Hunger Games

[sapphire]

Yeah, it was too straightforward when she got back. There's this awesome fan-made cave scene that was just perfect, though... I'm going to find it...
Here!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=HDoJQIcfTQA

The revolt was amazing. Not overstated, just right. I know it technically didn't happen until the second, but I feel like they put it in at the right time. I mean, Rue's death is what triggered it either way - this is just a bit more immediate.

[Endovia]

That scene is perfect! Ah, they should have used that in the movie.

Yep, I loved that they didn't stick straight to the first book but did third person snippets like that. It really brought the whole conflict between the districts and the capitol in full circle.

[sapphire]

I know, it's awesome. Katniss was a bit more emotional than I think she's meant to be - she's pretty much asexual, in the books - but other than that it was excellent.

Exactly. While I love the book, its point of view kept it from examining the whole scope of things. The movie lets us see what the book couldn't have.

[Endovia]

Yeah, I felt like she should have been colder and not so quick to kiss Peeta.

Yep, and that's what made the movie really great and I think they did a fabulous job with the third person point of view. Seeing the gamemasters and the animation, how they could just plop stuff into the game was so cool! I never pictured it like that.

[sapphire]

Right, exactly. She seems like she's actually falling in love with him, where in the book she was definitely thinking strategy the whole time.

I love how they did Seneca Crane - and his beard.
And yeah, the gamemakers were awesome! I love how they were designing things for the games even as the tributes were in the arena.
Though I must say, I wasn't much a fan of the Mutts. I expected them to look more like the werewolf design from Harry Potter - four legs, but able to walk on two if they want, with human eyes. I was disappointed that they were pretty much just pit bulls. They didn't even show the tributes' eyes in their faces, which was the creepiest part.

[Endovia]

That was what I loved, how she could think like Haymitch and know what he wanted her to do to get parachutes and support.

His beard was so cool!
I didn't even recognize them as the Mutts. They did look a lot like oversized pit bulls. Yeah, there was no relation to the fact that they were supposed to be tributes. And there were just three. Weren't there supposed to be one for every tribute?

[sapphire]

Yes, definitely.
I loved the notes Haymitch sent with the parachutes. "You call that a kiss?" Heh.

I know! I was sad that there weren't more Mutts.
And I just really, really wanted them to show the eyes.

[cymberlyn]

Yeah, same here... but maybe they thought it would have made an already-intense movie too scary, or something. The mutts' eyes was one of the eeriest, coolest parts of the book.
But the whole Peeta relationship- I agree with Endovia. I don't think they tried to put it into the movie enough that she was still conflicted in her feelings to him and was only acting for the cameras... i like Katniss/Peeta in the first book because.. i don't know, it seems like their relationship is more real when Katniss realizes SPOILER that she really loves Peeta- instead of an impulsive kiss, and all of a sudden their feelings are mutual! I don't know if that made any sense...oh well.

[sapphire]

Right - though, thinking back, they'd have had to spend more time showing us the tributes' eyes in the first place if they were going to use them on the Mutts, to get the full effect. They probably just decided it wasn't worth it.

Yeah, I thought that about the Katniss/Peeta relationship, too. It was too clear-cut in the movie, they didn't show us Katniss' doubt about it.
Although I have to say I'm not a fan of the relationship in the books, either. I don't think either Gale or Peeta really fits Katniss all that well. I feel like she just settled for the safer option because she felt like she had to, instead of just doing what she'd wanted all along and avoiding relationships altogether. I like that she struggled between them, I just don't like that she chose one of them.

[Endovia]

But they didn't look human-like at all! They looked like buffed up pugs. With a dose of ape-ness in them. I didn't realize they were the mutts until they were herded to the cornucopia.

I loved the end of the last book. That is my absolute favorite. I feel like she chose Peeta because she needed his innocence so to speak, something to ground her life, right now, and be able to live.

[sapphire]

They really were disappointing... I watched the movie again the other week and didn't mind so much that they weren't as I pictured them, but still.

I think part of my problem with Peeta/Katniss is that I can't get past the way their relationship started. Katniss was basically blackmailed into it, and I just don't feel like that's healthy. But that may be me treating characters too much like real people.

[Raphael]

Any characters in my stories are almost more real than i am.

[sapphire]

Well, true. But you have to consider that characters were still created by someone... They have psychologies, true, but those psychologies are often (at least in published work) deliberately crafted to make an impression.

[Endovia]

Manipulation. Corruption. Blackmail. This just reeks of the Capital. What did you expect?


Hmm, very true. Impressions. Though I feel like a lot of the quick books (the ones that are just put out simply to sell, not for any literary, or actual book, quality), the authors do not consciously think of the impressions that they want their characters to give. It seems more writing whatever flows kind of style. I think the truly good books are the ones where the author is able to develop the characters into full life stories (like how Dumbledore is gay) although they are not mentioned in the story because they are simply not necessary, but knowing so much more about a character can allow you to predict how his actions, speech, mannerisms will be. It's quite fascinating.

[Raphael]

This might just be crazy old me but I really can't claim the creation of my stories, it's like they are people that just walk around and waltz into my head and tell me a story.