Tag Archives: Jennifer Lawrence

Trailer Roundup: Safety Not Guaranteed, On The Road, House at the End of the Street & More!

Continue reading Trailer Roundup: Safety Not Guaranteed, On The Road, House at the End of the Street & More!

A Look at Teen Culture and Our Thoughts on THE HUNGER GAMES

Being a high schooler in 2012 is possibly one of the most tiring things a human being can do. And when I say tiring, I don’t mean because of the work, because the homework is never as difficult as they say. It’s tiring because every damn week there’s a new trend that everyone is pressured into keeping up with. As the months proceed, I feel more and more behind the times because I can’t get into things until they’re not popular anymore. Call me what you want, but I seriously have no desire to flock to a line at 5 PM and wait for 7 hours to see a movie that I may or may not like.

Planking, coning, memes, Harry Potter, Glee, The Hunger Games, hipsters, auto-correct fails, Tumblr, Twitter, StumbleUpon, rage face, GIFs, Temple Run, StarKid, One Direction, remakes, 80s revival, skinny jeans, Urban Outfitters, frameless sunglasses, wayfarers, iPads, suspenders, bowties, Skype, screenshots, cats and cocaine in the same picture, dubstep, owling, swag, Odd Future, parkour, genre bending, cute Asian babies, being a liberal, tea, independent coffee shops, mustaches, general facial hair, European lifestyles, being a fake vegan, Words with Friends, Google, trolling, Ryan Gosling, Spotify, being clever, being sarcastic, being an asshole, messy hair, high waisted pants, desert boots, headbands, rain, rainbows, photobombing, henna, links, black people, Kony, hand jewelry, henna tattoos, coconut water, being first, Lana Del Rey, Adele, Dev, small venues, “Tosh.O”, homelessness, irony, sleeve tattoos, hair, vintage anything, thrifting, Goodwill, sweaters, Jason Segel, braids, bikes, lipstick, pixie cuts, Neil Patrick Harris, “How I Met Your Mother”, “New Girl”, “Portlandia”, “Game of Thrones”, puns, bad jokes, anti-jokes, dimples, being cute, puppies, kitties, “Tosh.O”, “Awkward”, “Workaholics”, Paul Rudd, “Key and Peele”, Netflix, Hulu, anything but YouTube, viral videos, CGI, 3D, velvet, skirts, leggings, jeggings,  and yes, even Pokemon, are a few of the many, many things that the kids are doing these days. In fact, by the time I post this, a few of these things might even be irrelevant.

See, I’m not necessarily opposed to all of these popular things, because to be honest I’m a fan of most of these things. I just fear the children of our generation and how easily they can flee from one item of popular culture. I remember just two years ago when “die-hard” Twilight fans would literally get into fist fights about Jacob vs. Edward. Now, they couldn’t care less about what the hell Taylor Lautner is up to. But for aspiring actors and artists and musicians, isn’t that terrifying? Aren’t you scared that unless you’re able to stay as relevant as the youth is demanding, you’ll be cast away in the sea of other former Grammy winners and franchise stars? I mean for God’s sake, anytime I mention Justin Bieber to somebody, they say, “Justin Bieber? You’re joking right? It’s about One Direction, now.” I remember a time when anytime I said something remotely negative about the Biebs, I would get smacked in the freaking face.

As a teenager, I respect the fact that teens are looking for a new piece of entertainment to hold on to. We get bored quickly, I get it. But as an aspiring filmmaker and musician, I’m terrified that if I ever create something remotely popular, a mere three months after I’ll be referred to as “the guy who made that one good song” or “the guy who made that one good movie”. And I’m not trying to be dramatic or anything like that, but if you’re a teenager and reading this, think about it. Do you still love Twilight like you may have when it first came out?

I blame this on the rapidly shrinking attention spans of teens. When I was around 5, I remember patiently waiting twenty minutes for a video or a computer game to load, and I got super excited when it was finally loaded. Now, unless a webpage loads in like 12 seconds, I start freaking out about how slow the internet is. So yes, I admit that I have adopted the impatience as the rest of my generation, but what can be expected of a world where things as enticing as text messages, instant messages, micro blogging, and video sharing are just a click and scroll away!

Even my parents have become completely consumed with all the new technological appliances surrounding them. I’m the only person left in my family who doesn’t have an iPhone, and whether for work purposes or not, the thing I hear most in my house now is “Hey, Joey, can I use your iPad?” I find myself sending more texts and emails for them while they’re driving than I do for myself. Not a complaint, just an observation. Sorry to put you on the spot, mom.

