Ah. Interesting. I might not read that series. I mostly like fantasy, and I think HG is like the dark alternative to fantasy. 
The thing with Mockingjay is the ending. The ending is… lacking. After [spoil]Prim’s death[/spoil], everything just goes crazy with [spoil]Katniss’s depression[/spoil] with everything leading up to the [spoil]vote for another Hunger Games with Capitol children[/spoil] and her [spoil]killing Coin instead of Snow.[/spoil] It sort of ends on a happy note, but it definitely was not the best way to end such a lauded series (see Potter, Harry for a good way to end a series)
As I planned, I am watching Ed Wood right now. Nearly half-way through and I have to say it is just as good if not better than I thought. I really like how accurately it depicts Edward Wood Jr.'s movie career, despite a few historical changes to obviously make the story more humorous and entertaining. Based on what I’ve seen, I have to feel quite sorry for Wood. He wants to be a successful movie director so badly but lets his incompetence bring him down. I have to say I really admire the guy. I also like how alot of the actors do actually look alot like the real-life characters they’re playing.
And thanks Spirit for recommending it, really worth watching I’d say.
Would you consider it like a comedy, or is it more like a horror movie?
It is more of a comedy/drama, though it is based on someone who made low-budget horror movies.
Yeah, I’ve seen some of his movies on Mystery Science Theater. I don’t know what the names are, though.
Bride of the Monster and The Sinister Urge were Ed Wood films featured on MST3K, if I remember correctly.
So I’m done watching it. Seriously, what a brilliant film, one that can make you laugh and cry. That was definitely worth the watch. One thing I don’t understand though is throughout the film was there wasn’t a single mention of Wood’s film Jail Bait (1954) despite being made before Bride of the Monster. I suppose that’s because it isn’t as infamous or well-known as his other films.
And one thing I do want to know is, why was Bride of the Monster getting booed instantly at the premiere? From what I saw, the movie had barely started. Or was it during a certain part in the film and the reel somehow went back to the beginning?
Yeah, I see what you mean. The ending was quite vague in some ways, too. [spoil]In the end we don’t get to see much of the country rebuilding itself, considering how much of the story is spent showing the revolution.[/spoil]
Yeah, but its kind of a weird love triangle in many respects. I think one thing that stops the love triangle from being overly annoying is the fact that Katniss, the narrator, is the least interested in it. For the most part she has more important things to worry about than picking the right boyfriend. The movie seemed to not be able to make it’s mind up though- on the one hand it shortens the only ‘romantic’ (in context it isn’t) part of the book to a single scene. On the other hand it inserts a gratitious shot of one of the boys watching this on the TV. It’s especially jarring because for most of the movie we don’t see Katniss’s friends and family reacting to all of her near-death experiences. And the marketing for the movie was careful to include one of the boys even though he only appears in it for about 5 minutes total.
(Spoilers for the first book)
In the first book Katniss has no romantic inclinations. However, the other tribute from her district, Peeta, admits live on television that he’s always had a crush on her. Her mentor advises her to play up the romance in order to win over viewers, which she does (reluctantly). However, she doesn’t realise that Peeta takes it all seriously, and he reacts angrily at the end of the book upon realising that he’s been used. The second boy, Gale, doesn’t really come into it much, other than that Katniss mentions that she thought he would be the guy she’d most likely end up with, although she naturally doesn’t want kids because she doesn’t want to see them go through the games. Arguably the story would work well without it (or without the ‘triangle’ aspect of it, anyway).
For me the weaknesses of The Hunger Games film was pushing the love angle and not graphic enough.
I just wish it was a bit more graphic, I felt it was just a bit too watered down, but I did still enjoy it.
Yes, it lost a little something from being a lot less gory than the books.
But we always knew it was going to happen. How else could they have gotten away with a film like that?
Yeah, I think they perhaps reduced the violence too much. I can’t really blame them, because they’d’ve gotten an age rating higher than the movie’s target audience.
I recently rewatched Porco Rosso, which is quite a good film. It was made by Studio Ghibli back in the 90s, and I think it tends to get overlooked a lot considering it was directed by Hayao Miyazaki. It’s beautiful to look at, and surprisingly funny. It’s about a pilot called Porco who lives and works along the Adriatic Sea. Years ago he was cursed to have a pig’s head for a face, and now he works as a bounty hunter, fighting pirates and avoiding the Italian authorities. The Disney dub of the movie is quite good. There was another English dub made before Disney got the rights, which is of a lower quality (more specifically, one character has an unbearably over-the-top voice actor that always makes me switch the language back to Japanese within the first 20 minutes). The animation is very impressive, particularly the level of detail the sea-planes are drawn with. Miyazaki re-uses some concepts from previous films, such as a group of pirates becoming smitten with a teenage girl (Castle in the Sky), but in most respects the film is quite unlike his more well-known movies.
Miyazaki said a while back that he wants to make a sequel to Porco Rosso, set during the Spanish Civil War. However, the film he is releasing this year is an unrelated project. It would be interesting if he did release a sequel, especially since there’s a good chance it might end up being his last movie. He kept saying he would retire years ago but he kept coming back.
We’re going to watch Run Lola Run tonight in Film Appreciation. I haven’t seen it since High School for my German class.
My whole family saw Hunger Games when it came out, mostly for one of my sisters. Some of my siblings were frightened at some parts. So I have to agree, they probably took a lot of the violence out so they could attract a younger crowd. #3 definitely sounds awful.
Nausicaa: I have to say, Porco is one of my less favorites of the set. I liked it, but it kind of drags a little in the middle. And I was wierded out personally by the younger girl who was fixated with Porco.
I agree it drags a bit (I orginally put that in my post but must have deleted it while I was writing). It’s not even that long, but because it has a fairly basic storyline, not much really happens. I don’t mind the character of Fio, although I do think she kind of fits a mold Miyazaki uses for some of his female characters, where they’re talented and likeable and sometimes come across as weirdly perfect (although in the case of this film I think she’s there to give Porco someone to bounce off of who hasn’t met him before).
That makes sense. She just irritated me a little.
Been watching quite alot of movies lately. Watched some early Peter Jackson films that were Bad Taste and Meet the Feebles, very different from what he makes now. Also watched many of the Lethal Weapon flicks, which are very solid and entertaining action film in my opinion, Mel Gibson and Danny Glover make a brilliant pair. Then I watched a couple of 70s cult action/thriller films which were Assault on Precinct 13 and The Warriors, both brilliant films imo.
Planning to watch the White House get blown to smithereens and Tom Cruise do a live-action portrayal of Wall-E in Olympus Has Fallen and Oblivion respectively. 
We watched Blue Velvet yesterday in Film Appreciation. I’m not entirely sure how I feel about the film.
I feel like that about most David Lynch films (except the lovely Elephant Man).
This one is particularly disgusting, while one can’t deny that it’s well crafted.
Does anyone here actually have a favourite film of ALL time? For me, it’s too hard. There’s loads of brilliant movies out there that it’s difficult to possibly pick the one you like most.