The Hunger Games Review: The odds are definitely in its favor

I went with my family to see The Hunger Games on opening day. I knew that this was another one of those huge "young adult" series like Twlight, and while I have a soft spot for the Twilight movies (being the sucker for chick flicks that I am), that comparison didn't exactly give me the highest hopes for cinematic greatness.

The weeks leading up to the movie's release were rife with record-breaking predictions and the expectation of many that this would be the next Harry Potter or Twilight - a series that would enchant the majority of the population. Depending on who you ask, that's quite a dichotomy: awesome, critically-acclaimed series of book-based movies, or a series that many absolutely despise because of its less-than-believable love story and attacks on tradition.

First it's shiny vampires, next it'll be dogs and cats moving in with each other.

The question was, would this be more like the former or latter?

Based on this first installment, The Hunger Games should fall emphatically with the former.

For those who aren't familiar with the story, The Hunger Games is set in a dystopian future, focusing on a nation called Panem. At some point prior to the events in the movie there was a rebellion by 13 districts against the ruling Capitol. The rebellion was put down, and as both a punishment and a symbol of forgiveness, the Capitol puts on Hunger Games each year. A male and female representative is selected from districts 1-12 (my brother tells me district 13 got nuked) to compete in a kind of deathmatch, which is televised throughout Panem and is watched eagerly by the masses.

I won't go into many details beyond that basic setup (you can find those out for yourself by watching the movie), but naturally Katniss Everdeen (the main character, played by the beautiful Jennifer Lawrence) finds herself as the female representative for District 12 and must prepare to battle the other 23 "tributes" for glory, for wealth, and for her life.

Beautiful.

What makes the movie wonderful is that it manages to balance a number of opposing and distinct forces in such a way that everyone in the audience is pleased, from the action lovers to the lovey-dovey romance fans.

The first part of the movie in the poor District 12 establishes the daily hardship that Katniss goes through every day, the strong relationship between her and her sister, and the series of events that lead to her becoming a tribute. We see the power of the Capitol and poverty of the former rebels. We see that Katniss is the underdog.

Drama lovers: satisfied.

Woody Harrelson plays a District 12 Hunger Games champion from days gone by named Haymitch. He is first introduced as Katniss and Peeta (the other District 12 tribute) travel to the Capital. While he serves the plot as an advisor and counsel to Katniss, he brings his typical charm and humor to the movie, stealing scenes and bringing laughs every chance he gets.

Comedy lovers: satisfied.

From the preliminary interviews and appearances made by the tributes all the way through the Games themselves, we get snippets of affection from Peeta, but are left to wonder whether his feelings for Katniss are genuine or if he is merely pandering to the crowd to garner support. Meanwhile back in District 12, Katniss' best friend Gale looks on with jealousy - can you say love triangle?

Romance lovers: satisfied.

And finally we have the Hunger Games itself, where the tributes, ranging from little kids to strong teenagers, finally engage in the Capitol's bloodsport. The movie does not shy away from the carnage and blood - we see gruesome and, in some cases, disturbing displays of brutality and callousness. We see the reality of The Hunger Games and all of the excitement and fear that it entails.

Action junkies: satisfied.

Movies that only focus on one of these themes will often struggle to appeal to more than a core audience. Many people who go to see Transformers won't be going to see The Notebook - two very different core audiences who expect very different things from a film. The Hunger Games manages to appeal to every audience successfully, in much the same way that other franchise-starters (The Fellowship of the Ring, Harry Potter, A New Hope) did.

The Hunger Games is an excellent piece of cinema, and should be the beginning of another iconic and wonderful series of films in the coming years.

Verdict: 9 Arrows/ 10

Photos courtesy: Summit Entertainment (Twilight), Lionsgate (The Hunger Games)

Lost In Translation: a pick-me-up for the world-weary – and a darn good movie, too

I’ve been planning to start this blog for a long time, but for various reasons (fear of rejection and a general lack of motivation being paramount) it just never happened. Maybe no one wants to read my thoughts on movies from days long since gone, but I’ve finally reached the point where that’s not such a big deal to me anymore.

I love movies and really all forms of entertainment. I want to share my thoughts, my experiences, and my impressions on these here interwebs. I hope some people take something positive from my musings, maybe think about things a little differently, or hopefully just enjoy the reading ride. In any case, welcome.

I saw Lost In Translation for the first time this afternoon. I bought it at MovieStop a few weeks ago on a hunch (and, well, because it was buy two get two free) based on the smattering of positive remarks I’d heard about the movie.

“It’s funny.”

“That’s the one with Bill Murray, right? Yeah I think I saw that. Maybe.”

Maybe it’s strange to start a blog like this with Lost in Translation, of all movies. But the more I think about it, the more I feel that it is actually fitting, where I was in life a month or so ago.

