budget for it. They also noted that they went kinda light on Haymitch too, so I guess he's not going to be a total fall-down drunk. I've haven't seen high praise for the actors playing Peeta or Gale (not anything bad, just that they aren't as good as JL), and I've seen a few single out Lenny Kravitz as good, so it sounds like Cinna is in good hands.

Overall, it sounds like it's at least a solid B+. I'm looking forward to seeing it.

[Babycakes]

Mar 16, 2012 16:43:36 GMT -4 @bronze said:

Early review of Hunger Games is mostly positive. This is the first full review I have seen. Lots of praise for the acting and the story. Says it is both epic and smart. The only thing that sounds worrisome is they mention they use the handheld frenetic visual style a lot which makes the action hard to see. I don't mind the handheld style in certain cases, it worked well in the Bourne movies. But generally I think it is overdone. Hopefully it is not too nauseating. Still overall it sounds like it turned out as well as one could've hoped.

It's at 100% on Rotten Tomatoes (so far) with 13 reviews so far.

As for the hand held stuff, I think I read the Steve Sodenberg shot some of the action scenes. Why? I have no idea. He's not really known for shooting action scenes is he? But than again, neither is Gary Ross. Still excited though! Just 1 more week!

[Deleted]

Mar 16, 2012 16:49:49 GMT -4 kostgard said:

The reviews I've seen have been overall positive too (and they all praise Jennifer Lawrence's performance).

The main complaints I've seen is that they kinda went light on the hunting and the violence, clearly to keep from offending people and to get that PG-13 rating. The Hollywood Reporter also noted that they don't linger on the special effects shots much, probably because they didn't have the budget for it. They also noted that they went kinda light on Haymitch too, so I guess he's not going to be a total fall-down drunk. I've haven't seen high praise for the actors playing Peeta or Gale (not anything bad, just that they aren't as good as JL), and I've seen a few single out Lenny Kravitz as good, so it sounds like Cinna is in good hands.

Overall, it sounds like it's at least a solid B+. I'm looking forward to seeing it.

I read somewhere that the studio is going to try and push for an Oscar nomination for Jennifer. She is a previous nominee and if the movie is a critical hit and a huge commercial success I can see the Academy wanting to reward that. I don't think it is completely out of the realm of possibility. Although the Oscars are a year away so it may be forgotten by then.

I can't say I am surprised to hear the violence and hunting has been toned down but I am a little disappointed. Like ronette said why can't they try and make the film for a higher age classification and make just a little less money? I can't imagine how they are going to deal with the violence in the third book.

Mar 16, 2012 17:46:13 GMT -4 Babycakes said:

As for the hand held stuff, I think I read the Steve Sodenberg shot some of the action scenes. Why? I have no idea. He's not really known for shooting action scenes is he? But than again, neither is Gary Ross. Still excited though! Just 1 more week!

He did do that Haywire movie which was supposed to have some kick ass fighting choreography. I haven't seen it but I admire some of his movies and kind of hate others. Gary Ross did do Seabiscuit which I also haven't seen but I would imagine that there were a lot of horse racing in it. I am really excited for this too. I rarely go to the movies these days because the nearest theater is an hour away by bus. But I think I am going to make the trek anyways.

[huntergrayson]

Stephen Mirrione - Soderbergh's editor on Traffic, Ocean's 11, Contagion - is doing the editing, which bodes well. I've never been remotely confused by any action in any of the films he's worked on. I am so over shaky Bourne cam for everything, but I think this could be well-done.

(Haywire was seriously amazing, fight sequence-wise.)

I totally ordered the next two books with express shipping from Amazon. Can't wait.

Here's a Movieline Interview with Kravitz. Apparently he was already close with Jennifer because of her friendship with his daughter.

[Deleted]

I broke down at Barnes and Noble the other night and bought a copy. I devoured it, I finished it in two days. Great story with lots of feminine badassery.

I'm going to see the movie definitely, but reading that they toned down the violence makes me a bit concerned. I don't even know how you'd do it, there's no changing the fact that a bunch of teenagers are forced to brutally kill each other on live TV. You can take away the bloodiness I suppose, and I'm guessing they'll leave out the part in the book where tributes in the past ate the tributes that they killed, but the reality of what's going on remains, and if you sanitize that I do feel it would take away from the allegorical nature of the story.

I just hope they don't mess up Rue. The brief shots of Cato look perfect, he's exactly the blonde Hitler youth psycho I pictured him as.

[huntergrayson]

Can we talk about how awesome the fact that T. Bone Burnett is supervising the soundtrack is!? Taylor Swift/The Civil Wars. Arcade Fire doing a new song! Glad they really stuck to the 'Panem as Appalachia' idea that the books had.

And *of course* 99% of the tracks are 'album only' on iTunes. Cleverly played, Lionsgate.