I watched it
I watched the Hunger Games movie today. It was kind of a weird experience because the casting for all the leads was off (some of them were too white, all of them were too clean and polished, and some them didn't quite sell it), but all the side characters were absolutely perfect. I loved how they worked Clove's viciousness, Glimmer's flirtiness, Marvel's cockiness, Foxface's cleverness, Thresh's deep decency in a horrible situation, Effie's appalling Capitolness, and Cinna's and Rue's everything. I think I cried every time Rue was onscreen.
Specific things that I approved of through my tears:
1) Marvel and Cato nearly fighting over a knife and then the shot of Rue up in the rafters with the knife. I wasn't happy with how much of the interaction between Rue and Katniss got left out, but the knife scene did go some way toward repairing the damage to Rue's characterization that happened due to the inevitable cuts for time.
2) Rue shadowing Katniss-- So many little girls in unfamiliar places/situations will pick an older girl and follow her like that! The context made it utterly heartbreaking.
3) Clove's expert knife-throwing in training and in the arena, with her made up to look innocent and cute for the interview in between. It said so much about what her society has done to her.
4) Glimmer being all frilly and sparkly and hyperfeminine for her interview and her teenagerish little "Boys!" in the arena. That also said a lot about what Panem likes to see in its female forced murderers/human sacrifices.
5) Foxface's intense study of plants in training (Yay for book-learnin', especially biology!) followed by her interview where she sounds so calm and level-headed and all "I will logic my way out of the arena."
6) The boy from District 4 looking so angry and scared. He didn't have any lines, but the look on his face was just right for a kid forced into the Hunger Games.
7) The behavior of the Career Tributes when they were hunting as a pack in the arena. They were pretty convincing as a bunch of teenagers doing terrible things because they've spent their lives being taught that it's their job to be terrible.
8) How Katniss is visibly shaking when she's about to go into the arena and Cinna's complete calm and assurance that she can come out of this alive. He couldn't have been a more perfect ally at that moment.
This entry was originally posted at http://gryphonsegg.dreamwidth.org/60550.html. Please comment there using OpenID.
Specific things that I approved of through my tears:
1) Marvel and Cato nearly fighting over a knife and then the shot of Rue up in the rafters with the knife. I wasn't happy with how much of the interaction between Rue and Katniss got left out, but the knife scene did go some way toward repairing the damage to Rue's characterization that happened due to the inevitable cuts for time.
2) Rue shadowing Katniss-- So many little girls in unfamiliar places/situations will pick an older girl and follow her like that! The context made it utterly heartbreaking.
3) Clove's expert knife-throwing in training and in the arena, with her made up to look innocent and cute for the interview in between. It said so much about what her society has done to her.
4) Glimmer being all frilly and sparkly and hyperfeminine for her interview and her teenagerish little "Boys!" in the arena. That also said a lot about what Panem likes to see in its female forced murderers/human sacrifices.
5) Foxface's intense study of plants in training (Yay for book-learnin', especially biology!) followed by her interview where she sounds so calm and level-headed and all "I will logic my way out of the arena."
6) The boy from District 4 looking so angry and scared. He didn't have any lines, but the look on his face was just right for a kid forced into the Hunger Games.
7) The behavior of the Career Tributes when they were hunting as a pack in the arena. They were pretty convincing as a bunch of teenagers doing terrible things because they've spent their lives being taught that it's their job to be terrible.
8) How Katniss is visibly shaking when she's about to go into the arena and Cinna's complete calm and assurance that she can come out of this alive. He couldn't have been a more perfect ally at that moment.
This entry was originally posted at http://gryphonsegg.dreamwidth.org/60550.html. Please comment there using OpenID.