The Hunger Games and Why I'm Out of the Loop Even With Chocolate

Before The Hunger Games came out in movie theaters across the galaxy, I had no idea about the books, even though my son had read them all at school.   Normally, I catch wind of things, you know, like Harry Potter, pretty quickly, so I knew it had to be a relatively new series.  I did the wikipedia thing and found out that the first book was published in 2008.  Books to movies are quick these days.

I read a few reviews and found that THG is simply another take on the exploration of dystopian societies.  Well, whatever, I decided to go check the movie out, especially since the young adult novel wouldn't give me a preconceived bias of how the characters should be.

I'm glad I went.  It's from a youth's perspective;  Katniss, played by Jennifer Lawrence, is the main character, who deals with 23 other children who must fight each other to the death in an expansive arena.  It's to remind to the peoples of the districts that the Capitol bosses are king, while providing entertainment for the Capitol's rich at the same time.  I enjoyed Lawrence in X-Men: First Class so I figured she'd be good here too.

Woody Harrelson as Haymitch, Lenny Kravitz as Cinna and Donald Sutherland as President Snow provided more attraction for me too.

So off we went, to the Mall, with Jones Soda and fair trade chocolate, Camino Almonds and Raisins.  Although our local theater closed down back in January, we're still not used to spending so much more money or wasting a lot of time to get out to see a movie, so we don't go as often.

We went early and it turned out to be a good thing, since it sold out fast.  Sitting on the floor, waiting to be let into the theater was a strange experience--it made me think that THG was some sort of spectacular story.

Once settled into our seats with the smuggled goodies and cooled popcorn, we took it in.   I enjoyed the action.  Of course, the suspension of disbelief needed to be doubled with such things like Katniss getting hurt and using super powerful healing medicine, or the cat-like creatures that came out of the woods to attack them near the end.

Her relationship with Josh Hutercherson's Peeta, which Haymitch forced her to play up to the crowd, seemed forced to the point that she was uncomfortable most of the time.  I didn't buy it, but I think I was expected to.

I wanted to see more of Sutherland.  What they gave us of Woody made up for that, though.  And so did the Camino chocolate.

Ultimately, I enjoyed the movie and felt for the main characters.  As an adult, I'm not sure why there were huge lineups for it, but maybe the craze and excitement comes from younger generations. The actors did a great job of expressing teenage emotions and anxieties.  I really felt sad about Rue, played by Amandla Stenberg.

Looks like I need to read the books now! Hopefully I'll have enough chocolate to last to the end.

Ratings:

The Hunger Games:  7.5 / 10  A nice story presented with solid acting and visuals, but nowhere near as great as all the hype made it out to be.

Camino Almonds and Raisins:  8.5 / 10  Mmm, nice fair trade dark chocolate with just the right amount of almonds and raisins.  The only complaint here is single serving size, which obviously needs to be doubled.

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, Goodbyes, & Sad Chocolate

A few days ago, we headed out to our local downtown movie theater, the Palace for the last time.  Choosing Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows for the last movie to see in a theater that has been rebuilt since its creation 91 years ago, we settled in for the show.

Of course, we came prepared, with Jones Soda for me and Turin's Baileys Irish Cream chocolate for everybody, which we bought at the local drugstore.  Popcorn with fountain pop rounded out the gorge-fest.

I looked forward to seeing Robert Downey Jr's Holmes and Rachel McAdam's Irene Adler interact on the big screen again.  They didn't disappoint, but Adler's time on screen turned out to be minimal, as Noomi Rapace's character, Madam Simza Heron, took over for most of the movie.

I think I felt more grief at the lack of Adler's presence than Holmes.  Don't get me wrong, Rapace did great in her portrayal of Heron, but I missed the Holmes-Adler connection.  I haven't read the actual stories since childhood --and I'm very old, so ... maybe that's the way it goes in the story, but ...

Okay, even with that reality, Holmes could have been given more than a few looks and a handkerchief to show his own sadness.  Okay, the hanky blew out to see, time to move on ...

While Jared Harris did solid work of portraying Prof. James Moriarty, I didn't feel the same suspense between his character and Holmes as there was in the first Sherlock Holmes.  Mark Strong's Lord Blackwood actually scared Holmes, who needed to figure out the villain's plan.  With Moriarty, it's simply a chess battle of moves, not a puzzle.  Sure, there is investigative work to be done, but there are no question marks.

The movie, despite those disappointments, is a fun ride, full of visual candy and more of the same style of the first.  The story takes us beyond the streets of London onto a train, out into the woods, and to places such as Sweden's Reichenbach Falls, but, complete with a fictional castle, is computer generated. The CGI is done in good taste.

