The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes

Posted by cat2002116 on November 18, 2023
Posted in: Dystopian, Movies, Reviews, Young Adult. Tagged: , , , . Leave a comment

I read the book this movie is based on back when it first came out, so I was immediately excited to watch the movie when it came out this year…and I spent a few months looking forward to it, right from the first trailer I saw of the movie.

From almost the very first scene of this movie, I was drawn into this movie. The original Hunger Games trilogy (books and movies) cemented President Snow as one of the main villainous characters, but in this movie, Coriolanus comes across as a bit more of a sympathetic character. One of the most interesting parts of this movie was the friendship between Coriolanus and Sejanus. While it could have been a case of Coriolanus using Sejanus to get to his family’s wealth, I never really got that impression…and their closeness was one of the good parts of this movie, at least for me.

Obviously, the movie was violent, given that the whole concept of the Hunger Games was that children from each of the twelve districts were sent into an arena to kill each other. Dr. Gaul was a suitably disturbing character, given that she was the designer of the arenas. I think someone has to be disturbed to send children into those arenas to die. Dean Highbottom was much more interesting than I was expecting him to be, as he was very clearly affected by the games and had obviously turned to morphling to dull the emotions brought about by being one of those responsible for implementing the idea of the Hunger Games…although as revealed by the end of the movie, he had never expected his idea to be taken up and it had in fact been Coriolanus’ father who had officially put forward the proposal for the Hunger Games.

In the original trilogy, the Capitol seems to just be this luxurious, fun, fancy place…and I thought it was really good that this movie showed that there were much darker parts to that place, even outside of the Hunger Games. After all, the Snow family had no money at all…were facing eviction and hunger. And Coriolanus kept faking that they still had plenty in both money and food, putting on a front for his fellow classmates. As Lucy Gray put it, “I thought everyone in the Capitol had plenty to eat.” Or words to that effect, since I don’t recall the exact quote.

Speaking of Lucy Gray…she didn’t seem to come across quite as manipulative and strong as she did in the book. In the book, I was never quite sure if she had real feelings for Coriolanus, or if she was just using him. In the movie, the romance seemed to feel more ‘real’, almost.

There was a lot that went on in this movie…a lot that happened both in the Hunger Games and outside of them. I would definitely recommend this movie as one to watch, as I found it really good and entertaining. Even though I knew how things would end, it didn’t stop me from caring about the characters and the storyline as if I didn’t know how things were going to end. If you enjoyed the original trilogy, books or movies, I think you’ll probably enjoy this movie.

The Marvels

Posted by cat2002116 on November 13, 2023
Posted in: Movies, Reviews, Superhero. Tagged: , , . Leave a comment

Probably to no one’s surprise…I decided to go and see this movie on its opening weekend. I was a bit hesitant, because while I do like superhero movies, Marvel has kind of gone a little bit downhill for me. I can’t really say why that’s the case, though, because I’ve been into Marvel ever since I saw the first Thor movie…and haven’t missed a movie since then, though the same cannot be said for the TV series.

I did enjoy the fact that this movie was focused around Carol, Monica and Kamala. I hadn’t seen much of Monica since WandaVision (one of the few Marvel TV series I have watched all the way through) and I was really keen to see her in action, after she got powers and then went to join Fury.

I have not seen Ms. Marvel, to be honest, but I found Kamala a really easy character to empathise with…not least because she was drawing comics and really liked writing fan fiction/fantasising, which is something I can really get behind. Her hero worship of Captain Marvel was really cute…and I loved the fact that she actually got to meet her hero and fight alongside her.

I loved the whole concept of Carol, Monica and Kamala switching places each time they used their powers. It was such a unique idea, and a really great way of getting Kamala involved when her age really should have meant she stayed behind. I also really enjoyed seeing the conflicts between Carol and Monica, especially as I’d wondered what had happened between them after Captain Marvel and then Monica being blipped away and returning.

