I don’t watch a whole lot of tv or films these days. The hype usually drives me and tends to make the actual film or tv show look terrible. The little bit of hype I caught about the Hunger Games did a lot to drive out any desire I had to see it. Fortunately I am aware I’ve a cranky old man streak and experience has taught me that marketing makes some great things look incredibly stupid. Harry Potter is a good example I avoided reading and watching anything Potter related for about a decade and just finished reading them last year. I enjoyed it on a variety of levels one of them being a that it was something worthwhile for kids to read. Teaching them about right and wrong and sticking by your friends.

So given the opportunity to see the Hunger Games I hung up my attitude and went and saw one of the best recent films I can remember. I saw actors, acting rather than celebrities mugging for the cameras a story reflective of our time, rich people debased in perverse excess and celebrity culture while poor people suffered and were kept in their place. The story was well done and from what I have heard fairly reflective of the book. Most of the performances were quite good. Woody Harrelson was particularly enjoyable and good. Donald Sutherland , you delectable villain. He was phenomenal it’s been far too long since I’ve seen Sutherland in anything worthy of his talent. So much garbage is pumped out you get to forgetting that some of these people are so incredibly talented. The movie worked very well. You run an emotional gamut thought out the film. Running somewhere around two and a half hours after which you are both exhausted and exilerated wanting more and excited to see where the story goes. I’m looking forward to reading the books and seeing the furtherance of the story upon the silver screen.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1392170/