Tag: The Hunger Games

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Snapshots

By Amy Spiegel

Brief comments on film by Amy.
Some old, some new.  Domestic films and foreign too.

Maybe it’s the spring time sunshine, but I am pleased to present an almost entirely positive set of reviews to you this month. I have more negative things to say about the previews shown beforehand than the films themselves. What’s up with showing Footloose previews before Hugo, Mr. Movie-Preview-Approval Dude?!?

Sherlock Holmes 2: A Game of Shadows — I am not much one for action-adventure films but the older boys have been bugging me to see this sequel since Christmas Day, when they returned from the theater with their dad. So over Spring Break, we lucked and found a discount theater that was showing it. Of course, one of my boys (Sam) decided he didn’t need to actually accompany me to the movie and went with his friends to see So We Bought a Zoo. Bailey went with me, but I am pretty sure that was because I almost cried. But I digress. Saw the movie, found it very entertaining. Definitely worthy of a discount theater viewing. As a side note, I may have mentioned before a Sherlock Holmes mystery series by Laurie R. King. Also very entertaining. A good beach read if you are in the market for one.

Hugo — I fear my experience of this one was a bit diminished by the fact that the kids watched it…twice, before I got a chance. So I had picked up bits and pieces while straightening the living room and emptying the dishwasher. Still, it was a beautiful film. Pure and beautiful.

The Hunger Games — So we have been waiting for this film…f..o..r..e..v..e..r! We have been making do by watching the trailers over and over. Jim even read the book in a day and half in order to go with the older boys and I to the theater. (That’s the Spiegel, or more to the point Mom Spiegel, rule—you don’t get to see the movie unless you have read the book first.) When people asked me if I liked the film, I kept saying “If you liked the book, you will like the film.” This maybe isn’t the ringing endorsement it might seem. The movie is good but it is regrettable when filmmakers cower so to book fans that they compromise the movie in order to stick with the book. Learn from Harry Potter and make a good movie that stands on its own. If you do, it will endless loop back and forth as fans of the movie are then drawn to the book and then to the movie, etc.

Crazy, Stupid, Love — Hated it and don’t really have much to say beyond that. I went in loving Steve Carell and still do, but hate, hate, hate it when as my friend said “There is a complete lack of character consistency.”

Honorable and Not So Honorable Mentions — Moneyball: Enjoyed it more than I thought I would, but what is going on with Brad Pitt’s face?  Downton Abbey: Season 2: The writers scared me a bit midway through the season but they pulled it off in the end. Jim is still desperately awaiting its arrival on Netflix. I told him PBS was pulling it off their website, but did he listen?  Pillars of the Earth: Fascinating history lesson but I could have done with so much cleavage. Somehow it takes away from the horror of the raping and pillaging when all those being raped and pillaged are suspiciously attractive. Awake and Up All Night: These are my two new favorite shows. One leaves my mind teetering on the brink of confusion, the other makes me laugh so hard I pee my pants. It’s a messy but satisfying combo.

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Book Blurbs

By Amy Spiegel

Over Christmas break, I did two things (other than celebrate the birth of Jesus and spend time with the fam, of course): read books and watch Parenthood. I will save Parenthood for another day. For now, here are some of the books I read in the last few months.

Killing Lincoln: The Shocking Assassination that Changed America Forever by Bill O’Reilly and Martin Dugard — There are some subjects I simply can’t get enough of and Abraham Lincoln is one such subject. I highly recommend both Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin and Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln’s Killer by James L. Swanson. I was curious to see what new light O’Reilly and Dugard had to shed on the subject of Lincoln’s death and was not disappointed.  Their contextualizing for the reader with the culmination of the Civil War added to my sense of the tragedy of Lincoln’s assassination as well as providing insight into the forces that drove John Wilkes Booth. I found myself actually becoming angry at Lincoln’s seeming disregard for his own safety. Like helplessly watching the horror film character walk, unarmed and alone, into the dark and eerie basement to go “check out the strange sounds,” I wanted to yell, “Forget the theater. Stay in the White House and knit socks, for crying out loud!” I was hoping for more of what the subtitle promised, the impact of the assassination in the broader context of American history and I am not sure I buy the hinted conspiracy theory that involves Secretary of War Edwin Stanton, but I suppose that in Washington DC, anything is possible.

The Hunger Game Series by Suzanne Collins — After taking a hiatus from middle school literature for a while, I was ready to take the plunge again and since these books have been all the rage among our oldest, his friends as well as teachers, I thought I would give them a try. I love the premise (America has fallen into chaos and is now divided into districts which are controlled by a hedonistic and oppressive power known as the Capitol). I also like the main character, Katniss Everdeen, a believable mixture of courage and loyalty as well as stupidity and stubbornness. Like many books written for fifth and sixth graders, though, at times I found the series frustratingly unbelievable. I am not sure that my frustration is entirely fair. Is it a matter of poor writing or just that reading the thoughts of a confused and immature female character can be annoying? Collins is also limited by the reading level and comprehension of her audience. Despite its flaws, the series delivers a great deal of insightful social commentary, and in the end I couldn’t help but cheer for Katniss.

Counterfeit Gods by Timothy Keller — This book has been highly disappointing. Jim uses one of his texts for a class, and we have used some of Keller’s Bible study guides in the past, so I was looking forward to reading this, my first book by Keller. I am not a fan of imposing feelings and thoughts on biblical characters in order to make a theological point. His conclusions are right on, but I don’t think his ends justify his means. Stick to the text, buddy, and keep your suppositions to yourself.

 

The Five Love Languages for Children by Gary Chapman and Ross Campbell — I confess that I generally avoid parenting books. After reading most of them and discovering all the ways I am screwing up my children, perhaps even sentencing them to years of therapy, I am overwhelmed with the desire to hide under the bed with the dust bunnies and never come out. (This isn’t exactly practical, however, so I just hide the books under the bed instead.) I had read one of Campbell’s other books and have been devouring this one as well as two others recommended by a friend. The book has left me feeling encouraged (that I know my kids in ways that I would not have been able to articulate otherwise) and inspired to be a better parent. While I take all the psychologizing with a grain of salt, it’s a small grain of salt, and I highly recommend this for parents as well as for adults who are seeking to better understand their own childhood and its impact on their current relationships.