The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 - Forced Celebrity Status Upgrade to Crying Rebel Girl on Fire

It has been done. I have seen the first part of the movie based off of the worst book out of the three in the Hunger Games series. Some people may or may not agree with me, but book three was just not as captivating as book one and two and for good reason, it loses the bonding processes for confusing action scenes, political spats and war. It also throws evil gestures of presidential power struggles out of left field and loses the readers reasons to continue reading. But I DID read it and it will be integrated into my review.

Down and Dirty: [Just how you like it]

The Hunger Games came out with the first part of their last movie with all of those lovable events that you so cherished from the books. Such as Katniss hiding, Katiness crying, and Katniss hiding and crying. Its a medley of Katniss and her hysterics and for good or bad, it really makes you wonder why they bothered to split this into two films. The entire movie is filled with bloat and could have easily been scraped for a leaner and more hard hitting three hour movie of the final book. Decent performances from the cast, but terrible editing as far as piecing the story together and kind of terrible direction too.

Katniss is disappointed that her grand prize was homeless kids.

Story: 

So I was never that impressed with the third book. It was probably the least interesting of the series. Even though it had a lot of dynamics to it, it just wasn't as fulfilling because there wasn't a central focus. It was as if Suzanne Collins was like "Oh F*** it, I'm just going to add all kinds of random crap and sell this turd to the masses so I can end this series already." It had all the smut of the typical  third act where everyone was at war and there is only one resolution, a super important death and a heart to heart afterward. It was just too fast of a campaign and as many people know, wars aren't won with a few promos and within a few weeks. They are won over months of struggle, planning, attacking and counter attacking. Especially if you don't have the materials to do so and you are fighting a superior entity.

The movie makes this story just as dreary as the book, however they take creative liberty to move scenes around a bit to make more sense visually. I enjoyed the fact that we started out with Katniss hiding out instead of Katniss at ground zero of District 12 like the book started out. That was an appropriate tie in to what has happened since we last saw her. But with all of that, I didn't feel much emotional flow or great story dynamics. It felt more like a collection of scenes that didn't have much feeling at all between them. And the more you watch it, the more you realize that every character, but Katniss becomes a whole lot of background noise. This was not the fault of the actors as they all did their part, this was the problem with the editing and direction. Can't quite put my finger on it, but it was missing something major.

Emotions:

This entire film had a lot of dramatic fluff and emotionally vacant bull shit. The scenes that were most fulfilling were fleeting at best. It was nice to see Gale and Katniss hunt and be together, but they didn't give us the reconnection and time they had in the original story. It was very disjointed. In fact, its becomes of this that it was harder to connect with the characters and the story itself.

Action:

I'm right behind you. For your sweet ass, I mean your safety.

Plenty of action happened, but unfortunately it had little to do with the war. Understandable since the first half of the book was more about setting up Mockingjay propaganda. The coolest part was obviously my favorite part of the book. Katniss and Gale getting to use those sweet bows/cross bows to take out some military jets. Most of the movie was more political than anything else, setting up the stage for the finale. It really follows the book for the most part so if you loved the book, you will love the movie. If you disliked the book, you would find that the movie has roughly the same lackluster appeal.

Katniss Hysterics:

What worked well for the second film, worked less in this one. Its understandable Katniss is unraveling and losing control of her emotions due to the circumstances. But its confusing when she is not. She bounces too much back and forth for us to appreciate the hysterics more. Jennifer Lawrence does fine breaking down, but it can feel a bit over dramatic and over done. I am not sure how she can go from completely absorbed in her grief to determination in a few short minutes per scene. I understand they have a story to create here, but this is the one instance where her personal thoughts are actually valid enough to give us more context for her transition phases.


FOR PANEM!:

For those of you who are use to my traditional long list of complaints, I know I changed it up a bit for this review. There weren't any noticeable nit picks or small insights that really caught my attention. However here is a more poignant list of issues/commentary:

Gale and Katniss Chemistry:

He's totally thinking about sex, but she just wants to cuddle.

Is downright awful in this film. And it has nothing to do with the actors, but the fact that the editing was considerably poor. In the book, Gale and Katniss were practically attached at the hip. They give us time to bond with them and see them grow back to being close, but in the film they sped up that bonding and made it confusing when they got closer or farther away. Its obvious she had more onscreen chemistry with Peeta which wasn't even in the room than with Gale.