All I’m saying is, I think we need to slow down just a little bit. We’re ingesting all this information, and we don’t know what to do with all of it. It’s a reality that becomes truer and more prevalent with every iOS update. My advice? If you’re going to fry your mind staring at a computer screen for eight to ten hours a day, at least do what I do and go outside while you’re doing it. Because if you don’t, you’ll probably just end up overusing technology and your life will become eerily similar to that of the characters in Up. Or, they could go the exact opposite way, and we could have a second holocaust, much like what happens in The Hunger Games. It’s really up for debate at this point.

The Hunger Games, based on the bestselling series by Suzanne Collins, follows Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence), a skilled hunter and matriarchal figure to her younger sister, Primrose (Willow Shields). In this futuristic dystopia, food is given to those who enter their name into a contest called “The Hunger Games”. Every year, there’s a Reaping Day where two names, one boy and one girl, from each of the twelve districts is handpicked by Effie Trinket (Elizabeth Banks), one of the faces of the Hunger Games. The twelve districts are named as such due to class, and district twelve, the poorest of them all, is home to the Everdeen family.

During the Reaping, against all odds, Primrose is selected, despite her name only being in the bowl once. Out of fear, Katniss volunteers herself as tribute, or, as a contestant in the games. Both delighted and surprised, Trinket proceeds to pick a boy, Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson), a farmer boy who’s had a crush on Katniss for years. The two are then taken to the Capitol, who now controls the twelve districts after they waged war about a century earlier.

Their mentor, Haymitch Abernathy (Woody Harrelson) guides them as they train for the games, while they are dolled up for national television on a program hosted by Caesar Flickerman (Stanley Tucci), who looks strangely like the evil Inspector Gadget from the Matthew Broderick version. All of this is in preparation for the big day. For the Hunger Games.

When I first saw the trailers for The Hunger Games, I groaned in displeasure as I saw what looked to be the next Twilight. After seeing the film, a part of me is right, and another part of me is wrong. On a scale of Eragon to Harry PotterThe Hunger Games places a little bit above The Twilight Saga: Eclipse but lower than Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. In human being language, that basically means that it’s pretty good, but not great. With a great performance by Woody Harrelson, and a decent one by Jennifer Lawrence, as well as some fantastic set pieces that don’t suffer from too much CGI, The Hunger Games definitely isn’t the worst movie you could see this weekend.

In fact, it’s definitely the most exciting, but a lot more could have been done to create quality entertainment. For one, hire a new director for God’s sake. Not since Catherine Hardwicke’s clunky directing in the first Twilight film have I seen such unnecessarily shaky and displeasing camerawork. I swear, watching Katniss walk through a forest was the equivalent of a three year old child who happened to get hold of a camcorder. It truly was awful, and in attempt to be edgy, it just ends up looking stupid. I hoped and prayed that once the action started, that crap would stop. But no, it didn’t, it got worse. Even my friend who I saw the movie with said to me, “Dude is your head starting hurt from all the shakiness or is it just me?”

Another thing that might have enhanced the whole movie was to appeal to people who aren’t familiar with the source material. As a big budget blockbuster, you have to appeal to mass audiences, emphasis on the mass. Not everyone who’s going to see this movie has read the original books, so it’s important that as a filmmaker you introduce these new terms and characters and plot points at a comfortable pace for everybody. It’s the same thing that my teachers always say, “Pretend like you’re writing this essay for somebody who has no idea what you’re writing about.” It just gives the audience more of a reason to care about what’s going on in the movie.

My final complaint is the PG-13 rating. I get it, you wanted to make a lot of money. You wanted to start a franchise. You wanted everyone to go and see this movie. But with the shaky cam, and the beautifully designed sets, why not just slash the budget in half, cut the caterers, and take the R-Rating. It would have enhanced the film’s second half, and it probably would have made everything even more intense. Not that the action doesn’t already push the envelope, because it really does, but I came to this movie to see people getting cut up and sliced open. And if I don’t get that, what stops me and thousands of other people from just going and re-watching Battle Royale, since it’s essentially the exact same premise.

As far as the positives, there are plenty as well. Once the games actually start, the intensity level rises to a million and it doesn’t let go for the entire 90 minutes that we’re following the characters through the games. At 144 minutes, The Hunger Games sure as hell doesn’t feel like it. What it does feel like, though, is a prelude to something bigger. Something even more exciting and even more dramatic than this first installment in what is sure to be the biggest franchise since the Boy Who Lived hit the silver screen.

