The Hunger Games

Tali: The Hunger Games, based off of the teen/young adult novel of the same time, is one of the most surprising films of the year, in that I was extremely hesitant to see this film for the longest time, and eventually broke down and downloaded it (oops!). Set in the not-too-distant future, we look at the world that has been divided into districts and class slaves to the Capital. As punishment for past wrong-doings, citizens of the Capital send Tributes to participate in the yearly Hunger Games, as a huge slap in the face to their loss at a previous uprising (/revolution). One thing that struck me right away was how this film, is supposedly geared toward teens/young adult women. The film is entirely political and asks a lot of questions that perhaps, lots of young folk entering the world may ask of their society. Although the beginning was slow, I have completely fallen for the hype, the mysticism and legend that is the Hunger Games. PS - don't "accidentally" read the Wikipedia summaries of the next two books like I did (you will regret it instantly - and be impeccably excited for the next cinematic installment).

Leo: If anyone asks what The Hunger Games is like, I can simply say a dystopian version of Lord of the Flies. I sort of see how this movie could be geared for teens, but I thought the relationships were a little complicated for people who are not as cultured as maybe adults would be. I do see how it is geared for women, but whatever, shit. I thought this movie was really well-done and was actually very entertaining. I can't tell if I was more disturbed or intrigued by the concept of "The Hunger Games" (as in, the actual game in the movie, not the movie itself) to the point where I understand why people would hypothetically enjoy watching these people kill each other in a game sort of way but feel instantly disturbed for that thought. Maybe if the kids could respawn somehow like in a real video game.....Anyway, see this movie even if you aren't a woman because Jennifer Lawrence is pretty and the movie is really interesting.