For starters, the camera is really shaky for the first 15 minutes of the movie (and only slightly improves for the remainder of the film). I found it pretty hard to watch. While I thought that actress who played Katniss did a good job, I wasn't sure she really fit the image in my head very well. In the book, she is described as starving, and Jennifer Lawrence just looked too well-fed, tall, and muscular to me. (Just to clarify, I am not advocating for someone to starve themselves to play a part. But I would have picked someone naturally of a different build to play the part.) Peeta was also supposed to be a tall, well-built guy, and he is played by an actor who is quite short and not that muscular. I think that Woody Harrelson did a great job as Haymitch, and fit the image in my head pretty well. The Capitol was well put together, and the movie did a good job of showing the huge disparity between the Capitol and the Districts. Unfortunately, I felt like much of the movie was taken up in scenes of Katniss staring out into space, instead of real character development. I felt like the movie took a long time to lead up to the start of the games, and then skimped on the character relational developments that happen during the game. The development between Rue and Katniss is shortened far too much. In the book, they exchange stories, and have a real connection. Katniss thinks of Rue like Primrose. But I definitely did not get that from the movie. So, instead, you feel very little when Rue dies, and yet you watch Katniss mourn quite extensively on screen, which doesn't seem to make much sense (unless you read the book). I also felt like the tension between Katniss and Peeta was underplayed. You know that Katniss is clueless, but Peeta's emotions are not well-understood. Overall, I wanted more from the movie. I wanted the book experience on film. There are always modifications when you go to film from a book (i.e. Harry Potter), but it didn't feel like they were making the most of the screen time available. I didn't need to watch Katniss starting into space looking confused and scared quite so much. I was happy they shortened the Cato scene at the end. That was nice. However, it felt like there was something missing from the end when Katniss and Peeta almost eat the berries. That part seemed bland to me and I don't know why. Maybe because I knew that moment has significant meaning in the book, but it felt rushed and almost unfeeling in the movie. Overall, I had quite a bit of criticism for the movie, more so than I have had for other book series turned movie. Perhaps there was a bit too much hype surrounding the movie. It was fun to go see it, and I would like to watch it again (on DVD). I'm sure other people loved it, so this is just my own 2 cents. And I am not trying to be overly negative. I did like the film, but I liked the film because I liked the book.
Back to projects. I am currently in the middle of sprucing up our half bath on the main floor. And by sprucing up, I mean stripping the wallpaper. So, our bathroom was looking like a disaster this afternoon.
I'm going to have way more details in another post (when I finish). Let's just say this was a large task and I am super grateful that my former co-worker sold me his steamer before I left. I hope this will be worth it in the end...
Hope everyone had a great weekend!
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