There were definitely Disney elements involved in this movie, such as the planet where everyone communicated through singing. It was an interesting concept, but I honestly couldn’t see any company outside of Disney actually putting that idea into practice. I actually really liked Yan’s character, especially as he seemed to have a lot of respect for them. I really liked how he told Kamala how to use what she had to fight, but didn’t try to baby her or protect her.

I also really loved seeing Goose again. I loved her so much in Captain Marvel and getting to see her in this movie, actually playing quite a big role, was awesome. I also thought that Dar-Benn was a really interesting character…and someone I would have liked to learn more about.

I did feel like there was a lot going on in this movie that worked really well and I really enjoyed watching it. I did laugh at various points and I did care a lot about the characters. One thing Marvel does well is give their villains a sympathetic backstory…and I thought they did that really well in this movie.

I would definitely recommend seeing this if you enjoy Marvel. And there is a mid-credits scene…but only a soundbite at the end, so you might not want to stick around for that.

Dream Scenario

Posted by cat2002116 on November 13, 2023
Posted in: Comedy, Horror, Movies, Reviews, Science Fiction. Tagged: , , , , . Leave a comment

Okay, so I was interested when I saw this movie advertised, due to always having a strong interest in dreams and how the subconscious works, at least in fiction. And the idea of a whole lot of people randomly dreaming about a completely random person (a completely average person, in the words of many characters) was a really intriguing one.

I do have to say that I found Paul to be quite a bland, uninteresting character. The most interesting part of him was the fact that he kept on appearing in random people’s dreams…and it was especially interesting to see just how weird people’s dreams were, although a lot of them were still real-world based. I don’t know about other people, but I personally have had a lot of dreams that are far more fantastical in nature. This movie could have done a lot with the strange and fantastical, instead of having dreams that drew a lot from the real world. The only time the confusion you sometimes experience in dreams came through was when Paul himself had a dream! Other than that, all of the dreams just seemed written by people who were basing everything off of the real world. Where were the dreams where people are superheroes, or can fly?

One thing that I did think this movie did quite well was in showcasing how quickly someone can not only lose fame…but become a disliked figure in the public eye. While I did find Paul to be bland and uninteresting, since he seemed to have very little interest in changing his life (he talked a lot about his book he was writing, but made no attempt to actively do anything with it for most of the movie), I did feel some empathy for him. After all, even when the dreams turned to nightmares, he wasn’t responsible for that…though it quite clearly had something to do with his mental state, given the dreams did change as a result of his life getting worse.

I would have liked to see Paul take more of an active role in his own life. I really didn’t feel like he was that interested in changing things for himself, which was part of what made this film not as entertaining as it could have been.

On the whole, I felt that this movie was kind of entertaining…but there was a lot more that could have been done with it. And I would have liked to see a main character who actually did something, instead of just…well, stading there and watching like an awkward observer. I wouldn’t watch this film again, to be honest.

Anatomy of a Fall

Posted by cat2002116 on November 6, 2023
Posted in: Drama, Movies, Mystery, Reviews. Tagged: , , , . Leave a comment

This wasn’t actually a movie I would have chosen to see on my own, but I occasionally choose to go to the secret showings at Cineworld…because sometimes I like to be surprised by a film that’s showing. I was really happy when I saw one secret showing and it turned out to be Dungeons and Dragons! (I did guess that, but only because I was asked what movie I thought would be showing. I 100% didn’t think it would actually be that movie).

Anyway…I wasn’t especially taken with the movie. I think part of it was due to not being able to connect emotionally with the main character, Sandra, who was accused of killing her husband. Most of the movie involved the court case where evidence was presented and unfolded to reveal secrets and lies to the jury who were to decide if she was innocent or not. Unfortunately, while that could have been done really well, this movie just…did not.

There was no real mystery in the movie…or perhaps I should say, I didn’t care about the mystery. I didn’t care about finding out if Sandra had killed her husband or not. It’s hard to pinpoint exactly why, but there’s one point where she’s getting food from the fridge and she says, ‘I’m so tired of crying!’ and…she doesn’t cry. She’s never shown to cry, even when she complains that she’s tired of doing so.

