The Hunger Games Catching Fire

ACTION/ADVENTURE

Girl Still On Fire

8.75 out of 10 | Movie and DVD

---

Rated: PG-13  For intense sequences of violence and action, some frightening images, thematic elements, a suggestive situation and language
Release Date: November 22, 2013
Runtime: 2 hours 26 minutes

---

Director: Francis Lawrence
Writers: Simon Beaufoy, Michael Arndt, based on the novel 'Catching Fire' by Suzanne Collins
Cast: Jennifer Lawrence, Liam Hemsworth, Jack Quaid, Taylor St. Clair, Woody Harrelson, Josh Hutcherson, Willow Shields, Donald Sutherland, Elizabeth Banks, Lenny Kravitz, Stanley Tucci, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Lynn Cohen, Jena Malone

---

Watch Trailer

SYNOPSIS:  Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark become targets of the Capitol after their victory in the 74th Hunger Games sparks a rebellion in the Districts of Panem.

REVIEW: Francis Lawrence, director of I Am Legend and the upcoming The Hunger Games: Mockingjay films, takes over the reins from Gary Ross and brings Katniss and Peeta back to the games. Simon Beaufoy (127 Hours) and Michael Arndt (Oblivion) adapt the second book from Suzanne  Collins in the hopes that the tributes from District 12 can survive.

Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence, X-Men: First Class) and Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson, Epic) have returned to Panem's District 12 as victors of the 74th Hunger Games. Living in the Victors Village, the best homes in the desolate community, Katniss still desires to leave with Gale (Liam Hemsworth, The Expendables 2) into the forest and away from the rule and oppression of President Snow and the Capitol. Sensing an uprising in the Districts, President Snow (Donald Sutherland) urges Katniss to portray the 'in love' winner with Peeta to quell the ideas of rebellion. When their victors tour results in squabbling crowds and unrest, Snow changes the rules of the game by announcing that the 75th Hunger Games, the 3rd Quarter Quell, will reap its tributes from the past winners of the event. Peeta and Katniss are forced back into the fray as the games commence, banding together with some if the other tributes in order to stay alive and to remember who the real enemy is.

Jennifer Lawrence returns as the reluctant heroine Katniss in the second of the Hunger Games series. No longer novices from the first film, Katniss and Hutcherson's Peeta better understand the political machine behind the oppression and fear of the Capitol and the presidency. Katniss sees graffiti of her signature mockingjay everywhere she goes, signifying a change in attitude of the populace against the government. Winning the 74th Hunger Games in front of the entire world with the virtue of love and sacrifice has sparked a faint, but strengthening, life of hope throughout the Districts.

A darker and more stark entry, Catching Fire starts by reintroducing Katniss and Peeta in the aftermath of winning the Hunger Games. Winners of the games and living a slightly better life than their District 12 neighbors, the pair suffers a strained relationship as each tries to rationalize their true feelings. Katniss still loves Gale, Peeta pines for Katniss, and President Snow desires the continued success of his rule in the Capitol and over the Districts. More entrenched with politics and subterfuge, Katniss and the others have to deal with more painful emotions and the realization that they are again forced to fight against an almost infallible opponent.

Jennifer Lawrence has an even more raw edge in her second outing as Katniss. Josh Hutcherson, as Peeta, shows that he is not just that defenseless young man from the 74th games, growing into his role as a leader and defender of District 12 and Katniss. Under-appreciated Woody Harrelson shines as Haymitch, the tortured former winner of the Games. He straddles the line between gifted diplomat and ragged alcoholic. Effie Trinket, played by Elizabeth Banks, is softer and more humanized, showing that living in the shine and decadence of the Capitol does not necessarily mean that she has no heart. Philip Seymour Hoffman steps in as the new games master Plutarch Heavensbee. Sutherland and Tucci are phenomenal in their returning roles.

From a fairly faithful adaptation of the book, to superb performances by a stellar cast, to a story that seems to start off as a retread but ends up with intrigue, action, pain and suspense, Catching Fire takes The Hunger Games to the next level. Katniss may be the Girl on Fire, but she may set all of Panem ablaze.

---

The Ides of March

The Pursuit of Victory 

Director: George Clooney

Writers: George Clooney, Grant Heslov, Beau Willimon (play "Farragut North")
Cast: Ryan Gosling, George Clooney, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Paul Giamatti, Evan Rachel Wood, Marisa Tomei, Jeffrey Wright

SYNOPSIS: Young idealistic campaign staffer Stephen Myers believes his Pennsylvania governor turned Democratic presidential candidate to be one of the few men who could effect real change if elected into the White House. On the road to the Ohio Democratic primaries, he gets a crash course in dirty politics.

REVIEW: George Clooney writes, directs, and stars in an adaptation of the play "Farragut North" by Beau Willimon. Helped along with the writing efforts of Grant Heslov (writer of Good Night, and Good Luck, director of The Men Who Stare at Goats, Clooney assembles a cast of the highest caliber to bring this political drama to the big screen.

