Mockingjay: pt. 1

Sounds like the book TBH. I remember spending a lot of time with Katniss curled into a ball whilst all the action was going on offpage. Very meh.

I enjoyed it. Haven't read the books.

I always find critique of books and movies that make a ton of money have have millions of dedicated fans to be interesting.

Most reviews seem to be negative, yet this sure does not show up in the box office or in book sales.

I always find this curious.

The "telling" vs "showing" in the Hunger Games series did not seem to restrict it's explosive popularity. Perhaps this practice is not such a cardinal sin after all outside of writers forums.

I loved the movie.

I loved the books.

Could they have been done differently? Sure.

I would love to have a literary and movie failure like that...

Cyia said:

I enjoyed it, too. It just seemed a bit bloated.

I think my favorite part was Effie, which was a definite departure from the books (she's only mentioned in a couple of lines). But I was disappointed that Johanna's part was cut to a single, non-speaking appearance at the end.

Josh Hutcherson's face deserves an award.

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No arguments there. I found the pacing to be a bit slower. And omg, Effie! So much love for her.

Thewitt said:

I always find critique of books and movies that make a ton of money have have millions of dedicated fans to be interesting.

Most reviews seem to be negative, yet this sure does not show up in the box office or in book sales.

I always find this curious.

The "telling" vs "showing" in the Hunger Games series did not seem to restrict it's explosive popularity. Perhaps this practice is not such a cardinal sin after all outside of writers forums.

I loved the movie.

I loved the books.

Could they have been done differently? Sure.

I would love to have a literary and movie failure like that...

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And your point is?

You're on a writers board. What else do you expect?

mirandashell said:

And your point is?

You're on a writers board. What else do you expect?

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wow

It wasn't meant to be rude. Well, no ruder than the initial point.

I didn't see the original post as rude. I think I missed something?

Maybe. And maybe I read too much.

Just find it amusing when a writer roll his eyes at what writers do on a writer's board.

I loved it. I understand the critiques, but I'm happy with how the movie turned out. I thought they did a good job juxtaposing Katniss' internal struggle with the larger political situation.

*listening to 'The Hanging Tree' on repeat*

I thought it was an improvement over the book, where, as noted, Katniss spent a good deal of time in a PTSD bubble. Now, it was a perfectly understandable and well-earned PTSD bubble, but for a book written from her 1st person perspective, it meant that a lot of things had to happen off screen.

I still thought the movie was sort of slow, but worth it.

mirandashell said:

Maybe. And maybe I read too much.

Just find it amusing when a writer roll his eyes at what writers do on a writer's board.

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Well, yeah, we do interpret and analyze a lot here. But that's the fun of it! We're writers. We're kind of built that way. I love reading critique about books and movies--even if I don't agree with them.

I did enjoy this movie, though. It wasn't as solid for me as the other two, but from what I have read here and on other forums and social media--the third book was the weakest anyway.

Oh, and that hanging tree scene where Katniss was singing was harrowing.

Thewitt said:

The "telling" vs "showing" in the Hunger Games series did not seem to restrict it's explosive popularity. Perhaps this practice is not such a cardinal sin after all outside of writers forums.

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I haven't seen anyone claims there's no tolerance for telling. Or, really, for any "rule" of writing.

If a writer thinks he or she has the chops to go against the grain, then go against the grain.

My experience, writers are more often proven wrong than right in these regards. But exceptions *do* happen.

I may be reading too much into the above, but it feels like an attempt to justify something. I don't think it needs justifying.

It certainly was. I really enjoyed the first one, for all its faults. But by the 3rd one.... meh.

Anyone who has read the books . . . do you think the book needed to be split in two?

Myrealana said:

I thought it was an improvement over the book, where, as noted, Katniss spent a good deal of time in a PTSD bubble. Now, it was a perfectly understandable and well-earned PTSD bubble, but for a book written from her 1st person perspective, it meant that a lot of things had to happen off screen.

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That was my problem with it. Yes, it made sense that she would have PTSD. But it was damn boring to read about.

CrastersBabies said:

Anyone who has read the books . . . do you think the book needed to be split in two?

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Nope. It was a good story, but not a particularly long one. The first two books made solid films at a 1:1 ratio and the third could easily have done the same.

CrastersBabies said:

Anyone who has read the books . . . do you think the book needed to be split in two?

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I don't know if it needed it. I would have had to seen it done as only one to tell you whether or not I wished it had been done in two or was good as is. What I can say is that I just saw it this morning and I LOVED every minute of it. Every. Minute. The only thing I hate about it being split in two is that I have to wait. The thing that's most surprising for me is how much I loved it considering I pretty much HATED the third book and had to push myself through it. I devoured the first two, but the third...

I LOVED that they spent the majority of this film exploring the aftermath of what happened to the districts and the emotional instability of Katniss's (haha, the computer tried to auto correct me to Catnip LOL) PTSD. My husband who has not read any of the books and has seen all the movies and loved them REALLY enjoyed this one as well and we both look forward to the final film (funny enough it was the second half of the book that I didn't love in Mockingjay, but I have a feeling I will really like the book to film translation as I have so far this movie).

I agree that Effie was MAGNIFICENT in this movie. And I think Jennifer Lawrence is so unbelievably talented. And my heart did a little beat skip at the end when they put the In Loving Memory message at the end.

I just learned that Doyle from the Gillmore Girls (Paris's journalism boyfriend in college) wrote the script for this. WUUT? Weird Hollywood things touching other Hollywood things!

I remember him winning the emmy for writing the Sarah Palin movie.

But mostly I enjoyed the "Jonathan the Vampire Slayer" episode from Buffy.