No, This is Not Your Next Twilight.

Film: The Hunger Games
Year: 2012
Director: Gary Ross
Written by: Gary Ross, Suzanne Collins, Billy Ray - based on the book 'The Hunger Games' by Suzanne Collins.
Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Willow Shields, Elizabeth Banks, Stanley Tucci, Lenny Kravitz, Woody Harrelson, Amandla Stenberg, Wes Bentley, Donald Sutherland.
Running time: 142 min.

One day, a person gets an idea to write a book. The book gets written, then it gets published. It hits the shelves, and someone picks it up. They recommend it to their friends. These friends are most likely teenagers. Then the book spreads like wildfire throughout high schools, it becomes a talking point at lunchtime. Through that success, they make a movie. That movie becomes the most anticipated thing out. Teens queue up with their wallets filled with hope that they might get into a midnight screening. The people in the movie become favourites of teen magazines, and their pictures get plastered over the walls of a young girl's bedroom.

Sound familiar?

Yes, we had this problem with Twilight. People went insane for it, but the problem was, the backlash came. Quite a few loyal fans still hold a torch for it, and that's what keeps the unprecedented phenomenon going. The Hunger Games treads the same path. Let's just say, it takes a detour from turning into mindless teen schlock and is actually a teen cause worth getting behind.

Cinema - Captain America: The First Avenger

Just like I did with Thor a few months back, I went into Captain America: The First Avenger without knowing much at all. Okay, so I saw the trailer a few times (as it was always attached to most of the movies I have seen at the cinemas this year), I knew that it was a part of The Avengers, and I also knew that it starred Chris Evans, who was my favourite evil ex in Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. Other than that, I didn't really know much about the character or anything. In fact, the only reason I went to see this is because it was an excuse to get out of Dannevirke these school holidays, and since I saw Thor in cinemas as well I thought 'why not?' The good thing is, this wasn't a shabby visit to the movies, that's for sure.

This must be the greatest story for those who are bullied. Our main character, Steve Rogers (Evans) is a bit smaller than the average male, and because of all his health problems and minuscule stature, no one wants to let him enlist in the army to kill some Nazis. Poor Steve is always beaten up and such, but he always fights back because he believes he has to fight for his right, which usually gets him trouble. He meets Dr. Erskine (Stanley Tucci), who miraculously lets him finally enlist in the army, and now Steve is well on the road to becoming a soldier. But you know what would make this weak boy even better? Dr. Erskine has a serum that will make him taller, faster and stronger...basically a super human. Now he's Captain America, and has the mission of trying to take down evil Nazi research department HYDRA, which just so happens to be run by Johann Schmidt, better known as Red Skull (Hugo Weaving). Oh, and let's not forget that this is a superhero movie, therefore there has to be a love interest, who comes in the form of Agent Carter (Hayley Atwell).

Now when I went to see Captain America, or any other movie of it's kind (in the cinema), I usually just try and have a good time. I really liked the film, but I do have to admit that it was nothing special. First of all, I felt like this movie could have been a lot more badass. As I said, I don't really know that much about the character Captain America, but I felt like he could have been a better brand of badassery. In saying that, he was a genuinely nice character, never wasting his new found powers and always knowing the meaning of fighting back. He makes for an interesting superhero, with his ultra fast healing times and whatnot. But the problem is the fact that he is invincible. He can't even get drunk. He's so bloody nice it hurts. Where Thor and Tony Stark have their arrogance, Steve Rogers has his niceness. The only thing that could count as a flaw is the fact that he is a little on the weak side, but that pretty much disappears once he undergoes that big transformation. The big transformation not only ends the flaws of Steve, but it also ends Stanley Tucci. Which really pissed me off. How dare he leave so early?

Anyway, aside from Captain America's perfection, I still found the character's actions pretty interesting. Especially because of the way he was used as propaganda for the US army. The 'Star-Spangled Man' sequence was a particular highlight of the film, mainly because it was done the old-fashioned way. This film really excels with it's 1940's setting. Like X-Men: First Class, this film dedicates itself to the time period it is supposed to be in, incorporating history into it. The way it is made is very old-fashioned, as if it were made in the 1940's, just with better technology. Even with that better technology, director Joe Johnston opts not to overload the film with CGI, which is a huge relief. The villainous Red Skull looks believable rather than over powered by computer graphics. The fight scenes all manage to look very realistic, instead of trying ever so hard to look good for the 3D audiences. But the best thing that the CGI does, which you actually can't even tell is CGI really, is the appearance of Chris Evans before he becomes a beast. We all know that he doesn't actually look as small as that, but the effects used will have you believe that he did once.

