New trailer: Pitch Perfect 2

The Super Bowl trailer last week was only a sneak peek. The Barden University Bellas are truly back with a full trailer that shows... their fall from grace! With a wardrobe malfunction of epic proportions, the Bellas are suspended and replaced by Das Sound Machine. What are these pitch perfect Bellas supposed to do? Simple, win the world championship (same as the current champions Das Sound Machine) and get reinstated. Oh, and there's a lot dancing, sleepovers and of course, singing!! It's time to be pitch slapped!!  Directed by co-star and producer, Elizabeth Banks, Pitch Perfect 2's Bellas head back to theaters May 15, 2015.

Movie Review: The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1

Watching The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1, it struck me how faithful to the book and the characters the movies remain. More so than even the Harry Potter series. Don't get me wrong, I thought the Harry Potter movies were great but I was always glad I had the books to return to.

In the case of The Hunger Games, no little detail goes unmentioned. And the characters remain true to the books. I could see Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss wrestle with her inner demons and fears just as I could imagine Katniss struggling in the books. I've said it with the previous films as well that Lawrence is the glue that holds the series together. We are centred through her experiences in this journey to make it to the other end, alive.

When we last left Katniss rescued by the rebels from the Quarter Quell had just been told that her district, the only home she's ever know, has been destroyed and she's now in District 13. Needless to say, Katniss has many questions and so do we. Here in 13, President Alma Coin (Julianne Moore) is in charge, flanked by Plutarch Heavensbee (the late Philip Seymour Hoffman) and Beetee (Jeffrey Wright). They try to convince her to join the fight against the Capitol but Katniss refuses to budge until she knows what happened to Peeta (Josh Hutcherson).

Of course, Katniss does agree to be their Mockingjay eventually once she realizes she can bargain with Coin for Peeta and the rest of the tributes' lives.  From therefore, we are launched into a full-fledged uprising as the citizens and top brass of District 13 try to reach out to the other Districts to unite against President Snow (Donald Sutherland).  Snow is just as callous and evil as other film installments of this series. While he wants to quash the rebels, he is also involved in a battle of wills with Katniss.  He knows her deepest fears and attacks them ruthlessly. 

We are also updated into the lives of the other non-Tribute characters.  Effie Trinket (Elizabeth Banks) is reduced to wearing grays, a colour that she probably knew existed.  Primrose (Willow Shields), Katniss's younger sister, is training to be a doctor.  And Gale (Liam Hemsworth) is training for war.

War is completely at the forefront in this film.  Katniss is held up by Coin and Heavensbee as the symbol of hope, the reason to keep fighting.  As we read about citizens protesting for basic human and civil rights around the world in 2014, the events of Mockingjay set in probable dystopian future does resonate.  Could this be the future we one day inherit if we are not careful? This does require a lot of pondering. 

However, the Mockingjay Part 1 is setting up the scenario for the final battle. And leaving a lot of questions up in the air.  How will Katniss get her Peeta back? How will the Districts rise up to take down the Capitol? What will their future entail? And will any of them make it out alive?

The A-list cast (most of them Academy and Emmy winners and nominees) are top-notch.  I thought the scenes negotiating Katniss's Mockingjay terms with Moore and Hoffman were wonderful. The film is dedicated to Philip Seymour Hoffman, he will deeply missed.  Moore is a welcome addition as the unreadable but tough President Coin. 

Jennifer Lawrence knows Katniss like a second skin, Katniss is much more vulnerable in this film, she not only has to worry about her friends and family. She now holds the burden of what happens to other Districts as well.  Woody Harrelson as Haymitch is completely underused and I wanted more scenes with Effie, she brings some humour to very serious film.

Director Francis Lawrence is much more comfortable in the world and characters in his second film in this series and it shows.  The details of the underground world of District 13 were just as I imagined them while reading.  Though aboveground, District 13 boasts of lush green forests and soothing rivers, it wasn't quite the broken, barren District reduced to rubble from the books.  Most of the cast also spends a majority of time in dull grays, browns and black uniforms.  Those eye-popping costumes from the previous films, (RIP Cinna), are sorely missed as well.  

Fans of The Hunger Games series will no doubt like the film but like I rushed through reading Mockingjay in one go when I got the book, I wished the film wasn't broken down into parts. But then again, it does leave you wanting more.  