I was in a serious relationship for a little over a year – the first I’d ever been in – with a girl who I loved dearly. We’d been dating long-distance for the majority of that time, but in July she apparently discovered previously-unknown psychic powers and decided that differences in our personalities, in addition to the stresses of life wouldn’t be conducive to long-term success. Of course, I disagreed (and still do), but not to draw the point out any farther, I got my heart smashed.

I also recently graduated from college and applied everywhere I could but couldn’t get a single call back from anyone who didn’t work for a slimy insurance company. On top of that, I bought a new computer for gaming and, after 10 minutes of playing, the power supply exploded.

It was the month from hell. It seemed like nothing could possibly go right for me, like the world was trying its damndest to pile as much crap on my head at once as possible and that there just wasn’t anything good left for me.

Like that, except instead of acid pies, imagine fate’s poop.

Most people have experience this feeling at least once in their lives (and if you haven’t yet, well, just kidding?). Lost in Translation captures that feeling of despair and disillusionment with life, but shows too that life has a way of working out, that when you feel like the urinal cake in Fate’s bathroom, at some point he’s got to swap you out and get out of the existential toilet (or something like that).

In LiT, Bill Murray plays Bob Harris, a famous movie star from decades gone by, temporarily working in Tokyo to promote a Japanese whiskey. He spends every day being thoroughly confused by his Japanese escorts and trying desperately to be “more intense” with his whiskey commercial. Every night he sits in the same chair in the same hotel bar while the same crappy lounge singer croons in English. He dreads talking with his wife and seems to just be all-around disappointed and unhappy with his life, despite his apparent affluence and luxury.

Insert Charlotte (played by Scarlett Johansson), a beautiful Yale graduate who is staying in the same hotel in Tokyo with her photographer boyfriend John (Giovanni Ribisi). Charlotte spends her days in her room while John is off snapping celebs. Charlotte is having a “mid-midlife crisis,” wondering what it is she should do with her life, who it is that she married and generally what the point of her life is at this junction. So, one night she heads on down to the bar and meets Mr. Harris.

Bob and Charlotte bump into each other several times before Charlotte invites Bob to a party with her friend, Charlie Brown – her eccentric Japanese friend. They hang out for a while, that is, until Charlie pisses off the owner. They’re thrown out and chased down the street by a dude with what seems to be one of those light guns that kids get when they’re like, 5, except in tommy gun form (I think it might actually be a bb gun or something). Charlie and the gang have a little karaoke party (c’mon, it’s set in Japan, you know there’s going to be a karaoke scene at some point) and the sparks between Charlotte and Bob continue to fly.

Now, before you slide down that slippery slope of Hollywood clichés all the way to a “and they lived happily ever after,” remember that both Charlotte and Bob are married. Bob periodically calls/is called by his wife back home, who seems to not really give a rat’s posterior that he’s on the other side of the globe – the bulk of their conversations focus on the fabric choice for the floor in his study. Meanwhile, Charlotte is excited to have Bob in her life now, since John almost never appears in the movie again. She’s an intelligent 25-year-old woman with nothing to occupy her time, no one to communicate with (since she doesn’t speak Japanese), and no sense of purpose. They both continue to struggle with their respective personal demons until, one night, Bob ends up sleeping with that aforementioned crappy lounge singer.

Didn’t see that one coming, huh?

Yeah, neither did Charlotte, who gets pissed off because Bob just…not-cheated on her? She feels betrayed and shows it, which Bob doesn’t really take well to. They start to make up, and yet it’s suddenly time for Bob to go back home. He is torn between staying (a desire he voices and seems to be ready to embrace) and leaving for his long-lived but ice-cold marriage. He decides to leave, ultimately, saying goodbye to Charlotte, who coldly leaves.

Bob is led to a waiting taxi and leaves for the airport, but at a stop he sees a woman in a crowd with reddish hair and a long coat – Charlotte. He leaves the cab and catches up with her. He whispers something inaudible to the audience in her ear, kisses her, and says goodbye. Whether it’s for good, the audience can only guess.

The movie doesn’t have a happy, fulfilling ending. It doesn’t promise that a life abroad will be one of easy acclimation or of merely amusing cultural misunderstandings.

It shows us that our lives can become dull at any age, and the things which we thought were so clear and concrete can quickly lose their meaning and their foundation and life can become one big, cruel joke that we’re not in on.

And yet, the movie also shows us that, as cliché as it sounds, no matter how bad things may seem to be, that they can and do turn around when we least expect it. Bob and Charlotte found themselves in unhappy marriages, in a foreign land, questioning their choices and spots in life, and yet in the midst of that unhappiness, they found each other. They realized once again that there might be something valuable in this life after all. Their hope was renewed, and so was mine.

Verdict: 9.25 Intense Whiskey Commercial Turns/10

Pictures courtesy: American Zoetrope (Lost In Translation) and Mach Studios (Killer Klowns from Outer Space)