Review: The Hunger Games, Mockingjay Part 1

I'm in the minority of film critics in that I think that the trend of splitting the last book of a Young Adult Novel series into two movies is quite fine.  It worked REALLY well for Harry Potter; it gave the story room to breathe in a way that the other films didn't.  However, I was a little hesitant in jumping on board with the splitting of the last Hunger Games installment into two movies.  The book is easily the worst of the 3, so I naturally questioned the studio's decision to split it.  I thought the first film was pretty good, although not as polished or as compelling as the second one, Catching Fire. 

THE GOOD
First off, Jennifer Lawrence continues to prove herself as a force to be reckoned with.  Her performance is so good and I thank my lucky stars that they casted her back when she was relatively unknown.  I was genuinely and pleasently surprised with Liam Hemsworth's performance as Gale.  I felt his earlier portrayals were little more than eye candy, but here he proves that he can give a fairly moving performance.  In fact, there weren't really any bad performances in the whole movie, with one exception, which will be discussed on 'THE BAD' section.

The propaganda scenes in the film are 10 times more compelling than they were in the book.  I was sincerely moved and inspired by the speeches.  This was very unexpected for me, and it brought the film to a whole different level. 

The musical score was VERY good as well. 

The set design and overall look of the film is a big win too.  I really felt immersed in District 13. 

THE BAD
The film ended in a weird place, and I honestly don't know where they are going to go from here.  It's a huge divergent from the book. 

The portrayal of Prim feels a bit forced.  It's not way distracting, but I definitely felt like her lines were there just to move the plot forward. 

CONCLUSION
I REALLY liked this film.  It was dramatically better than its source material and was even thoroughly compelling.  It threw around some great ideas like having to make ethical compromises even when you're on the side of good.  I really recommend it.  4.5/5 Disco Balls

PARENTS GUIDE
This film has some disturbing things happen, but all of them off camera.  You don't actually SEE any blood or violence, with exception of some bones.  There's no sex and no profanity.  I almost think they could have gotten away with a PG rating with this one, although I'm glad they didn't.  

First thoughts on Interstellar

I saw Interstellar yesterday.  It was an intense experience to say the least.  It was my most anticipated film of the year. I'm just going to jot down some thoughts.  Unfortunately this movie can't really be discussed without including SPOILERS. So I apologize in advance if you choose to read this without first having seen the film. 

• There are TONS of allusions to Stanley Kubrick and in particular his film 2001: A Space Odyssy. 
• The most obvious is the themes of both films: both of them deal with the evolution/progression of humanity into more or less Gods. 
• Both films have obelisks play an important role in the evolution of mankind.  I really don't think it was any kind of accident that Nolan chose the shape of a monolith for his robots. More of the robots later. 
• The idea that the moon landings were faked is a very prominent conspiracy theory. And among the true believers it is widely believed that Kubrick was the one who filmed the fake landings. 
• There is a lot of Christian/Mormon theological symbolism here.  I doubt the Mormon bits were intentional, but who knows. 
• The main character represents both Adam and Jesus Christ.  He sacrifices himself to save humanity and is 'resurrected.'  He also is considered to be the individual who 'prepares' the world with his Eve, Anne Hathaway.  
• The film is obviously a paradox: mankind couldn't have been saved without his future self, and his future self couldn't have existed without his previous self.  
• I inferred that we become progress into Godhood when we as a people understand the 5th dimension. Early Christians called this process 'Deification' and it is something that Mormons believe today.  And without Coop' (or Christ) it wouldn't be possible. I definitely took away the message that 'We Are God collectively.' 
• Matt Damon represents Lucifer and his world represents the Garden of Eden.  Damon will do anything to destroy humanity for his own selfish reasons.  He also wants the pull down the only remaining humans to his level.  Misery loves companny.
• I certainly hope Matt Damon at least gets nominated for his performance in this film in the Best Supporting Actor category.  It was his best performance ever, with his part in Hereafter. 
• Christopher Nolan is well known for his mastery of marrying high-brow cinema with the pleasing of the masses.  He usually makes his films as smart as they are entertaining, earning both critical and box office acclaim.  However, with Interstellar, I think he focused too much on the symbolism and not enough on making an entertaining film that the masses can consume.  
• This is a film that falls into the category of 'the trailer is vastly better than the movie.' 
• Technology is demonized at the beginning of the film, but it is technology that saves them in the form of the Matt Damon-voiced robot that provides the data to save humanity. 

A bunch of recent reviews

Sorry it's been so long since I've written. I quit the Red Carpet Refs because it was taking so much time away from my already limited time with my family.  We are still in survival mode even though Penelope, our third child, is 7 months old.  I will basically just do a paragraph or two for each film until I feel a bit better situated.

Guardians of the Galaxy
I adored this film, although I wouldn't call it perfect.  The opening sequence felt so out of place for me and its emotional full-circle at the end didn't land very well for me.  With that being said, it's easily the funniest film I've seen all year.  It was very ambitious and it paid off for the audience and for Marvel.  Rocket Racoon is my absolute favorite character in the film.  4.5/5 Disco Balls.

The Maze Runner
I found this film to be among the most suspenseful films I've ever seen.  It was a very compelling story that was reasonably well acted.  Its biggest problem was that it didn't give the audience any room to breathe.  Its onslaught of suspense was so constant and with no release that I almost had a panic attack. Someone who has an anxiety disorder probably should avoid this film.  3.5/5 Disco Balls. 

The Boxtrolls
I was pretty excited for this movie, it being a release from the same studio that did ParaNorman.  The emotional core of the film wasn't as strong as its immediate predecessor, but it was still good.  I found it to be so remarkably filled with subtext and symbolism. I saw it as a strong analogy of Hitler and the Jews.  I also found A LOT of Marxist Theory in it.  4/5 Disco Balls.

Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day
I found this movie to be pretty endearing.  It was very clean and had a wonderful message about family.  It was pretty funny and is a shockingly short film.  I recommend it to pretty much everyone.  3.5/5 Disco Balls.

St. Vincent
I really dug this film, although it was difficult to watch for me.  Bill Murray's character is one of a whole slew of characters that have a hard shell on the outside, but turn out to have soft hearts.  I think the thesis of the film is that all people are good on the inside, which is something i tend to agree with. Bill Murray's performance is absolutely brilliant and I certainly hope he gets at least some consideration for the Best Actor Academy Award. 4/5 Disco Balls.

The Book of Life
I REALLY dug this movie! It was ambitious and it got a lot of points for that in my book.  I just adored it.  It was really spiritual, really funny, and really touching.  I loved the music too.  4.5/5 Disco Balls.

Big Hero 6
I had hoped that this movie would have risen to the level of Wreck-it Ralph, but alas, it did not.  The actual animation was easily the best I've ever seen.  It was quite funny and had some fairly well fleshed out characters.  However, it was kind of derivative in that it seemed to blatantly copy some other Marvel films like Iron Man and The Avengers. 3.5/5 Disco Balls. (Although I do think that this score will go up once I end up seeing it again)