Page to Screen: The Hunger Games

Last night, I went to a midnight screening for The Hunger Games (what with being a harcore fan of the series and all). And, with the excitement surrounding the movie, I just thought I'd let everyone know exactly what they're in for. So, here's the breakdown:

The Pros:

The Set: The set for this movie was perfect in every single way. District 12, the Capitol, the Arena - everything looked exactly as I had imagined it. And for a movie to achieve this is a massive, massive pro in my book

The Actors: When the cast for this movie was announced, I don't think anyone had any doubts about how suited the actors were for their characters. Jennifer Lawrence perfectly balances strength and vulnerability in Katniss and Josh Hutcherson perfectly plays the sweet and charismatic Peeta. Shout outs also have to go to Woody Harrelson as Haymitch, Elizabeth Banks as Effie Trinket and Stanley Tucci as Caesar Flickerman, who literally brought their characters to life. 

The Atmosphere and Underlying Message: the one thing that made this movie amazing was that it felt so real. This movie was so down-to-earth, that it didn't feel like a scifi, dystopian, out of this world movie. Pair this with the underlying messages about humanity and morality, and the movie has a profound impact. 

The Cons:

The Plot: With every book that is translated onto the big screen, there are bound to be plot points that don't make the final cut. I expected this when I went in, but I have to say that I have some serious problems with some of the plot points that were missed in the movie. One major problem for me involved the mutts, and if you've read the books, you'll know what I mean. 

The Budget: The Hunger Games was made on a budget of $78mn, and I hate to say it, but the movie fell short in the special effects department because of this. 

The Overall Verdict: The Hunger Games movie has managed to be very true to the novel whilst also establishing itself as a separate entity. Was it amazing, yes, but could it have been better. The answer: probably. 

What about you? What did you think of The Hunger Games movies?

Introducing a new segment - Page to Screen

So its been a little while since I last posted on the blog. As it turns out, not only am I really lazy, but it takes me longer than I thought to get my way through a book. So, I came up with an idea for a new segment on the blog - Page to Screen. Since I happen to watch a lot of TV and movies, I thought that I could add this to the blog, by talking about how successfully I think a book was transferred to the small or big screen. So, in the first post, here is a success story, and a tragedy. 

*Note - clicking on the pictures will lead you to some fun external websites, links will lead you to various places...

The Success Story - Harry Potter

No one can deny that Harry Potter is one of both literature's and Hollywood's success stories. The books have sparked a worldwide following, and the movies have earned almost $8 billion at the global box office. And whilst the movies and books have come to an end, Harry Potter continues to live on, with the online world of Pottermore and the exhibition traveling the world (currently in Sydney). And, honestly, we're not going to forget the likes of Harry, Ron and Hermione anytime soon.

 

 The Tragedy - Confessions of a Shopaholic

I read this book around the time the movie came out and I absolutely loved it! But, the story didn't translate very well onto the screen. For a start, the character of Rebecca Bloomwood seemed a bit too whimsical on screen, when she was so perfect on paper. And what was with the moving  mannequins? They were on their own level of creepy... COAS had potential, but the movie didn't do the book justice, garnering only a 25% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The book, however, has gone on to bigger and greater things, spawning a series of around 7 books and counting.







And there you have it - my first Page to Screen post (I'm sure they'll get better the more I do)! This will be my last post for about a week since I'm going away on holiday tomorrow!!! I'm extremely excited about it :)  Happy Reading