I kind of wish that this movie had stuck to the French language, rather than constantly slipping into English, because I think that ruined the effects of the movie. I’m fine with subtitles, but it wasn’t really necessary to keep having the English language forced into the movie. It might have contributed to my lack of connection to Sandra, as it was made clear that she didn’t enjoy the French language and made little attempt to speak it even when she was in the country.

I felt like the best character in this movie was Daniel. I wasn’t sure if he was saying things because he was trying to save the parent he had left, or if he really believed them…and that ambiguity was one thing I did feel that the movie got right.

I think this movie did far too much telling rather than showing, particularly when it came to insisting that Sandra was bisexual, or that she had affairs. There was actually nothing in this movie to show that she was bisexual, or that she’d had affairs…and I actually rolled my eyes when she said, ‘I didn’t have an affair, because I told him exactly what I’d done!’, because…for someone who was supposed to be intelligent (as a writer), that was just so stupid.

I don’t think this is a movie I would recommend watching. I felt that the main character just didn’t carry the plot of the movie…which is my own opinion, of course. She was just really difficult to empathise with, which is important for a main character of a movie. But if you’ve seen the film and have your own opinions, I’d love to hear those!

Alice in Borderland Volume 1

Posted by cat2002116 on November 5, 2023
Posted in: Books, Manga, Reviews, Science Fiction. Tagged: , , , . Leave a comment


All right, so…I watched the TV series of Alice in Borderland. I binge-watched it, actually, because it was so good. So when I went into the Forbidden Planet store in Southampton, I didn’t really have a choice but to buy the first in the manga series. (That’s not exactly true. I did have a choice. I just ended up giving into that part of me that really just wanted to buy the book).

So, obviously, I was already aware of what was going to happen in Borderland, when Arisu, Chota and Karube found themselves in that world. But I still found it interesting to see the manga’s version of them appearing there. The fireworks held a much higher significance than they seemed to in the TV series…and it made me wonder just what the fireworks signified in the manga version.

I found the first game they ended up playing to be quite interesting. I didn’t quite understand the whole fortune reading thing, but it was obvious that the worse fortune they drew, the harder a question they would receive. And, of course, the final question required an almost impossible answer of how big is the Earth’s population. Considering that burning arrows had been shot at the group every time a question was answered wrongly, that threat made the game feel so much more intense. And Arisu figuring out the answer to the actual game, even if he didn’t know the answer to his question, worked really well, as the clues he picked up on made sense as soon as he put voice to what he’d realised.

I did find that the artwork for Chota’s character made him seem very juvenile…almost childishly so. He also fit a stereotype that I often see in Japanese manga: that of a perverted man (though it’s normally an older man) more interested in chasing after women than anything else. Honestly, out of the three of them (Arisu, Chota and Karube), I felt he did come across as the weaker character (sorry, Chota).

The second part of this manga was the game of Tag…which the TV series had clearly followed from this book. I enjoyed the inclusion of a familiar character, who was my favourite in the series. And it was particularly interesting to see his gameplan, in comparison to the rest of those caught in the game. And it was great to see Usagi appear in the book, too, even though she and Arisu didn’t have that much interaction.

I would like to read the next books in this series, as I’m really interesting to see how the characters were first written and how they compare to their TV counterparts. Plus, the different medium will probably allow me to learn more about the characters than I was able to see in the series.

A Taste of Gold and Iron

Posted by cat2002116 on November 5, 2023
Posted in: Books, Fantasy, LGBTQ+, Reviews. Tagged: , , , . Leave a comment

This book did take me a long time to read…and if I’m completely honest, that wasn’t because I didn’t enjoy this book, or didn’t want to read it. In fact, the book was really great and it hit all of my wants in a fantasy book. However, it took me a couple of months to read…which I think might have been more to do with outside things going on than anything else.

