Thing of the Day: The Hunger Games movie

It's the Thing of Yesterday, actually, but who's keeping track? I'm posting about it today. Because I can, or whatever.

So guess what?

THE MOVIE WAS AWESOME.

I'm serious. It was. Sure, there were minor discrepancies between it and the book, but aren't there always? Yes, because how are they gonna stuff the whole story into a two-hour film otherwise? (Lord of the Rings doesn't count in this discussion - truly the only movies that were "as good as" the books.) People always gripe about how the movie wasn't an EXACT REENACTMENT of the book, but srsleh ppl, the movie would be like five hours long if they did that. See why books are awesome? Because they're easy to carry around, and they hold more hours' worth of content than movies do. A movie is not the "ultimate form" of the book - the book itself is as close to perfect as the story will most likely get. The movie is just cool because it's a visual interpretation of the book. With books-turned-movies, I try to hold the two separate in my mind and appreciate each for their strengths. For example, Percy Jackson. Fun book. A blast, actually. Movie: also a blast. But COMPLETELY DIFFERENT. But still really cool. Now, some books-turned-movies are truly and seriously terrible, such as Eragon. *shudder* That was just a bad movie. But back to the topic.

*SORTA SPOILERY, WATCH YOURSELF* Hunger Games made an interesting movie because they could show stuff Katniss couldn't see in the book, a minor downside of first person POV. We got to see the Gamemakers messing with the game in a tricked-out control room thingy with touchscreens and holograms all over the place, and it was super freaking cool. They also showed, on several occasions, President Snow and Seneca Crane in a rose garden, discussing how the Games were progressing and how to contain Katniss while still putting on a good show. There were several little added things like that, things we missed in the book because we only ever saw what Katniss herself saw. It was cool how they fleshed out Seneca Crane's character, because he's not physically around much in the book, but in the movie they gave him this fantasic fancy beard and a center part in his hair and he looked freaking awesome.

The only thing that actually bothered me about the movie was the shaky camera work. I know it's supposed to look gritty and immediate, but really it just gives everyone a headache. Something else that bothered me, but not nearly as much, was how little time Katniss and Peeta spent in the cave. In the book, that's where they develop most of their relationship, but in the movie, they had like one kiss and that was it. Huh? There could have been more making out, in my opinion. Some of the stuff they abbreviated, I was fine with; like, nobody actually wants to watch Katniss flail around in the forest for three days looking for water. Boring. And certainly nobody wants to listen to Cato screaming for hours and hours while the mutts tear him to pieces. Gross. But I do think the cave part could have been at least a little more substantial.

Whatever, I'll stop spoiling the movie for you. I thought it was awesome. Can't wait for the next installment!

And to celebrate this momentous occasion, look what I found. The first drawing I ever did of Peeta and Katniss!

I think they're supposed to be on top of the Cornucopia, but then again, my drawing skills were less than fabulous in 2009 (this sketch is from my old sketchbook; I've found so many fun little unfinished things in there!) The first time I read the book, I was under the impression that the Cornucopia was an actual cornucopia, except really big and made out of metal. Well, yeah, whatever. The point is, there are plenty of things wrong with this picture, but I like it for sentimental reasons. Peeta has always had beautiful hair in my art. XD

Commander Kip
"I mean, she's just leaning against the tree and then Peeta's like, 'BREAD!'"
Normal is overrated!