Posts tagged review

The odds were always in favour of The Hunger Games becoming a runaway success at the Box Office when it was released this weekend, but now the real question is, was it any good? 

In a word, yes. It was good. Really good. 

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Having seen all the hype on the internet about the casting for the upcoming movie version of ‘The Hunger Games’ by Suzanne Collins, I’ve been meaning to read the book for a while. On Sunday I finally sat down and devoured the book within a few hours. Seriously it was great! I’m not usually into dystopian novels, but there was something about this one that meant I couldn’t put it down.

The initial premise about reality show in which teens are pitted against each other to fight until the death really intrigued me and the whole way through I had the eerie feeling that this could one day become a reality. The way the so-called ‘Gamemakers’ manipulate the players into fighting each other was not unlike the way producers engineer the events of so-called reality shows like Jersey Shore (granted Snooki and co aren’t killing each other, yet). It was thrilling, tense and at times, tragically sad.

Many articles I’ve read about the books have compared them to The Twilight Saga novels, but honestly, Twilight is nothing compared to these. The Hunger Games are more exciting, more interesting and have a female lead who you actually care about. I’m looking forward to seeing the movie version next year and think Jennifer Lawrence is going to be brilliant.

Yesterday I went to see ‘Tangled’, it was brilliant. The film tells the story of Rapunzel with all the Disney charm you would expect. With flawless animation, an excellent musical score and a touch of magic, it was one of the best Disney films I’ve seen in a long time.

The above picture from where Rapunzel and Flynn were watching the lanterns was probably my favourite part. It was beautiful.

It ended a little differently to what I was expecting, but in true Disney style you left the cinema feeling very warm and fuzzy. I loved it.

Photo: imdb

This week Damon and Ric plotted to kill Elijah whilst Stefan and Elena were away at the lake house. We discovered more about Stefan’s past and learned that you really need to make sure you have all the facts before attempting to kill an Original. Here’re my observations about the episode:

• I love the flashbacks to the 1800s, the costumes, the elegance of it all. Everyone was very happy to have destroyed the vampires, until oh wait, what’s that? They failed. Oops.
• “I knew I was about to die. I saw the vampire who killed me and I recognised him. It was Stefan Salvatore.” Ooh, so it turns out maybe Stefan wasn’t always the goody goody he is today.
• Love that Aunt Jenna is so oblivious to everything that’s going on. Her and Matt need to get together and put those pretty little heads to good use. Figure it out.
• Alaric Saltzman is the best name ever. Fact.
• Elena annoys me a lot. The way she moans and questions Stefan’s bloodthirsty past, like it might not be true. He’s a vampire, you idiot! That’s kind of what they do.
• And did Stefan really say that he was “clearly driven by the desire for blood”? Again, You Are A Vampire, it kinda comes with the territory..
• Katherine, along with Damon, is probably my favourite character of the show. I’m always surprised when I remember that Nina Dobrev plays both parts because Katherine is so good and Elena is so blah. I especially love Katherine and Damon’s banter.
• The dinner party was great. Again mostly because Jenna was so clueless as to what was about to happen. Even after Ric had stabbed Elijah, they had to move the body “before Jenna comes back with dessert”.
• Love Bonnie and Jeremy. Thought his awkward backtracking when Bonnie was less than thrilled at the prospect of being on a date, was sweet. And the way he asked her if she liked the kiss. Poor Jer’, he really doesn’t have the best luck with women. Note to Bonnie: Pick Jeremy.
• Of course Elena would forget the most important part of ‘How to Kill an Original’ and fail to mention that it’s only valid if the dagger stays in place. Cue Elijah at the lake house. This is what I love about the show. The fact that we’re always kept on our toes and you can never really tell what’s going to happen.
• I like Elena when she’s taking control and renegotiating. Maybe she is related to Katherine after all. And to actually go through with it was amazing! Especially when she stabbed Elijah herself, which I totally did not see coming! “little tip, don’t pull the dagger out”.

The episode ended with Ric giving John Gilbert his ring back, Bonnie losing her magic, Elena taking control of hunting Klaus and Katherine’s out of the tomb! SO excited to see what happens next..