the backlog

[kalena_henden]

I saw The Hunger Games on Saturday. I enjoyed it but it wasn't amazing. I have not read the books. [spoilery thoughts]

Things I liked:

• Katniss surrounding Rue in flowers and saluting the people. I cried!
• Peeta - Love this kid so much! Willing to sacrifice himself for the girl he loves who doesn't even know him.
• Also love Cinna, Haymitch, Seneca, Rue, Gale and ...Katniss.
• Note: "You call that a kiss? - H" LOL
• Gale/Katniss - Gale was barely on screen but all their scenes had such genuine affection. They love each other, whether or not it will work out romantically... [shrugs]
• I'm so sad to see Seneca go. I think he would have joined the resistance that is coming. I loved him but his ending was priceless.

Things that could have been better:

• Normally, I'm totally fine with "shaky-cam" but the use here looked more like it was used to cover up actor's terrible fighting skills and to avoid showing the violence than to make you feel like you're there.
• Peeta/Katniss - Their whole story had weird pacing issues. I wasn't sure if he was playing her for most of the movie until he talked in the cave about the time he gave her bread. Then I felt terrible because he obvious was desperately in love with her but she only cared for him as a person. I don't want him to get his heart broken.
• The announcements changing the rules willy-nilly got a bit ridiculous.
• The end of the games felt so weird. Cato (I think that's his name?) was trying to give some social commentary about giving the audience what they want. And I completely did not get that the berries were poisonous until Seneca was shouting for them to stop. We should have seen Seneca in shock mentioning the poison and "they're going to kill themselves" in awe while he struggled with with whether or not so stop them.

Back in tv land, I've been catching up. Absolutely adore Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman in S1 of Sherlock. Can't wait to see them in S2 and The Hobbit!

My latest obsession is Dance Academy. Hailing from Down Under, it's a scripted teen show about aspiring professional ballet dancers (who also do a bit of hip-hop). It starts off with stereotypical characters but over the first season it surprisingly finds alot of character and dancing development. It's a great ensemble show but surfin, skatin, law-breakin hottie Christian is my fave.

I'm still not a big fan of Once Upon A Time but Sebastian Stan was brilliant as the Mad Hatter. He can come back any time.