The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

Today I finally had the opportunity to finish watching Catching Fire as the plumbers were fixing stuff in my house....  Let me start by saying:  Wow... just wow.... phenomenal.  I laughed, I cried, I yelled, I hated when it was over, and don't want to wait for the rest of the story!  I have been boycotting reading the books until the movies are over because I don't want to ruin the movies that I love so much.  If the movie is this spectacular, I can't even imagine how amazing the books must be.

Catching Fire is the 2nd movie in the Hunger Games Trilogy.  It was released in 2013 and is based on the Suzanne Collins book of the same name (Catching Fire).  The first movie (The Hunger Games) was released in 2012.  Catching Fire is an American sci-fi, adventure, dystopian film.  The movie is taking place one year after the original Hunger Games movie ended.  Filming began in Atlanta, GA and ended with the majority done in Hawaii.


Lots of returning faces and some new one can be seen in the cast:


Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss (Hunger Games, Silver Linings Playbook, Winter's Bone, X-Men:First Class)
Liam Hemsworth as Gale (Hunger Games, Last Song, Empire State, Expendables 2)
Woody Harrelson as Haymitch (Hunger Games, Cheers, Zombieland, No Country For Old Men, True Detective)
Josh Hutcherson as Peeta (Hunger Games, Bridge to Terabithia, The Kids Are Alright, Epic, Journey to the Center of the Earth)
Donald Sutherland as President Snow (Hunger Games, MASH, Italian Job, Pride & Prejudice, Crossing Lines)
Elizabeth Banks as Effie (Hunger Games, Next Three Days, Pitch Perfect, Modern Family, 30 Rock, Scrubs)
Lenny Kravitz as Cinna (Hunger Games, Precious, Zoolander, The Butler)
Stanley Tucci as Caesar (Terminal, Devil Wears Prada, Transformers: Age of Extinction, Julie & Julia, ER)
Phillip Seymour Hoffman as Plutarch (Capote, Doubt, Charlie Wilson's War, The Master, Moneyball, Mission Impossible III)
Sam Claflin as Finnick (Snow White & the Huntsman, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, Quiet Ones)
Jena Malone as Johanna (Hatfields & McCoys, Sucker Punch, The Ruins, Into the Wild, Pride & Prejudice)

 

Catching Fire currently ranks as the tenth highest grossing film domestically, and surpassed the sales of the first film.  For Thanksgiving weekend rankings: it was the first 2-D film since 2008 (Dark Knight) to top the box office.  It was the first film since 1983 (The Exocist) to have a female lead that topped the box office.  The film grossed over $864 million worldwide.

In order to get rid of the shaky feeling of the arena scenes from the first movie, Catching Fire's arena scenes were all shot using IMAX cameras.  Reviews of the film have been positive overall.  The final installment of the trilogy: Mockingjay will be released in 2 Parts, with Part 1 being released this November and the 2nd part coming out in November 2015.

Overall I give this movie 5 out of 5 stars.  It was nothing short of spectacular.  The characters are done excellently.  The story is enough messed up and relatable.  The Costuming is amazing.  The visual effects are stunning.  It is just an all around wonderful movie.  Don't miss it.  Re-watch value is high! 





You can view the official website here: Catching Fire

X-Men: Days of Future Past

Today I was lucky enough to get to make it to the theater to see the new X-Men movie: Days of Future Past.  This held  true with all X-Men movies, that they stay consistently good.  I think that with the first class character that James McAvoy did a MUCH better job playing Professor X.  I wasn't really seeing him as fitting into the role well in X-Men First Class, but the way he had to play his character is a role he is familiar with and he delivered it well.  Michael Fassbender (Magneto from the past) once again did a great job and actually had me imagining Magneto as a hottie.  As a Jennifer Lawrence lover, I thought that it was great getting to know Raven/Mystique more intimately.  Of course we can't leave out that Wolverine plays a pivotal role with ever badass Hugh Jackman who is looking even better than ever in his bulking up, if that is even possible after his last Wolverine movie.

