Hunger Games movie, TV

[thistlechaser]

I finally made time to watch it, and wow! SO GOOD. There were small differences in how I pictured the characters (for some reason I thought Snow was a younger man), but of course that's to be expected, and I had no issues at all with them. In fact, I really, really liked all the changes they made from the book. The movie so totally worked. (How come more movies based on books aren't done this well?)

I really like that the romance was played down (I seem to recall whole chapters about it in the book), I loved seeing things from the control room and all the tech.

All the actors really worked in the roles. Who would have thought that Woody Harrelson could pull off Haymitch? Or Lenny Kravitz Cinna?

I hear that some folks complained that Rue was played by a black girl, but I loved her dearly.

I can't remember the last time that I had zero issues with a movie. Not even one minor complaint. True to the book and yet totally worked as a movie. Lightning struck.

On TV, I'm sadly out of shows to watch. I gave up on M*A*S*H. The humor ("humor") wasn't in the least bit funny to me. It's the most dated thing I've seen in ages. One of the characters was nicknamed Spearchucker (a black one, of course), that was the final strike for the show. Maybe it got better later in the series, but in the beginning it was all jokes about sexual harassment and racist humor. It seriously turned me off.

I tried watching The Vampire Diaries. I gave it more of a chance than I usually would (five eps), but it just didn't work for me. Oddly it had a storyline and plot twists very much like Teen Wolf (which I loved), but the romance killed it for me. That and I like werewolves but don't much like vampires anymore.

So now I have no show to watch (in an ep-a-day sort of way). Blah.

Comments

[ani-mama.livejournal.com]

I saw the movie too! I really liked it. They did a good job of translating the book to film. Rue was described as dark skinned and dark eyed in the book, so I don't know what the deal was? Since this is a future world, they would obviously not use "African American" to describe their race in the book. Both Rue and Thresh seemed like they were pretty spot on to me.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I'm not sure either. I didn't see the complaints first hand (luckily), just in someone else's review it was mentioned.

I'm glad you liked it, too! I can't remember the last time I didn't get bored or want to multitask during a movie, but Hunger Games held my attention from beginning to end.

[fealubryne.livejournal.com]

Already commented below, but I'm going to comment here, too, because I just have to put my two cents in. It's so good you didn't see the complaints. Made me rage to no end. People talking about how they thought Rue's death was so sad until they saw the movie, but her being black ruined it for them and such. WHAT?!

Personally, I thought the girl who played Rue was spot-on, and she was such a good actress. So sweet and natural, I know girls just like her which made it all the more heartbreaking.

Overall, I really liked the movie too. Thought they did a really good job with the casting and... heck, everything. I think my only complaints were that the movie felt a little rushed - but they had a lot to cover in a short period of time and they handled it well - and the fact that the mutts weren't the way I pictured and were pretty downplayed. The sheer horror of them didn't really get a chance to come through. I'm making Alex read the book before he sees the movie, simply so he gets all the details first, but I definitely think they did a good job.

That said... did you see the director isn't coming back for the next movie? I'm so, so not happy. I understand his reasoning, and respect it, but... gah. Now I'm so afraid for the next one.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

I did notice the difference in the mutts, but I think only because I was spoiled about it going in. (I freely read all reviews on my friends list, since I had read the book and knew the plot.) I think if I hadn't been I would have still noticed it, but I think it was fine as-is. Like you said, they had so much to cover, adding in a whole genetics thing would have taken up time.

People talking about how they thought Rue's death was so sad until they saw the movie, but her being black ruined it for them and such. WHAT?!

"What?!" indeed! D: Racist much? Sheesh... She was so sweet and I loved her to death. ... *cough* usually that's just a saying.

I hadn't heard about the director, no. Arg!

[firebyrd.livejournal.com]

I only heard about the crap second hand myself, but it made me want to strangle people. She was so clearly described in the book. My mental picture is of a black girl, so of course a black actor would be cast for her! I haven't had a chance to see the movie yet, but the whole controversy just makes my blood boil. Talk about being racist, not to mention a lack of reading comprehension!

[gmth.livejournal.com]

Re: M*A*S*H, how many episodes did you watch? Spearchucker is only in about 4-5 of the episodes, if that, and they're the very first ones of the first season. I agree with you on how racist that is, but luckily the character doesn't stick around for long. (Just looked it up on Wikipedia; he's only in 11 eps in the first season.)

IMO, M*A*S*H doesn't really hit its stride until the fourth season, which is when Henry and Trapper leave and BJ and Col. Potter join the cast. I think this is an unpopular opinion, but I don't like Henry or Trapper at all.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I only got maybe four eps into it, watching one every other week or so (when I had nothing at all better to do). It's too late now, I deleted it, but maybe I was too hasty about it. Unfortunately seven seasons of it = big enough for "Do you want to delete forever?" instead of it going into the trash bin.

