Review Monday - The Hunger Games

The day I had been counting down too had arrived. I had my I-max ticket purchased (weeks in advance) and impatiently waited all day. From previous experiences at opening night movies, I knew we would have to get there early to get decent seats. I called to find out what time seating would begin and was told at 10:15pm, so my idea was to show up around 9:30pm to get in line. The theater does a fantastic job of keeping people in line and not letting people rush the doors, etc., so I figured we’d be ok. We arrived at 9:30pm on the dot and when we walked in, they had just opened the doors to our theater. My heart sank. I envisioned walking in and only getting front row seats, which would kill me. Luckily, we got the exact row we had talked about, and at this point there were about 100 people in the theater. I’m guessing it holds about 400.



Settling in for the next 2-1/2 hours, I of course played games on my phone, but also enjoyed people watching. There were quite a few people dressed as characters, with Effie being the most popular choice. There was a dad there dressed as Haymitch and his daughter was dressed as Prim. First I thought this was wacky, but then I figured, if my kids wanted me to dress up with them, then heck yeah I do it. It was awesome.


I quickly ordered my large Diet Coke and Large Popcorn (larges because you get free refills). The theater really filled up, however, being told it was “sold out” I expected it to be full – it wasn’t. The theater had 7 screens open! It was super busy in the lobby, concessions, bathrooms, etc., but the excitement just filled the air. I loved every minute of it.



Me with my Popcorn and Sno Caps!!!

 At 11:45pm I got my Frozen Coke and made one last bathroom stop.  The  crew came in at midnight to make announcements about taping it, pictures, blah, blah, blah. Then the previews started – I swear there must have been 7 different previews to sit through! Everyone was going crazy and groaning every time a new trailer started. It was comical.


FINALLY, the movie started. For the next 2 hours and 22 minutes I was mesmerized.


Did it meet my expectations? Yes


Did it deviate from the book? Yes, but not too much that it ruined the premise.


Did I LOVE it? Yes, although there were differences, the main element I was hoping for is that it would capture the feelings of the characters (fear, terror, hopelessness, etc.), and I believe it did. I cried, I laughed, I was anxious, I was shocked and finally I was relieved.


Were there things I didn’t like? Yeah


- Some of the acting (Gayle, kids from other Districts) was really bad


- How Katniss gets the Mocking Jay pin bothers me too.


- I don’t think they gave enough information to the Katniss and Gayle relationship. Maybe they will in the next movie – which is tentatively scheduled for release in November 2013.


- Really, I could pick apart small things that might bother me, however, the movie is not the book. The book lets you use your imagination to picture people, places and events using the descriptions the author uses. A movie doesn’t let you do that – it’s ONE interpretation of it.


Things I loved the most?


- Jennifer Lawrence (Katniss) Woody Harrelson (Haymitch), Stanley Tucci (Caeser) and Lenny Kravitz (Cinna) were all amazing in their roles.


- The opening scene of the Game was exactly like I pictured it. The cornucopia was a different color, but still very much like I imagined. I anticipated a graphic scene and it was. PERFECTION


I want to point out that I had a 7-hour road trip immediately after watching the movie (2:30am) with GTuck and Chrissy, and we discussed this movie for a LONG time. Maybe too long. The more we talked about it and compared it to the book, we were all finding little things that differed or things we thought should be different. But in the end, we all agreed that we really enjoyed it.


I plan on seeing it again. I think it will be more enjoyable not looking for things to disappoint me or critique. I just want to sit back and enjoy it. My daughter wants to see it (10 years old), and although I’m not sure if she’ll like it, I think it’s an age-appropriate film for her to see.

 Overall, my rating is Loved It. It’s a definite must see. Whether you’ve read the books or not, the movie will not disappoint.


Did you see it? If you did, did you like it? If you haven't, do you plan on seeing it?

I Have A Date Tonight

There will be Popcorn, Sno Caps, Frozen Coke and....

This GurleeGirrl is READY! 

Review Wednesday - Haywire

We began the night at Mongolian BBQ.  For those of you who are not familiar with Mongo, you basically get to create your own "feast" from a variety of meats and seafood, fresh veggies & flavor-packed sauces, freshly cooked before your eyes (Mongolian-style) on a large, flat grill!  It's totally on the top of my favorite restaurant list. 