The point of the rebonding with Gale was to make the decision to chose between the two much harder in the end. I just didn't see that going on as much as I liked. They were together, but it was as if he was just a random body guard who is some what friendly than an old friend that had feelings for her. The movie spent less time on personal relationships and more time on action scenes. Which sort of blows because even though the rebellion is going on, personal relationships are considerably important in the book series.

They Need to Fire Katniss's Make Up Artist:

I know they were going for the all natural, war bumpkin look, but I was super surprised at the make up job this time. Katniss seems just a bit too natural even for the movies. I don't know, I didn't care for it.

The Avox:

This man looks like he needs a Pabst Blue Ribbon in his hand.

For two movies fans have been bitching that the Avox subplot cease to exist. Which brings me to the most bizarre moment of the film where they attempted to make up for lost time and a wily Avox appears. What is the point of this now? Its super irrelevant at this stage of the game. They shouldn't have mentioned it at all because late information that does nothing for the plot is usually bad information.

The Whistle:

Which brings me to my second point. Can an Avox whistle? Pollux whistles the three notes that are so famously synonymous with the rebellion to get the mockingjays to repeat it back to him. Yet that seems considerably impossible. He could not produce 3 different notes without a tongue.

Effie Replaces Everyone:

For those who read the book, I'm sure all of you are going to be a bit disappointed that Katniss's prime make up crew was removed from the film version entirely. I mean, we all love Effie and her drizzled commentary about Katniss's foul, rebellious mood swings, but I did miss the crew and what they represented. They all had their own fun personalities. Their pitifulness as a whole with being saved from the capital and wallowing in their non-beauty and lack of access to resources was a highlight in the book's rather monotonous atmosphere for the first half.

Lets Hunt!:

OK so this was so freaken random that it just annoyed me. I remember that the hunting above ground issue was one of Katniss's conditions to becoming the mockingjay and skipped over it entirely in the bargaining scene. This one just came out of no where and lacked context. Did she ever mention she wanted to go hunting before then? No. No she didn't. She was too busy falling apart.

This brother knows he's destined to die.

Boggs is Introduced, but Lacks Depth:

Boggs was a pretty important character in the book that seemed to have more personality and dimension to him. Strangely he feels much more like a background character in the film. Like henchman number 35 that nobody cares about with a few speaking lines.

Dam Destruction:

The destruction of the dam seemed like an unexpected event. So how did District 13 know about the damn being destroyed so quickly? And how in the world did the Capitol get back their power? If the dam was their main source of power, it would take months to get that power back online.

Now lets say they had backup generators. Fine. Plausible. But why didn't they come on instantly when the power went out? Also if all the power was out, how did anyone watch their messages? And what resources had back up power and what didn't? They said their defense grid was offline, so why the need to jam all of their signals? Wouldn't their radars also be down if their defense grid was down? Yes, I really want to know because their reasoning made no sense.

Sign Language:

So the Avox uses sign language to communicate. One would expect there could be some language barriers with this, but nope. Apparently everyone is fluent in sign language in this world. How convenient.

Jennifer Lawrence Has Reached the "Stopped Giving a Shit" Phase:

It could be my imagination, but Jennifer Lawrence really looks like she doesn't want to play this role anymore. She looks tired and just so not into the character that sometimes its painful to watch her on screen. Although I thought it was pretty hilarious as an actress that she was trying to act bad on purpose when they were filming the first promo for the Mockingjay. I don't blame her for not wanting to do this anymore if my assessment was correct. I bet she is pinned as Katniss and nobody talks about the several other roles she has taken the past several years. Silver Lining Playbook being one of her better ones.

The Hanging Tree/If We Burn, You Burn With Us:

Probably by far the nicest part of the movie. Watching the rebellion unfold and people cheering as they kill their captors and free themselves of tyranny. However Jennifer Lawrence can't really sing and she sounds as if she is afraid to in the film. Her voice cracks a bit and it takes a while for her to get some rhythm and soul in there. It eventually sounds suitable, but from what I remember, Katniss is supposed to be quite the singer. Sooo...

The tattoo/rocker chick look totally shines on her.