Directed by Francis Lawrence; Screenplay by Peter Craig and Danny Strong; Based on the novel by Suzanne Collins; Cinematography by Jo Willems; Edited by Alan Edward Bell and Mark Yoshikawa; Music by James Newton Howard

Additional cast: Sam Claflin, Jena Malone, Stanley Tucci, Mahershala Ali, Natalie Dormer

Rating: 

New The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 Trailer

"It's the things we love most that destroy us." Poor Katniss Everdeen! All she ever wanted to was keep her sister safe and keep Peeta alive in the Hunger Games. Instead, she's involved in an all-out war against the Capital and President Snow (Donald Sutherland).  In the newest trailer for The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1, Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) is the Rebels' Mockingjay as the stakes have been escalated and no one is safe this time around.  While the Rebels have Gale (Liam Hemsworth), Beetee (Jeffrey Wright) and Plutarch Heavensbee (the late Phillip Seymour Hoffman), we get a first look at President Coin (Julianne Moore) and Cressida (Natalie Dormer).  Old and familiar characters are much changed as well.  Effie Trinket (Elizabeth Banks) looks absolutely unrecognizable without her customary colorful flair and Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) seems quite unlike himself too.  But with the Mockingjay at the helm, we all have faith that it's all going to turn out okay.  Eventually.  With the Catching Fire director Francis Lawrence back for another installment and a screenplay by Danny Strong (Lee Daniels' The Butler) and Peter Craig, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 will release in theaters around the world on November 21, 2014.  

Trailer Time: Stoker, Life of Pi, Identity Thief, and Pitch Perfect

This upcoming 2013 English film debut by director Park Chan-wook (Oldboy) and produced by Ridley Scott and the late Tony Scott has an interesting story. The script written by Wentworth Miller (Prison Break) was on the 2010 Black List of best unproduced screenplays.  Young India's (Mia Wasikowska) father passes away and her mysterious Uncle Charlie (Matthew Goode) moves in with her and mother Evelyn (Nicole Kidman).  Sound familiar?  Comparisons to Hitchcock's Shadow of a Doubt (one of my favorite Hitchcock films) aside, this looks highly interesting and I can't wait see it.  Going on top of my list of must-see films for next year.

The latest international trailer of Life of Pi promises to be a visual treat.  Based on the best-selling book by Yann Martel and directed by Ang Lee, the new trailer shows us more of Pi (Suraj Sharma) and Richard Parker the tiger and their ardous journey on the high seas.  We also see glimpses of Pi's life in Pondicherry at his family zoo.  The trailer opens with the adult Pi (Irrfan Khan), with a curly mop,  telling Rafe Spall about his incredible story.  Parts of the trailer come very close to how I imagined it when I was reading the story.  Eagerly awaiting this in November.

Also coming in 2013, Identity Theft features two big comedic talents in Jason Bateman and Melissa McCarthy.  Bateman is Sandy Bigelow Patterson whose identity is stole by McCarthy and decides to go to Florida to get it back and teach her lesson.  Little does he know who he's dealing with.  The trailer is bit low on laughs but high on gags.  Directed by Seth Gordon (Horrible Bosses), the film is due to release this coming February 2013.

So Anna Kendrick can also sing, good to know.  Produced by Elizabeth Banks, Pitch Perfect brings the a cappella college scene to life that features a Glee type competition scenario (but without the annoying Mr. Schue).  The hilarious Rebel Wilson, Anna Camp and Brittany Snow are also part of the cast.  I should resist this film but I always have this absurd urge to watch anything featuring actors singing.  Jason Moore who directed the very funny Avenue Q on Broadway makes his directorial debut with this film that opens this October.  

Movie Review: The Hunger Games

The Hunger Games was probably my second most anticipated film of the year after The Dark Knight Rises and I'm so pleased that they've both lived up to expectations.  As fun as the Harry Potter films were, the inner fan in me was always disappointed in the scenes they did leave out in the films.  No such problems here.  The Hunger Games delivers on all levels especially in the screenplay that touches on all the main points from the books and visually brings to life the spectacle of the gruesome games.

Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence), a name we all now know as well as Harry Potter or Bella Swan, is a determined young woman who lives with her mother and sister Primrose (Willow Shields) in District 12 in Panem, a dystopian future where the Capitol rules over Districts just like the one Katniss lives in.  In this future, two tributes (i.e. children) from each district must be sent to the Capitol to participate in The Hunger Games to remind people of the uprising against Panem and serve as a reminder never to be occurred again.  The Hunger Games has echoes of the Greek tales of Theseus and the Minotaur as well but it borrows most of its themes from reality television we have grow so accustomed to.

