Here's what I think: Let the Hunger Games Begin

It's been a few months since I finished The Hunger Games series and I've still got Hunger Games on the brain. I'm anxiously anticipating more information about the upcoming movie based on the first book in the series and have, like any obsessive fan, been scouring the Internet for any information I can find! In my searches I've seen a lot of speculation and suggestions on who should be cast in the leading roles and I decided to throw my two-cents in.

In the role of Katniss Everdean, the leading lady of The Hunger Games, I would cast Hailee Steinfeld. Hailee has enjoyed fast recognition for her role in True Grit this year and is even nominated for an academy award for her outstanding performance. Not only does Hailee have the right look, build and is an appropriate age to grow with the character of Katniss, she had already proven her "grit" and would be well able to deliver the tough-girl with a soft edge. What I like about Katniss is that she is so flawed, she is brave and strong but is guarded and can never see through to the truth of things until it smacks her right in the face; Hailee has the ability to bring this kind of complexity to life in a realistic way.

I have a feeling that no matter who lands the role of Peeta Mellark, I will be a little disappointed. It's like when Robert Pattinson was first cast as Edward in Twilight. Fans of the book were outraged because every one of them had a distinct picture in mind of this character that they had fallen in love with. But, just like with Rob, whoever plays Peeta will eventually become a heart throb and girls will fall all over themselves for him. Personally, I would like to see someone like Chord Overstreet (Glee) in this role. He is a little older than the character but can get away with playing a younger role. His blond hair, bright blue eyes and strong build are exactly what I picture when I think of Peeta.

Where it's harder for me to cast the role of Peeta, it's exactly the opposite for Gale Hawthorne. Since the first time I saw Drew Roy, I knew he would be the perfect Gale. First, he's not bad to look at. Really, really, not bad. He's got the perfect "look" for Gale - olive skin, dark hair and piercing grey eyes. He's also got that brooding, teen angst thing going for him.

Not only do these young actors have the right look and feel of the characters in The Hunger Games, they are also very talented. I would be excited to see these three actors develop into the roles of Katniss, Peeta and Gale and really make The Hunger Games stand out among other "teen" flicks with their abilities to bring the characters to life.

Here's what I think: Death at a Funeral

Death at a Funeral, a hilarious British comedy that debuted as an independent film in 2007. Back then (all the way back three years ago in 2007) the Varsity Theater was still open in campus town and brought us these wonderful films that never made it to our "mainstream" Movies 12. My boyfriend is somewhat of a movie buff and both of us are fans of British comedy so when he told about this film we went at the first opportunity and definitely weren't disappointed.

Death at a Funeral is an hysterical account of a family mourning their father. Chaos ensues when a man (Peter Dinklage) tries to expose a dark secret regarding this dysfunctional family patriarch. The film also stars Matthew Mcfadyen who co-starred in Frost/Nixon. The cast was perfectly chosen and the humor was so very dryly British.

While seeing a recent release at the Movies 12, imagine my surprise when a trailer came up for a new movie starring Chris Rock. I was perplexed by the sense of de ja vu that I got when familiar scenes and lines came up. My boyfriend and I looked at each other in realization about half way through the trailer. A remake of Death at a Funeral is in the works for a 2010 release. And not only have they Americanized the film and switched the white British cast to an almost exclusively African American cast with the exception of Peter Dinklage (apparently the only little person actor) who is reprising his role from the first film.

Is this really necessary? Yes, Death at a Funeral is a funny screen play, and yes it will translate to other races and nationalities. But the original was in it self pretty near perfect. Why remake a good thing just three years after the original release? Three years! And what kind of integrity does Peter Dinklage have to agree to play the same role with the same lines! Could they not find another little person to play the role? Was Gary Coleman unavailable?

Needless to say, I will elect not to see the "new" version (with the same jokes and lines as the original).

If you want to see are really funny British comedy, go out and rent the 2007 British version of Death at a Funeral.

Here's what I think: Hannah Montana, The Movie

Hannah Montana, the teen phenomenon that makes young girls scream with delight wherever she's spotted. I'm not the typical Hannah Montana fanatic, in fact I can count the number of epsiodes I've seen on one hand, and not even using all my fingers. But when the trailer for the Hannah Montana movie came out I found myself strangely drawn to the film. I'm a sucker for feel-good movies and the trailer intrigued me and hit on my girly emotional senses.

I wasn't so drawn to it that I would pay full price to see it though, movies can be costly and there were pleny of other movies I cared more about so I waited and waited until finally the Hannah Montana movie arrived at our local dollar theater. My sister and I had vowed to see the movie when it came to the cheap theater and so we made immediate plans to see it. Unfortunately, our immediate plans were foiled by a mild illness on the part of my sister, so we had to wait another long week.

After all that waiting, we finally made it and it didn't disappoint! While I've seen very few episodes of the television show, my initial impression was that it was loud and crazy and somewhat irritating. Lucky for me, the movie features a much more toned down Miley taking an involuntary break from her Hannah Montana persona. Her father, real life Billy Ray Cirus- but fictional Bobby Ray or Robby Ray, takes her home to Tennessee for two weeks where she remembers her roots and finds first love.

My favorite part of the movie was the star studded appearances of famous country acts such as Rascal Flatts and my favorite, Taylor Swift. Which makes for a great soundtrack including the best song of all - Hoe Down!

Other high points included Miley's best friend Lily who is stinking cute, Miley's love interest who gave me a surprise the first time he opens his mouth to speak with his unnaturally deep voice for a teenager, and the big reveal at the end where Miley chooses to take her wig off and perform as herself amid shocked fans. But don't worry Hannah Montana fans, a precious little girl in the front row vows on behalf of the entire crowd to keep Miley's secret and thus she is able to hold on to Hannah Montana.