When I originally found this book, I was really excited. Why? Because it was an LGBTQ+ book…but it wasn’t put in its own section. It was just included in a shelf that only had fiction books. So finding this book felt like I’d made a huge discovery (it’s the little things that make life fun).

There was a lot that was going on in this book and I have to say, I really liked that there was so much detail. I didn’t really feel like the book was weighed down with the politics and mystery going on…although the counterfeit money was only a really small part of what was going on.

I really loved the slow burn of this book, in the relationship that formed between Kadou and Evemer. While it was a little bit of a cliche that one person doesn’t like the other and then they eventually become friends and then fall in love, I felt this book handled that in a much different way to the same plot I’ve seen in so many other romance books. For one thing, Evemer was appointed to Kadou as his servant, or armsman/guardsman…his exact role seems to be much closer than either of those, as there’s a different term used for them than any of those. In any case, Evemer actually liked Kadou when he first met him; it was just that Kadou made a mistake that unfortunately got some other people killed, which was the main source of the conflict.

Having said that, I really liked being able to see what both of them thought. And as their feelings for each other began to change, I really liked seeing how those thoughts and their perceptions evolved. And I especially liked that Evemer actually did have a sense of humour, even if it was dry. For instance acknowledging that he wouldn’t deal with someone treating his prince badly just by talking to and insulting him, instead acknowledging that he’d pick him up and throw him bodily away. Or words to that effect.

There is a lot more to this book than the romance, and I really liked that there was such a variety of characters. There was one incredibly powerful scene where Evemer’s loyalty is shown so clearly and that scene just…made me feel so much. And I have to say that the rest of the book did the same. I definitely recommend reading it! Because it’s such a good book…and I’m hoping there will be a sequel, as I really want to see more of Kadou and Evemer. And Tadek grew on me quite a bit, so I’d like to see more of him too!

Five Nights at Freddy’s

Posted by cat2002116 on November 5, 2023
Posted in: Horror, Movies, Reviews. Tagged: , , . Leave a comment

So, I’ve never actually played Five Nights at Freddy’s…well, that’s not entirely true. I’ve played some of the game. A couple of minutes, before I ended up dying. But my oldest nibling really likes the game and the lore…and when I realised they were making a movie of it, I was immediately interested in seeing that. No one should find my desire a surprise if they know me, considering that horror is my bread and butter movie genre.

I did find it really easy to relate to Mike almost straight away. While it wasn’t clear what had happened to his parents and what resulted in him having to be the guardian of his little sister Abby, it was immediately clear that he was struggling with the guilt from his brother’s disappearance, and the fact that his life was now spent trying to find out what had happened to Garrett made him a really sympathetic character.

I really didn’t like Aunt Jane, which was probably supposed to happen in the movie. She was quite obviously meant to be a villain…and her lawyer’s actions made me stretch my suspension of disbelief, especially when he stayed and listened to her hiring people to try and mess up Mike’s life. Yes, I find ghost kids possessing anatromic robots more realistic than a lawyer ignoring his client breaking the law by hiring a group of young people to vandalise her nephew’s place of work.

For a lot of the movie, I wasn’t entirely sure what to make of Vanessa’s character. At first, I thought she was a police officer who just happened to have Freddy’s on her patrol route. As the movie went on, however, it became obvious that she knew a lot more than she was saying. And I did enjoy her interactions with Mike, especially as she was clearly quite sympathetic to his problems and attempts to figure out what had happened to his brother.

I thought there were some really good elements of foreshadowing in this movie…and one thing that I thought worked really well was the fact that, although there were elements of horror and violence, there wasn’t a lot of gore shown. I’ve mentioned before that I think a lot of horror movies are made by people who forget that less is more…and I was really happy to see that was utilised in this movie.

I mentioned above that I haven’t actually played much of the games this movie is based on, but my oldest nibling did tell me there were a lot of good easter eggs included…and they enjoyed the movie. So did I, despite being less familiar with the games. So if you’re on the fence about seeing this movie, whether you’ve played the games or not, I would definitely recommend seeing this if you enjoy horror movies!

