The Hunger Games Catching Fire

ACTION/ADVENTURE

Girl Still On Fire

8.75 out of 10 | Movie and DVD

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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

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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

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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.

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Freebirds

ANIMATED, FAMILY

Thanks for Giving

6.5 out of 10 | Rental

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Rated: PG Animated action
Release Date: November 1, 2013
Runtime: 1 hour 24 minutes

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Director: Jimmy Hayward
Writers: Jimmy Hayward, Scott Mosier, David I. Stern, John J. Strauss
Cast: Owen Wilson, Woody Harrelson, Amy Poehler, Colm Meaney, Keith David, Dan Fogler, Jimmy Hayward

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SYNOPSIS:  Two turkeys from opposite sides of the tracks must put aside their differences and team up to travel back in time to change the course of history - and get turkey off the holiday menu for good.

REVIEW: Jimmy Hayward, director of Horton Hears a Who! and Jonah Hex, returns to animation to bring us the self-proclaimed Greatest Thanksgiving film of all time. Hayward also writes the film with the help from Scott Mosier, David I. Stern and John J. Strauss.

Turkey Reggie (Owen Wilson, The Internship) finds himself at the losing end of trying to convince his farm brothers that the farmer is just trying to fatten them up for Thanksgiving dinners. When Reggie is pardoned by the President of the United States, he switches a life at the end of an axe handle for a life of pizza and relaxation at Camp David. One night, Reggie is visited by another turkey Jake (Woody Harrelson, Zombieland) who is convinced that he and Reggie must travel back in time to stop turkeys from being on the menu at the first Thanksgiving between the pilgrims and the local Indians. Actually finding a time machine with the acronym S.T.E.V.E. (George Takei) to take the duo back in time, Reggie and Jake meet intelligence and resource turkeys hiding from the pilgrims led by Chief Broadbeak (Keith David), his son Ranger (Jimmy Hayward) and his daughter Jenny (Amy Poehler, Parks and Recreation). The only things standing in the way of the turkeys' safety are the pilgrim's greedy and gluttonous Governor Bradford (Dan Fogler) and his driven turkey hunter Captain Myles Standish (Colm Meaney).

How many animated films are there with the theme of turkeys and Thanksgiving? A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving? Mouse on the Mayflower? A few select others? Hayward's claim of Freebirds as the greatest Thanksgiving movie of all time probably will not hold true. Centered on the plight of the turkeys themselves, Freebirds is a slick flick similar to recent animated effort Epic.

Freebirds looks good, every plume and feather in place. Hayward's experience as an animator for Pixar truly came in handy for this film. The problem with Freebirds, as well as the aforementioned Epic, is that as an animation the film is colorful and kinetic but not that amusing. Usually, an animated film has something for both the children and for the parents or adults. This time, other than a few cries during Captain Standish's scary pursuits and a few awwws for the baby turkey puffs, there was not enough to provide more than a few chuckles.

Owen Wilson does have a great drawl for voice work, and Woody Harrelson and Amy Poehler are capable. Colm Meaney is mean as Standish - or is he just drawn that way. I could listen to Keith David all day long. But with just an adequate story to tell, all the glitz of CGI and all the talented voices cannot get this turkey off the table.

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Now You See Me

SUSPENSE/THRILLER

The Closer You Get, The Less You See

8.5 out of 10 | DVD

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Rated: PG-13  Language, some action and sexual content
Release Date: May 31, 2013
Runtime: 1 hour 56 minutes

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Director: Louis Leterrier
Writers: Ed Solomon, Boaz Yakin, Edward Ricourt
Cast: Jesse Eisenberg, Mark Ruffalo, Woody Harrelson, Isla Fisher, Dave Franco, Melanie Laurent, Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine, Common

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SYNOPSIS:  An FBI agent and an Interpol detective track a team of illusionists who pull off bank heists during their performances and reward their audiences with the money.

REVIEW: Louis Leterrier, known for his breakout directorial debut with Jason Statham's The Transporter and the ambitious but less well received Clash of the Titans reboot, returns after a three year hiatus to bring together a clash of another kind - law enforcement vs. a quartet of thieving magicians. Written by Ed Solomon (Men In Black), Boaz Yakin (Safe), and newcomer scribe Edward Ricourt, Now You See Me combines the thrills of illusion and misdirection with the cat-and-mouse chase of predators and prey.

