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The Hunger Games: Movie Review

Damon Houx — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 14:00:56 +0000

When a book becomes a phenomenon, its film adaptation is all but assured. And though The Hunger Games didn’t hit the ground running as a phenomenon, we’re now at a point where the books are everywhere, and the film is looking at opening to over a hundred million. Thank goodness then that Gary Ross‘s adaptation for the big screen is good – it’s one of the best blockbusters we’ve seen in quite some time. And it’s going to make Jennifer Lawrence into a movie star.

The Players:

Directors: Gary Ross
Writers: Gary Ross, Billy Ray, Suzanne Collins
Cast: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Elizabeth Banks, Donald Sutherland, Wes Bentley, Lenny Kravitz, Woody Harrelson
Music: T-Bone Burnett, James Newton Howard
Cinematography: Tom Stern

The Plot:

In the future, society is kept obedient by the televised Hunger Games, which has as a raffle where each of the twelve district puts up two children to fight to death until only one kid survives. Katniss Everdeen (Lawrence) volunteers as a tribute in the place of her younger sister, and so she’s sent to train and fight with fellow district member Peeta Mellark (Hutcherson). Katniss already shows prowess with the bow, but as her coach Haymitch Abernathy (Harrelson) tells her, survival isn’t just about being in the game, it’s about making the audience like you.

The Good:

Entertaining: Though leisurely paced at nearly two and a half hours, this is a film that moves, and for those only familiar with director Gary Ross’s other credits (Pleasantville, Seabiscuit), it’s a surprise to see him nail this. You get to sympathize with Katniss, and understand her situation, and then she’s put in the middle of this terrible battle to see if she can fight but also keep her soul. You’re with her character every step of the way, and Lawrence absolutely nails it.
Real Science Fiction: This is an actual science fiction premise that uses a potent metaphor about modern society. It’s easy to see parallels to the Occupy movement, but these notions (explored in science fiction films ranging from Logan’s Run to Battle Royale) are still potent, and it gives the film more to latch onto than just cool action, or melodrama. There’s something under the surface of the film.
Jennifer Lawrence: Though it’s been hard to deny her talent ever since she delivered in Winter’s Bone, here the actress has to carry a blockbuster film on her shoulders and does so without breaking a sweat. Lawrence delivers a great nuanced, star-making performance as an action heroine.
Josh Hutcherson: Though the actor has gained some traction by being a franchise star by accident (the Journey films), it takes a brave male actor to play second fiddle to a strong leading lady and never try to overcompensate. What’s great is that his character is a weak loser, and he reminded me of Mad Men‘s Pete Campbell.
Modern Feminist Icon: Katniss Everdeen moves the cinematic ball forward for female protagonists. Lawrence’s character plays the lead of the film – a role that would normally be played by a man – without ever being reduced to woman-ness, but is never denied her femininity. Usually when women star in films like this, their sexuality becomes explicit (think Lara Croft) or it’s just simple role reversal. This feels like a first.
Supporting Cast: Donald Sutherland is a great heavy, he brings gravitas that never feels one-dimensional, while you’ve got people like Banks, Harrelson, Bentley, Stanley Tucci and Toby Jones doing a lot with small parts. There’s good world building, and though the make-up and look might be a little distracting, future worlds need distinct looks. But where other older films of this nature build on actors giving a wink to the camera, that never happens here, and so you can settle into a world that may look goofy, but never campy.
Ambiguity: Some critics aren’t sure of Katniss motivations in the second half. Is she playing to the audience or does she feel something unexpected? I like that viewers might be conflicted about how to read the film. I wasn’t, but what is performance and what isn’t is one of the film’s great pleasures.

The Bad:

Cheap CGI: Every once in a while there’s effects work that are completely graceless and noticeable, especially in the first section. They spent the money in the right places, but still.
Franchise Building: Liam Hemsworth character is a bigger part of the sequels, but his presence here is basically a marker to denote that he will have more to do in future installments. It’s handled as gracefully as possible, but the film sets him up to be more important to the story than he is. All he gets to do for most of the film is watch things.
How the F___ is this PG-13?: The MPAA is such a strange organization, This is a film about watching over twenty kids aged 12-18 being killed, and though the violence is handled tastefully (or blurily, there’s a lot of shaky-cam during the violence) it seems what gets this over is the fact that it’s such a popular franchise. Which marks them as somewhat corrupt.

Overall:

Rare these days is the truly great blockbuster, but such is The Hunger Games, one of the smartest and most entertaining franchise films in a very long time. Great performances and a fascinating story make this a rare treat.

