Reviews

*SPOILERS ALERT* Dare I say it, this relatively passage film was extremely lazily adapted from the book. It took too long to 'get to the good stuff' and there were some other obvious flaws that have nothing to do with flaws from the book itself - it's all down to the film-makers.

I kind of guessed at this the moment the film opened and we see Game-Maker, Seneca Crane talking to blue haired presenter (played solidly well by Stanley Tucci) - and it became a continual problem - removing us out of Katniss's POV and the games and into the 'behind-the-scenes' world of the Capitol. UGH. It completely leached the strength of menace that an antagonist has - seeing Presi Snow chatting to Crane on various occasions, I sat there trying to fathom why this was in the narrative at all. It's like seeing the most bad ass robot and then they take you to see it nuts and bolts - or find it works on water. Lame.

Another issues were Peeta and Katniss - it wasn't good chemistry between Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson, but Josh came across stronger in his performance as the 'boy with the bread'. Which also brings me to the 'bread' scene - why is it raining and why wasn't it made clear that Katniss was literally starving to death with nothing to take to her family? (she never looked like she ever struggled to get food). The flashbacks were lazy and confusing. If we knew she was at the end of her tether, that moment would have been more significant and so to, their relationship. Instead, when it's time for Katniss to turn on the 'charm', it's not even obvious that she has turned on anything. And then we kept cutting to see Gale in District 12, it was clear the filmmakers had NO flair. The scenes with Rue were rushed and void of depth. And if they'd done the bread scene properly, we'd have known that Katniss does whatever it takes to survive - she's survived near death before - this is her trait, her winning element - not the bow and arrow. And she isn't shown to change or evolve - she is as she started. MINUS 20 POINTS!

And if that wasn't bad enough, we had some weird cutaways to blue haired presenter and the other dude, 'info dumping' but it felt like those commentary scenes in Dodgeball - I expected them to say there would be a 'Half time show'. (How else would they have given us the info, I hear you ask. Well, a 1 min montage showing Peeta and Katniss viewing the previous Hunger Games tapes and picking up on various booby traps and format the games take). Again, it wasn't well integrated into the character development of Katniss - how amazing would it have been if the filmmakers had shot it so that it's as if we're the viewers of the The Hunger Games, not the viewers watching the viewers watching the games. Make sense? Then the Capitol would have come across as this unreachable, unseeable terrible master - and there would have been more suspense when the crazy dogs come, or whenever anything was 'dropped' into the world. Adaptation rule - keep it contained! And heck, if you want to break from Katniss's POV, why don't we get some of Peeta's POV? Furthermore, how the film portrayed the Capitol and its citizens was lacking. There was less impact of the 'us and them' mentality. Small scenes in the book like when Cinna (well played by Kravtiz) orders any food they want and then realises how 'disgusting' the Capitolians must appear to the District 12ers would have brought that home more. Also, Katniss's styling team wasn't there to show how they treat her like a pet - encapsulating the mental nature of the Capitol - how to them it's so harmless, which is to be pitied, whilst also being disgusting.

Otherwise, Katniss is disappointingly 'flat', though there are good moments. The thing that essentially killed it for me, was the climactic berry scene - when they both realise they have to kill one another, the conflict is supposed to be so high - and we see how Peeta is more 'the good one'. There is no time to properly show how Katniss comes to the realisation that the Capitol won't be happy if there isn't a victor. This is the MOMENT. Instead it's over in two seconds. I wanted to scream.

And DoP - we get the hand-held camera stuff/CUs are there to make us feel awkward and uncomfortable. Methinks it was overkill in trying to 'glean' over the initial Cornucopia scene where 11 die straight away. Again, it was obvious the filmmakers didn't want to show us the real state of this bloodthirsty situation. This was added to by the idea that it never really felt like any of the kids were fighting for their lives - Cato et al kept running around and whooping as if they were having a ball, when really there's supposed to be a sinister undertone to it all. It just WASN'T BADASS ENOUGH! You might be forgiven in thinking that I severely disliked this film but as it is, it wasn't terrible. But yet again, it fell far short of the mark in getting to greatness. And this is the best book of the series so *shrug* Finally, if you really want to see a damn good portrayal of teenagers in a fight to survive or be killed scenario, rent 'Battle Royale' where the insanely maddening stakes are given due respect and intelligence.

I had the good fortune of being invited out to the media preview of this film yesterday in London and as a result, was tres excited, partly because I had a gut feeling that this film, the fourth in the X-Men franchise, would surpass the two predecessors.