Some not so high points- during a dinner scene where Miley has to juggle between her two personalities she walks around, and around, and around through a revolving door- why doesn't she get out? Does she think if she keeps turning she'll revolve right into an alternate reality? It doesn't make much sense because it lasts for like 3 minutes, maybe not but it was a long time. Another thing that was strange was the casting of Brooke Shields for the sole purpose of being in a photograph as Miley's deceased mother. She has no lines, and is in one scene, in a picture. Really? Was it neccessary to cast a famous actress for that?

Most annoying of all were the college aged girls sitting a few rows behind me who obviously owned the soundtrack because they sang along to every song. Yep, college aged, not kids.

All in all it was a good experience, cute and heart-warming, just as the trailer portrayed it. With lots of fun music. I'm not totally converted to Hannah Montana fanatic but I'm seriously considering buying that soundtrack.

Here's what I think: Impatiently waiting for Harry Potter

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince is set to hit theaters in three short weeks! Having waited two long years for this next installment of the Harry Potter series, I, along with thousands of others world-wide, am on the edge of my seat- giddy with anticipation.

As a self proclaimed Harry Potter expert, I have been thrilled to see that all the trailers that I have seen for the sixth movie have been incredibly close to what I envisioned while reading the book. Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince is my favorite book in the series, I love the growing relationship and trust between Dumbledore and Harry, I love the budding romances between Harry and Ginny and the tension between Ron and Hermione as they realize their feeling for one another. But I especially love the complex storyline of Severus Snape and trying to decipher whether he is truly a good or bad guy. I can't wait to see it all come to life on film!

As a side note and as credentials toward my expert status, I have read all seven books multiple times, I have seen all the films thus far, have read books about the series, such as "The Magical Worlds of Harry Potter" by David Colbert and just about anything else J.K. Rowling has put out about the magical world. I also am undefeated at the Harry Potter Scene It game, including playing against my eleven-year-old brother (we are a Harry Potter family, with the exception of my sister who down right refuses to read the books or watch the movies).

I am an avid reader an find myself completely absorbed in the worlds of the things I read about, it's not hard to become absorbed in a world so thoughtfully and meticulously created as J.K. Rowling's wizarding world. I try to add small wizarding touches to my real life including having a jar of floo powder for the fire place. And I truly believe that one day my children will receive their letters to Hogwarts (or an American Wizarding School of the same nature). Well maybe not truly but one can hope, just because I'm a muggle doesn't mean my children will be!

As you can probably tell from this blog entry, I am a little more than the typical Harry Potter fanatic and I am in need of some sustenance for my withdrawal since the final book was released. You can bet I'll be at the local Cinemark on July 15th with my Hogwarts cape(borrowed from my younger brother). And for anyone who needs some clarification on anything Harry Potter related, or if you know of anyone that might hire me full time to be a Harry Potter historian, I'm available.

Here's what I think: X-Men Origins, Wolverine (Spoiler Alert)

Wolverine, the bad ass of the X-men. When I first heard that there was going to be a film dedicated to the origins of Wolverine I was elated. I have always been an X-men fan, in fact I'm sort of a nerd about it. I watched the cartoon when I was younger and collected the X-men cards, they even had protective covers and I'm not ashamed to say that I still have them. However, I never got in to the actual comic books so I was excited to learn about the back story of Wolverine.

A lot of excellent summer blockbusters are scheduled to come out this season and Wolverine was at the top of my list. Having seen all the previous X-men movies, I had certain expectations going in to the movie which could have been a bad idea considering the disappointment that I felt leaving the film.

Aside from the flimsy plot line there are a few specific points that I felt particularly disappointed with.

First, the fact the Wolverine and his brother, Sabretooth, are immortal. If this is legitimately part of Wolverine's history, I'm fine with that. However, I'm completely confused as to how it works. In the beginning of the film James (Wolverine) and Victor (Sabretooth) are children who develop mutations. Progressively they age but only to a point. At some point they stop aging and are seemingly indestructible. At what point did they stop aging and why? This was never clearly explained.

The second issue I have is with Wolverine's name. As a child his name is James and throughout the film Victor (Sabretooth) refers to him as Jimmy. Wolverine has always been refered to as Logan in the X-men films. I'm told that perhaps his name was James Logan and that he went by his last name in his adulthood. Again, this was not clearly explained and it is confusing to refer to your main character by three different names in a film.

Finally, the character of Sabretooth. Sabretooth is in the first X-men film. He is the long haired one with the long teeth like a sabretooth tiger. In the beginning of X-men he attacks Wolverine and Rouge. Throughout that film, he is one of Magneto's primary followers. Suddenly, in this film that same character is played by someone else with an entirely different appearance and is now related to Wolverine, and is VERY connected to him. Perplexing.

Despite these three main issues that I took with this movie, there were some redeeming qualities. If you are are only interested in looking at Hugh Jackman for a couple hours, this is the movie to see. He looks amazing in this film and deserves credit for the work he put in to making himself look the part so well.

Also, the appearance of other X-men characters helps retain interest. For example, Cyclops as a high school student, Professor Xavior pre-wheelchair, and my favorite addition- Gambit. Although his character isn't well developed, there is no denying that Gambit is cool. I missed him in the other X-men films and always wondered why he wasn't a part of them, his appearance in this film made up for it.

Perhaps, my high expectations of this movie marred my overall experience. It is certainly entertaining but if you are hoping to see another X-men sequil this isn't it.