Stephen Myers (Ryan Gosling - Drive, Blue Valentine) works as a political campaign staffer under lead staffer Paul Zara (Philip Seymour Hoffman - Moneyball, Doubt) for Pennsylvania governor turned Democratic presidential candidate Mike Morris (George Clooney - Ocean's Eleven, The American). Charismatic and dedicated, Stephen has complete and utter faith that his candidate is the politician who could really make substantial changes at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. On the opposite side of the Democratic debate against Morris is Senator Pullman (Michael Mantell) and his chief of staff Tom Duffy (Paul Giamatti - John Adams, Sideways). Knowing that Morris may win the Ohio Democratic primaries, Duffy calls Myers directly with an option to jump ship to his campaign camp a week before the primaries. Afterward Myers finds himself in a ever increasingly difficult position, first trying to keep his candidate above board, then trying to keep his own future secure.

George Clooney has the influence and star power to draw the best actors and actresses to his projects. Ryan Gosling is coming into his own as a premier leading man, previously nominated for an Oscar for Best Actor for Half Nelson. Paul Giamatti was nominated for Cinderella Man. Hoffman was nominated for Doubt and Charlie Wilson's War and won for Capote. Clooney was nominated five times and won for Syriana. Tomei was nominated three times and won for My Cousin Vinny. It's almost criminal the critical acclaim that each of these players command. I know I am rattling off their pedigrees but, upon watching this film, it's obvious that every people is reserving of the awards their peers have bestowed on them. The film is subtle and nuanced, every unspoken word as powerful and meaningful as the lengthy dialogue between the characters.

Admittedly, I am not a huge fan of political drama but The Ides of March is steady and engrossing, moving along as smoothly as the never ending gears of the beastly engine that is the political campaign trail. With deals happening under the table and behind closed doors, the public and the audience is as surprised as Myers when Morris' campaign strategies take abrupt turns - for better or worse.

Clooney's Morris speaks about integrity, about what is right for the American public and the country as a whole, how to decrease dependency on the sands of the Middle East, and how to again become a world leader instead of a follower. To what lengths will Myers go to get Morris man elected? What behavior and immorality will he ignore for the greater good? And what compromises will he make to get the job done?

WORTH: Matinee or DVD

Moneyball

The Romance of Baseball

Director: Bennett Miller

Writers: Steven Zaillian, Aaron Sorkin, Stan Chervin, Michael Lewis (book: "Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game")

Cast: Brad Pitt, Jonah Hill, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Robin Wright, Chris Pratt, Stephen Bishop

SYNOPSIS: Billy Beane, General Manager of the Oakland A's, struggles to put together a baseball team on a budget, ultimately bucking the tried-and-true established tradition of recruiting baseball players by employing computer-generated analysis.

REVIEW: Bennett Miller, director of Capote from 2006, returns to the captain's chair to direct te new sports drama Moneyball. Based on the book "Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game" penned by Michael Lewis and brought to the big screen by Steven Zaillian (Scindler's List, Gangs of New York), Aaron Sorkin (A Few Good Men, The Social Network) from a story by Stan Chervin, the film follows the struggles of Major League Baseball's Oakland A's general manager Billy Beane and his struggles to field a competitive and competent baseball team with a monetary budget a fraction of the amount that successful winning teams have.

Centering around the General Manager of the Oakland A's from the end of the 2001 season where the A's lost the ALDS series to the Yankees, getting to the play-offs with stars like Jason Giambi, Jason Isringhausen, and Johnny Damon. After losing the series, big-market ball clubs pick off the A's premier stars with bigger paydays. Trying to rework his team, former player turned scout turned A's General Manager Billy Beane struggles to replace and rebuild due to the monetary cap of the small-market club. Where the New York Yankees have $142 million to spend on their players, Billy Beane (Brad Pitt) attempts to put a competitive team together with a 1/5th that amount. Realizing that the tried-and-true "five tools" method of scouting and recruiting isn't going to help him develop a winning franchise, he runs across Peter Brand (Jonah Hill), a Yale graduate with a economics degree providing player analysis for the Cleveland Indians, and starts prospecting for the 2002 season with players that are undervalued on paper according to Brand but contradicts all the scouting wisdom that had become the mainstay for recruiting.


For the novice or the sports ignorant, Billy Beane's quest for the Oakland A's to return to the post-season is illuminating and riveting. Can a team from the "...island of misfit toys..." complete and excel against powerhouse ball clubs? Will the fans, sports radio and the public turn against Beane because of his unorthodox decisions? Will Beane and Brand have the support of the A's ownership, the coach, the scouts and the players?


Brad Pitt is worthy of the role he embodies for Moneyball. With an easy smile that hides an uneasy major league ball player past, a failed marriage and a daughter he only wants the best for, Pitt's character is both fearless and fearful, filled with regret and desire to change the game for the better. Jonah Hill's Peter Brand statistics analyst is stoic and smart. His deadpan deliveries during interchanges with Beane get quite a few laughs, even while Hill plays the straight man. Philip Seymour Hoffman plays A's coach Art Howe like a lumbering bear, reluctant to work with Beane's new strategies while he tries to keep his own job and reputation above reproach. Chris Pratt (Parks and Recreations) joins as unsure first baseman Scott Hatteberg and Stephen Bishop rounds out the primary cast as over-the-hill unwanted veteran David Justice.


Not as epic as The Natural, silly as A League of their Own, or nostalgic as Field of Dreams, Moneyball is a grounded and interesting look at a real-life modern major league ballclub, looking at Beane and Brand as both innovators and madmen, daring to throw away decades of tradition surrounding America's Favorite Pastime. The aforementioned films serve to romanticize a sport that is engrained in our national consciousness, but Moneyball throws in a solid sliding pitch into the sports drama genre.

WORTH: Matinee or DVD