HOM:

Giving you something to read on the toilet since 2009.

"The mistake lies in seeing debate and discussion as secondary to the recovery of meaning. Rather, we should see them as primary: art and literature do not exist to be understood or appreciated, but to be discussed and argued over, to function as a focus for social dialogue. The discourse of literary or art criticism is not to recover meaning, but to create and contest it. Our primal scene should not be the solitary figure in the dark of the cinema but the group of friends arguing afterwards in the pub."
-Don Fowler (1996) "Even Better Than The Real Thing"

Monday, April 2, 2012

Hunger Games - Joey Proffitt


The Rant:

I don't say hate a lot.  I don't hate a lot of things and the things I hate are some pretty terrible things.  Exploitation of people (especially children), abuse of political power, electronics breaking, cancer and other diseases, natural disasters, money...

Oh, and people harping about movies that are not as good as the book!

It's awful!  Please name a movie that was better than the book?  Name one. The Wizard of Oz. Ok, name two. (really try and come up with one)

After every movie release I just want to break a little blue wing on the twitter bird.

Of course it's not as good as the book.  I don't care if you read the book and want us to know how special you are that you read it and have secret knowledge that we wouldn't understand because we haven't.  Eat a fart.  Gnosticism is the worst.  Movie gnostics suck, almost as bad as Lake Gnostics.  If that's is your only review of a movie, it is unacceptable.  You MUST have something more.  MUST. GRRRRRRR!

The Rave:

The Hunger Games is WONDERFUL.  Great casting.  Great pacing.  and great job of leaving the right things out.  A movie must make choices, and Hunger Games made the right ones.

1.  Food - the author Suzanne Collins had this incessant need to be overly descriptive of food which I found to be trivial and a waste of description.  She should have used it more on the character development of the numerous "tributes."

2.  Donald Sutherland was a better President Snow than the book's.  He had depth and intrigue.  DS has a great voice.  Have you ever noticed that?

3.  The love story was less cheesy.  I felt the book was trying to go a little "Twilight" but ultimately failed.  The movie however successfully worked in the game vs. reality / shared experience vs. natural attraction aspects of the no win love story.

4.  Closure - The story doesn't have closure. But the movie does.  We'll done.

5.  Soundtrack - wonderful music. T-Bone Burnett produced. read about it here 

If the book didn't exist:

1.  Great Casting - Tucci, Sutherland, J Lawrence, Banksy, Woody, and Kravitz.

2.  Pacing - The movie moved quick.  Didn't lull.  Changed scenery often. Valued movement over scenery.  

3.  2 Things that put me in a mood of forgiveness to minor and all flaws.  Entertainment Value and Character Development. +++!

4. And Great previews: Snow White and the Huntsman, Lincoln Vampire Hunter, 

The Response:

What must a movie do to be a successful counterpart for a book?

What are the limitations of cinema that a movie must overcome?

In what ways can movies surpass books?

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