Natalie Dorman:

So time for something positive eh? Yeah, I've been following Natalie Dorman since the Tudors and man this girl can act. She is often playing the femme fatale roles, but this time she just plays a bad ass PR director with a half shaved head. I was very impressed by her look and I like her unique role, however I do think she is a bit out of place in the film. I wish they bumped her character up more because her personality at times didn't match her look. I think this is bad direction on the director's part because I've seen her in many other roles and she has considerable charm on screen.


So if you are looking forward to watching this film, it could go either way. I can't say it blew me away, but it wasn't as horrible either. It was just a whole lot of "meh." The performances could have been sharper, the editing could have been way better, the effects were nice, but it all seemed so rigid just like President Coin's eating schedule. I say the charm was lost on this film and it feels like a long teasing place holder for the grand finale rather than being its own part of the tale. One wonders if the next one will be any better. They better hope so because they got money to make.

What did you think of the new Hunger Games movie? Was it all that you hoped it would be?

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DnD Rating: 7/1O

Post Credit: Yes there is a post credit thing, but its not worth sticking around for. Its not an extra scene or anything that is critical to the story.

Early Call: Constantine - Don't Call Me "Luv"

So I promised I would start writing more about various TV shows and I decided to finally start on Constantine this weekend after avoiding it for a few weeks. What I found was a little bit of paranormal, a little bit of sass, a lot of crazy demonic possessions and what a great actor Matt Ryan is.

Down and Dirty: [Just How You Like It]

It's maybe too early to tell, but the show has got some potential to it. The pilot episode however really pissed me off quite a bit. It got us invested in a character that they removed from the show due to firing the actress. Whatever happened, they introduced some one a couple of eps later who was a similar prototype to compensate for said stupidity and lost time. The special effects are decent, but not amazing and the show has a thrillers edge to it. Amongst the middle of it all, John Constantine is definitely the most intriguing character in the show. Which thank goodness because it is about him after all.

Johns friends throw him a ghoulish party

Four Episodes In:

Constantine is enigmatic and interesting as the crazy rascal with  knack for danger. Some one who is emotionally scarred by his past and bears the burden of dealing with the supernatural. He is arrogant, off putting, sly and closeted in a sense, but seems to take his work quite seriously. On top of this, an angel named, Manny, haunts him like a wretched memory and seems to give him cryptic messages to his annoyance about what is to come.

The story is mostly written episode by episode with no real tieing conclusion just yet. The hope is that this "Astra" kid will come full circle in the end of season one since they mention her so much in the show as the biggest regret of Constantine's life. But who knows what the producers have in store for us.

All I know is the first few episodes were OK, but the latest episode, "Feast of Friends" has to be the best one yet. You get the feeling of torment in John's soul when he condemns his friend to a painful death.

It makes the character more real and sympathetic seeing his pain in this episode and the stakes he has to deal with on a daily basis. However I continuously get the feeling that John is more than he states he is. A mere mortal perhaps, but he gives me the impression he is the embodiment of some fallen angel. I never read the comics, so I really don't know, but they seem to elude to the fact that he is something greater than we understand.

Gadgets:

The coolest thing about the character are his armory of "relics" for demon fighting. He has quite a few tricks up his sleeve and that is what makes the whole story much more fun to watch. What is he going to pull out this time? What else does he have in that house? My favorite is the playing card that can turn into anything the user needs it to be. Pretty useful trick! Seeing John use these objects continues to perpetuate the whole paranormal theme. And I love me some paranormal!

Left for Dead Candle Holder, free with the special edition!

Girls, Girls, Girls:

So as I stated before, they lost the initial girl that was the whole start of this nonsense. In fact, she is the daughter of the owner of the house they operate in. Which is bizarre because who lets some crazy demon chaser exorcist stay in their family's home? The first girl seemed to be set up to be his partner, but in the end had been erased from the show with the excuse that she took Constantine's advice and ran off. LAME. I hate it when actresses don't work out and they throw them away.

This current girl, Zed, seems like a pretty tough girl, saving Constantine on several occasions from his own bull headed stupidity and underestimation of his enemies. She is an artist that draws her visions out and is now tied up in Constantine's shit. Pretty interesting dilemma to be in, but I still wonder how much further are they going to go with her psychic abilities besides seeing random images that clue them into who is the next target.

A Few Gripes:

1. I Do What I Want:

How the hell does this man just barge into anywhere he feels like it? Crime scenes, people's houses during a funeral, in hospitals, etc. It literally makes no sense.