Performance wise, this film is very strong. Evans did a brilliant job in his role, I thought, even though there was definitely room for improvement in the character. Another thing I didn't like was the relationship between his character and Agent Carter. It was all very nice, but they didn't seem right for each other at all. In saying that, Hayley Atwell, one of the brightest young talents around, was really good in her no-nonsense role. Tommy Lee Jones is a hero of deadpan humour in this flick, definitely getting the most laughs. Sebastian Stan, who seems to be in everything I watch these days, makes for a nice, if a little dull sidekick. One person I could have done with more of, though, was Dominic Cooper as Tony Stark's daddy, Howard. Once I got over the fact that he could actually speak in a good American accent, I kept wanting to see his cocky character show up...which didn't happen an awful lot. But usually the star of the show in a superhero flick is usually the villain, and when the villain is played by Hugo Weaving, it's a double win. He's kinda scary with his Hitler-esque dreams and appearance. One thing I did have to laugh at was the whole "Heil HYDRA!" business. That was so silly it was funny.

A lot of people have compared this to Thor, mainly because they're the last installments in the longest trailer ever for The Avengers. I think I enjoyed Captain America a little more, but I do have to admit this was quite simple compared to Thor. There wasn't any father/son conflict, nor was the main character put through a significant emotional change. But people probably should stop comparing the two. They both stand up well as their own films, especially considering that they are just small features before the big presentation. I do have to say that now Captain America has come along and it was a damn good film, my expectations for The Avengers have sky-rocketed.

THE VERDICT: Captain America: The First Avenger has style and class in it's setting, an adequate use of CGI and some solid performances. Yes, you better be ready for The Avengers.

What I hoped for:

What I got:

Reviews Round Up Part 3: Little Fockers, Burlesque, Love and Other Drugs

Little Fockers

Back in the day, putting such Hollywood heavyweights as Robert De Niro, Dustin Hoffman, Harvey Keitel and Barbara Streisand in one movie would have equalled brilliance on so many levels. But no, these days it's just a way of name dropping in the hope you might get a few bucks to spend on a new SUV for yourself. You can even add Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson, Laura Dern and, ah, Jessica Alba, and it still doesn't get any better as a movie, but people will still see it. I swear that people are only possibly excited for this movie because the name sounds like a derogatory term. And let me tell you: if you were expecting a movie focusing on the 'little' Fockers, then you'll be severely disappointed. Those kids are barely even in it. All I got out of the film was Robert De Niro was trying to make Ben Stiller a 'GodFocker', something which I wasn't aware existed, Owen Wilson was in love with Teri Polo and possibly stoned for the whole movie, Jessica Alba was a creepy stalker with the name 'Andi Garcia' (oh hahahahahahaha I get it.), there was some plot line about a sex drug, Dustin Hoffman liked to Spanish dance, and...yeah. It wasn't even funny. If the kids were a large factor of the movie, then it may have been funny. But instead we had to deal with half of Hollywood's problems.

What I hoped for:

What I got:

Burlesque

I admit, I do love musicals. But I don't like either Cher or Christina Aguilera. I'm sorry, but Cher's voice really scares me and Christina really likes screaming. So, I had rather low expectations for this movie, especially as the story has been done so many times it's not funny. You can't tell me that in real life a 'small-town' girl has a voice as large as that without any specific training, and can suddenly make it big in a burlesque club which is running into the ground anyway. But it seems to happen all of the time in the movies, and this may be the worst offender. Everything is so camp, but it seems to work that to it's advantage. I actually had a good time watching this movie. The dance scenes were absolutely spectacular...no wonder why the club was running out of funds. There was actually a nice balance of dancing and normal dramatic scenes, so it was a pretty easy movie to watch, as opposed to many unbalanced musicals. While the drama certainly wasn't as brilliant as the musical moments, it was bearable, to a point. Christina took such a long time to warm up, as at the start she was too busy walking around like a stuck up actress, but she finally let herself go and stopped trying so hard, and she was actually far better than most musicians-turned-actors. Cher was Cher. Stanley Tucci was nothing short of brilliant as Cher's gay counterpart. Kristen Bell was a stand-out though, bringing out a brunette wig and being a super-bitch. She's so talented, she just needs better roles. Sure, this movie had way too many characters, and it was so predictable I nearly died, but I had a really good time watching it.