Author Suzanne Collins takes the competition to another level with children fighting to the death to survive and bring stability and food to their Districts for a whole year.  And yes, with a title like The Hunger Games, there's a whole lot of focus on food.  When Primrose's name is picked the first year she's eligible for the games, big sister Katniss volunteers herself and sets up events that will change the history of Panem.

The other tribute and her competitor essentially is Peeta Mallark (Josh Hutcherson) with whom she has a complicated moment when she was younger and feels at her lowest.  The movie dwells on it and it's extremely important as it sets up how Katniss treats him.  Within no time, the pair is whisked off to the Capitol to participate in the games.  On the train, they meet Haymitch Abernathy (Woody Harrelson), their mentor and previous winner from District 12 along with their perky guide Effie Trinket (Elizabeth Banks).

The games are grueling, mentally and physically and the film does a good job of showing how you have to compete not just in the arena but to be savvy for the sponsors that will aide along the way and be liked by the public that supports you as well.  Isn't that the case with any reality show participant? It's not how good you are, it's how well you play the game.  Peeta has a better handle on this as he knows it's his best chance to survive while Katniss is focused on her survival skills for the arena.

Both of them are up against formidable foes like Glimmer (Leven Rambin) and Cato (Alexander Ludwig) who won't think twice before killing and possible allies like Thresh and Rue (Amandla Stenberg) who are just like them trying to stay alive. Like in any reality show, alliances are made and then cruelly broken when it becomes clear, it's all about you in the end.

Haymitch, who tries to procure sponsors so that his tributes stay alive, tries to spin "the star-crossed lovers" angle for Katniss and Peeta.  They have to rely on each other to make it through the ordeal.  Besides the clueless public and the sponsors, overseeing the games is Head Gamemaker Seneca Crane (Wes Bentley) who throws in fire and wild animals to prod the contestants when he thinks the action onscreen isn't interesting enough.  However, the man running them is all, President Coriolanus Snow (Donald Sutherland), is a shrewd leader who's sees beyond Katniss' minor rebellions on the show and the effect it has on the people in the outer districts.

The movie deals with all these characters well, introducing them and setting up their character arcs, only Gale (Liam Hemsworth), Katniss' best friend and Cinna (Lenny Kravitz), her stylist and designer aren't given enough time to develop fully.  But as is the case with any big Hollywood film, it'll all be dealt with in the sequel.  Katniss' story is told through three books that make up The Hunger Games trilogy and the second film is due out next year.

The differences between the Capitol and the outer districts is staggering.  The Capitol is a bustling city of tomorrow whose citizens are obsessed with plastic surgery, color and fashion while in the outer districts, every day is a struggle to survive for basic needs like food and shelter. The bleakness vs. the vividness of the Capitol is seen right away and I'm guessing we'll see more of it in the movies to follow as well.

The costumes are pretty much what I imagined except I thought the flames on Katniss' Girl on Fire dress would be higher.  The movie makes them more realistic.  The mutations were also less scary than they are described in the books; they have the eyes of the fallen tributes and they taunt Katniss, Peeta and Cato.  I guess that would have made it into a stronger rating for the film maybe that's why the idea was dropped.

And lastly the reason why the film was so enjoyable was due to Jennifer Lawrence.  She almost has the same journey as Katniss.  Even though she's an Oscar nominee last year, many people didn't know who she was.  Now, with the promotion and the kind of money the film has made, everyone knows who Lawrence is.  She portrays Katniss' survival instincts and her fear of losing her sister like second skin.  She really is a fine young actress and you identify instantly.  The rest of the actors are all well cast and this becomes the rare case in the film where the actor is cast for the acting and not because he/she looks the part as can be argued for Josh Hutcherson for Peeta Mallark.

The movie will bring in new fans who obviously haven't the books and while the film is very thrilling and exciting, the books have this urgency and fear that can't be translated onscreen.  The Hunger Games has given us a new heroine to root for in Katniss Everdeen and I can't wait to see the rest of her journey as she leads an uprising against Panem.  Trust me, you'll be hooked too.

Directed by Gary Ross; Screenplay by Gary Ross, Suzanne Collins and Billy Ray; Based on the novel by Suzanne Collins; Cinematography by Tom Stern; Edited by Stephen Mirrione and Juliette Welfing; Music by James Newton Howard

Rating: 

New Effie Trinket Photo!

A website related to The Hunger Games has opened up, http://capitolcouture.pn/, with the password #lookyourbest.  Once you enter the password, this cool picture of Elizabeth Banks as Effie Trinket is displayed.  Love this look!  What more will the website reveal?