**SPOILERS ALERT*** Anyhow, launching into the content. Twas good, twas very good and I can't speak for the die hard fans of the series but this will be winner for mainstream audiences for sure - and once more restore the super hero genre somewhat. The action sequences were brilliant without being thrown in there just for the hell of it, the performances by James McAvoy as Charles Xavier was right on point and even Michael Fassbender was intense, tortured (and witty!) as Eric (save for the blatant Irish accent creeping in at the end of the film but that's really minor…) Special mention goes to Bill Milner, who plays the young Eric - his scene in the Nazi office - enough said.

The film doesn't introduce anything new thematically, as it rotates around the concept of fear and hatred of the new and the misunderstood and questions of what evolution really means – it simply sets up (or rather builds upon, in reverse..?) the two opposing sides that will go on to be represented by Professor X and Magneto. And as most people know, I love going 'back to the start' and revealing what makes characters become who they are. Additionally, the pace carried the film well, considering it was over 2 hours long.

The film and the cast are all beautiful to watch, with solid performances from all, though its McAvoy, Fassbender and Bacon that do the heavy lifting. The score is intense but in parts I felt like it was doing too much of the work.The script was decent as well and there were only perhaps two lines that were lame in all, so for a super hero movie, that's pretty damn good going.

While the mutant characters were engaging enough and felt fully formed, the film painted the rest of humanity as rather dim and grey - I don't fault the movie for that really, it's nigh impossible to show the full spectrum of people but those characters supposedly in power – generals and whatnots, just felt like puppets – but I think that was the point. Talk about ineffective humans – especially those in authority (and doesn't that reflect reality? Ouch!) There were great moments of levity, mostly through Charles Xavier's lines but by far the best sequence was when Eric and Charles team up for the first time and begin recruiting – there's a brilliant inside joke thrown in there that references the original movies – and it had everyone in the cinema laughing.

What's more, on a more broad note, the film does keep that question hanging for you – what would you do if you were the more evolved version of the human species? It's a probing enough question but not one that is overbearing to the content or properly explored - which is a wise move, considering all the other movies pick up on that. So you leave feeling you watched a more than decent superhero movie with fair creditability and lots of fun to boot - that surpassed no. 2 and 3 (which isn't hard but if you get stuck in a formula it could go stale and smell bad, like the Star Wars going back to the beginning nonsense. It didn't do that - it got a new lease of life). Plus, if James McAvoy is in it, there's something of worth there, surely? From

The other weekend I watched 'An Education' which I was excited about viewing. I had read the screenplay a few weeks back and simply fell in love with it. You could tell it would draw upon the performances and would have no need for too much cinematic flair that seems to saturate a lot of productions these days. This would be honest, straight forward film.

And it was. The production design team and costume did a superb job of recreating early 60s London with a slightly washed out colour palette whenever Jenny was inhabiting her 'boring world' sans David, no doubt a good nod to the bleached out life she believes she is living at that point. The scene where Jenny is taken to a jazz bar is splendid, it definitely had me yearning for an experience like that, the place was so lush and extraordinary; it's no wonder you feel the wonder that Jenny experiences on being in such environments. Carey Mulligan gives a strong performance, particularly alongside Alfred Molina as her father Jack. She has one of those faces that can long older than her years and then transform to that of a naive girl, which is precisely the point to a lot of the narrative, so hats off to the casting director in that regard. Dominic Cooper and Rosamund Pike were adequate in the supporting roles, in fact I found Cooper not in the least bit annoying and rather credible.

I wasn't entirely convinced by the performance delivered Peter Sarsgaard; he was dodgy from the word go and I wasn't ever taken with David's charm that allows him to worm into Jenny's parents' good graces and seduce the poor girl. That may be down to my previous reading of the script and I got quite a powerful sense of David from that, while in the film he appeared rather bland, akin to a odd uncle, even if he was taking little Jenny out and about the town.

It was touching in places, especially when Jack apologises to his daughter but the best elements was Jenny's relationship with her English teacher (the superb line 'I'm telling you to go to Oxford... or you'll break my heart' just summed up the bizarre duality that exists in modern girls' lives when it comes to education and then life afterwards), and Jenny's outburst to the headteacher (played briefly and brilliantly by Emma Thompson): "It's not enough to educate us any more, Mrs Walters. You've got to tell us why you're doing it." Oh that definitely spoke to me! "This whole stupid country is bored." There's another one that rings close to home.

