Review: The Hunger Games

I have quite a few fans of my movie review blog posts so..this one goes out to you! :)

The Hunger Games, based on the first book in Suzanne Collins' hit series, was a highly anticipated movie way before it was even released. Let me say that it didn't disappoint! The film grossed over $68 million in its first day and a total of $155 million domestically ($214 million worldwide) for its opening weekend.

I probably don't have to say too much about this film because many of you have probably either read the book or seen the movie already but here's my review.

What To Know

Stars: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Stanley Tucci, Woody Harrelson, Lenny Kravitz

Director: Gary Ross

Writers: Gary Ross and Billy Ray (Screenplay), Suzanne Collins (Screenplay/Novel)

Rating: PG-13 for intense violent thematic material and disturbing images. Parents Guide

Plot: Drought, fire, famine, and war have all contributed to the collapse of what we all knew as North America. In its place is a nation called Panem, divided into the Capitol and 12 districts. Each year, one boy and one girl representative ("tribute") are selected from each district to compete in the Hunger Games, which are broadcasted throughout the nation. The Games are a literal fight to the death as, one by one, tributes kill each other with the lone victor winning fame and fortune for his or her district.

When 16-year-old Katniss Everdeen's young sister, Prim, is selected as the mining district's female tribute, Katniss volunteers to take her place. She and her male counterpart, Peeta Mellark, will be pitted against bigger, stronger tributes who have trained for this their whole lives. The plot takes us through a journey to find out if both Katniss and Peeta survive or fall victim to these brutal games.

Family Friendly?  Not exactly. The main thing is there are multiple scenes of intense action and violence, all directed toward kids and teens. There's also some scary scenes for younger kids as well as alcohol references and a few curse words intermingled throughout. I would say kids who are at least 8 or 9 could see this movie but no younger than that.

Should You See It? Definitely! The film keeps you on the edge of your seat throughout and doesn't stray away from the foundations of the book, which many book adaption films seem to do. On the technical side, the way the movie is filmed is pure genius. The camera angles (especially those showing a first person viewpoint) put you right in the middle of the action. Plus, it's very unique how Collins uses violence to teach us about the dangers of violence. The book and film make us think about the violence we see on television as well as challenges us to look closer into reality television and how core values tend to get lost in those shows. I've already started on the next book and I can't wait for the next "Hunger Games" film to be released!

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Not Just Teens

I came across this story on WRAL's Facebook page about how a new state law requires teens who commit a traffic misdemeanor (like speeding in excess of 15 mph over the limit) are to be arrested and brought before a magistrate. They supposedly spend a short amount of time in jail to give them a "taste" of what it's like. The move is geared toward saving lives but, does it really? This leads me to a point I've been preaching on for years: why just teens? I understand that they are more prone to speeding and causing accidents but, come on. As a teen, I believe this has gone way too far. What's being accomplished by doing this? I personally don't think it will change how teens drive. There will always be someone out there who disobeys the law and drives recklessly. It's a fact of life, unfortunately. Plus, why are adults not being targeted as well by this new crack down? Can't they just as easily speed and cause accidents? Trust me, I see countless numbers of people zooming up and down I-40 or other roads and most of those drivers are well out of their teenage years.

As my usual opinionated self, I commented all over this post and got some pretty interesting feedback, some things insulted me and some did not. One commenter, who was apparently a police officer, wrote about seeing dead teens at accident scenes and the like and he kept on with the message of "saving lives." Don't get me wrong, I'm all for saving lives myself but, focusing on teens only will not solve the problem. We have to focus on and educate everyone regardless of how "experienced" a driver they are. In the end, we're all human and we all make mistakes.

Now, to the insulting parts. I used the phrase "picking on teens" in my comments because I felt that's exactly what's being done here. Some people didn't like that at all and blatantly diagreed with me. In general statements (not necessarily directed toward me) one commenter gave kind of a play on this "pity party" saying "boo-hoo" and called teens "big babies." Another commenter was a little more direct and said my opinion was "arrogant" and "flawed" but later said he understood where I was coming from. I, respectively, fought back but I'm still insulted by the whole matter.