Bodies

Posted by cat2002116 on November 4, 2023
Posted in: Reviews, Science Fiction, Television, Thriller. Tagged: , , , . Leave a comment

This TV series was one that immediately caught my attention when I saw it advertised. The whole premise was an intriguing one, with a dead body being found by four different detectives…in four different time periods. I’ve always been interested in fiction that’s a little bit out of the ordinary, so this immediately piqued my interest.

I did think that all four of the time periods were really well-developed. It was very unclear how the storyline all fit together, though, and at first my working theory was that the body had been dropped by aliens. Since the series was advertised as being science fiction, I figured that at least was an explanation that made sense…though I still didn’t know how the same naked body, with a bullet wound in his eye (and no bullet in his skull) had cropped up in four different places.

The series was set in four different time periods: 1890, 1941, 2023 and 2053. Despite the large gap between all four of the time periods, they each felt as ‘real’ as the others. While I was watching the series, I didn’t feel like all of this had already happened…even when Shahara finds the old case files that indicate the body’s appeared twice before. The switching between the four different timelines didn’t really feel confusing at all…and I was able to form an emotional connection with each of the main characters and what was going on in their personal lives, as well as dealing with the mystery of the body that had suddenly appeared.

Real representation is something that is sadly lacking in so many films, TV series, books, etc. When I first started watching Bodies, I wasn’t expecting to connect to the four main characters…and even a couple of the minor characters…on a deep and emotional level. However, the forbidden love story between Alfred Hillinghead (the detective from 1890) and Henry Ashe (a journalist from the same time period) was done so extremely well that I’m still thinking about it a few weeks after finishing the whole series. Given that in 1890, homosexuality was treated much worse than it is now (and society is still not perfect now), seeing these two come together and develop feelings for each other, in spite of everything going on…and against the backdrop of the rest of the plot…was really powerful. And there was a deep connection between Hillinghead and the main ‘villain’ of the series.

In the 2053 timeline, with Iris Maplewood as the detective who finds the body, it’s clear that something devastated the world back in 2023. There’s a news story where survivors of whatever happened talk about the effects of it…of the world going dark. And as Iris’ storyline develops, it’s obvious that she too feels the effects of whatever occurred back then. When she meets her brother, he’s in a wheelchair…and it transpires that Iris herself wouldn’t have the ability to walk if it wasn’t for a piece of technology called a SPINE.

Throughout all four of the timelines, there’s a mysterious shadowy organisation that seems to be behind a lot of what’s going on. Those involved in the organisation greet each other with the phrase, ‘Know you are loved,’ which is also used as a codephrase. This organisation is around even in 2053, with Iris being employed by them. But their whole purpose and reason for actually being around isn’t made clear until the last couple of episodes of the series.

Shahara Hasan, the detective from 2023, is a really big focal point of the series, something that doesn’t become obvious until towards the end. She was an easily relatable and likable character who clearly wanted to do right for the two young men who were caught up in everything that was going on. When she went under the table to talk to Elias, who was so clearly an abandoned, frightened person in need of someone who loved him, that was a really powerful scene.

On the whole, I did think this series was really well done. It was a ‘limited’ series (which in Netflix’s terms means a ‘short’ series), but I felt that I was able to get to know about and care about the characters. All four of the detectives had their own lives, families and problems going on outside of the dead body they’d found…which was actually only a small snapshot of what was actually going on in the series.

I watched all eight episodes of this series in one day…and I would definitely watch a series two, if one was made. If you’re a fan of science fiction, I’d say that this series is definitely worth watching. By the end, things do make sense and are connected together…and there’s a lot more going on than just a random dead body showing up in four different time periods.

Christine

Posted by cat2002116 on November 4, 2023
Posted in: Horror, Movies, Reviews. Tagged: , , . Leave a comment

I did read the original novel tihs movie was based on, a few years ago, so I at least had an idea of the storyline before I went to see this movie at the cinema…the last classic horror movie I ended up watching in October at Cineworld, actually.