What I hoped for:

What I got:

Love and Other Drugs

Okay, okay. I have a list of possible things Love and Other Drugs was trying to be:
-A movie about the early days of Viagra.
-A tragic love story about a normal man and a sick girl with Parkinson's.
-A movie about fuck buddies.
-A love story of sorts.
-A movie about a guy who gradually gets successful leaving his lady friend behind.
-A movie about two people who aren't looking for anything serious but end up getting serious.
-A movie about a man-whore who finds love and everything changes.
-A movie about people who really like their bed.
-Porn.
When a movie tries to be so many different things and fails at everything but the last one, you know you have problems. Besides Jake Gyllenhaal and Anne Hathaway's brilliant chemistry, it was hard to know what is really going on. One minute, it will try and be something, and the next minute, it will be on a completely different path. As a consequence, it drags on way longer than it needs to, and it basically just keeps changing the characters decisions so it gets really hard to watch. I don't get how Jake and Anne came to be together and how they would be totally in love with each other and be breaking up a few seconds after. It just got really messy. There was so much unnecessary sex in this movie it was actually really hard to picture them having a real relationship. I thought the Parkinson's storyline was great, though, because it was really tastefully done. I actually thought Anne's performance was Oscar-worthy, she depicted the illness really well. The underlying story about Viagra was pretty non-existent, so if you were looking for a movie about that, then this isn't it. What a disappointment.

What I hoped for:

What I got:

Cinema--Easy A

or: Hughes for this generation.

One word to sum it up: Smart.

I have been looking forward to seeing Easy A ever since I first heard about it. Not only did it look like a choice teen comedy, which have been surprisingly lacking lately, but this was an ample opportunity to let Emma Stone's star shine. For so long she has been the best thing about really crap movies. Did no one ever think to give her a lead role in a movie until now? Well at least the tables have turned for her...now she can say that she was the best thing of an equally good movie.

High school student Olive Penderghast (Emma Stone) finds herself the victim of her school's 'rumour mill' when she lies to her best friend Rhiannon (Alyson Michalka) about a weekend tryst with a fictional college freshman. Word quickly spreads of Olive's promiscuity and, much to her surprise, she welcomes the attention. When she agrees to help out a bullied friend by pretending to sleep with him, her image rapidly degrades to a more lascivious state and her world begins to spin out of control. As she helps more and more of her classmates and her lies continue to escalate, Olive must find a way to save face before the school's religious fanatic Marianne (Amanda Bynes) gets her expelled and she loses a shot at attaining her own happiness.

I'll start by saying this: Emma Stone is amazing. She is a young actress who can take a character and give it all the charisma, charm and vivaciousness it needs to come to life. Boy, is her special talent recognized in Easy A. She easily makes this movie as great as it is, with her sarcastic sense of humour. A lesser actress may have stumbled with the ultra smart script filled with big words last seen in The Social Network, but Stone makes it all believable and utterly addictive that Easy A is, well, addictive. The rest of it's cast is pretty good, apart from Amanda Bynes, who was supposedly retiring from acting. We haven't seen her for a while, but she hasn't changed in her time away from the film. And it's hard to see her still as a teenager. She is kinda annoying in this film, but I think that is all down to her character. Patricia Clarkson and Stanley Tucci are undoubtedly the stand outs as Olive's rather open parents. They managed to get the most laughs because the audience have all had their parents embarass them at least once in their lives, but these two are just plain embarassing it's funny.

There hasn't been a good teen comedy since Mean Girls, and Easy A realizes that and tries to breathe life into the often under done genre. While the script isn't as smart as Tina Fey's 2004 one, it is generally a lot funnier than those raunchy college comedies that we find on the DVD shelves. The best thing is that this script is true. Everything could happen in real life. The rumour mill is there to be played with, which is what Easy A does. Of course, this movie owes a lot to the 80's comedies, but in all fairness, it's about time this generation saw some John Hughes style comedy. Easy A captures all the humour of growing up, and it can easily be compared to some of those John Hughes classics. The fact that it has so many references to his film is so cool, because now some of those younger folk may want to pick those movies up and give them a watch. So all I'm left to say is: thank you, Easy A, for reminding our generation that a teen comedy can be smart, not be too raunchy, and be all out funny while being heart breakingly true.


THE VERDICT: A great showcase for Emma Stone, and a fantastically written comedy with all the smarts of an 80's comedy. Must see for any teen.

8/10