Magician J. Daniel Atlas (Jesse Eisenberg, 30 Minutes or Less), mentalist Merritt McKinney (Woody Harrelson, The Hunger Games), escape artist Henley Reeves (Isla Fisher, The Great Gatsby), street entertainer and pick pocket Jack Wilder (Dave Franco, Warm Bodies) are drawn to an apartment in New York City by tarot cards that each finds in their possession. Triggering a mechanism that instructs them with holographic images, the quartet become part of something larger by becoming the Four Horsemen. Sponsored by benefactor Arthur Tressler (Michael Caine, The Dark Knight Rises), the quartet become a huge act in Las Vegas. When their final grand illusion, 'Rob a Bank' delights the audience by raining 3 million Euros on them, the FBI led by agent Dylan Rhodes (Mark Ruffalo, The Avengers) and Interpol agent Alma Dray (Melanie Laurent, Night Train to Lisbon), start their manhunt to get evidence on The Four Horsemen's next heist. As the magicians move on to other cities, Rhodes enlist the help of former magician and current magic rebunker Thaddeus Bradley (Morgan Freeman, Oblivion) to help his team. As Atlas and the Four Horsemen stay ahead of the FBI and Interpol at every turn, is there anything anyone can do to stop the Horsemen?

A cross between George Clooney and Brad Pitt's Oceans 11 and Christian Bale and Hugh Jackman's The Prestige, Now You See Me as a film of grand illusion, misdirection, and thievery. Thaddeus explains why agent Rhodes is being played for a fool over and over again by the Horseman, explaining to Rhodes and to the audience the tricks of the trade as he tries to debunk the Horseman's next trick.

Eisenberg plays to his strengths, putting on a character of false bravado and putting on an air of confidence that masks a sense of insecurity. The former popular master mentalist, played by Woody Harrelson, is so cocksure in his abilities that he alienates himself from the rest of the group. Dave Franco plays young upstart street magician and pickpocket Wilder excited to be chosen to be with some of his idols. And finally, the escape artist and illusionist Henley played by Fisher is the final beautiful and capable piece of the puzzle. Michael Caine's Tressler funds the extravaganza, Morgan Freeman's Bradley pulls back the curtains on the illusions, Mark Ruffalo's Rhodes believes in only when he can see, and Melanie Laurent's Alma Dray takes almost everything on faith.

But who is the fifth Horseman? Dray banters around the name Shrike, a magician and illusionist from the 70s who died during one final and fatal illusion. Throughout the film, the audience is guessing as to the fifth Horseman's identity. What is this person's motivation? What drives them to steal money from banks?

Any good magic trick will leave an audience amazed, wondering how the trick took place. Not many of us believe in magic, but the art of illusion and the suspension of disbelief is part of the dying art form of the craft. As street magicians become more popular and magic shows on the Las Vegas strip become less popular, the art of illusion is still paramount. Sometimes the illusion itself is enough, not the mechanics of the trick behind it.

Now You See Me is a carefully crafted illusion, coupled with a cat-and-mouse game between magician and law enforcement. At the end all will be revealed, but the sleight-of-hand of getting there is worth the price of admission.

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The Hunger Games

The World Will Be Watching

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Rated: PG-13   Intense violent thematic material and disturbing images - all involving teens.
Release Date: March 23, 2012
Runtime: 2 hrs 22 mins

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Director: Gary Ross
Writers:  Gary Ross, Suzanne Collins, Billy Ray
Cast: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Elizabeth Banks, Liam Hemsworth, Woody Harrelson, Wes Bentley, Stanley Tucci, Donald Sutherland

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SYNOPSIS:  Each year, the Capitol of Panam requires each of its 12 Districts to subject one boy and one girl to compete in the Hunger Games, where the twenty-four Tributes must fight to the death until only one competitor remains.