You know what I think should be done? I think the state should invest in quality driver's education programs for teens and others who want to drive. NC recently cut funding to driver's education programs, forcing students who wanted to take the classes to pay a fee. I would guess that many families would not be able to afford such a thing. That would force students to wait until they're 18 to get a license, putting them on the road with little to no formal driving education. How can we expect teens and/or new drivers to obey the law if their only real form of driving education is, basically, taken away?

In the end, I hate that teens get the short end of the stick because, not all of them actually are reckless drivers. I, for one, am not. Adults, in my opinion, can just as easily cause accidents due to speeding as teens can. People think that adults are more "experienced" drivers but most are really just as reckless as teens are! We must focus on both groups instead of singling out one! Yes, let's put our teens in jail with the very people we don't want them to be around. Smart move North Carolina!

What do you think? Should teens be thrown in jail if they're caught speeding? Tell me what you think by commenting below!  You can check out the post by clicking here, and the full story here.

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Great Seasons

My salute for this week goes out to both the UNC and NC State men's basketball teams for great seasons. First, the Pack. Yes, even though I'm a Carolina fan, I'm a State student so I do pull for them too! I honestly thought this year would be a transition year for them under first year head coach, Mark Gottfried. They surprised everyone (including me) by pulling things together at the end of the regular season and ACC Tournament to make it back to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in six years. They made it all the way to the Sweet Sixteen, where they lost to Kansas 60-57. Not too shabby considering where the team was last season!

Next the Heels. I've always been a Carolina fan first and that will never change, no matter what. With that, I'm so proud of the team for what they accomplished. At the beginning of the season, Carolina was the odds on favorite to win the title. Then injuries plagued them. It all started with Leslie McDonald and then Dexter Strickland soon after. Later in the season, John Henson couldn't play due to a wrist injury. He later came back to play but then, the worst thing imaginable: star point guard, Kendall Marshall, went down with his own wrist injury; requiring surgery that sidelined him for the Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight games. The Heels lost to Kansas 80-67 in the Elite Eight although the game was much closer than that!

I'm so proud of Carolina for fighting through all that adversity. Even though they didn't reach the ultimate goal, they proved they could fight through it and do the very best they could given the circumstances. Freshman guard, Stilman White, was phenominal after taking Marshall's place. Taking over the starting point guard duties and having zero turnovers while doing so was huge and he'll only get better throughout his career. Not many teams can have so much adversity and still do great things like this team did! I can't wait to see what next season will bring. It should be exciting!

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Insensitivity

I was, once again, apalled by the insensitivity Fox News and its commentators have displayed (I don't know why I'm so surprised) when they talked about the Trayvon Martin case in Florida. Geraldo Rivera entered the public discussion and, quite frankly, should exit immediately! On the news channel's show, Fox And Friends, Rivera made the comment the Martin's hoodie was "just as responsible" for his death as the shooter, George Zimmerman. 

Are you freaking kidding me? So, basically, I guess Geraldo is saying that, if you go around wearing a hoodie, you're obviously up to no good, people think you're a threat, and will shoot you? Come on! Give me a break! I think 'ol Geraldo needs to deal with that ugly mustache of his instead of giving ignorant and insensitive commentary!

And, while we're on the topic of the Trayvon Martin case, the whole thing is a travesty! Zimmerman said he was "acting in self-defense" but, from what? I mean, come on! I don't buy that BS one bit! I'll tell you one thing, if that guy doesn't go to trial soon, this country will go crazy!

My thoughts and prayers to the family of Trayvon Martin.

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Not Done Yet

I'm going to keep this short and sweet...

