The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

Posted on November 20, 2013 at 11:35 am

Capitol-Portraits-The-Hunger-Games-Catching-FireIn the second chapter of the three-book, four-movie series, Katniss Everdeen has gone from being a shy unknown with extraordinary skills to being an acclaimed superstar. The same could be said for the actress who plays the part. When Jennifer Lawrence was selected to play the heroine of the blockbuster novels by Suzanne Collins, she was barely out of her teens. She had scored an Oscar nomination for a small, independent film called Winter’s Bone that was seen by about the number of people listed in the credits of this film. And in between the first and second in the “Hunger Games” series, she won a leading actress Oscar for Silver Linings Playbook.

In this deeper, smarter, politically sharper, and more emotionally resonant follow-up, she returns to the dystopian world of Panem as Katniss prepares for her victory tour, following an unprecedented triumph at the titular competition.  Once a year, two teenagers are selected from each of the twelve districts to compete to the death in televised combat that the totalitarian government imposes in a gruesome simulacrum of an athletic contest that promotes dedication, talent, and integrity.  As the previous film ended, Katniss and Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) defied the authorities to come up with a way that they could both come out alive — by pretending to be in love and be willing to sacrifice themselves to be together.  This has made them very popular, and the dictator, “President” Snow (a nicely corrupt Donald Sutherland) wants to make sure that this popularity is extended on behalf of his regime and will not inspire any rebellious uprisings.  When his own granddaughter begins to braid her hair to be like Katniss, he knows that if he cannot control the young archer, he will have to destroy her.  However, as the new Head Gamemaker, Plutarch Heavensbee (Philip Seymour Hoffman) reminds him, he must be careful to get rid of her in a way that will discredit her, to make sure she does not become a martyr and inspire the rebels even more in memory than she already does.

Snow tells Katniss she has to persuade not just the fans but him that she is truly in love with Peeta or he will destroy her and her family.  She does her best, and cares for Peeta deeply, but her heart is still with Gale (Liam Hemsworth), who is hurt and jealous.

Plutarch decides to mount an all-star game, pitting previous champions of the Hunger Games against each other in a ramped-up competition.  And no skirting the rules with a romance this time.  Katniss and Peeta go back to the Capital for another dress-up extravaganza (costume designer Trish Summerville ramps things up with costumes that are a mash-up between “Project Runway’s” unconventional materials and fashion forward challenges and an acid trip.  Elizabeth Banks carries off the wildest of the attire better than anyone else could (with the exception of Barbie), and manages to give the outrageous Effie Trinket a little bit of compassion under the Kabuki-like makeup. And Katniss, known as the “girl on fire” thanks to the costumes designed by the stylist Cinna (Lenny Kravitz) gets a wedding gown extravaganza with an unexpected political overlay.

And then, the games begin, as before, with the same race to get supplies and weapons while avoiding attack and assessing possible alliances that by definition will be short-term.  Plutarch has some challenges of his own to keep the contestants off-balance and on the run.  With each “tribute” a previous winner, the odds are not in anyone’s favor.

Director Francis Lawrence (“I am Legend,” no relation to his star), taking over from Gary Ross, manages the large cast and complicated action well and screenwriters Simon Beaufoy (“Salmon Fishing in the Yemen”) and Michael Arndt (“Toy Story III,” “Little Miss Sunshine”) adapted the book deftly.  They balance the small, intimate moments, brief humor, and intense emotion with the grand sweep of the games, acknowledging the over-arching themes of honor, freedom, and courage but keeping the focus on the relationships.  It tells us everything that in the short training/assessment/sponsorship-seeking period before the Games begin, Katniss reaches out to the weakest and most vulnerable of the other contestants, helping them with no agenda for her own protection.

The other additions to the series are exceptionally well-chosen, too, especially Hoffman, as a man who knows more about “counter-moves” than we may suspect at first, Sam Claflin as the high-spirited, faun-like Finnick Odair, Jeffrey Wright and Amanda Plummer as the wonkiest participants, and Jena Malone, a fiery delight as the furious  Johanna Mason.  But it is Lawrence who steals the show again as Katniss.  Be sure to keep your eyes on her face in that last scene; it’s a lulu that will have you counting the moments until the next episode (now in production).

Parents should know that the theme of these books concerns a totalitarian dictatorship that forces teenagers to battle to the death in a very intense and disturbing “game.”  Many characters are injured and killed and there are scary surprises, graphic images, and disturbing threats. Many teenage and adult characters are beaten, injured, and killed, with knives, guns, whips, arrows, spears, poison fog, animal attacks, psychological abuse, and more. Characters abuse alcohol, there are drug references, and characters use some strong language. There is kissing and some implied nudity in public — nothing shown.

