THE HUNGER GAMES 4***
The Hunger Games is the film adaptation of Suzanne Collins' best-selling novel (itself the first in a trilogy) Avid fans of the books were going to make the film a hit, regardless. It's our good fortune that, much like the people behind the Potter films figured out, you can have a Hugh box office smash (opening weekend gross of $155 million .. 3rd largest ever ) AND make a beloved book into an outstanding film of high quality. The Hunger Games will be Lionsgate's biggest-ever hit. Better yet, it deserves to be.
The film is set in a future version of the United States in which the country has been fractured and then tenuously reunited after an uprising nearly seventy-five years prior. The rebels were eventually quelled, and the resulting country consists of a rich and powerful central Capitol and twelve individual “Districts.” Each District is responsible for one type of provision or industry and, as the Capitol restricts communication and interaction between the Districts, they are at the mercy of their government to get supplies that are necessary for even basic survival. And though that should be enough to keep the Capitol satisfied in their power, it’s not, and they use the annual “Hunger Games” to remind their citizens just how in control they are. The Games are a televised fight to the death, with its twenty-four players comprised of one boy and one girl ( 12 to 18 yrs. old) each from every District, picked at random in a lottery that is both flawed and unfair.
After her little sister Primrose is picked for the Games, Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) volunteers to take her place. Older, stronger, and a skilled archer, Katniss stands a far better chance in the arena than young Prim, but she will still have to go up against highly trained competitors, a rigged system, the whims of President Snow (Donald Sutherland) and Head Gamesmaker Seneca Crane (Wes Bentley) . Her team includes drunken mentor Haymitch (Woody Harrelson), gentle stylist Cinna (Lenny Kravitz), weirdly hilarious escort Effie Trinket (Elizabeth Banks), and her fellow Tribute – the dedicated Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson)…. the acting is consistently solid and rarely hammy. .
The cast is stellar. Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss carries the movie and makes the many book fans regret complaining about her casting because she was too "hot" and not starved enough. She IS Katniss and one can feel the graveness of an situation just by looking at her expressions. Josh Hutcherson as Peeta is also a true breakout performance. The way he looks at Katniss will makes girls all over the world envy her, just like it's supposed to be. Other standouts in the cast include Stanley Tucci as the flamboyant talk-show host Caesar Flickerman, Woody Harrelson as the sarcastic but caring mentor Haymitch and Wes Bentley as the sinister game-maker Seneca Crane.
Parents should be cautioned, at least modestly so, that The Hunger Games by its very storyline is about kids killing kids and particularly sensitive young children may find its action disturbing despite its not being particularly graphic. While the film is appropriately rated at PG-13, it would likely be considered a stronger PG-13 rating.

The Hunger Games isn't quite a masterpiece, but it is way far better than what most expected from the film and is that rare film to successfully blend commercial success and critical acclaim. It says much about Jennifer Lawrence that she tapped into the heart and soul of Katniss and, as a result, The Hunger Games is a film where both style and substance work together to create one of the year's best films.
Can be seen on regular screen or Imax. It is spectacular in Imax.

Clark

P

My Top 10 Best movies 2011

Here are my Top Ten Movies for 2011 based upon the ones I have seen. Also, they are ones that I enjoyed the most for various reasons which may not always include those with the highest artistic value. They are ranked in order of the best to the 10th best.


1. The Artist
2. Midnight in Paris
3. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
4. Hugo
5. Moneyball
6. Descendants
7. Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close
8. Help
9. Crazy Stupid Love
10. Ides of March and Soul Surfer

Honorable Mentions
50/50
Mission Impossible/ Ghost Protocol
Courageous
Win Win
Melancholia
Rise of the Planet of the Apes

Let me if I completely overlooked a gem of a movie… remember though that I’m only listing those I’ve seen… for instance, I haven’t seen Tin Tin


Clark

GONE .. 3.1 ****
Gone" is a surprisingly good thriller, in large part because of its lead character, a young woman who finds herself in a situation which requires the use of her wits and keen powers of observation. Her name is Jill (Amanda Seyfried… the young actress with the big gorgeous eyes). A year ago, she narrowly escaped the clutches of a serial killer who kidnapped her, gagged and bound her with duct tape, and dragged her to a hole in a desolate area of a sprawling forest just outside Portland. Now her sister, a college student named Molly, is missing. Jill is convinced that her kidnapper is responsible; that he must have come back for her, but because she was working the night shift at a local diner, he took Molly instead. Jill must find him before he kills Molly and buries her at the bottom of that same hole she was in, right alongside the remains of several other missing girls.


The odds are not in Jill's favor. After she escaped a year ago , Jill came to the police with no physical evidence, no signs of bodily harm such as defensive wounds or sexual assault, and no description of her kidnapper. She claims she was abducted while she was still in bed, and yet there was no evidence of forced entry into her home. The experience, according to the police, was all in her head – a break with reality. Jill quickly realizes that only she can save her sister. And so, in defiance of the authorities, she arms herself and begins a one-woman city-wide investigation.

There's a fascinating paradox at work, here: Jill uses her brains in a situation where she's so emotionally vested. There's no denying that, above all else, painful memories of her own kidnapping are motivating her. All the same, she understands that locating Molly and bringing her abductor to justice requires a clear head and the ability to reason. . If it were strictly an emotional reaction on her part, if she was nothing more than a crazed vigilante with a gun, we would become so involved with her and the story..

A well done film that is a nail bitter.