REGARDING CATCHING FIRE

The second film instalment in the massively popular Hunger Games franchise hits our screens this winter, and with the success of the first film always being brought up in regards to its sequel, it has a lot of pressure to deliver. The second book in the original series of books is my favourite out of the three. The plot, and the characters are given so much more depth, in the first book, there are characters whom the reader is impartial to, however once the second book is over you either absolutely adore or absolutely loathe every character. There are some surprising twists in store for those moviegoers who have not read the books, and I am here to give my opinions on my hopes for the sequel.

Catching Fire sees Katniss as a much more mature girl. Her thrust into stardom in the story means she
has to grow up and be responsible for herself. I have no fears about Jennifer Lawrence's performance in  any of the films. She has shown that she is more than capable to take on the role of such an iconic heroine in YA literature through her stellar performance in the first film, and also more of her films such as Silver Linings Playbook and X Men: First Class. In the second film her acting is going to have to improve to portray the wide range of emotions in which her character endures. Katniss becomes twice as astonishing in the second film, reunited with her family and district, the potential emotion that this film has the power to throw at the audience is large.

I have a real problem with the character of Peeta Mellark. Both in the books and film he is completely flawed, reflected in the wrong casting and amateur performance given by Josh Hutcherson. Whether it is the actors fault of the director's vision of creating Peeta as some sort of a hollow shell of a human in the film to reflect the effects of the Capitol's brainwashing and his poverty, I don't know, but I just cannot get to grips with the character. Acting alongside the brilliant Lawrence, Hutcherson's performance seems pantomime and false. Hopefully the second film will see his character actually develop, as I hope I don't have to sit through two hours of as emotionless, boring acting on Hutcherson's part ever again.

This is more for the readers of the books, as people who have only seen the first film will not relate, however the casting of Finnick and Johanna irked me at first, but now I am happy. As always with adaptations, everybody views characters differently. The casting of Finnick is pretty much the exact opposite of what I read him as, but now I can see the look the casting director's were going for and appreciate that. Johanna was pretty much the same.
I have seen neither Sam Claflin or Jena Malone act in a film to date, and can only hope that their performances will be as brilliant as possible, with the characters proving vital to the overall plot.

Francis Lawrence has shown his ability to direct an action movie with I Am Legend, therefore his directorial skills are not a thing that worries me. I am expecting average cinematography and CGI from this second film, as I received it in the first film, and hoping for a drive in more emotional performances from the actors. The first film was thoroughly let down by poor performances by many members of the cast and I feel that perhaps Gary Ross was not fully invested in the franchise, hence his abandonment of the project, and Lawrence has been left with a whole tonne of pressure and only the shambles of the first film to work with.

Time can only tell with films like this, and although I fully trust the performance of Jennifer Lawrence to outshine anything else, I may just be surprised and find myself invested completely in what perhaps is the most anticipated film of the year.
For those who have not seen the trailer for The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, it can be found here.

ANTICIPATING FILMS FROM LATE 2013.

The second half of the year is here now and there looks to be some amazing films hitting the theatres in the coming months. In this post I will briefly talk about some of the films in which I am most excited for and why.

First of all, Lars von Trier's new film, Nymphomaniac, comes out in December (in Denmark, i'm presuming the UK will get it the following week or sometime near that date). Lars von Trier is the auteur behind the haunting 'Antichrist' film that both shocked and excited film enthusiasts four years ago.
His upcoming film could either be hit or miss, as a founder of the Dogme 95 movement of film, his
style is extremely unique and there is usually a division in the responses from both audiences and critics. I am a fan on von Trier's work, I think that differences in cinema is part of what makes it my favourite form of expression, and the Lars von Trier is definitely different.
A clip from the film (which can be found here) was released a while back and has been generating a lot of talk on social media websites and film blogs. The clip features typical von Trier camera techniques such as filming in handheld and with simple framing, almost giving the impression that a lot of it is filmed by an amateur. This film will definitely be one I will be checking out on its opening night, the atmosphere of a cinema full of von Trier fans is something electric, something I experienced on the opening night of his last feature, Melancholia, which I really loved.

Another film I cannot wait to check out is Joseph Gordon-Levitt's directorial debut, Don Jon. The film's trailer (again, here) looks promising and in my opinion, Levitt is somebody I respect greatly. His dedication to art and his work is something that many can only wish for. He supports upcoming filmmakers through his organisation, HitRecord, whilst working full time as an actor and now a director. Joseph Gordon-Levitt is proof that working hard does pay off, and I have no doubts that the film will be another example of how hard working and dedicated he is to making, and starring in, a brilliant piece of cinema.

The second Hunger Games film is coming out later this year, also. I cannot say I am overly excited for this film, in fact, I think I am going to write a post on my entire feelings on the Hunger Games franchise becoming films tomorrow or the day after, but all I can say for this film is that it is my favourite book in the trilogy, with extremely interesting characters and a gripping plot. I'm hoping that Francis Lawrence can pull off making the film as tense as the books, however I am open-minded to the adaptations and happy to watch any director's own take on a novel, as I have said in previous posts.
Jennifer Lawrence is my Katniss. She performs so beautifully in this role and it has propelled her into superstardom as an actress, and quite rightly so. I have complete faith in her performance, however Josh Hutcherson was an extreme disappointment in the first film and I am expecting the same from him in this film, to be honest. Perhaps I will be proved wrong and Lawrence (the director, that is) will evoke emotions and a performance that Gary Ross failed to do.