2.  End Goal:

What is he end goal here? They have a gazillion paranormal shit bubbling to the surface and angel boy expects him to do all the leg work? Where does he even get the finances to do this? That's a lot of traveling to locations to check out said spooky shit.

3. Knick of Time:

John almost dies every episode. What would happen if Zed wasn't there to save him? The power of God saves you? hahahahaha. No, they want you dead Constantine so you can rot for your sins. Even the angel is rooting for you to die.

4. Super Powers:

If he is such a rotten character and his soul will burn if he dies, how is he able to use the power of God against these demons? Seems like he would be a bad representative of the man upstairs, right?

RISE from your grave!

5. One at a Time:

I see the Devil also went to the school of "One at a Time." If you wanted to raise hell on Earth, wouldn't you just release all your demons at once? Wouldn't that be way more productive to overwhelm Constantine and his crew of mighty horror hunters?

6. Angels, What's the Point?:

So Manny is the only angel that will bump fists with him, but why aren't the rest of the heavenly warriors working with Constantine? Where's Michael, Gabriel, or anyone else hanging out in heaven? Wouldn't they be more interested in saving Earth from Devil's fury? Why would they leave it up to this mortal to fight Heaven's war?


So overall this series is set up to be like a paranormal, renegade, mystery series with plenty of religious bits for people to chew on. Constantine is the dirty, renegade paranormal detective, with his assistant Chas [Chaz Bono, not included] and his artist friend, Zed he picks up to pin point the next striking point. While demons run amok on one side while the angel pisses him off like the good cop boss that won't leave him alone, yet does really nothing captivating to help him.

So I think...if Constantine's soul is going to burn in hell and you, heaven, are asking HIM to clean up this mess, shouldn't he get a Godly pass? I mean...you are using him to battle the Devil. Man up, lazy asses. He's doing God's work after all.


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What did you think of Constantine so far? Comment below!


DnD Early Rating: 6/1O

Comic Con Registration: Only Sissies Claim its Too Much Work

So I am back full circle and Comic Con is doing their pre-registration for us awesome 2O14 Comic Con fanatics. I had an great post for you guys about last years con and then I couldn't figure out how to dump the awesome 3OO photos I took on this stupid blog system.  So I decided I will better prepare for next year's con mega post.

This is the Comic Con Waiting Room. Not much to look at, but everyone starts their venture here after they logged onto the landing page. Every year I bitch about the system. Its either broke, stupid, slow or annoying. Comic con finally came up with this system last year of a 2 hour slow roll of future attendees before the initial start time which made things less stressful for not only them, but everyone else. The whole 1 million people jumping onto the page as fast as they can at 8 AM thing was just crashing the system, kicking people out and letting only a few get through.

However the wait is sometimes long and painful and you are never guaranteed a badge, just a better chance than most people due to the smaller pool you are working with due to being a last year comic con attendee.

If you ever desire a full badge, its best to at least get a badge for this year even if its one day, go pick up your badge and then keep it for next year's registration so you can participate in pre-registration. That way you have 2 chances to participate. You can also volunteer your time and get a free badge for whatever days you volunteer or if you are involved in the press and write regular articles/blog/podcast etc...you can check out the criteria and ask for a badge from there.

Either way, those that claim its too much work are just not that into it as everyone else is. Yet they are the same people who complain that they never get to go. This is how easy it is to go:

1. Register for an ID on the comic con website. If you are military/a senior/a student you could totally get a cheaper badge.

2. Wait for coveted email that says "HEY WE ARE SELLING BADGES!"

3. READ the registration instructions, they are there for a reason. So you don't screw it up for yourself.

4. Go to page on said date and time and take your screen saver off. Then PARK YOUR ASS IN FRONT OF THAT COMPUTER.

5. Pray...lots of prayer.

6. After much waiting, you could claim VICTORY! Or you could get this screen....Mother !%F#T

So yes as I said before, being here doesn't always guaranteed you a badge and sometimes you get disheartening moments like this. This is the first time I've never even gotten in to get at least one out of the two days I wanted.

Fri/Saturday are the hardest days to get besides Preview night. So I get to try other routes and I will be on for the open gauntlet sometime early next year.

Until then, stay nerdy my friends!