After the injury to UNC point guard, Kendall Marshall, I've heard a lot of negative talk from UNC fans and other fans alike. Most analysts have also debated whether or not the Heels are done with regard to the NCAA Tourney. 

Here's what I have to say:

Sure Kendall is a huge part but he's not the only player on the team! It takes a team effort to win a national title so, if Carolina wants to win it all, they'll have to step up and do that regardless of whether Kendall is playing or not.

I don't mean to sound harsh here but, I'm sick and tired of all this negative crap! You have analysts and some UNC fans doubting the team's championship hopes while some other fans have been celebrating Kendall's injury (trust me I've heard them). Wake up people! UNC fans shouldn't lose hope and other fans who may be celebrating the injury are, in a nice way, ignorant and shouldn't even be in this conversation! Watch out because Carolina is not done yet!

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Too Much

This week's Oops Award winners are the NY Rangers' Stu Bickel, Brandon Prust, and Mike Rupp and the New Jersey Devils' Ryan Carter, Cam Janssen, and Eric Boulton for their ridiculous behavior during a game a couple days ago.

Before the opening faceoff, there was some chatter between the players. Just as the referee dropped the puck they all fought each other. They beat each other up so bad, blood spewed out onto the ice and had to be cleaned up before the game could be continued.

This was, by far, the most unprofessional thing I've ever seen in, what's supposed to be, a professional hockey game! To make matters worse, the whole thing was staged by the teams! Apparently this was staged after many incidents in previous games between the teams including a fight that, for lack of a better phrase, tore up Rangers player Brandon Dubinsky. But let's think about kids who were there and saw this happen. Now, what do you think they're going to do? They would probably go home and copy what they saw at the game.

Let's take another sport for example: basketball. What would the NCAA do if, say, UNC and Duke players got into a fight? At the very least they would suspend the players. As far as I know, these players were given a ten minute penalty each and no suspension. That's a slap on the wrist to me! On the other hand, Jeff Skinner gets a two game suspension for kicking someone? As Peter Martin of the International Business Times put it:

"Hockey is a violent game when played by the rules and, much like football, the violence is part of what makes it exciting. But staged fights are exactly the kind of things that give hockey a bad name among the casual fans it so desperately needs in order to stay relevant in many parts of the United States."

I don't care if the teams are rivals or not, show some freaking class! An article on the NHL's website (which basically praised the fighting I might add) stated that most NHL players and coaches liked the fighting and even quoted a Montreal player as saying that this was a sign that "the game is changing." Well if the game is changing to this I want no part of it! I'm definitely not going to spend $100/ticket to watch a bunch of guys beat each other senseless! I can get that with WWE or UFC!

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Concert Of The Future

My Technology In History class segment has been on a little hiatus but it's back this week with, perhaps, a look into the future of concert going. Check it out!

I first heard this story on the news over Spring Break and was pretty fascinated by it. In Tokyo, Japan, Hatsune Miku has a huge fan base that even most pop stars would envy. She never misses a beat, fluffs a line or messes up a step. Sounds like the "perfect" pop star right? Well, she's not even a real person!

Yes, Hatsune Miku is a computer-generated program that uses voice-synthesizing technology, according to a Baltimore Sun article. The program was developed by a company called Crypton Future Media, which allows its users to create their own music for the program to perform. That's right! The fans get to create the songs she sings! The Baltimore Sun article goes on to say that some of her most popular songs "emerged from more than twenty different people." That's pretty impressive!

Hatsune Miku concerts have been selling out across Japan and the phenomenon is quickly gaining international fans as well. The article says that some people traveled pretty long distances just to see this in person. Some of the people interviewed were from as far away as Australia! The article even predicts that, if the program's fame continues to grow, we could see a performance at the London Olympics.

I found this story to be amazing! I mean, is this the kind of thing we'll see in the future? Will we go to concerts and be able to choose the music to be performed by a computer program instead of a human being? It'll be interesting to see what happens with this new technology.

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