The Hunger Games (2012) ✦ Full-Length Watchalong Reaction
Added 2024-08-23 05:00:10 +0000 UTCI'm hooked and excited for more! I'm so excited to talk about this! No spoilers for the rest, please! Thanks so much for watching with me! [Direct link here.]
✦ KL
Comments
My personal memories of this movie. My daughters and I returned from a spring break road trip and went to the midnight release. Every screen was sold out and each of the 12 screens was labeled as a different district. Before the movie started they did a give away for free movie posters and someone in the back yelled, “I volunteer as tribute!” trying get a free poster. We all enjoyed it, but they did not snag a poster. My youngest loves this movie so much she started braiding her hair like Katness for while prompting me to call her Cuteness Everdeen. Hard to believe how long ago that was already. My favorite moment in your video was your reaction to Katness almost stepping on “Rock Formation Peeta.” That moment you saw eyes in the rock that double take was worth the price of the Patreon Sub. Looking forward to watching the rest of your journey into Panem.
Bryan Dempsey
2024-09-02 18:11:23 +0000 UTCoh I am so ready for you to react through this whole movie series. been my favorite since I was a teen, the books, the premise, everything. horrifying concept but really done well
Nabila Rahmani
2024-08-28 07:25:47 +0000 UTCOkay, so, I kind of love these movies. I actually think they're weirdly underrated, which might sound like a strange statement for something so successful. But like with many things that become popular - people eventually found reasons to hate. I won't get into all of that. I'll just say that I think these are undeniably well made movies, and that the hate seemed largely motivated by "culture war" stuff. Regarding the music: I mentioned before how I love the score by James Newton Howard. In this watchalong, I was reminded of something interesting. Even though the "main theme" of this series is repeated three times over the course of the film - it takes a full 1 hour, 42 minutes until we hear that theme for the first time. (It's when Katniss is picking flowers for Rue.)
WastedPo
2024-08-25 04:44:01 +0000 UTCThis is really dystopian fiction done well. The whole concept of the Hunger Games is really disturbing and horrifying. It's kids killing kids and adults killing kids all for the enjoyment of others. Even the "careers" like Cato and Glimmer are still just kids turned into murderers so they can "bring pride" to their district. It's disgusting really. Yes, they give other reasons for the games which after 74 years make no sense (if they ever did). If you haven't figured out the main reason though, it'll become very clear in the next few movies. All that aside, it's done very well as I said. Can't wait for the next one, which is probably my favorite of the series.
Marty McGee
2024-08-25 01:38:03 +0000 UTCI may need to pick up these books and give them a whirl... 🤔 I was outside the target demographic when these books came out. Had I been a couple of years younger I'm sure I would've devoured them, as I was a voracious reader in my (pre-)teen years and the combination of "stick it to the man" and "wilderness survival" was totally my jam. I watched the first movie on a whim sometime in 2014(?) and was surprised by the world-building. It hints at how The Hunger Games are basically just propaganda meant to keep the population docile and under control. I loved that angle and watched the sequels hoping for more of that, given how this movie ended. The fake/fronted/half-truth(?) relationship between Katniss and Petah is such a unique spin on things, that genuinely caught me off guard and I loved that. For something clearly targeted at a YA audience, it has a lot of grey area and ambiguity.
Onno Smits
2024-08-24 21:02:43 +0000 UTCThat was a fun watch. Personally, this is the weakest (but by no means bad) of the original films, so the remaining movies should really be interesting. Thankfully, that pesky shaky cam thing is mostly done moving forward. As for world building, the books expand on some of the things ever so briefly shown and touched upon here, and some of it is FAR more horrifying than you are possibly imagining after the first movie. I’ll leave that to you to see for yourself should you decide to go that route. 📚😉
William
2024-08-24 14:17:52 +0000 UTCI saw this back in 2014 or so and I didn't really remember it, so I figured hey, why not give the movie another chance. As with the first time I saw it, my opinion was that the movie is mostly fine -- the characters are fine, the story is fine, the acting is fine. However, I agree with your one complaint so much that it kind of sunk the movie for me. There's a famous clip on YouTube of a scene from the third Taken film, under the title "Bryan Mills jumps a fence." As advertised, it is the protagonist of those films hopping over a chain-link fence. It lasts 6 seconds. Within that 6 seconds, there are FOURTEEN (14) cuts (thirteen if you don't count the last cut to a dog barking at him, which is technically not part of him jumping the fence). For me, the entire first 20 minutes of the movie was basically like watching this video. Katniss walks in the woods and the camera simply will not stop cutting, nor will it stop shaking. It was driving me crazy. When they get to the city, the editing and cinematography calms down a little, enough to be tolerable, but once they're back out in the woods it flared up again, and after a certain point I wasn't really watching the screen so much as listening to the movie, like it was a radio drama or something. It's bizarre to me, because of the two directors who worked on the original Hunger Games franchise, Gary Ross is arguably more respected, having co-written Big in 1988 and then directed the acclaimed Pleasantville 10 years later, among other films. Comparatively, Francis Lawrence (who directed the rest of the series) is known for Constantine and I Am Legend -- still popular, but not as respected. Between the two, I'd have expected Ross to do a better job. Instead, I hear the shaky cam goes away in the sequels, so, I'm looking forward to that.
