The Hunger Games Review

Second coming of Christ, or another over-hyped turd?

I rarely go to midnight showings for a movie, and when I do, it is always for something I am insanely excited for (the last movie I saw at 12:01 AM was Captain America).  The Hunger Games was the one exception to this, but I didn’t walk out of the theatre disappointed.  In fact, I walked out excited, thoughtful, and of course, tired.

Now, I went into this movie knowing NOTHING about it.  I never read the books, and I sort of figured this movie was for adolescent girls (also known as the Twilight crowd), as they seemed to be the most excited.  As it turns out, this is NOT just for young girls who like looking at hot guys that can’t act, but is actually a strong, albeit overhyped, thought-provoking piece of entertainment.

Let me start off with the story, which is actually pretty straight forward; in the future, the nation known as Panem , is divided into 12 districts (previously 13, but the 13^th doesn’t exist anymore, or so we are told), and each year, as punishment for a rebellion against the capitol, each district must offer up a male and female tribute between the ages of 12 and 18 to compete in the Hunger Games, a televised fight to the death, in which only one tribute can survive.  The main character, named Katniss (from district 12), takes her younger sister Primrose to her first reaping (the process of selecting the tributes), assuring her that her name will not be selected.  When it is, Katniss offers up herself as a tribute, and she then travels to the capitol to prepare for the games.  I don’t want to say much more for fear of giving anything away, but the story is really well done, even if it isn’t exactly original. 

The characters in The Hunger Games range from mediocre to excellent.  Jennifer Lawrence does a phenomenal job in the lead role as Katniss, and Josh Hutcherson gives a decent performers as Peeta, the male tribute from district 12.  The supporting characters are where this film really shines, such as Woody Harrelson as Haymitch, the pair’s drunken mentor, and Stanley Tucci as Caesar Flickerman, a television personality.  The rest of the characters aren’t given much depth, and there is one in particular that I imagine we are supposed to care deeply about, but instead are pretty apathetic towards their fate.

The Hunger Games is the first in a long list of insanely-hyped movies coming out this year, and for the most part, it delivers.  The story is a perfect social commentary on human nature and our attraction to violence, and does a good job of not coming off as too preachy or too hypocritical.  Normally in action scenes, I HATE shaky camera-work, but I believe that for this movie, it worked.  One reason for this was probably too keep the gore out of focus to get the PG-13 rating (gotta let those adolescent girls see it, after all), and the other was to show the sheer chaos of what was going on.  We have to remember, these aren’t hardened warriors; we aren’t watching our favorite action stars go into battle and tear shit up; these are kids, some as young as twelve, and when you think about that, the film becomes slightly disturbing.

This isn’t to say that the film is without its flaws.  The first hour or so is used to set up the characters of Katniss and Peeta, and it does a fine job of doing so.  However, almost all of the other characters are given zero development whatsoever, and once the game starts and these kids start slaughtering each other, we don’t really care, because we don’t really know them.  As I stated above, the acting is actually pretty good for the most part, but I can’t help but feel that some of the characters were cast for their looks rather than acting ability.  The biggest problem with this movie, however, is the hype.  I was expecting something phenomenal, something amazing.  And while it was a good movie, and I don’t necessarily regret catching the midnight showing, I hardly think it was necessary to do so.

In the end, The Hunger Games is a pretty damn good movie that will entertain you and make you think.  Don’t walk into the theatre expecting the best thing since sliced bread, but don’t write it off as just another teen flick, either.  There’s a deep, disturbing moral here, and an entertaining film to go along with it.

B 

Belie My Burial "Pale Beyond" Review

I was a little late in finding out about this band, but better late than never

Belie My Burial was formed in Pittsburg in 2005.  They have released a few EPs over the years, and Pale Beyond is their first attempt at a full length.  Needless to say, these guys deliver one killer album.  Some highlights include “An Abstraction”, the album opener, “Nihil Sub Sil Novum”, the first song the band released from Pale Beyond, and “The World Infernal”, my personal favorite track on the album.

Pale Beyond is an extremely progressive album, but steers clear of the “djent” subgenre that most of the progressive metal bands I listen to tend to fall into.  This, of course, has a great deal to do with the musicianship, which is top notch.  The chord choices and riff progressions are expertly chosen, and it keeps most of the tracks interesting and feeling fresh, because you are always hearing something new.  Brette Ciamarra absolutely destroys on the drums, with painstaking precision and frenetic fills, making the drumming one of the Pale Beyond’s strongest assets.

My only problem is that a few of the tracks songs tend to run together, and I can’t really discern which is which when I’m not looking at the title.  This is easily made up for by the caliber of the rest of the album though, which is insanely high. 

All in all, Pale Beyond doesn’t reinvent the metal wheel, but it is definitely worth checking out if you are a fan of progressive metal, or metal in general.  These guys definitely have good things in their future.

B+