Along with action, we got humorous bits.  All I have to say is, the poor pony.  Hopefully he or she had a stunt double for the scenes with Holmes. The segment where Stephen Fry as Mycroft Holmes showed us his all--and I do mean his all--proved to be less dangerous but no less funny.

Of course, the last scene --or what I think should have been the last--must be discussed.  The final chess/physical battle between Holmes and Moriarty.  Yes, Richie did an artful job of it, but he didn't end it there; he let Jude Law's Watson take over, leaving of course, a question mark on whether there will be a 3rd movie.

I say sure, but only if Adler is brought back. Hey, it's Hollywood, why not!  In the end, the movie did provide decent entertainment; we ended up going downtown one last time to see it again and say a final goodbye to the theater.

Rating:

A Game of Shadows:  8 / 10 - We got our money's worth in eye candy and action.  Plus, we saw it twice, so that says something too!

Turin Baileys Irish Cream chocolates:  4 / 10  These chocolates get a fail, even though we bought them on sale.  They did not taste like other liqueurs, being way too mild, and the chocolate itself was bland.  Never again.  Ah well... at least we had Jones Soda and popcorn!

Pirates of the Caribbean 4 & Smuggled Treasures

On cheap night Tuesday, we headed out to the Mall to see Pirates 4. Busing it to such a place makes my skin crawl and the lighting does weird things to my eyes, but we had to see Disney's 4th installment of the series.

Gearing up for the movie, I smuggled in Jones Soda, Green Apple flavour, and Nativa milk chocolate. The risk of being sent to the gallows was worth it. Horrid tasting fountain pop and cheap concession stand chocolate candy do nothing for my taste buds.

We bought one of those combos that comes with 2 giant sized drinks, 1 enormous bag of popcorn, and a thing of miniature candy bars. One of my pals took the two drinks, since he drinks like a fish. Once he quickly drank the first pop, I poured the Green Apple over his leftover ice.

Cue the movie: When I saw previews showing some of the interaction between Jack Sparrow (Depp) and Angelica Malon (Penélope Cruz), To be honest, the whole Will Turner/Elizabeth Swan plot of the previous movies bored me nearly to death.

Well, imagine my surprise when the whole Jack/Angelica relationship turned out to be a bunch of tease! What? It's all verbal acrobatics, jokes about their previous time together while she stayed in a convent, ie: 'Was I your first?' he asked. The real question is, will the fifth movie be the first in which Jack gets to show us some of that reputation of his?

Yeah, there'll be a fifth movie. The end of this one (after the 3 hour reel of credits roles by) indicates as much. Hey, you don't kill the cash cow when it's still churning out the goods.

Okay, so the love element is, once again, presented by a young, virginal couple, bible-thumper Philip (Sam Claflin) and mermaid Syerena (Astrid Berges-Frisbey). They hookup when the pirates and the British and Spanish navies go on the hunt for vampires - I mean - mermaids, as part of the quest for the Fountain of Youth. That scene, with its bevy of vampish--er, fishy--women, comes off as a nice nod to Brahm Stoker's Dracula.

Speaking of the un-dead, zombies are included in this movie. Sadly, they don't get much screen time, other than to look the part and handle a few tiny bits of action. Course, they get more action than the Black Pearl's monkey and the Pearl herself. Yeah, it's gone, stuck in a bottle. Poor thing. Oh well, maybe she'll be riding the high seas in #5? No doubt, mate.

I'm running out of space, so I better talk about the villains here. They served up Blackbeard (Ian McShane), to balance out Balbosa (Geoffrey Rush). Yawn. My Green Apple soda offered more of a bite. I guess they spoiled us with Davy Jones (Bill Nighy). I didn't find Blackbeard or his ship the slightest bit intimidating. Mutiny? You bet. I want Davy back.

Balbosa did a far better job of being creepy. All he had to do was put on a British navy uniform and one of those wigs. *shudder* It worked for me. I didn't feel comfortable until he put his pirate gear back on. ...and here I throw in a quick nod to Mr. Gibbs (Kevin McNally), who sadly, didn't get his usual story-telling space--Balbosa stole that. Hrmpf.

Oh yes, the last thing to mention is the plot. The what? That's what I said. The hunt for the Fountain acted as the thin thread that bound it all together. Small points like the historical English-Spanish rivalry got a few acknowledgements. And, of course, we laughed at all the right places.

Pirates 4: 7 / 10 ~ Despite the disappointments mentioned above, it's still a fun movie to watch. I'd go see it again, but I hope they make Jack and Angelica the love interest in Pirates 5.

Food: 10 / 10 ~ Everything, from the popcorn to the chocolate and Crab Apple, tasted just right. In fact, the soda kept its flavour the entire movie.