Rating: 8.8/10

The Hunger Games opens March 23. Check it out.

Photos:

Trailer:

Interview: Donald Sutherland on The Hunger Games

Damon Houx — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 16:00:59 +0000

Donald Sutherland has been making movies for nearly fifty years, and in that time he’s had a number of roles that could be considered all-timers: M*A*S*H, Klute, Don’t Look Back, National Lampoon’s Animal House, and 1978’s Invasion of the Body Snatchers are a lot of great movies for one career, and now he’s added another signature role to his body of work–President Snow in The Hunger Games. Sutherland recently spoke to ScreenCrave about this role, and how he approached playing someone whose politics are the opposite of his own. Check out our interview below.

What do you look for at this stage of your career when you’re with all of the different roles that you’re tackling?

Whatever strikes my heart, you know? I mean this script. It came, I read it, I couldn’t read it actually. I pushed it away, I sat back and I said to my wife, “I think I just read something that can change everything.” I had no idea about Hunger Games, anything about the books, the fascination, nothing, nothing. I only discovered that in the dermatologists office. I was getting – at my age you get barnacles taken off your head and stuff. I mean, they’re not really barnacles, but my wretched dermatologist calls them that. And she said, “What are you doing?” And I said, “I just finished shooting Hunger Games.” I got maybe the “m” of Hunger Games out and the office was suddenly filled with people jumping up and down in hysteria. And these are adults! So I figured it out.

This script came and it seemed to me that it was a game changer, that it had the possibility, if it were properly done, to catalyze, motivate, mobilize a generation of young people who were, in my opinion, by in large dormant in the political process. You have Occupy Wall Street and all that, but it has a limited base or it seems to have a limited base. And I hoped, I felt that this could maybe spread out across the country. I don’t care what they do, just so long as they stand up and do something so that they identify the political situation that we’re in. I was thrilled at that possibility.

And then when Gary [Ross] asked me to do it, to play the president, it was at that time a very peripheral part. We were in North Carolina and talking about that nature of the oligarchies and the privileged and how to administer them. And he said, “I’m going to write,” – god, he’s brilliant. He’s an amazing man, he really is. You loathe to use the word genius, but he’s quite extraordinary from my point of view. And he went away and he came back with a couple of scenes of such economy of language. Of such specificity. He said, “I think what we have to talk about is hope and fear.” And those scenes aren’t in the book. He wrote them and Suzanne Collins loved them.

But it so perfectly described what someone, an administrator, a bureaucrat, not even a leader, that Coriolanus Snow is, that he has to do. How do you keep that underclass in control? You offer them a little bit of hope. He thinks that Wes Bentley’s character would probably take over his position. He is 76 years old, he was 2 years old when the Hunger Games started. And he’s looking for a successor. And he tests Wes’ character. “You’ve allowed this girl, this underdog…do you like underdogs? You’ve allowed her to take some kind of position of power.” You know and I know – you’ve seen the movie right? – so you know that scene. And Wes, of course, fails and when you fail you die. You’re not really of any use. You have your chances. It’s kind of the same in this business these days, you know? You have that one chance and you either succeed or fail.

But then Gary nor I knew Jennifer Lawrence. I hadn’t seen Winter’s Bone. But she is, evidenced by that picture and this picture, I would say one of the very best actor working around today. I talked to Gary about George Bernard Shaw and “Saint Joan.” And I’m not a big fan of the play, but the premise is extraordinary and Shaw talks about Joan and all those guys being genius. In their particular moment of their political ascendancy they were genius, and she, Katniss Everdeen, is a genius. You know, she doesn’t know it when she goes into the arena and she’s in the middle of this coliseum, but it develops. Everything she does is correct. When she reaches down and picks up those berries and puts them in her pocket, I know that she needs them for that scene later on. I’ve read the script. But the character doesn’t know it, just the genius of that character knows that that might be a weapon that she can use. But most actors who play that will give you some, just a little hint of an indicator, that they actually know that they need it later. This girl…[laughs]. I said to her, I said, “You should change your name to Jennifer Lawrence Olivier” [laughs].

As scary and terrible a person as President Snow is…

Okay, I don’t find him scary or terrible.

Well, I was going to say that there is some sympathy because we don’t know this world and we know that something very bad happens and you can almost see fear in him. And I was wondering you’re reading on that.

