day 1594

i used to think i was smart. yes, folks. this is not a joke. despite the humble outside impression you get from me, deep down i ate my own BS. deep down i have convinced myself that i’m smarter than you and that i can outwit you in anything you do. never have i been proven more wrongly of this, than this past week. in the last 7 days i’ve been bombarded with this inner feeling of, “i’m a freakin illiterate moron”, simply from the fact that, apparently, i’m the only person in the world who had no idea who or what The Hunger Games was. within in the last 7 days, for whatever reason, i have felt as if i REALLY am dumb. like….superly dumb.

i live in a cave. not that i like living in a cave, it’s just that, my cave is quite comfy. in my cave i’ve surrounded myself with things i like, things i enjoy and things that keep me busy..whether it be working on videos (Philippines Video coming soon), or watching sports, or….ahem……reading.

i used to think i was an avid reader.

apparently i’m not.

7 days ago i had no idea what a hunger game was. and within the next 7 days i slowly found out that i have become old, out of touch, and that The Hunger Games are to people what A Tribe Called Quest is to me.

yeah…it’s like that.

SO…with all of this in my head, i agreed to go to the MOVIE version of what apparently is “the greatest book series of all time” (according to those who keep telling me to read this dang thing).

i think i’m at a unique advantage. i have no expectations of The Hunger Games. never read the books. don’t know diddlysquat about it (besides the fact that its a post-war world sci-fi dealie…which i can dig). so given this, i think i can look at this thing MORE objectively than the reader. i’m reminded of an old SNL skit with William Shatner. you may have seen it…the one where he’s at a Star Trek convention and the fans are giving him crap because he can’t answer certain questions about the minutiae of the Captain Kirk character.

not that these Hunger Game fans are anything like that…but…because i know nothing, i expect nothing. i’m a clean slate. i can’t possibly hate the movie because “THE BOOK WAS BETTER!!”…none of that. i’m taking it for what it is.

and….well….

hmm…

let me say this…I enjoyed the movie. i thought it was entertaining. i thought it was a great deviation from the mundaneness of my usual Saturday night watching Cops on tv. am i intrigued? certainly.

but….hmm…i’m still not too sure what all the hype is about. again…having never read the books, thats probably why i don’t get what all the hype is about. the books, apparently, are so freaking good.

then..shouldn’t the movie be too?

for some fans it was. but for others, i can see why the movie may not have been up to their liking. i feel a lot was left out of the movie that probably could’ve given the normal viewer (me) some backstory as to this whole Hunger Gameyness.

of course, your humble writer here, being the smartest person in the world (sarcasm), i guess i was kinda able to deduce all the hubbub and the backstory by paying attention (unlike those that were confused by INCEPTION). i mean if you watched ANY Twilight Zone episode from the 60s, the plot of The Hunger Games seems quite plausible…even down right possible.

surprising? to me..not in the least. to others? …hmm…maybe that’s what the appeal was.

here you got kids killing other kids. downright brutal stuff..and i’m told the book is even MORE brutal.

but the whole THIS IS A FUTURE WORLD dealie…eh…been there done that. Running Man was a great movie too ya know.

BUT….NONE of that bothered me really. it really didn’t. i thought the plot was just fine and dandy and great.

the only thing that kinda irked me was the cinematography. for almost the first half hour of the thing there was not ONE wide shot. everything is up close, in your face…shaky camera stuff. it’s as if the entire movie was shot with the same camera and lens that i shot my HAWAII VIDEO with (shameless plug).

later i was told that the book is quite intimate..which i guess is why they decided to go that route. totally understandable. i could do away with the CGI stuff…but, seriously, you CAN’T do away with CGI anymore. it’s a fact of life, and one that i’ll have to live with.

but all in all i was satisfied. am i hooked? hmm…not really. but am i hooked in the way that i was “hooked” to Harry Potter (meaning…i still never read the books but thought the movies got better as they went along)? then yes..yes i am. will i remember to see the next movie? maybe…maybe not.

now the big question…

is this movie worth seeing?

hmm….I’m not too sure who this movie was made for. for someone who never read the book i feel like there was “stuff” that wasn’t clarified on purpose. that’s where i felt like this movie is strictly for the fans.

which is good. be true right?

but………a part of me can also see that this film was meant for those who never read the book (like me)…but…i think it failed just a little. maybe i’m not the audience. maybe it’s for those teenagers now who’ve never seen some of the stuff from the 80s that kinda parallels this. did this film miss them entirely..probably not. will it be successful?

oh yes.

just being in that theater, i ALREADY felt like that odd one out. i’m sure i was the only person in there that did not read any of the books and had no idea what this thing was about. there were people on the line READING the book before the movie!

WHICH again brings me back full circle (man this is long). i think what i’ve learned the most this week is that we all got different tastes. i know i know..i’m a hater. i hate everything. i hate fads. i hate popular stuff. but… hey..i’ll never get away from it. i didn’t understand the excitement behind this movie until i thought about what i would be excited about and how people would find me weird.

don’t worry folks…when that 24 movie comes out, i’ll be dressed up as Jack Bauer and waiting on the line with all the other losers. i mean….i was GIDDY AS A GIRL when i saw the ATCQ documentary. so i can get what all the hubbub was for.

so…in conclusion (finally!), i can only hope that if you saw this movie and read the books that you aren’t disappointed. a part of me feels like you will though… and i really can’t think as to why. but for those that know nothing about it, i think it’s quite an entertaining flick, if not somewhat cliched, story.

THE HUNGER GAMES

Kevbo’s Rating

@@@ 1/2 out of 5

Currently bumpin:

Birdland – Manhattan Transfer, 1980

25. March 2012 by kevbo
Categories: Kevbo's Review, The Hunger Games | 1 comment