We postponed Thanksgiving dinner until tomorrow (my wife is out of town) and so yesterday I took my kids to the "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire." We had 3 free passes and so we splurged on popcorn instead. I go to about one movie per year in the theater (the last one was Act Of Valor) and am woefully behind on Netflix. This is not a movie review -- I'd prefer to leave such things to blake (@bitmaelstrom on Twitter).
"The Hunger Games" trilogy is the flip side of "The Handmaid's Tale" (not an original idea). I am not saying we are on the verge of either dystopia -- what I mean is its portrayal of the increasing polarization of the coastal elites vs. the members of "flyover America" states. Read for example Victor David Hanson's piece, "America's Coastal Royalty."
The plot line of "The Hunger Games" is also a vehicle for reflecting entertainment trends in America. Others have noted how the first one was sarcastic towards the whole reality TV genre in America. This continues in "Catching Fire" with for example "actors" in the televised spectacle going off script. Stanley Tucci is outstanding as the pageant host. Woody Harrelson steals every scene he is in. Philip Seymour Hoffman has too small of a role, but my son (who has read the novels) says that his role will become more important in the third movie. Jennifer Lawrence is gorgeous to look at (can't wait to see her in "American Hustle") and I even developed a liking for Elizabeth Banks' character: the unlikeable Effie.
The second "Hunger Games" does not disappoint. I recommend it.
10 comments:
Woody has improved with age. He has taken over the role of the crazed menacing thoroughly evil type (whether as lead or supporting) that Gary Busy used to so delightfully play...
I am not saying we are on the verge of either dystopia -- what I mean is its portrayal of the increasing polarization of the coastal elites vs. the members of "flyover America"states.
In the few instances, they attempt to communicate, the forces preventing them from recognizing each other seem to be stronger than the principles that bring them together.
It's palpable.
The portrayal is deafening when you consider its size and scope.
Big Media encompasses way more than the Rush Limbaughs and Fox News ever could.
It's steady, un-relentless and expanding like the universe. See under NFL.
I'm well on track to see 150 movies in the theater this year.
This will probably be one of them.
Stop the class warfare and envy.
It is sad when both sides do it.
Catching fire is not all that it is cracked up to be. Just sayn'
Troop--
There have been a lot of advances in catching fire technology since...Tuesday.
Catching Fire may not be all that great, but Jennifer Lawrence certainly is.
Titus said...
Stop the class warfare and envy.
It is sad when both sides do it.
No, Titus. I want all Americans, Boston and California included, to wake up and realize that Washington, D.C. is becoming like a new Rome, especially under Obama. It's a disease.
D.C. is becoming like a new Rome, especially under Obama
That is true in the sense that when a man has untreated lung cancer, the phrase "the cancer has been bad, especially this last month" is always true. Because EVERY month is worse than the one before it.
Every Presidential term for more than 80 years has ended with Washington more intrusive in American lives than it was at the beginning. Sometimes the government pulls back in some areas while expanding in others, but the net result is always a bigger Washington. Even Reagan ultimately left Washington bigger and more intrusive than it had been under Carter, even though he improved things in other ways.
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