Happy Teaser Tuesday, everyone!
First things first, then we'll get to the release of "The Hunger Games" film.
Teaser Tuesday rules:
• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!
"What a complicated, delicate business it was going to be to love him. We were the stuff of fairy tales -- vampires, witches, knights in shining armor."
Yep, I'm re-reading "A Discovery of Witches" by Deborah Harkness. Indulgent, I know, especially considering the amount of books on my to-read list, but I just. can't. help myself.
So then. Who saw "The Hunger Games" this weekend? I went on Friday evening and was, overall, quite pleased. It's always hard to take a beloved book and translate it onto film. What elements and aspects do you keep? Which do you alter? And what do you cut while still maintaining the integrity of the story?
I thought the casting was spot-on, though I was troubled by Josh Hutcherson's bleached-out hair. I know, I know, it was supposed to be blonde, but it was disconcerting to me. Distracting almost. But, want to know what was even more distracting? The throng of screaming teenage fangirls.
Let me just say this about that: knock. it. off. Seriously. I know you're excited, I was excited, too! Though, to me, excitement does not include running around the Majestic without shoes on - especially in an eating establishment. And, hey, if you want to chatter and giggle and scream before the movies, during the previews and even during the post-film credits, I have nothing to say to you. However, during the film, please keep quiet. On no less than five separate occasions, the aforementioned throng of teenage fangirls erupted into applause and squeals of giddy excitement during the film. Heck, I know the film was great - I agree with you there - but save the cheering and shouting for after the final fade-to-black, please. It's just rude and inconsiderate to disturb the entire theater. Even more so when there are dozens of "shush battles" erupting after the cheering, applauding and giggle-screams.
Now, then, back to the film itself. Like I said, great casting and I think the writers did an excellent job of keeping the integrity of the novel. Sure, some things were different, but nothing that really jumped off the screen. It did seem a little slow in some parts, but I could deal with that just fine. Peeta's character seemed a little one dimensional on screen. He was so ardent and so good and so kind that it seemed odd when Katniss was snippy with him. In the book, you see more of him that rounds him out better. Conversely, you don't really see a lot of Gale or spend a lot of time getting to know him - so you don't really invest in the love triangle aspect. I'm hoping those things will resolve in the second film.
What did you all think of the movie?
David Cotey
1:48 pm on Tuesday, March 27, 2012
I'm pretty excited to see the movie. Hoping to finally see it next week!
Jenna Czaplewski
1:50 pm on Tuesday, March 27, 2012
I'm totally going to go see it again! But let me know what you think after you see it! I'm curious about your opinion. :)
St. Swithin
2:39 pm on Tuesday, March 27, 2012
I agree with you that many of the characters - not just Peeta and Gale - were not given screen time to better develop their characters. I would guess that is typical Hollywood where they have scientifically determined the optimum running time to keep the attention of teenagers and so they ruthlessly pare down the script until it fits.
I will have to go home to get my latest read, so I will post that later.
Jenna Czaplewski
2:41 pm on Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Yeah, it's tough! I mean, as it is, the film is two and a half hours. And Suzanne Collins wrote so many great characters, it's hard to fit their arcs into the film. I've seen similar things happen in the Harry Potter and Twilight films, as well. That's why, no matter how great the movie, the books are always better! (At least in my humble opinion!)
Please do! I'm interested in your Tuesday Teaser. :)
Mr. Kell
2:46 pm on Tuesday, March 27, 2012
More pop culture nonsense, will be forgotten in 10 years as yesterdays news.
St. Swithin
3:14 pm on Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Who's Mr. Grumpy-face? Did you miss your nap?
St. Swithin
7:35 pm on Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Jenna, Here's the excerpt I promised. It's from Reamde by Neal Stephenson.
"They had, in other words, been assuming three things of Chinese Internet cafés: (1) that they were all over the place, (2) that they were easy to find, and (3) that they served coffee; that is, that they were literally cafés, as in small cozy places where customers could curl up with a laptop to check their e-mail."
That's really just one sentence, but it's so long I thought it would suffice. Stephenson is my favorite author, but so far this is not my favorite of his books. We'll see if he can save it at the end.
Jenna Czaplewski
9:34 am on Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Thanks for the share! I haven't read anything by Stephenson - I'll have to check out his work. Do you have a favorite of his?
St. Swithin
10:45 am on Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Stephenson's writing has a huge nerd factor. His novel _Snow Crash_ is considered a classic of the cyberpunk genre. It is a good introduction to his writing. My favorite is _Cryptonomicon_. It combines my love of puzzles with my love of World War II. My second favorite is _The Diamond Age_. It is hard to describe it properly but it revolves around 3 little girls who get highly educational books.
St. Swithin
2:15 pm on Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Looks like no one else wants to talk books. I guess I will throw in one of my favorite quotes from Stephenson - from _Snow Crash_.
"Until a man is twenty-five, he still thinks, every so often, that under the right circumstances he could be the baddest motherfucker in the world. If I moved to a martial-arts monastery in China and studied real hard for ten years. If my family was wiped out by Colombian drug dealers and I swore myself to revenge. If I got a fatal disease, had one year to live, and devoted it to wiping out street crime. If I just dropped out and devoted my life to being bad.
Hiro used to feel this way, too, but then he ran into Raven. In a way, this was liberating. He no longer has to worry about being the baddest motherfucker in the world. The position is taken. "