REVIEW: Gary Ross, writer and director of Pleasantville and Seabiscuit, has proven that he understands the minds of youth and the perils and pitfalls of the competitors of sporting events. Taking the characters from the first book in 'The Hunger Games' trilogy written by Suzanne Collins, Gary Ross, Billy Ray (State of Play), and Suzanne Collins herself bring the inhabitants of Panam (a future ruined North America), its Capitol, its surrounding districts, and the competitors in the annual Hunger Games to life.

In District 12, Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence, X-Men: First Class) cares for and hunts for her sister Primrose (Willow Shields, Beyond the Blackboard) and widowed mother, and toys with the notion of leaving the district with her friend Gale Hawthorne (Liam Hemsworth, Knowing). As the 74th Annual Hunger Games approaches, representatives from the Capitol headed by Effie Trinket (Elizabeth Banks,  The Next Three Days) come to the district for the Reaping, the selection of one boy and one girl between the ages of fourteen and seventeen to serve as Tributes for the game. Every family's request for government assistance asked for during the year between games equates to an additional ballot for one of the family's children of age. When Primrose is selected as District 12's female tribute, Katniss volunteers. Also selected from the district as the male tribute is Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson, Journey 2: The Mysterious Island). Together they accompany Effie back to the Capitol to prepare for the Game. Drunkard Haymitch Abernathy (Woody Harrelson, Zombieland), tormented winner of the 50th Hunger Games, is selected to mentor and prepare the pair for the televised fight to the death. Joining the District 12 prep team is stylist Cinna (Lenny Kravitz, Precious) and District 12 representative Effie. During training, Katniss and Peeta prove they are not simple poor district trash, and that they may be contestants to contend with. Although there are 24 Tributes in total, the most arrogant and cable competitors are embodied in District 1 tributes Marvel (Jack Quaid), and Glimmer (Leven Rambin, One Tree Hill) and District 2 tributes Cato (Alexander Ludwig, Race to Witch Mountain) and Clove (Isabelle Fuhrman, Orphan), 'Careers' who train their entire youth to compete. Once the games begin, Peeta and Katniss are on their own in a camera-filled, electronically-controlled, forested domed death arena.

Starting with the characters, Jennifer Lawrence ended up being an excellent choice for Katniss. Athletic and strong, the Katniss character still exudes innocent and resistance to the status quo of the Games. Hutcherson plays Peeta with strength and cockiness, until he realized he is really in over his head. Stanley Tucci (Captain America: The First Avenger) and his blue hair add the glitz and glamour as the Hunger Games Master of Ceremony and co-anchorman Caesar Flickerman, seeming like the Ryan Seacrest of a failed dystopian future. While Caesar comes to the screen as the bright shiny face of The Hunger Games, Wes Bentley (Gone) and his orchestrated beard directs a team of producers and technicians to capture every moment of the televised games and, sometimes, change the unscripted event with some additions and nudges of his own. Eiizabeth Banks is nearly unrecognizable as the powdered-face, geisha-painted lipped, Effie. The other stand-outs are Amandia Stenberg as the petite, pint-sized Tribute Rue (Colombiana) and the barely-seen but important Liam Hemsworth as Gale Hawthorne. And Donald Sutherland's President Snow, although soft-spoken, carries with him an experience and political and personal agenda that will certainly be explored further in the additional films.

I will be the first to admit that I never heard of Susan Collins trilogy of Scholastic books until The Hunger Game film was announced. And as a true cinest, I did not want to jump on the book reading bandwagon for fear that my movie going experience would be tarnished with ruined story plots and blown surprise reveals. In spite of that admission, I will admit that I did bone up on my Panam universe history just to be prepared for the Hunger Games. Ross, Ray and Collins do successfully recreate the written word from Collins' first Katniss novel into a freshman film that does not lessen the experience for the uninitiated. From the locales to the costumes to the actors and characters, The Hunger Games is something to behold. Maybe a little lengthy and slow for my taste (please do not crucify me, 'Hunger Game' book fans!), I do realize that several secondary characters and scenes from the original book were downplayed in order to keep the most important elements. I also realize that a few scenes were quick and concise to get important story points across to the audience, and to keep the film propelling forward.