Yeah, I didn't like Henry or Trapper at all either. Henry especially.

[ani-mama.livejournal.com]

Speaking of racist, MASH really annoyed me because they used non-Korean actors for the Korean characters and often gave them weird, not culturally accurate outfits. I guess they thought Asians all looked the same, and since nobody knew Korean anyway it was okay if the "Koreans" could not speak Korean...

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Yeah, in one of the eps I saw, they even made a "joke" about them all looking alike.

At the time I'm sure all this was okay, but now... I have better things to do with my time.

[doxxxicle.livejournal.com]

Have you seen the series Lie To Me?

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

You know, I haven't. Not more than a piece here and there. I'll look into that next, thanks!

[vswest.livejournal.com]

Iiiif you have Netflix (not sure):

I'm not sure whether it would be to your tastes or not, but Sons of Anarchy is up on Netflix right now, apparently my parents liked it.

Same with Breaking Bad, which again - not sure if it would be to your tastes, but I like the character development in it.

The UK version of Being Human is up there too - I'd definitely recommend the UK version over the US, but that's probably just because it's the one I saw first. X) It does have a werewolf!

Last, my personal favorite: House of Cards (a British miniseries trilogy thingy) is on Netflix right now in full. It's one of my favorites, but it's also pretty nasty political drama, so again. TASTES.

This cut off my comment. >[ But I've heard that the movie was really good, and I'm glad you liked it! Also glad that they cut out a bit of the romance, I didn't really care for the books but that was one of my complaints. And yes, the furor around the actress playing Rue was so dumb. And she's such a cute kid! (The actress).

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

I had Netflix, but I let it lapse. Now I BT everything, which is better in some ways and worse in others.

I tried out Sons of Anarchy on TV, but it didn't work for me, sadly. It's too bad, because otherwise bikers in leather would make me all YAY.

I've heard good things about Breaking Bad, but I know nothing about it. I'll put it on my list! :)

And huh! I watched the first two seasons of the UK version of Being Human and really liked them. I should catch up!

Agreed on the romance in the book. I recall it slowing the whole thing down to a grinding halt.

Also, since you appear to like British TV, I have a rec for you! Have you watched Misfits before? I love it so much! It's like the show Heroes, but much much better -- more mature and darker and wonderful!

[fealubryne.livejournal.com]

I recently found Being Human and am on the third season of it. Really, really like it, reminds me of Misfits (gee, I wonder why). Almost done with it now, so I've slowed down, but yeah. On the same note, however, I saw the US remake of Being Human and it made me very sad inside (they just... made everything so generic and gave it a seriously Twilight-y feel, which I suppose makes sense considering). So now I'm really worried about what they're going to do with the US remake of Misfits. Ugh. As Alex pointed out, we already have a US Misfits, it's called Heroes! Can't we just leave it at that?!

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Yes yes yes, to all of this. I hate the US remake of it, and I worry so much about how they'll remake Misfits. Seriously, how? It's all sex and cursing and killing. It works because British TV allows so much more than American TV does...

[veloxe.livejournal.com]

I've been working my way through Star Trek: The Next Generation for a couple weeks now. I doubt you'd find it as fun to watch as I do but hey it's an option!

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Oh! That would be a great option, but I'm catching it weekly on BBC America on Saturdays. I'm enjoying it a lot more now than any previous viewings, though I have no idea why. I really disliked it in past years, but I look forward to "new" eps now.

Also, I bought some ore from you the other night! I took a screenshot, but I haven't had time to edit it.

[veloxe.livejournal.com]

Ya I had a whole bunch of ore from when I was running around trying to level up my fishing and just threw it all up at once. You probably got some of that :P

I'm getting excited about TNG because I'm like halfway through season 3 and I know more Borg stuff is coming soon!

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

BBC America hasn't quite gotten there yet. The Crystalline Entity is the current Big Bad Thing. I think the Borg come soon after that!

[teaandfailure.livejournal.com]

I liked it too! I had a couple of minor nitpicks, but they really were just, "Wah, I wish it was a miniseries that lovingly wanked every page of the book, wah." It really was very well done!

I also didn't see the complaints about Rue and Thresh, but when I heard about them my mind boggled. Like Ani_Mama says, I had always thought from her description that she was SUPPOSED to be portrayed by an African-American actor. Also both actors did so well with their material, especially Thresh, who gets like... two lines, and still made them awesome. I love Thresh. :)

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Hah! I was thinking how great this would be as a miniseries/TV show, too. Assuming it was done as well as the movie and not typical TV. I could easily see this one movie stretched out into 8 or 10 hours!

Thresh was so great. For as little screentime as he had, he made such a big impact (/Clove).