Family discussion: What did Plutarch mean by “moves and countermoves?” Why did the tributes hold hands? Why wouldn’t Gale leave?

If you like this, try: the first movie and the books by Suzanne Collins

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Action/Adventure Based on a book Drama Romance

Last Vegas

Posted on November 2, 2013 at 11:57 am

Last_Vegas castOscar-winning actors are a precious commodity, usually doled out no more than one or two per movie.  But in this AARP-version of “The Hangover” crossed with “Ferris Bueller,” there are five, and the greatest pleasure of this film is in watching the evident pleasure they take in each other.  They appreciate each other, they trust each other, and they challenge each other.  Morgan Freeman, Michael Douglas, Robert De Niro, and Kevin Kline play the “Flatbush Four,” lifelong friends who grew up together in Brooklyn, the kind who cheerfully call each other  unprintable insults but who are always there for each other.  Remember the end of “Stand By Me.” when Richard Dreyfuss says, ” I never had any friends later on like the ones I had when I was twelve. Jesus, does anyone?”  These are those guys, 58 years, a few spouses, some medical issues and a grudge later.

Billy (Douglas), with a fake tan, a hair color that does not occur in nature, and a girlfriend a third of his age, impulsively proposes in the middle of a eulogy.  So, it is time to get the gang back together for a blow-out of a bachelor party in Las Vegas.  There’s Sam (Kline), marooned in retireeland, Florida, and horrified by water aerobics and dinner at 4:30, and, generally, being old.  Archie (Freeman) is living with his worried son (Michael Ealy), who smothers him with care and caution because he is recovering from a stroke.  And Paddy (De Niro) sits in his robe all day, surrounded by photographs of his late wife.  Sam and Archie are immediately on board with the idea of a wild weekend, especially after Sam’s wife presents him with a condom, a tablet of Viagra, and a reminder that “what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.”  They persuade Paddy to come by not telling him the purpose of the trip.  Paddy is still hurt and angry at Billy for a betrayal that of course will be revealed, though by that time it hardly matters.

The Flatbush Four hear a nightclub singer named Diana (Oscar-winner number five, Mary Steenburgen, bringing warmth and wit to the movie) and they immediately like her very much, especially Paddy and Billy.  As the big night approaches, they are determined to party like it’s 1945.  And each one will learn something or decide something that will change his life when he gets home.

Listen, the plot developments are older than the stars.  Fun to see old guys live it up in nasty, racy Vegas!  Time to settle old scores!  The jokes are even older than that.  But these old pros get such an evident kick out of each other that they are able to find some honesty in what could otherwise feel synthetic.  And the chemistry between them cannot be faked.  We know these guys.  We know their faces and have watched them get older for many years.  Seeing them enjoy each other’s company is great company for us to be in.

Parents should know that this movie was originally rated R and then changed to PG-13 on appeal.  There is some strong and crude language (one f-word), a lot of drinking, sexual references and non-explicit situations, and girls in very skimpy clothes and bathing suits.

Family discussion: Who changes the most?  How did the four men end up so unsatisfied with their lives?

If you like this, try: the other comedy films by these actors including “Analyze This,” “A Fish Named Wanda,” “Bruce Almighty,” “Melvin and Howard,” and “Wonder Boys”

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Comedy Romance

About Time

Posted on October 31, 2013 at 6:00 pm

B+
Lowest Recommended Age: Mature High Schooler
MPAA Rating: Rated R for language and some sexual content
Profanity: Very strong and crude language
Alcohol/ Drugs: Drinking and substance abuse
Violence/ Scariness: Sad death, scary car crash
Diversity Issues: None
Date Released to Theaters: November 1, 2013
Date Released to DVD: February 3, 2014
Amazon.com ASIN: B00BEIYGK2

about-time1Richard Curtis perfected the art of the 21st century romantic comedy in “Four Weddings and a Funeral,” “Notting Hill,” and “Love Actually.”  They were witty and sophisticated and had posh British accents that made them seem twice as witty and sophisticated.  They were filled with of pretty people wearing pretty clothes in pretty settings, seasoned with self-deprecating humor, magnificent friendships, pop-y soundtracks, and happy ever after endings.  “About Time” has all of that, plus a twist.  I don’t mean the addition of a fantasy time travel element, thought that is something of a departure.  The real twist is that the important love story here is not between man and woman but between father and son.