All in all, very enjoyable and poignant in parts, without any crazy avenues to traverse to understand the heart of the film. Plus it was a solid British cast. My only reservation is that it's not as good as what I had hoped from reading the screenplay, which only affirms to one that what you read and consequently visualise in your head is more powerful that what gets translated on screen. Sorry, I am a lover of words at the end of day. But the production team did a good job.

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Overall, I thought it a very nice movie - I hate to use the word 'nice' as it's rather dry but it was very beautiful to look at and the central performances by Rupert Friend and Emily Blunt were very strong. What I liked most was that despite the gleaming aesthetics of the costumes and the settings, all gilded and shiny, this aspect never took over the heart of the film which was good, strong writing (thank you Julian Fellowes :D); nothing too flamboyant or saturated with pomp, i.e not sensationalised greatly (when Victoria is dragged out of bed to be informed she is now Queen, well you couldn't get a less glamorous hand over of the crown). It was paced gently and every line in the film held its worth.

Undoubtedly the portrayal of the love between Victoria and Albert, though somewhat fairytale-ish on the face it, was in fact a slow burning candle and Friend and Blunt did well to show how effortlessly these two people 'fitted' together despite the union being initially arranged (my fave bit was when they come home after hunting and Victoria simply hugs her new husband from behind; so much said without any words, that's what film is all about). Blunt held her own beautifully as well, she has a face that demands your attention and I can't not mention the costumes that she wears - every one simply gorgeous. If I was Blunt I would have trouble parting with any of them! The rest of the ensemble cast all played their roles well, Harriet Walter as Queen Adelaide being a highlight.

The only qualm I have, is that it lacked a sense of urgency, or an event that could have made the movie a little more exciting? (It was rather tame) I don't know, I wanted 'something' to happen that would have Victoria draw out some strength and prove her worth a little more. When she and Albert argued, I loved it, I could have done with some more pivotal dramatic moments, though that may be just me.

Lastly, at the risk of sounding all patriotic, it did renew a sort of pride and awe in the crown and what it takes to be in such a position, especially in one so young. This may be in part to the fact that this film's snap shot of Victoria's young life is immediately apt to what I have been writing for one character of mine in 'The Sword & The Scion' but nevertheless, it did flag up those feelings (for those following my book, can you guess what character Victoria so aptly reflects?) It might have been in part to the film displaying how ridiculous the government were back in those times as they didn't seem to give two hoots about the poor and dispossessed of the nation, which only in turns renews appreciation that Queen Victoria and Prince Albert were so active in this domestic domain. It made the government appear rather useless - nothing much has changed then I suppose.

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OK, I thought this might be an 'OK' TV series when it aired here in the UK. I was right - it is just barely 'OK'. Nana Visitor is good, even Micah Alberti. That's about it. And it's hardly ever about the horses. Whenever I tune in it's some silly teenage angst moment and I never feel we're properly inhabiting the world.

The acting really lets the show down, especially Ryan Sypek and Nicole Tubiola. There's no real sense you can gauge from them. At all. Genevieve is alright, though not a strong enough lead really.

The stories are flat, the script uninspiring, the locations alright, the characters missable. The production value is obviously low because the club Junior sets up is tacky. And of course, we have to have a club where all the young uns can hang out, I mean that hasn't been done to death in teenage shows already..! Unless there's nothing else coming on TV, I wouldn't bother. 'Gossip Girl' which has just started to air here in the UK is waaaay superior if you want teenage drama. And there's always 'One Tree Hill'.

i really enjoyed watching this movie and i'm so glad i didn't read any spoilers like my sis did and went in completely unaware. firstly, the stunning use of colour was wonderful. there were some great scenes and even though many people think the movie has a weak story i personally think it was better than that of 'crouching tiger'. i liked the fact that the director disorientated the audience with 'the fake versions of what happened'. the fight scenes were good too, breathtaking in some parts. i loved the theme of fighting not being about fighting if you get what i mean. and my fave scene was tony leung vs the emperor - all that use of green - superb. yes one mite say that the use of colour is cliché but it worked wonderfully. there's just something so simply pure about it - its not trying to have this deep, complicated symbolism.

i basically wasn't bored like i was in 'crouching tiger'. some parts of the movie were odd and didn't work well but overall it was a good Chinese movie and one of the better ones I've seen. i was so glad it wasn't like 'road home' or anything - road home isn't bad, just so damn slow. and i did like the whole patriotic china bit too. i thought it was a nice touch, and oddly moving. yes, it mite have been catered for the western world, but it hit home to me in London, so i guess it worked. definitely worth my time and money.