I know, I know, I’m being a little tough on this movie. But that’s only because I want this franchise to be successful. I really do. There were a lot of redeeming qualities that I wished had been used to their fullest extent. Instead, I feel like we’re only getting a half-assed product. With that being said, half assing something this epic is still better than all the crappy horror flicks released this year combined. The Hunger Games is really just a film meant to be seen with a group, in IMAX, in a big theater, with your friends. It’s an experience that really only takes full effect with a giant screen and two of your funniest friends cracking jokes at all the unintentional hilarity that occurs. And while this is all fun and dandy now, when it comes time to look back on this franchise, will it be seen as one that really changed the way we look at films, and the way we look at big budget flicks? Probably not.

If you ask me, the whole movie is just a metaphor for the holocaust. The way they line them up, make them dress up in plainclothes, the way they glamorize everything, the propaganda. It all makes sense if you look at it from a historical perspective. The thing that really got me going on that was the scene in the very beginning where they show a short PSA from the Capitol on how important the Hunger Games were to the survival of the economy and their people. Basically, spewing all this crap in a failed attempt to get people to not panic so much. But author Suzanne Collins says the whole thing is based on Greek Mythology, so I guess I’ll just have to agree to disagree.

Still, go see the movie. Love it, enjoy it, revel in all of its glory. I admit that there’s a little kid in me that got excited when things got tense, but as a critic I have a duty to tell you what the film really boils down to. A series of missed opportunities that still amounts to a halfway decent action flick. So, have a happy Hunger Games, and may the odds be ever in your favor.

3/5 Bears

Why We’re Hungry for ‘The Hunger Games’: New Trailer and Maps of Panem!

We’ve seen quite a few franchises rip through social media these days, and they all have the same things in common.  One, they come from popular books series. IE: Harry Potter and Twilight.  The Hunger Games is no different.  Two, they all have gigantic budgets with big studios backing them.  They can boast the latest in CGI, costume design, even scores by some of the top composers.  And three, they can take many liberties and let the foot off the gas creatively (and they often do) because they all have multitudes of preteen fans ready to spend their lunch money on a movie ticket, even before the film is released.  The result is generally poor writing and even worse acting.

Continue reading Why We’re Hungry for ‘The Hunger Games’: New Trailer and Maps of Panem!

New Trailer: The Hunger Games

The newest trailer for The Hunger Games is out and thank God it’s not another spinning acid trip in the woods.  For a while there I thought I was watching daytime outtakes from The Blair Witch Project.  With slightly less snot.

I will say from the top that I like the trailer.  It encapsulates the character of Katniss quite well, and I am more than pleased with Jennifer Lawrence in the role with what I’ve seen so far.  That and Donald Sutherland is basically a badass, so you know he’ll be awesome.  I can make my peace with Lenny Kravitz, I really can.  I’m sure he had the best acting coaches money could buy that auto-tuned his on-screen performance.  I’m sure he knows some guitar hypnosis voodoo to get what he wants.

I really have a hard time making my peace with Woody Harrelson because of what an obscenely awful actor he is.  He wasn’t exhibited much in the trailer, but I think this role should be a cinch for him.  He’s like Keanu Reeves.  Keanu has solid performances when he plays someone who has no clue what’s going on; because Keanu has no clue what’s going on.  In this film, Woody portrays a crazy drunk who tends to lash out in a violent rage.  Three shots of Tequila and he just has to read the script.

Anyhow, here it is…

I have high hopes for this film because I did thoroughly enjoy the book.  There is a wide margin of screw-up possibility, as in any book to film adaptation.  However, being that this was the only book in the trilogy that was actually worth reading, I’m excited to see it.  This new trailer really gave us a glimpse into Katniss’ life before and leading up to the games; her bravery in volunteering to die to save her sister’s life, her friendship with her fellow tribute, Peeta.  It felt inspiring.  Hopefully the film lives up to the hype.

Hunger Games will be released on March 23, 2012.

In Case you Missed It: Like Crazy

Love has been represented on film since cameras could capture imagery. For hundreds of years, love has been the sole representation of many artists through all kinds of artistic mediums. Music, paintings, sculptures, and even buildings have been created due to love.

So, why is it that love can’t be honestly captured through cinema? Is it because “love knows no bounds” and is impossible to represent through a picture? Or is it because we really don’t want to know what love actually is, rather a more, well, romantic version of it.

Like Crazy, which is director Drake Doremus’ debut film, is about a pair of college students who fall for each other during their senior year. Jacob (Anton Yelchin) is an aspiring furniture maker, while Anna (Felicity Jones) is hoping to make it as a journalist. The two meet after Anna leaves a romantic, and somewhat long, note on Jacob’s car. They go on a date, and the chemistry is immediate. For the rest of their final year at college, they’re inseparable, but when graduation rolls around, Anna has to go home because her student visa has expired. She’d have to be out of the country and out of Jacob’s arms for two and a half months. Not able to bear this almost insurmountable amount of time, she decides that she’s going to stay, and Jacob stupidly agrees.