Oh, there’s a romantic love story, of course, and it’s the part that’s featured on the poster.  Tim (Domhnall Gleeson, son of the Irish actor Brendan Gleeson and best known as one of the Weasley brothers in the “Harry Potter” films) lives in Cornwall with his family, a blissfully happy group that includes his slightly starchy mother (Lindsay Duncan), slightly dotty but impeccably dressed uncle (Richard Cordery), wild child of a sister (Lydia Wilson), and book-loving, family-loving dad (the indispensable Bill Nighy).  Dad explains to Tim that the men in their family have the ability to travel through time.  There are limits, of course.  Like “Quantum Leap,” he is limited to his own lifetime.  He can’t go back and meet Queen Victoria or ride a dinosaur.  And, as Tim will spend the rest of the movie discovering, while he can go back to correct a mistake, the ripple effect of even the tiniest change may have very big consequences that are not so easy to fix.

It may sound all very precious and cutesy, and it is, with Curtis’ trademark adorable eccentrics that are less adorable than he intended.  Even an English accent can only make up for so much.  Tim’s use of his time travel powers to make up for various gaffes is entertaining in a “Groundhog Day”-lite sort of way.  (There’s something rather meta about a feeling of deja vu in these repeated, slightly improved encounters.)  The romance between Tim and a pretty American named Mary (Rachel McAdams), while refreshingly free of the kinds of agonizingly silly misunderstandings that plague most romantic comedies, is on the bland side.  The first meeting with Mary’s parents is supposed to be awkward and funny, but it’s just awkward.  Things get more interesting later, as Tim and Mary get married and start a family.  The stakes are higher and the choices are more complex.

It is in the third act when things start to get interesting, because that is when the focus shifts to the father-son relationship.  Curtis, who says this is his last film, opens up his heart for a piercingly bittersweet engagement with the big questions of who we are, making peace with not being able to fix everything for everyone we love, and finding a way to make pain and loss deepen us.

Parents should know that this film includes sexual references, some explicit, and some sexual situations, very strong and crude language, car accident, and a sad death.

Family discussion: If you could go back in time, would you correct a mistake or take time to enjoy what already happened? Why did Kit Kat have such a hard time making good decisions? Was there anything her family should have done differently to help her?

If you like this, try: “Four Weddings and a Funeral” and “Love Actually” from the same writer/director and “Groundhog Day”

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Comedy Date movie Drama DVD/Blu-Ray Pick of the Week Family Issues Fantasy Romance

Romeo & Juliet

Posted on October 10, 2013 at 6:00 pm

William Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” is the most-filmed play of all time, with dozens of versions and variations from the sublime (the Franco Zeffirelli and Baz Luhrmann versions, “West Side Story” and “Shakespeare in Love”) to the outlandish (the cute Gnomeo and Juliet, the robot short “Runaway Robots! Romie-O and Julie-8”) and the downright ridiculous (Norma Scherer and Leslie Howard were in twice the age of the characters they were playing).  The story of the “star-cross’d lovers” has immediate appeal — impetuous teenagers, disapproving parents, missed messages, and swordfights.  All it needs to succeed is leads with a lot of chemistry and the ability to adapt to the rhythms of iambic pentameter and the glorious language of the greatest writer in the history of English.  This movie fails on all three.  The leads have no chemistry with each other or with the glorious poetry of the dialog.  And “Downton Abbey’s” Julian Fellowes has mangled the adaptation, changing some of the lines and scenes.  It is not a terrible movie, but it is not an especially good one and with so many better alternatives it is an unnecessary one.

It begins with a useless added scene in which the Prince (Stellan Skarsgård) holds a tournament to settle once and for all the dispute between the feuding Montagues and Capulets.  It doesn’t work.  Soon a fight breaks out between the servants of the two houses that are “alike in dignity” (the play’s first scene) and the Prince is furious.  If they cannot keep the peace, there will be trouble.  Romeo (Douglas Booth), a Montague, is in love with a Capulet cousin named Rosaline.  When he finds out that the Capulets are having a masked party and Rosaline will be there, he and his friends attend the party so Romeo can see her.

Romeo-and-Julliet-romeo-and-juliet-2013-34909054-500-333But Romeo sees the Capulet daughter, Juliet (“True Grit’s” Hailee Steinfeld), and they are instantly struck by love.  In the play, their perfect unity is demonstrated by their first conversation, witty flirtation in the form of an exquisite sonnet.  It is one of the best-loved pieces of writing in history.  Yet this version mangles it by ramping up the intensity of the attraction right from the beginning so there is no sense of build-up.  More important, the utter lack of chemistry between the very pretty but bland Booth and the game but not up to the task Steinfeld makes us long for Bella and Edward or even Bella and Jacob.

There are some strong performances, unfortunately just making the two main characters look worse by comparison.  Lesley Manville (“Topsy Turvy”) give the nurse a warmth that is often lost in the usual caricatured portrayals.  Natascha McElhone is a sympathetic Lady Capulet and Paul Giamatti is superb as Friar Laurence.  The standout, though, is Christian Cooke as Mercurtio, whose energy is much missed once he is out of the picture.

