The Hunger Games: Raw and Violent Beauty

I’ve decided to write a review of Hunger Games even though most of the known world has already seen it. 3rd biggest opening of all time? That’s crazy! I guess this is one of those rare times where pop culture (the book), the tween audience (AKA twilight fans), women (like the love triangle), men (like the violence), geeks (awesome nerd factor) and Hollywood (stellar cast) all combine to create an ultimate box office champ if you will. I am not going to bother with a brief plot synopsis because if you don’t know already you have been living under a rock, or in Russia.

The Hunger games opens unexpectedly on a conversation taking place on a television show with all its glitz and glamor then cuts to the decrepit plight of those living in District 12, one subservient area that are oppressed by the Capital. It's this juxtaposition that builds the strength of the film. The constant sense of unfairness, of unnecessary opulence by the capital, of underlying fear and horror for anyone that lives in one of the tribute districts that bring the tension and power of the film.

It’s no secret that Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) volunteers as tribute for her district in the 74th annual Hunger games, which pits two children from each district against one another to the death. What the movie brings is a subtlety to the emotions running through Kat, through Her friends, through the other tributes (except heavy-handed Cato) and through her family. Everyone knows the games are a farce, a dreaded punishment and yet everyone participates. “What if we all just stopped watching,” proposes Gale, the one constant in Katniss' life. It’s enough to question our own motives to take part in exploitive behavior and even in some sense to even be watching a movie about kids killing one another.

What I really loved about the movie is the artistry and emotion. I truly felt for the oppressed, I truly loathed the access. I truly cared what happened to Katniss, Rue, Peeta and even some of the nastier characters. Aside from the acting, the filmmaking went beyond the book. Hallucinations from the tracker Jack stings were vividly realized, death is with reverence and beauty and even a killing field can be humanized by the appearance of a single butterfly that kisses the tip of your finger. The use of the ‘televised’ portion of the games came in handy to explain to a general audience the finer details of the dangers, but it is in the images of the trees, the smell of the soil, the stickiness of the blood and earnestness of the glances that the film really earns its emotion, and the involvement of its audience as well.

Final Consensus:
See it now!!!!
See it in theaters!!!
Rent it on DVD/BluRay!!
Wait for it on TV!
Don’t Bother

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Titanic 3D: A lavish overhaul for a flawed classic

I don’t know if I am qualified to review this film since I can honestly say I never saw it in theaters on its original run. So, I really have nothing to compare it to other than my memories of watching it on VHS. The whole 3D conversion thing is big amongst earlier blockbusters (see Disney) but has yet to yield a bona fide hit other than the Lion King, which was respectable. I can honestly say that here, the 3D is magnificent, and not just for the spectacle of the sinking ship.

I’m not going to bother with the plot or anything, if you don’t know it you’ve been living under a rock for the past 15 years. I will extol the merits of seeing it on the big screen in 3D. What impressed me most were the close-ups of faces, every wrinkle, reflection and hair are given new dimension from the 3D. It’s a very personal experience. Images of the actual wreck become more eerie and magnificently hulking. Also, the interior shots of the ship before it sank are breathtaking. As the camera moves through hallways, staircases and atriums, there is a real sense of space and grandeur. It also lends becomes frightful during the sinking sequences where looking down a vastly deep corridor filling with water seems all but hopeless.

On the other hand, there were plenty of things the 3D couldn’t fix. The outdated special effects for one, or the atrocious dialogue both remain. The film is not great by any means and is truly a piece of manipulative popcorn fluff; but one thing can be said. James Cameron knows how to tell a story, and with his eye for stunning visuals, the 3D here not only improves the experience, but also leaves you wondering what he could have done had he been filming it in 3D from the start!

Final Consensus: 
See it now!!!!
See it in theaters!!! (for the 3D)
Rent it on DVD/BluRay!!
Wait for it on TV!
Don’t Bother

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