Tyler Foster
2024-08-24 06:24:44 +0000 UTCWord. 🤘🏼
William
2024-08-23 16:49:37 +0000 UTCBTW folks, the next watchalong is coming on Sunday instead. Tried to pack too much into the front of the week lol
kaiielle
2024-08-23 16:32:28 +0000 UTCThere is quite a bit to discuss here that hit me personally, especially with the next few films to add context. Because of that, I'd rather wait until you've seen the next movie at least before I dive any deeper into the matter. That being said, I enjoyed this series of movies far more than I ever thought I would, and I enjoy revisiting them every so often -- they're really that good.
William
2024-08-23 16:24:11 +0000 UTCSo, for a big studio blockbuster juggernaut thing, this movie sure has a lot of heart. Jennifer Lawrence is, of course, spectacular. Donald Sutherland (the great...RIP) oozes with corrupt power. And the set pieces, and action, have a genuine feel of...genuine. This movie is surprisingly good. Good shit.
Steve Mercier
2024-08-23 10:17:48 +0000 UTCOkay, before we start this super-analysis, two things: 1, RIP Donald Sutherland, and 2, Amandla Stenberg of The Acolyte was Rue in this film. She was an adorable kid! 2012 was a confusing year. The Avengers gave us hope and The Hunger Games took it away haha! I love how they start off this film already giving you a sense of danger and panic from Prim's scream to the shaky, erratic camera movement. Even for a scene as simple as Katniss hunting a deer, you're put on alert. I love also how they use the simplest technique to show you just how good of a shot Katniss is - hurriedly shooting a bird in mid-flight. Now you know she's quick and she can hit small, moving targets. Elizabeth Banks in full Effie make-up is just everything lol flamboyant and clownish, basically the face of the Capitol. Perfection. My question is, how many times has Effie had to hear that video? 12 districts for however many years she's been the "host"... I'd get tired of it after the first rotation! Prim screaming for Katniss after Katniss volunteers in her place breaks my heart every time. Prim obviously knew what happened in the games or else she wouldn't be having nightmares. In that moment, despite being scared, all she knew was that her sister might not come back. Kids sometimes blame themselves if a parent/sister endures something for them so I wonder if Prim was illogically blaming herself. "It's my fault my name was chosen, if I wasn't born you wouldn't have to do this for me". That kind of thing. But what kids come to learn as they get older, the person who stood in for them did it out of love. I can't imagine what must have been going through Katniss and Peeta's mind, stepping onto that train and seeing more food in one car than they probably see in a year. The Capitol is essentially what Al Pacino called New York City: "Freak Show Central". It's literally if Washington DC didn't bother trying to hide corruption and instead wore it proudly like a badge of honor and flaunted it like the newest fashion trends. And then just when things look bleak, we get possibly the funniest dry-humor remark from Donald Sutherland's President Snow: "She shot an arrow at your head!", "Well, at an apple.". "Near your head." President Snow might be an asshole but he's a funny old man. Honestly, the most nerve-wrecking part of the film was the countdown as Katniss entered the arena. Seeing all those supplies but remembering Haymitch's warning, the drums counting down, the fear from some and the bloodlust from others... and great acting on Jennifer Lawrence's part for being able to add the nervous shaking that whole time too! Is it bad of me to want a fireball security system around my property? The Capitol might be evil but they are innovative! Also, where can I get the Heal Overnight cream?? I mean, if you're gonna hallucinate anyone after a hornet sting, might as well be Stanley Tucci dressed as Cesar. Personally, I think Tracker Jackers are what all those Murder Hornet scare-rumors were a few years ago. Government experiments! But I digress. I love that Rue took care of Katniss. In turn, Katniss took care of Rue. I just hate that it was for burial, not for getting her home. Rue's death is a character exit that's still hard to shake even 12 years later. She was such a sweet kid and a light in a bleak world and her light got snuffed out by fuckin' Jack Quaid. Dammit, Hughie! Katniss outsmarting Seneca and Snow was such a great payoff to the first chapter of the story. Snow warned him not to encourage underdogs but he did anyway, thus dying in the way the underdogs won. For my final thoughts, this might be a little controversial but here we go. We are not that far removed from The Hunger Games. Something like The Hunger Games was written about as far back as 1948 in The Lottery by Shirley Jackson. Today, people watch reality shows and absolutely eat up the drama of friends and families screaming at each other and cheating on each other. People cheer for deaths in horror movies. People attend Halloween Horror Nights and go crazy for the brutality displayed "in good fun". People with too much money turn their own twisted fantasies into game shows and private events. Eli Roth said in a podcast interview that Hostel was originally supposed to be a documentary exposing actual rich people who go hunt poor people for sport. People obsess over serial killers, fantasize about horror (some to an unhealthy extent), every day there's reports of children being murdered and trafficked... Hell, it wasn't long ago that people trampled other people for Black Friday deals. What would it realistically take for our world to accept something like The Hunger Games? A civil war? A world war? or the government squeezing just a little bit tighter? The bloodlust is already there. It just needs to be directed. Didn't mean to go on a social/political rant there. I'll stop while I'm behind LOL Looking forward to seeing your reaction to the next entry and as always, may the odds be ever in your favor.
Nathan Jasper, the Artist Formerly Known as Primary
2024-08-23 08:15:51 +0000 UTC