There is not much content I can talk about with a post like this. The most I can do is to talk about the types of films that catch my eyes. I will be seeing a lot more than these three stated, and I am excited about a lot more than I have written about, however when the only things to go off are trailers, there is a limit to the amount I can discuss films, as I don't like to make too much of a judgement based solely off of two minutes of edited footage.
All of the links to information about the films talked about will be listed below:

NYMPHOMANIAC:
IMDB // ROTTENTOMATOES

DON JON:
IMDB // ROTTENTOMATOES

THE HUNGER GAMES: CATCHING FIRE:
IMDB // ROTTENTOMATOES

WEEKLY FILM ROUND-UP #1.

In order to kickstart this website with daily content, I thought a weekly round up of all the films watched by myself was a good way to begin the posts.

I’m starting on a bizarre Wednesday as this is where the inspiration has come from, however I might possibly change the day of these posts to a Sunday or a Monday, depending on my schedule.

As I was so busy with starting up university last year, I didn’t get a chance to check out all of the Oscar nominees for the Best Picture award, and now, as university is finished for summer, I thought it would be a perfect time to catch up on some of the films of 2012 that I have heard many times being both praised and criticised. Therefore this week’s round up will feature last years Oscar nominees, and I’ll save the newer/older films I have watched this past week for my next round up (this isn’t only confusing me.. right?).

 1. SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK. dir. David O. Russell.
(Starring: Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Robert De Niro)

 I was going into this film with a completely open mind. The only thing I had heard about it was that it featured some characters with mental illness’. I was perhaps thinking that the film would involve cliche performances and characters, following in the footsteps of many previous films dealing with the same issue (I do not rate Forman’s ‘One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest’ at all).
I was excitedly surprised when watching this film, however. The stellar performances from both Cooper and Lawrence made the film extremely enjoyable to watch. These amazing performances combined with the interestingly dark, yet comedic script made for one of my favourite films of last year.

2. LIFE OF PI. dir. Ang Lee.
(Starring: Suraj Sharma, Irrfan Khan)

I think my appreciation for this film was slightly hindered by the masses of the public raving about its brilliance. Without prior praise, I would have said that the film was good, the CGI was incredible and groundbreaking and the acting was also good. However, after hearing all the positive reviews, I couldn’t help myself watching the film with my expectations higher than ever. And I really wish I could have changed this.
Starting off on the best part of the film, the CGI was absolutely breathtaking. Combined with amazing editing, this tiger who is not even a real creation has the audience sympathising through the emotion of his eyes. This film is, technologically, the most groundbreaking piece of cinema of our time and it would be ignorant to ignore that when reviewing the film. What was slightly under par was the story. I’m fully aware that this may not be the filmmaker’s fault as the film was an adaptation, but I felt that the plot lacked so much more depth that it could have held. I was losing interest, and I think that it was possibly due to the fact that we know Pi is going to survive from the outset. Perhaps featuring an older Pi at the start was a mistake, making all of his struggles out at sea not half as effective as they would have if the ending was not clarified.
Overall the film was beautiful and a pleasure to watch, fully deserving of the technological praise and awards it has received.

3. SKYFALL. dir. Sam Mendes.
(Starring: Daniel Craig, Judi Dench, Ralph Fiennes)

My enjoyment of this film was the one that surprised me the most. This is one of those films that I would never choose out of a bunch, but boy, am I glad I chose to watch it.
I am not an avid James Bond fan, in fact I have seen probably less than a handful of films featuring 007 himself. This film featured absolutely stunning cinematography by Roger Deacons and was a joy to watch. The excitement levels of the film were maintained throughout and the plot twists and turns more than a day at Thorpe Park. With stunning performances from Judi Dench, Ralph Fiennes, Ben Whishaw and of course, Daniel Craig, this film makes the audience gasp out loud both in awe of the brilliant action sequences and also with a sneaky cliffhanger at the end.

 4. ARGO. dir. Ben Affleck.
(Starring: Ben Affleck, Bryan Cranston)

This film was a well deserved winner of the Oscars last year. The film gave me goosebumps several times and featured a closing half hour that is quite possibly the most tense of any movie I have ever seen. With absolutely amazing performances by all actors, a flawless plot and beautiful cinematography and scenery, this film ticks all the boxes and is a classic example of what a winner of the Best Picture award should feature.
This thriller is the best I have seen in a long time, with dramatic moments, comedic moments and breathtaking moments, there is no words that can do this cinematic masterpiece justice. Perhaps the film has so much effect as it is relevant in the terms of numerous uprising countries at the moment, giving the audience a lot of reason to empathise with the six escapees of the hostage situation, or perhaps the movie has mastered every technique of filmmaking and that is the reason behind the success. In any case, this film will definitely be one I will be putting on my favourites list and will be looking our for more of Ben Stiller’s work in the future.