I don’t think you see fear in him. I think you see challenge. At my age the only thing you’re really afraid of is Depends [laughs]. I think he sees challenge and I think he sees in this [motions mist to the wind] this Katniss Everdeen. I think he sees in her the challenge that he’s been waiting for. You know, sitting there, somebody someday is going to come up sometime. And this particular one, given how it’s all gone, you can’t just kill her. You have to find some other way of controlling her, containing her.

Your character is the only one who seems to really understand that there is a world possible outside of the Hunger Games.

Yeah, sure there is. You know, you think when General Electric doesn’t pay tax on four billion dollars they don’t know that there is another world possible where they did pay the bloody tax? Sure they do.

It’s interesting that you could really connect it to the Occupy moment. That was one of the first thoughts I had while watching this. The underdog speech is something you might hear on conservative radio.

Exactly, yeah. Yeah. Except for Rush [Limbaugh] [laughs]. I bet Lionsgate doesn’t want us to dwell too much on Occupy Wall Street [publicist walks up from behind, gives the “no” signal, everyone laughs]. But you’re right. I went there. I went to Occupy Vancouver. It felt so good. Somewhere around ’74, whatever we were doing was co-opted. It was commercialized. It became a brand and everybody lost heart. I have here [reaches for his briefcase], I have it here I don’t want to take it out, “The Port Huron Statement,” that the SDS made in 1962. Have you read it?

No, I haven’t.

Oh god, read it. Read it! Read it! It’s so…it’s just brilliant. It’s really brilliant. It’s brilliant today and I can’t read it because I can’t see properly, but it ends with something to the effect of “You might think that what we are proposing is unattainable. But we’re proposing that because otherwise what is going to happen is unmentionable.” And that’s what happened.

Can you talk about President Snow viewing this position in the world of Panem and the challenge…

No, no, I don’t see it as a challenge. That’s a grave misconstruction of what I said. He expects someone to come and challenge his position. He’s very confident. His main priority, actually, are roses. I mean, you see that he looks different from people in the community. He’s much older and he comes from a different generation, in the same sense that my parents didn’t really like Elvis Presley. I was crazy about him, and so to with President Snow in that I’m not sure how much he approves of all that. But it’s okay. Now I got out in that hallway and all those loads of people have tattoos. I don’t have any tattoos, you know? I could have “RH Negative” on there, I don’t even have that [laughs]. So that’s why he looks like he looks.

So if you’re being in the skin of President Snow and understanding him, making connections like the Occupy Wall Street, does that make you have understanding of people who are on the opposite side of that movement?

That actually doesn’t really enter into the character, but it enters into the process of my thinking around the character. Yeah, sure, sure. What he does, any actor they give the character a little piece of DNA, my DNA, and stuck a script on it and put it in a petri dish inside your belly and out comes this fella. So he’s part me, he’s part the script, and so he really is off on his own, and he certainly isn’t thinking about Occupy Wall Street or anything else. But me, sure, I muse about those kinds of things.

The Hunger Games opens March 23. Check it out

The Eagle: Movie Review

Krystal Clark — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 02:00:36 +0000

Kevin Macdonald steps into Old World Britain for his latest film The Eagle, which stars Channing Tatum in his first real period piece. Tatum with an accent is a big deal. The actor plays a young Roman general who’s on a quest to restore honor to his family’s name after a horrific event that occurred decades earlier under his father’s leadership.

The Players:

Director: Kevin Macdonald
Screenwriters: Jeremy Brock, Rosemary Sutcliff (book)
Cast: Channing Tatum, Jamie Bell, Donald Sutherland, Tahar Rahim, Denis O’Hare
Cinematography By: Anthony Dod Mantle
Original Music By: Atli Örvarsson

The Plot:

The film is based on the book The Eagle of the Ninth, which was written by Rosemary Sutcliff and takes us into the dangerous world of second-century Britain. The premise of the film centers on a Roman officer, Marcus Flavius Aquila (Tatum), as he tries to discover the truth about the disappearance of his father’s ninth legion in Northern Britain.

The Good:

The Action: Kevin Macdonald did a great job of shooting the action in this film. In a lot of war movies, especially ones with sand and swords, it’s hard to see what’s happening in battle. Everything looks like a big cluster of metal and flesh. In The Eagle, everything is very clear and straight to the point.
Cinematography: This goes along with the direction, but the cinematography was stunning. Not only did the camera get into the nooks and crannies of the fight scenes, but it also highlighted the beautiful landscape of the country side.

The So-So:

Channing Tatum: Not great but not horrible either. Tatum isn’t known for his amazing acting skills but he pulled of a surprisingly mediocre performance, which for him is a step up. Get it, Step Up?