In the movie, it’s not very clear exactly what Christine is possessed by…whether it’s a demon, a ghost, or something more sinister. Arnie’s obsession with the car is very obvious from the beginning, the very moment he sees it. In many ways, his changes after purchasing Christine made me quite sad. In the beginning, before he purchased the car, he was a much more likable person…and I liked his friendship with Dennis. In some ways, the changes he underwent after getting Christine were actually good, as he became much more confident. However, that confidence made him lose a lot of his core self. It was more obvious in the novel, where he starts getting taken over by the spirit of the car’s previous owner, but it’s still very clear in the movie that he loses what makes him a ‘good’ person.

I really didn’t like Leigh, to be quite honest. I had the strong feeling that she only started dating Arnie after he was influenced by Christine, which means she never really knew Arnie as himself. I would have liked it more if the film focused on Dennis, in much the same way the book did. Unfortunately, Leigh just irritated me by the end of the movie…even when she and Dennis were trying to stop the car. Dennis seemed to do a lot more than her, even with his leg in a cast.

I probably shouldn’t have felt some sympathy towards Christine…but I actually did. That was probably helped by the fact that I really disliked Buddy and his gang. For most of the movie, I was waiting for them to get their comeuppance…and I really couldn’t fault Christine for taking her revenge on them, after they completely destroyed her and ruined all of the hard work Arnie had put into her. In many ways, she made me think of a wounded, feral animal who was lashing out at anyone who had hurt her…and anyone who might hurt her. Probably not the feel that the movie was going for, but that’s what I felt.

I did enjoy watching this movie for what it was and that it’s one of the classic horror movies…but I don’t think I’d watch this movie again. I’d be interested in a sequel that perhaps explores Christine coming back; maybe to get revenge, maybe for another reason…maybe something that further explores her origins. Does she hold onto Arnie’s spirit the same way she seemed to hold onto her previous owner’s spirit in the book? That’s a question I’d be interested in seeing the answer to.

Friday the 13th

Posted by cat2002116 on November 3, 2023
Posted in: Horror, Movies, Reviews. Tagged: , , . Leave a comment

This was another old classic horror movie that I ended up watching last month at Cineworld. I actually did see it on Friday the 13th, too, which was fitting.

The movie started out as a fairly stereotypical slasher movie, with two camp counselors getting butchered by an unknown assailant at Camp Crystal Lake. Fast forward a year and the camp is being reopened, despite all of the tragedies that have taken place…beginning with the drowning of a little boy.

Despite knowing that this movie was a slasher that would end with most, if not all, of the characters being brutally murdered, I did develop a bit of a soft spot for Annie, especially when she stopped to talk to the dog that was tied up…an action which I can imagine I’d do. So that made me like her quite a bit in this movie…although I wasn’t so emotionally connected with her that I was really sad when she inevitably died.

Obviously, this movie being one of the first slasher movies meant that there were a lot of cliches that later movies (like Scream) have mocked, such as the final girl cliche and the fact that virgins are safer from the killers than those who are more sexually active.

One thing that I will say I really liked about this movie was that the young people came across as really irresponsible and only caring about having a good time. However, the moment they thought someone was actually in danger, they immediately went into action. Perhaps if the camp counselors at the beginning had been more like them, the events of the rest of the movie (and subsequent franchise) wouldn’t have been necessary.

I’ve seen one or two of the more recent Friday the 13th movies, but it was interesting to see the first movie, which didn’t have a supernatural killer as such. However, I think the characters did behave in really stupid ways…and there was very little in the way of fighting back/resistance when the killer was striking. Plus, although there were some elements of foreshadowing throughout the movie as to how the killer was involved, there was no real mystery to solve about who was responsible for the murders.

On the whole, I felt it was worth seeing this movie and how the slasher horror genre has changed over the years. However, I wouldn’t watch it again…and I wouldn’t watch it at the cinema again. Unfortunately, the whole ‘remastering’ ended with a movie that was so ridiculously loud, it ended up hurting my ears before it was even a third of the way through.