In case you have lived under a rock or have missed out on any part of the series this movie:  X-Men Days of Future Past is the 7th film in the X-Men series and brought back director Bryan Singer (X-Men & X2).  The release order of the X-Men films is X-Men, X2, X-Men: The Last Stand, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, X-Men: First Class, The Wolverine, X-Men: Days of Future Past.   The X-Men Franchise is the 15th highest grossing movie franchise of all time.  As far as timeline is concerned..  X-Men:Days of Future Past is a sequel to both X-Men First Class and X-Men: The Last Stand.   X-Men Apocalypse is set to be released on May 27, 2016 and will focus on the origin of the mutant series which places it as a sequel to X-Men:First Class set in the 1980s and will feature a young Cyclops, Jean Grey & Storm.  Wolverine 3 will be released on March 3, 2017, as a sequel to The Wolverine. 

X-Men: Days of Future Past as I stated before is a sequel to both X-Men: First Class and X-Men: Last Stand.  It is dealing with the future and with the younger characters in 1973.  In the future, year 2023 Sentinels (sentient robots) are exterminating mutants and humans who help them.  Kitty Pryde has the power to send Wolverine back to the year 1973 to try to change history and save everyone's lives. Wolverine must make Professor X and Magneto work together to save Mystique or else there will be no change in the future outcome. 

X-Men delivers another great and familiar cast for the most part:
Hugh Jackman as Logan/Wolverine (Les Miserables, Australia, Prestige, Swordfish, Van Helsing)
James McAvoy as Young Professor X (Wanted, Atonement, Becoming Jane, Last King of Scotland)
Michael Fassbender as Young Magneto (Inglorious Bastards, Prometheus, 300, 12 Years A Slave)
Jennifer Lawrence as Young Raven/Mystique (Hunger Games, Silver Linings Playbook)
Halle Berry as Storm (Cloud Atlas, Monster's Ball, Perfect Stranger, Gothika, Die Another Day)
Nicholas Hoult as Young Hank McCoy/Beast (Warm Bodies, Jack the Giant Slayer, About a Boy)
Ellen Page as Kitty Pryde (Inception, Juno, Hard Candy, To Rome With Love, Smart People)
Peter Dinklage as Dr. Bolivar Trask (Game of Thrones, Low Down, Death at a Funeral, Nip/Tuck)
Evan Peters as Peter/Quicksilver (American Horror Story, Never Back Down, KickAss, OneTreeHill)
Ian McKellen older Magneto (Lord of the Rings/Hobbit, Stardust)
Patrick Stewart as older Professor X (American Dad, Family Guy, Star Trek, Safe House)

 X-Men: Days of Future Past wasn't supposed to be released until July of this year but ended up coming out 2 months early.  From the initial movie posters it appears that Rogue was initially supposed to play a larger role, but almost all of her scenes were cut in post-production.  It is reported that her cut scenes will be featured on the DVD release of deleted scenes.  The story line was inspired by the "Days of Future Past" comic story line.  Most of the filming was done in the Montreal, Canada area.  20th Century Fox was said that this is the second most expensive film they have produced since 2009s Avatar.  Overall the film has received mostly good reviews with a current score of 8.8 on IMDB and a rotten tomatoes score of 90/95% for critics and audiences respectively. 

Overall I have to say that this film did not disappoint.  The combination of the new and old cast as well as the darkness of impending doom and the time travel to the 1970s made for a great movie.  The dynamics worked so much better than it did on X-Men First Class.  I felt that they did an amazing job with Quick Silver's part and with creating super freaky sentinels.  The fighting style from the future was quite creative.  I highly recommend this film for both new and old X-Men fans.  I would give it a 9 out of 10 starts, so for 5 star cases a 5 out of 5 stars.  Check this one out.

You can also check out my review of The Wolverine