The two spend the rest of the summer together, until she really has to go back for a family member’s wedding. When she tries to come back to the states, though, she is denied access due to violation of her prior visa. She is sent back to London alone and heartbroken. The film then fades to what we can presume is a couple of months later since Jacob and Anna don’t seem to be talking much anymore. Finally, Jacob breaks down and goes to London to visit her, where again the two are madly in love. During the end of their holiday together, Anna suggests that Jacob be allowed to see other people for “his benefit” because she feels like he’s “not able to live the life he wants to.” Jacob is hurt by this, and goes back to the states lonely and heartbroken (sensing a pattern here?).

The film proceeds to fade again to what the audience must presume is months later again. Jacob is now with a girl named Sam (Jennifer Lawrence, oddly enough, as Yelchin’s love interest for the 2nd time this year, after the far superior ‘The Beaver’). Anna is alone, and begs Jacob to come back and marry her because she’s so madly in love with him. Jacob then stupidly agrees again, breaks Sam’s heart, and goes and marries Anna.

They are then separated again for six more months while Anna’s visa application processes. When the six months are up, they go to get everything validated, only to find out that her visa is still not eligible for validation to due the first incident. Angry and annoyed by this, they have another huge fight, which prompts them to divorce.

Jacob goes back to the states lonely and heartbroken yet again.

You guys know the drill by now. Film fades, Jacob is back with Sam, and Anna is with Simon (Charlie Bewley), a neighbor that was a little too friendly with Anna when Jacob wasn’t with her. Both Simon and Sam seem exponentially happy with their relationships whereas Jacob and Anna still aren’t fulfilled even though it clearly looks like they are. I know you must hate me by now as I’m giving away the entire plot, or shreds of what can be called a plot, but I feel required to for numerous reasons.

For one, Like Crazy is a mostly aimless film. Written only in outlines, and having the cast improvise all of the lines, Like Crazy is simply a selection of scenes rather than a coherent story. At first, I thought that the improvisational approach the film took was both experimental and innovative, but seeing how conventional the story is, and how bland the characters are, it seems more like a lazy cop-out than an artistic decision. Our protagonists are borderline unlikable in the way that they toy with the feelings of not only each other, but also all the other people around them. Anna’s parents, whose roles end up being more of an extended cameo than anything, have the most fascinating and funny scenes in the film. They represent a much happier, more decisive couple that knew what they were getting into before they rushed to get married.

In my opinion, Sam was a much better match for Jacob than Anna, but love does what it wants, and in this case, it kicked her heart in the ass, twice I might add, which I felt was extremely unfair to her character. As for Simon, he was also a great guy who truly cared about Anna’s well-being and future. Not that Jacob didn’t, but I felt like Simon took a much more proactive approach to life than Jacob did.

In defense of Like Crazy, the performances, music, and direction were all fantastic, but its lackluster and frankly boring story, as truthful and real as it may seem to be, drags its 89 minute running time to extraneous and unfair lengths. Like Crazy plays out like a hybrid of (500) Days of Summer and Going The Distance, but neither as funny, entertaining or insightful. If you want to see love in all different forms, go to a wedding. There’s more drama, more dancing, and free food.

2/5 Bears

8 New Character Posters for ‘The Hunger Games’

While movie posters aren’t exactly the most thrilling aspects of a film production, they can do loads for setting the tone and planting a seed in the minds of the public (See the wonderful District 9 posters, for example). Particularly for upcoming movies that haven’t disclosed much footage yet, a poster can be all we have to get an idea of the direction a project is taking, and this is certainly the case with The Hunger Games film, which released a teaser that managed to show absolutely nothing in a minute and six seconds.

However we have been treated to a simply awesome motion poster for the movie in the past, and now we’ve been handed 8 new character posters that feel just perfect, and thank God because some of the casting decisions have seemed way out of left field. Sure, a still photo of a shadowy profile isn’t much to go on, but I never thought Woody Harrelson, Elizabeth Banks or Lenny Kravitz would look right in their roles and yet here we are:


You can find all 8 of the new posters here at IMP Awards. I’m real excited for the Hunger Games trilogy, if you can’t tell.

What do you think of the secretiveness of this, or other movie productions? Like it? Hate it? Think it’s stupid to get all caught up in a picture?