The Bad:

The Accents: In a recent interview, Tatum claimed that Macdonald made a conscious decision to have the Roman soldiers speak with American accents. Tatum initially fought against the idea but in the end, felt that it was the right decision. Unfortunately, I disagree. Romans with American accents is 10 times more annoying than Romans with British accents. During the time that this film takes place the New World hadn’t even been discovered.
Roman Soldiers: Speaking of the soldiers, they were terribly cast. There’s nothing wrong with the actor’s talent but none of them physically looked the part. They were all small and middle aged men. I’m not saying they should look like the cast of 300 but they shouldn’t look like stray cats either.

Overall:

The Eagle isn’t an epic Roman war film and it doesn’t try to be. It has some problems but if you’re into movies that add fantastical elements to historical events, you’ll like it.

Rating: 7/10

The Eagle opens in theaters on February 11th.

Photo Gallery:

Trailer:

Will you be seeing The Eagle this weekend?

New Poster and Trailer for The Mechanic

Krystal Clark — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 16:20:01 +0000

Do you remember that old Charles Bronson assassin flick, The Mechanic? The film was released in 1972 and is one of the many films that the actor was known for over the course of his long career. But like everything else these days, the movie had to be remade and they’re switching out Bronson for Jason Statham. CBS Films has just released a poster for the flick as well as a new trailer. Check it out and see if it measures up to the original…

In The Mechanic, Arthur Bishop (Statham) is an elite assassin with a strict code and unique talent for cleanly eliminating targets. It’s a job that requires professional perfection and total detachment, and Bishop is the best in the business. But when his mentor and close friend Harry (Donald Sutherland) is murdered, Bishop is anything but detached. His next assignment is self-imposed – he wants those responsible dead. His mission grows complicated when Harry’s son Steve (Ben Foster) approaches him with the same vengeful goal and a determination to learn Bishop’s trade.

Even though this trailer is filled with cliched dialogue it’s a lot better than the earlier versions that the studio released. The one shot where Foster is holding a gun up to a door, with an unsuspecting target on the other end looked pretty badass. He’s gonna get more than an eyeful once that trigger gets pulled.

Official Poster:

The Mechanic is directed by Simon West and is scheduled to hit theaters on January 28.

What do you think of the latest trailer and poster for The Mechanic?

Source: Moviefone, MSN

Jason Statham, Ben Foster in The Mechanic Trailer

Krystal Clark — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 20:33:51 +0000

Among all the crazy new info that’s popped up online during ShoWest and SXSW, somehow a trailer for Jason Statham and Ben Foster’s new film slipped through the cracks. Don’t get me wrong, I heard about The Mechanic months ago but there was no countdown for the trailer which apparently was released today. What’s up with that?

The Mechanic is a remake of the seventies action film that starred the late Charles Bronson (Magnificent Seven alum woot woot!). The story centered on a former hitman who takes a youngster under his wing as an apprentice in the game of death (no pun intended). The student in question is played by Foster, while Donald Sutherland stars as his father and Statham’s handler. The Mechanic will be directed by Simon West and is scheduled for a theatrical release on December 15, 2010.

Before viewing the trailer you should know there are some shots that are NSFW. Other than that, this looks like a standard Jason Statham action flick, but Foster is the selling point for me. His character is the only one that doesn’t seem one dimensional, plus he’s a talented actor. Check it out for yourself…

What do you think of the first trailer for The Mechanic?

New Eagle of the Ninth Photos

Krystal Clark — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 17:00:55 +0000

It’s been a while since we’ve seen or heard anything from the upcoming epic film, The Eagle of the Ninth. Perhaps it has something to do with Channing Tatum starring as the lead, but we can’t know for sure. The film also features a mature Jamie Bell and acting vet Donald Sutherland in a supporting role. Over at Yahoo, they’ve release six new photos from the film so lets take a look…

The Eagle of the Ninth is set in the dangerous world of second-century Britain. In 140 AD, twenty years after the unexplained disappearance of the entire Ninth Legion in the mountains of Scotland, young centurion Marcus Aquila (Tatum) arrives from Rome to solve the mystery and restore the reputation of his father, the commander of the Ninth. Amongst all the drama, he meets and is accompanied by a British slave named Esca, who will be played by Bell, while Sutherland will come into the picture as Marcus’ uncle Aquila, who has retired in Britain.

