The Hunger Games

We’re nearly there!  On March 23, 2012 we’ll finally get to see Katniss and Peeta fight to the death in the film version of The Hunger Games.  The Hunger Games, published in 2008, is the first book of the trilogy by Suzanne Collins, the next two are called Catching Fire and Mockingjay.

In the film adaptation of the book, Katniss Everdeen, played by Jennifer Lawrence - who also starred in the film Winter’s Bone that was set here in southern Missouri, makes a decision that changes her life forever.  Every year the twelve districts in the dystopian society of Panem, located in the ruins of North America, are forced to send two children, one boy and one girl, between the ages of twelve to eighteen to participate in the annual Hunger Games where they must fight to the death.  Katniss is faced with the life or death decision when she takes the place as Tribute for her twelve year old sister, Primrose. 

Katniss and the male Tribute from District Twelve, Peeta Mellark, played by Josh Hutcherson, are brought to the Capitol of Panem where they are groomed till deemed presentable and are paraded through the streets of the Capitol as if being chosen as Tribute is a privilege when it is in fact a death sentence.

The twenty-four total Tributes are trained and readied for the upcoming games (which everyone in all of the districts must watch).  The tributes are fed well and treated like royalty.  That is, until they are brought up in a tube that circles a cornucopia filled with weaponry, food and other supplies.  Then, the game is on and they must fight to the death.

Many big names will appear in this film, such as Woody Harrelson as Haymitch.  Also to appear in the film is; Elizabeth Banks as Effie, Stanley Tucci as Ceasar Flickerman (the Ryan Seacrest of the games…), Liam Hemsworth as Gale, Lenny Kravitz as Cinna and Donald Sutherland as President Snow.

Gale and Peeta

Although the movie is set to hit theaters in twenty-three days, a rating has yet to be chosen.  The film promises several violent scenes not suitable for those who are young.  Odds are the film will be rated PG-13 to satisfy all fans of the young adult fiction, but it leaves me to wonder, will they truly be able to catch the true nature of the book without a little blood and gore?  The book is tastefully written and leaves much of the violence to the imagination, but it will be interesting to see how director, Gary Ross, portrays the violence on screen.

The Hunger Games film will not only capture audiences both young and adult, but both male and female as well, which is a nice break from movies such as the Twilight series that caters to delusional girls and moms alike.  If the film does well in theaters, odds are they will continue on will the film adaptations of the trilogy – fingers crossed!!

May the odds be ever in your favor!

Chronicle - Boys Will Be Boys.

If you gained the ability to manipulate any object in your world, would you go ‘bad’?  Chronicle, released on Super Bowl weekend (02/03/2012) is a story about three high school guys who are brought together by a mysterious hole in the ground that has some alien like noise coming from it.

The main character, Andrew, played by Dane DeHaan, is raised in an abusive household.  His mother is bed-ridden with some disease that is never revealed to the audience and his father, a disabled fireman and drunk, beats on Andrew and blames him for the family’s short comings.  Naturally, Andrew has become an introvert.  Andrew purchases a large old video camera because he decides that his life is worth documenting, maybe because he is trying to stop his father from beating him or maybe to video his mothers last living moments. 

Andrew and the camera become inseparable, it is also the sole recording device for the movie.  He brings the camera to school and we see that he is a kid that gets picked on constantly.  His cousin, Matt, played by Alex Russell, is Andrew’s only friend – and that isn’t saying much seeing as Matt seems to steer clear of his odd cousin, Andrew.

Matt brings his cousin and the camera to a party at an old barn.  It isn't long before someone has picked on Andrew and his large video camera and we find ourselves looking at the grass on the ground and hear the party thumping in the background.  One of the most popular guys in the school makes his way out to were Andrew sits on the ground crying.  Steve, played by Michael B. Jordan, asks for Andrew to follow him through the woods to a secluded field behind the barn.  Matt is there waiting and the three boys go down in the hole to find a large rock-like thing that glows and makes a loud screeching noise.  The next time we see the boys, they have telekinesis and Andrew has a brand new camera which sticks with him till the very end.

Andrew's camera records the boys becoming closer friends as they get stronger and stronger, but Andrew is obviously the strongest of the three.  They do amazing things and even learn to fly using their powers.  Andrew's life becomes all together better - he has friends and he's popular, but his mom is still dying and his dad is still beating him.  All hell breaks loose when Andrew's father finds his video camera.  His father screams at him that he is useless and wasting money on the camera when his mom needs medication that they can't afford.  Andrew takes the yelling until his father starts beating him - then Andrew loses it completely. 