With intense scenes like the start of the 74th Hunger Games at the Cornucopia followed by retreats and periods of waiting with Katniss roped onto a high canopy tree limb, the story did have periods that were a little uneven for me. The character development of Katniss and Peeta through the course of the game did help to keep my interest between fights in the last act. Knowing that it was important to focus on Katniss during the games, I did find that Seneca Crane and his televised reality show production got a little forgotten for a time toward the end.

The Hunger Games hype is sweeping across the country as the film opened to a non-sequel box office record breaker for its opening night midnight screenings. Will The Hunger Games replace the Twilight Saga as the next big thing once Breaking Dawn: Part 2 premieres this November? First it was Harry Potter, then Twilight, now The Hunger Games. If the box office is any indication, that very well may be the case.

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WORTH: Matinee and DVD

Friends With Benefits

How Can We Be Lovers If We Can't Be Friends?

Director: Will Gluck
Writers: Keith Merryman, David A. Newman, Will Gluck, Harley Peyton
Cast: Justin Timberlake, Mila Kunis, Patricia Clarkson, Jenna Elfman, Richard Jenkins, Woody Harrelson

SYNOPSIS: Dylan and Jamie, after their last break-ups, decide to close themselves off from the perfect "Hollywood" romances and have casual sex with each other, not realizing that even being friends with benefits comes with its own set of complications.

REVIEW: Fired Up and Easy A director Will Gluck takes a stab at a slightly more adult, if much more raunchy, romantic comedy with Friends with Benefits. Coming out at the peak of the Summer season, Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis still have to contend with being second fiddle as a "me, too" to Ashton Kutcher and Natalie Portman's No Strings Attached released at the start of this year. Both films are quirky, silly and focusing on unattached intimate contact, but which one, if either at all, come out the winner? HotButterReviews.com gave No Strings Attached a 2.5 out of 5 on the Popcorn Meter for their effort in the casual sex sub-genre of romantic comedies. Let's see how Friends With Benefits fared.

Justin Timberlake, drawing on his boyish charm, film street cred with Alpha Dog, and comedy chops culled from his SNL experiences, tackles his first truly leading man romantic comedy role. Mila Kunis, no stranger to film with turns in The Book of Eli and Black Swan, and no stranger to comedy with television's That 70s Show, joins Timberlake opposite as his leading lady. Dylan (Timberlake), an internet blogger entrepreneur in Los Angeles, is lured to New York City by corporate head hunter Jamie (Kunis) for an editor position at GQ magazine. Both of them have run into and out of bad relationships in the past, and as their friendship develops they drunkenly decide one night that they would make a perfect casual sex, booty-call couple. Since one is emotionally shut-down and the other is emotionally damaged, they start having a great time with each other - and each other's bodies! But as with any romantic comedy, one or both start to have real feelings with the other and the casual relationship starts having unexpected complications and turns.

Trying to complicate the story more are Jamie's flighty mother Lorna (Patricia Clarkson), Dylan's sometimes lucid father (Richard Jenkins) cared by Dylan's sister Annie (Jenna Elfman) and her son Sam (Nolan Gould), and a GQ sports editor Tommy (Woody Harrelson) trying to persuade Dylan that he should be gay. Completing the cast are silly opening scene cameos from Andy Samberg as Jamie's soon-to-be ex-boyfriend Quincy and Emma Stone as Dylan's soon-to-be ex-girlfriend Kayla. Even snow boarder Shaun White plays himself for comic effect.

Timberlake is quirky and funny as one would expect him to be, although his dramatic, tender side does not play as strongly as his Alpha Dog role. Mila Kunis is strong and sexy, with her exotic looks and sharp tongue, weaving her Black Swan mystique into a lighter, funny lead. Serious moments with Dylan and his once mighty father, and Jamie and her commitment-phobic mother keep the film grounded, but would have worked better is a more serious film.

If you like No Strings Attached, you will probably enjoy Friends With Benefits, but it is certainly is no The Proposal. It is interesting, though, that Kutcher and Kunis both worked on That 70s Show, Kunis and Portman both worked in Black Swan, and Timberlake was Punk'd by Kutcher. Is this history repeating itself, or are we just getting punk'd again?

WORTH: Matinee or Netflix