I’m one of the many people who is weary of Tatum’s casting in this film due to his level of acting skill. He’s carrying a pretty large film that’s filled with a talented supporting cast. This isn’t Step it Up or G.I. Joe, these people are actually good. It also burns a bit to see Jamie Bell mutating into an adult before my eyes. Billy Elliot was a long time ago, but can any of us really think of him as anything else but that little guy?

Here are the latest photos from Eagle of the Ninth...

Does Tatum look the part? What about Bell’s character?

Donald Sutherland and Ben Foster Join The Mechanic

Krystal Clark — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 17:56:39 +0000

I love Donald Sutherland, but sometimes I question the projects he involves himself with. According to Variety, Sutherland along with Ben Foster have signed on to co-star in the Jason Statham film, The Mechanic. As you can imagine it’s an action oriented feature, and it’s a remake.

The original Mechanic hit theaters in 1972 and starred the original gangster Charles Bronson as the lead character. The film centered on a former hitman who takes a youngster under his wing as an apprentice in the game of death (no pun intended). The student in question will be played by Foster, while Sutherland will take on the role of his father and Statham’s handler. The Mechanic will be directed by Simon West and is scheduled to start production in New Orleans in the next few weeks.

I really don’t know what to say about this, because so much is wrong here. Once again Jason Statham is sticking to his winning formula when it comes to choosing his roles. I’m not surprised by his involvement, and Ben Foster isn’t that much of a stretch either, but Donald Sutherland, why? If he can make his character a mangy old man doesn’t take crap from anybody, I can get down with it, but otherwise, meh.

What do you think of Ben Foster and Donald Sutherland Joining The Mechanic?

Eagle of the Ninth Begins Production

Mali Elfman — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 17:15:12 +0000

How did this little film starring Channing Tatum, Jamie Bell, Donald Sutherland, and Mark Strong, written by BAFTA Award-winning screenwriter Jeremy Brock (The Last King of Scotland) and directed by Academy Award winner Kevin Macdonald slip by us for so long? We didn’t even hear about them casting Eagle of the Ninth, but everything is set and the crew is currently on location in Hungary and Scotland, and they have begun filming!

The film was adapted for the screen by Brock, off of Rosemary Sutcliff’s classic novel of the same name. For more on the story keep reading…

The Eagle of the Ninth is set in the dangerous world of second-century Britain. In 140 AD, twenty years after the unexplained disappearance of the entire Ninth Legion in the mountains of Scotland, young centurion Marcus Aquila (played by Mr. Tatum) arrives from Rome to solve the mystery and restore the reputation of his father, the commander of the Ninth.

Accompanied only by his British slave Esca (Mr. Bell), Marcus sets out across Hadrian’s Wall into the uncharted highlands of Caledonia – to confront its savage tribes, make peace with his father’s memory, and retrieve the lost legion’s golden emblem, the Eagle of the Ninth. Mr. Sutherland portrays Marcus’ uncle Aquila, who has retired in Britain; Mr. Strong is cast as Guern, an ex-soldier who holds crucial information about the Ninth.

Sounds kind of Lord of the Rings-ish, but with it’s own twist. Personally, with all the impressive talent behind the film, I don’t need to know what it’s about, just when it will be in theaters.

How about you? Are you excited for Eagle of the Ninth?

Astro Boy Full Length Trailer

Krystal Clark — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 19:00:02 +0000

A new trailer has been released for the upcoming CGI animated film, Astro Boy. It’s the same video that premiered at this year’s Comic-Con, and I can tell you from that experience it’s pretty awesome. The film stars Freddie Highmore, Kristen Bell, Donald Sutherland, and oddly enough Nicolas Cage. Why is he in everything lately? They’ve already released a couple of teasers for Astro Boy but this one is the real deal.

Check out the full theatrical trailer after the jump…

Astro Boy hits theaters on October 23, 2009, and is directed by David Bowers.

What do you think of the theatrical trailer for Astro Boy?

ScreenCrave.com » donald sutherland

The Hunger Games: Movie Review

The Players:

The Plot:

The Good:

The Bad:

Overall:

Rating: 8.8/10

Photos:

Trailer:

Related Posts

Interview: Donald Sutherland on The Hunger Games

Related Posts

The Eagle: Movie Review

The Players:

The Plot:

The Good:

The So-So:

The Bad:

Overall:

Rating: 7/10

Photo Gallery:

Trailer:

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New Poster and Trailer for The Mechanic

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Jason Statham, Ben Foster in The Mechanic Trailer

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New Eagle of the Ninth Photos

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Donald Sutherland and Ben Foster Join The Mechanic

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Eagle of the Ninth Begins Production

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Astro Boy Full Length Trailer

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