Movie: The Hunger GamesGenre: Drama
Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Stanley Tucci
Rating: PG-13
My Rating: Thumbs Up!
What an exciting night this was! My first time ever going to a midnight movie premier. I think I could do this more often though it does mess you up for a day or so. It was an absolute blast going with bunch of other crazy book bloggers and their various friends and family. It was a blast being in the theater with an audience where everyone was so excited that it was tangible. I loved that. And they were all appropriately excited. Clapping and cheering through the previews, but calming and shushing each other for the movie itself... than gasping and weeping and laughing at all the right moments during the movie. That was great!
Our crowd met up for dinner beforehand, which was really fun. Penelope of The Reading Fever did an AWESOME job coordinating both the dinner AND the movie, and then even had prizes and fun things for us at the dinner. Penelope, I never had a chance to say a huge thank you last night, but you are truly the best. Thank you so much!
Anyway, having reserved seats for these crazy movie nights is the best way to go. We just walked in and sat down in our wonderful spots and all the stress was gone... only excitement left!
So... about the movie itself.
It was wonderfully done. The casting was phenomenal.. even the dude playing Peeta, ( Josh Hutcherson) who I was a little leery about, did amazing. Jennifer Lawrence captured the spirit of Katniss perfectly. And all the Capitol characters were just right. It was so fun to see it all come to life!
My favorite things:
- the way they were able to show the brutality of the games without too much graphic-ness.
- the intensity at the start of the games... how scared Katniss was.
- the contrast between District 12 and the Capitol
- they way they showed how the directors of the games manipulated the players
- Rue
- seeing the movie with both blogger buddies and family!
My least favorite bits:
- when I realized that Prim looked just like my youngest daughter! That freaked me out!
- when the audience laughed at Gale's distress at seeing Katniss and Peeta together.
- that fact that I didn't notice the music... was there music?
- and of course, there was that shaky, much movement camera work that made me motion sick! I really didn't like that!
All in all, it was a blast of a night and so very exciting to be part of it all!
We're going this afternoon with our kids who have read the book (3 out of 4). I've never gone to a movie on opening weekend so I'm a little worried about how crazy it's going to be, but I'm way excited to see it!
ReplyDeleteGayle... it's going to be so fun! Opening weekend has more excited audiences, so that's the good thing. Do you have theaters that have reserved seating? That makes all the difference in the craziness.
Deletei have to read the book first - I just bought it! Then I will go. It sounds like it was a good experience, though the shaky camera business has me worried. It sounds awesome that you went with other book bloggers too and all your families! Now that's fun.
ReplyDeleteSusan.. ah YES... read that book NOW! :)
DeleteGreat recap and great review! It was a ton of fun to go with everyone, wasn't it? And, it was even fun at midnight, lol. I can't wait to do my recap of the party a little later today. :)
ReplyDeleteJenni: Tons of fun! Yes, and midnight wasn't so bad... though I was pretty zombie-like by the time we got home. I'm so glad I was able to sleep in.
DeleteYours is the best review of the movie I've heard so far. Most of the people I know who've seen it were disappointed, but then, I'm not sure how many of them have read the books and how many haven't. I think that makes a difference ...
ReplyDeleteI'm sure I'll get around to seeing the movie sometime, but I'm not going to run right out and do it. I'll wait 'til it gets to the dollar theater or Netflix.
Susan: Everyone I went with absolutely LOVED it, so I'm surprised you are seeing so many negative/disappointed reviews! Hmmm... interesting.
DeleteBUT! What about the mockingjay pin?! I've heard they messed it up? I actually don't recall how she got the pin so I don't know if I will even notice! SPOILER, sorry!?!?!
ReplyDeleteCare: They DID change that up! BUT.. it's been three years since I read this book, so I didn't remember that little detail and was not bugged. It was not a bad change really, it was actually kinda cool.
DeleteIt was very nice to meet you and your family!! I'm sorry we didn't get to talk much either. I hope we can see each other again, and we can get to know one another via the internet! I'm glad we were with an awesome crowd as well.
ReplyDeleteI will probably see this at some point. I am waiting for the hype to die down a bit...
ReplyDeleteI walked away from this movie thinking it was pretty much perfect. I have absolutely no complaints about it. The audience however left a LOT to be desired. Snickering over Gale, laughing at inappropriate times. The people next to me kept chatting through the entire movie. I wanted to scream. I told Jim that the next big movie we see we will make sure to see it during the day to avoid the super-annoying teenagers.
ReplyDeleteI didn't notice the music either, and from what I have heard the soundtrack has some good stuff on it!
ReplyDeleteI went to see it with a friend and enjoyed it. Going with a group of blogging buddies would have been awesome!
I didn't notice the music either... there was no cheering on our end with the Gale scene, only a few sympathetic groans.
ReplyDeleteLove energy going with a group can have, you translate it well.
glad you enjoyed the film, though wow, that would freak me out too if my daughter looked just like Primrose!
~L
Thanks for the heads up on the shaky camera - took some tylenol before and sat farther from the screen (I still had a headache at the end, though). I admit I liked it pretty well, but it didn't wow me. Then again, I don't watch very many movies anyway, so I'm probably not an accurate judge :)
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad you guys all had fun! I wish it would have worked out for me to come, but that's what the next one is for. :) I was happy it wasn't as graphic as I was afraid it was going to be, but that shaky camera work made me sick, too.
ReplyDelete