To try and help his mother, he puts on his father's old fireman gear and goes out to the city.  He starts using his powers menacingly.  After a robbery gone wrong at a gas station (the gas pumps blow up) he lands himself in a hospital bed.  His father comes to visit him, even though he is seemingly unconscious, the father proceeds to tell him that his mother is dead and that it is all Andrew's fault.  When the father goes to hit Andrew, Andrew grabs his arm and blows out the walls and window of the room.  This is when Andrew goes completely insane and goes about Seattle throwing cars around and blowing up windows.  In the end, Matt is the person to stop him.  Him and his cousin had become best friends, but the only way to stop Andrew, was to kill Andrew... and that's exactly what he did.

Overall, the move was OK.  It started out very slow, but got very good towards the end when all of the action started happening and the trios powers grew stronger.  A part of me hurt to watch the character of Andrew and his life, there are tons of young people who are treated that way at both home and at school.  I would recommend this movie to anyone who is in to supernatural stuff, but there is really no other need to see the film.  I do NOT recommend it to people who easily get motion sickness, the "home-movie" sort of filming might upset your stomach! 

 Chronicle was directed by Josh Trank and written by Max Landis and is rated PG-13 and runs for 84 minutes.  Don't worry, you don't have to stay through the credits.  There's nothing but a blue screen at the very end, no surprise clips!

Three boys just having some fun with their mind powers.  (Pictured left to right - Andrew, Steve and Matt).

World Trade Center Reboot?

It's 2012 and another presidential election is just around the corner.  In hopes of gaining the attention of New Yorkers and other Americans across the United States, President Obama has looked into a tax cut that would not only boost transportation in the lower Manhattan area that surrounds ground zero, but will also start the rebuilding of the World Trade Center.

The tax cut is part of President Obama's budget plan that he proposed to congress on Monday.  The tax cut would be $200 million under this new budget plan.  The credit would be given to both New York City and New York State and would be given annually from 2013 to 2022 totaling up to a whopping $2 billion.

The "Liberty Zone" - the area in lower Manhattan where the World Trade Centers used to stand has already received a large sum of money, $21 billion in money and incentives, to revamp the terror stricken area.

The rebuilding of the World Trade Center has increased in speculated costs.  In 2008 it was estimated that the rebuilding would cost around $11 billion, but now it is estimated to be up to $14.8 billion.

Now to my thoughts - is this a good idea?  I've often wondered if they would rebuild the two large towers that once stood in lower Manhattan.  I have mixed feelings about the reconstruction.  It would show that we are strong as a country and not afraid to rebuild what others want to tear down.  The towers would be a symbol of hope and faith in our country.  On the other hand, I believe that the area should be kept as a monument and memorial for those who lost their lives that fateful September day (now roll - "Where were you when the World stopped turning that September day...").

I could see the families of the lost ones becoming upset at the thought of new towers being put in the same place where the old ones used to stand.  Did their loved ones die for nothing?  Now, when they want to visit the spot where their friends took their last breaths, they have to look at a skyscraper that (odds are) looks exactly the same as the two that were brought down so easily by the two renegade airplanes?

The thought of a duplication of the two towers slightly makes me cringe.  The area should be revamped, but perhaps they should put off the building of the towers and put something like a museum or a better memorial instead.  What do you think?

Check out the full article here.

Oh, The Vampires!

In light of the recent New Year I have decided to start being a little more active, like most of the people in the world, but I needed something to keep my brain busy while I worked out.  I decided on an audiobook to keep my brain entertained – an audiobook about Vampires (and no, I am NOT talking about Twilight). 

I’m sick of vampires just as much as the next person, but there is something about the mythical creature that draws us in.  What is it that makes them so enjoyable to read about?  I would guess it’s their otherworldly strength and super-human powers that probably reel the reader in.

We’ve all heard of the HBO series TrueBlood about a telepathic barmaid named, Sookie Stackhouse who falls in love with Vampire Bill.  The series holds many twists and turns and is very enjoyable to watch, but the books are even better. 

 

(Above is the cast of the TrueBlood HBO series)

There are several books in the Sookie Stackhouse Southern Mystery novels.  Many of the characters featured in the TV series either meet a different fate or are not even in the book series altogether – for example, in the books, Vampire Bill’s “child”, Jessica, does not exist.

I would recommend this series for anyone who enjoys to read fantasy books or if they are a lover of the HBO series as well.  The author of the series, Charlaine Harris, paints a perfect picture of Bon Temps, Louisiana and builds a strong and caring in our heroine, Sookie Stackhouse who, with her supernatural friends, takes you on magnificent adventures.

 

Above is author, Charlaine Harris (kind of hard to imagine this woman writing some of the scenes in her books…)

Above is the series (which does not include her ninth installment Dead Reckoning) the tenth installment of the Sookie Stackhouse series is due out in May and will be titled, Deadlocked.  The picture above is also missing other short stories written by Harris such as the novella, Sookie Stackhouse Companion. Harris plans to end the series after the thirteenth book is released.