Hunger Games

[cellio]

We went to see The Hunger Games this afternoon. I have read the first of the three books. I thought the movie was a good treatment of the book; they missed some opportunities but they added some nice bits too. (I don't think the rest of this post contains any spoilers that weren't in the trailer.)
The Rue plot in the book was very powerful, and

Comments

[cellio]

I think the only way for the costuming to be completely faithful to the book would involve digital graphics. :-)

I do not tend to form physical images of people when I read. If the author tells me something I absorb it; if the author is silent on someone's appearance I don't tend to fill in my own. (It also took me most of the first chapter to determine that the POV character was female...) So with that caveat, and having read the book before knowing about casting: I had no impression of Cinna (clothing yes, person no), and I knew Rue wasn't white. I wasn't sure (and didn't spend time thinking about) whether she was black, Indian, or of mixed background. And I do not understand what the fuss is about; why exactly does this matter to anybody?

[cellio]

Thanks for the interesting links. I didn't know that the casting call had been that specific.

(I don't think of Gale as being one of the leads. Now I wonder what the credits said on that subject; I wasn't paying enough attention. I think Cinna, Haymitch, and whats-her-name the official mouthpiece all got more screen time than he did, though in the book he got more.)

[dvarin]

Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter: please make it stop!

Yeah, I saw the trailer for that, with pretty much the same reaction. It's just... completely WTF.

[risiko]

"They added rather than detracting -- not at all a safe bet when screenwriters decide to innovate."

In this case, the author was one of the screenwriters, so their inivations weren't that risky. These changes looked like a bow to the change in perspctive that came with the change in medium. Thankfully they did add to the story.

[mortuus]

Shameful though it may be, I have to admit I'm really looking forward to Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter. It's just the level of absurdness that calls to me :-)

(I'm going to see Hunger Games tonight. Loved the book.)

[merle_]

I would guess that silver arrows would be silver as a veneer for the tip only, much like silver bullets only have a thin coating on the jacket. Too expensive otherwise.

[cellio]

That's what I thought when I read the book. The movie depicted silver all the way down the shaft (including the fletching!). Presumably this is part of the ostentatiousness of the Capitol. It's sure not functional. :-)

[merle_]

I suppose they could coat the whole thing. Seems silly, though.