Most appallingly, Fellowes has decided to make the text more “accessible” with some trims and edits to the language.  The slight gains in “accessibility” are overwhelmed by the loss of the music in the words and the poetry of the rhythm.  I bite my thumb at him.

Parents should know that this movie includes Shakespearean sword-fighting with many characters injured and killed, sexual references and non-explicit situations, and suicides.

Family discussion:  Did the novice make the right decision?  Why couldn’t Romeo and Juliet tell their parents the truth?

If you like this, try: the other versions by Baz Luhrmann and Franco Zeffirelli and adaptations like “West Side Story” and “Warm Bodies,” a zombie romance where the characters are named R and Julie)

 

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Based on a play Classic Date movie Drama Remake Romance Stories about Teens Tragedy

A.C.O.D.

Posted on October 4, 2013 at 7:30 am

B+
Lowest Recommended Age: Mature High Schooler
MPAA Rating: Rated R for language and brief sexual content
Profanity: Very strong language, some crude
Alcohol/ Drugs: Drinking, drug references
Violence/ Scariness: Tense family confrontations, some shoving, fire
Diversity Issues: Diverse characters
Date Released to Theaters: October 4, 2013

AdamScottCOPortraits2013SundanceFilmMmjP6NGACVblAre today’s 20-and 30-somethings the least-parented generation in history, as a character explains in this film? To quote Rosie O’Donnell in “Sleepless in Seattle” about another depressing statistic, “It’s not true, but it feels true.” While the generation that came of age in the 1970’s and early 80’s were self-actualizing and consciousness-raising and yuppifying, their children were being raised by adults who were too often acting like, well, children.

Adam Scott (“Parks and Recreation,” “Party Down”) produced and stars in “A.C.O.D.,” which stands for “Adult Children of Divorce.” It’s an apt oxymoron. Scott plays Carter, who is very much the adult in his relationship with his long-divorced but still-warring parents and with his younger brother, Trey (Clark Duke). He is also the adult in his professional life, as the owner of a trendy restaurant. But that has a considerable advantage, he points out. “It may be like a family, but I could fire the ones I don’t like.”

Trey’s engagement creates some immediate problems. He and his fiancée Kieko (Valerie Tian) have only known each other four months.  Trey cannot support himself; he is living in Carter’s garage.  But those are minor concerns compared to the “9 year marriage turned into a 100-years war” — their parents, Hugh (Richard Jenkins) and Melissa (Catherine O’Hara).  Trey wants them to come to his wedding and be civil to one another.  Even though both have re-married (Hugh twice), their toxic mutual hostility is still the most powerful and all-consuming force in their lives.

Carter, himself allergic to marriage due to the childhood trauma of his parents’ divorce (and their self-absorption, bitterness, manipulation, and use of him as a go-between and subject of endless custody disputes), knows that Trey’s plans are unrealistic.  But he can’t help being captivated, even a little wistful and the optimism and certainty of the couple.  And he knows it is in part because he has worked so hard to protect Trey from the worst of his parents’ battles.

The stress of negotiating with his parents is so unsettling, Carter seeks help from a woman he saw after his parents split up (Jane Lynch).  She is glad to see him again, but informs him that she was not his therapist.  She was interviewing him for a book about the impact of divorce on children.  And it became an international best-seller.  This puts him even deeper into a tailspin, as he reads the book for the first time and discovers what his middle-school turmoil looked like to an observer.  “Am I living in a shell of insecurity and approval-seeking?”  It is even more disconcerting that the book is a best-seller (“Fourteen printings and Margot Kidder did the audio book.”)

Meanwhile, his efforts to get his parents to be civil to one another has had some very disturbing repercussions.  And Carter’s sympathetic and supportive girlfriend of four years (the magnificent Mary Elizabeth Winstead) may not put any pressure on him, but she does point out that it would be nice to have a key to his apartment.

The storyline may be weak in spots, but the spectacular cast (Scott’s “Parks and Recreations” co-star Amy Poehler plays Hugh’s third wife) makes the most of the sharp dialogue and depictions of world-class boundary issues.  A credit-sequence coda with the movie’s real-life crew discussing their own A.C.O.D. issues is, like the film itself, sobering but still a reminder that ultimately, no matter how dysfunctional our origins, we get to decide who we want to be.

Parents should know that this film includes explicit sexual references and brief situations, rear nudity, very strong language, drinking, smoking, and drug references.

Family discussion: Why was Carter unhappy about the way he was portrayed in the book? How did he try to be different from his parents?

If you like this, try: “It’s Complicated” and “The Baxter”

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Comedy Drama Family Issues Independent Movies -- format Romance
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