It's also become a slight obsession to create the largest bowl possible - without losing any of my "fixings" before I can get it to the grill. 

Mongo would prefer to start your bowl with your meat choice, then add your veggies - this would be because you really can't pack a whole lot of veggies on top of a pile of meat - so you won't use as much meat.  Well for YEARS this is how I would create my masterpiece.  I was happy.

Then, one fine day, I happened to notice a bunch of guys waiting for their bowls to be placed on the grill.  And these were not just your normal size/type of bowls - these geniuses had the biggest bowls I had ever seen.  How you ask?  Because they figured out that you could pack a TON of fresh veggies in a bowl, then secure them in with a TON of meat that acts like a glue to keep everything in place!!! 

Well since that day, I have been a "backwards bowler".  That's right.  I try to cram as much as I can, to the point where I feel I border ridiculousness.  However, I am not wasteful.  I plan for a "take-home" container to get an extra lunch or dinner out of it.  And for $12.99 for one bowl at dinner - I really don't think I am ripping them off.  How do you think I did?  Now keep in mind - this is AFTER the grilling process.  I am way too embarrassed to show you the crazy-tall uncooked bowl - I'll save that one for another time.

Being the "good dieter" that I am, I chose to use lettuce wraps versus their incredibly awesome tortillas.  Also - they offer brown or white rice - which I skipped too.  I might have overdone it with the garlic and cayenne pepper - because it was pretty firey - but it was delish!

Now on to the movie.  The movie of the week was Haywire.  This was not my particular pick - but after a quick view of the trailer - I discovered that Channing Tatum was in it - so I figured why not? - at least there will be some eye candy....

In case you have no idea what Haywire is about:

According to IMDb -

Beautiful freelance covert operative Mallory Kane is hired out by her handler to various global entities to perform jobs which governments can't authorize and heads of state would rather not know about. After a mission to rescue a hostage in Barcelona, Mallory is quickly dispatched on another mission to Dublin. When the operation goes awry and Mallory finds she has been double crossed, she needs to use all of her skills, tricks and abilities to escape an international manhunt, make it back to the United States, protect her family, and exact revenge on those that have betrayed her.

Movie begins at the ending (presumably) of the story, then begins piecing the past together scene by scene.  It is FULL of crazy fighting scenes.  Yes, Miss Mallory Kane can kick some serious ass!  The fights are totally choreographed - sometimes to the point it looked super fake to me.  The score of the movie played a heavy role - it was almost a character in my opinion.  It was kinda like a jazzy Pink Panther-like song was playing during a lot of the scenes.  I think some of  The Posse liked it, while Chrissy and I found it quite distracting.

The Posse

On to my rating - I would say Haywire was OK (Good).  It didn't blow me away.  I did cringe a few times (during the fight scenes) and there were some surprise moments that made me jump in my seat.  It wasn't over-the-top gruesome or anything - although it could have been with all the crazy fighting scenes.  I definitely think that for the $7.50 I paid, I was entertained.

Before I wrap this up, I just wanted to note that I am BEYOND excited that The Hunger Games will be released in about 2 more months!! 

Movie Poster at AMC Livonia.

Something else I discovered - did you all realize that Troy Bolton Zac Efron is all grown up?!?!?!?  Holy Cow!  His High School Musical days are far behind him!   He will be the lead hottie in the upcoming movie The Lucky One. 

 

Oh, did I mention it just happens to be another movie taken from a Nicholas Sparks book?  So you know it's gonna be a great love story.  I for one, can not wait!

And let me just say, during the trailer for that movie, most of the ladies felt like they were the "Lucky Ones".  This trailer played before the viewing of Joyful Noise, which I just happened to take my 10-year old daughter to see.  Talk about awkward.  At one point we see him in his underpants and then we see her hand go - well you can see for yourself!  My eyes bugged out and shot to my daughter to see her reaction.  Luckily she was much more interested in her bag of popcorn, frozen Coke and box of Whoppers to even pay attention.  Phew!  Bullet dodged this  time. 

Is it me being the overly protective momma that I am, or are movie trailers getting more and more risque?