CATCHING FIRE

There have been a great number of books that have given me sleepless nights.  The very first that I can remember was way back in high school when I first read the Amityville book; and that because of the horror that my vivid imagination gave me.  After that, there have been an innumerable string of titles that I can barely remember the titles of, simply because I could not put them down as soon as I started reading.  But then, I can remember reading something that I had to pause in between chapters and think about what I have just read - that is, not until the second book in the Hunger Games series; Catching Fire.

After i virtually devoured the first of the series, I was totally prepared to be taken into the whirlwind of Panem after Katniss' and Peeta's victory.  As expected, the book delivered the twists and turns that though some have been forming at the back of my mind while reading the first book, others have totally unnerved me, but, totally in a good way.  If I though I was addicted in the first book, i'm totally much worst here in the second staging of the Hunger Games.

Katniss as always is the girl on fire.  The other cast of characters have been totally hard to hate and its hard to root for the main characters when some of the other tributes are equally as appealing.  Finnick, Johanna and the rest have given me stunned minutes as I imagine how they might look like.  The ending is as always a bomb!

I still can't wait to see the first of the titles on screen as Hunger Games open in theaters March 23, 2012 but now I have something else to watch out for, Catching Fire, out in theaters November of 2013.

Now I'm on fire as I am immersed in the third and final installment.

HUNGER GAMES

I have heard a lot of good things about the HUNGER GAMES trilogy by Suzanne Collins but for some reason, I did not have the push to read the book when I started by YA bookfest late last year.  It was only when I had nothing else to read that I finally got down to haphazardly read the first book of the post apocalyptic series.

And boy was I blown away.

The Hunger Games series is set in the future where the continent of North America, or what is left of it has been taken over by what is known as the Capitol; a pseudo-communistic government that is led by the snake and rose smelling President Snow.  The center, Capitol, is home to the rich and privileged while the rest has been divided into Districts.

In "celebration" of Capitol's win over the people, the districts are made to "sacrifice" two of its teens every year in a reality-television game of survival where the lone winner must kill each and every other tribute in the arena.  In its 74th year, the Hunger Games pits 24 youth whose cunning, skill and sometimes luck will eventually decide the victor.  It is a story of Katniss, of Peeta, of Gale and the rest of the cast who though some are silent in the book have made what could only be one of the most exciting premise I have ever read.

I was so immersed on Hunger Games that I lost tract of time and am currently devouring the next book.  Sad, I may be as the pages I have yet to read gets thinner, I hunger for the third book and am eagerly awaiting the movie coming out next year.

For those who wish to see the movie and is excited on how they look, here are the main cast of HUNGER GAMES coming out March of 2012.

KATNISS EVERDEEN

PEETA

GALE

PRIMROSE

CINNA

THRESH

RUE

GALE during the District 12 reaping

Katniss and Gale at the forest near District 12

Katniss as District 12 tribute

Peeta at his family's Pastry Shop

love is for the living

Nobody ever gets to see what could have been.

Oftentimes, we strive to hang on to the memories of a loved one who dies.  If the ties in living has been too strong, we can barely let go of the person's existence that more often than now we will ourselves to believe that they are still with us.  But, even if we make ourselves believe, there will always come a time that we have to let go and learn to live the rest of our lives with only memories. 

i never really wanted to watch CHARLIE ST. CLOUD.  not for anything else but for the presence of zac efron.  i was not really a fan much was my irritation to his character in high school musical.  i was never into cloyingly sweet and teeny booper films with saccharine love themes.  


i knew it was a novel but still i was not attracted enough for me to be interested in watching.  much do i regret it now.


charlie st. cloud is a miracle of a movie.  not only are the shots a seemingly parade of stunning still shots but i truly admire the maturity that zac efron has given the character of charlie.  for sure, my bias on him has gone into the light with his prowess in this film.  

the film is a story of love, of brotherhood, of faith, of life, of death and the overwhelming power of belief and the lessons that we need to learn as we grow older and how we need to let go to be able to move forward.


*now, i think id like the book...

what big eyes you have?

a lot of fairy tales and children's stories have been re-envisioned and made into movies.  most of them packed with effects and other come-ons that have made the retelling into visions that have mesmerized viewers into awe and often times wonder.  the stories may be the same but then again, these films have again delighted those that have seen them.

to this list i add the new RED RIDING HOOD.

the story is familiar.  the village girl with the red cloak, a grandmother living on the outskirts of a forest, a woodcutter and of course the wolf.  but then again, this is where the similarities end.

the movie, directed by TWILIGHT director, Catherine Hardwicke is an all new fresh take on the red riding hood movie.  for one, the wolf is now a werewolf and from the trailer itself we feel that the movie rides on the suspense on who the werewolf really is.  throughout the film, we are given clues and chances at guesses that for me have all proven false in the end.

Hardwicke delivered the throbbing suspense and who done it thrill throughout the movie.  though I knew that she directed the all popular vampire series, I never saw any similarities with the way she directed this film apart from the instances of MTV like sound scoring that is very twilight in feel.  other than that, the film is totally different.

the scenes are superb.  in fact, from the opening scene id describe each sequence as well executed with each frame made to look like graphic novels or a page in a children's picture book. but a child's story this is not.

yes, the story is familiar to us; although the whole LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD story is summed up within the last 15 minutes of the film. here we see a mature red riding hood, thrown in are the sensual feelings of a girl enamored with a handsome woodcutter, the issues of religion, beliefs and values of friendship, family and love.

red riding hood is a movie but one that takes us away into a world of child's play but with an adult's view and the horror and feelings that make them real.

THATS A WHOLE LOT OF SHAMPOO

another boring afternoon.  without much to do, i decided to browse the web and without meaning to got into a movie site where you can actually watch the movies for free without having to download anything.  in fact, i found it to be a very user friendly site with even the movies currently showing on the theaters available to be viewed.  now, apart from books, movies have always been a passion.  and if you promise not to laugh, my secret interest is to watch animated films made of kids.  well, not the spongebob (i totally hate the yellow bar of whatever), naruto or those being shown on tv but the story driven ones usually made by disney.

so on this boring afternoon, i decided to watch TANGLED; having missed the local run for whatever reason or another.

now, tangled is a reenvisioning of the classic Rapunzel story of the princess trapped in a tower.  but in true disney fashion, it was rethought of and given a story that would have better appeal to the modern day audience.  and as the first 3d animation film of disney that i truly enjoyed, it had all the better qualities of the fairytale freehand animation that the company did years before.  truly, i could classify it more along the lines of beauty and the beast and alladin than shrek and toy story.  

though it ran along the same lines as the original Rapunzel, it changed some of the gist and totally made it click.  if given much thought though, it could mean a growing up story and the freedom that teens want from their parents' sometimes too narrow minded guidance.  a sort of psychologically based animated film that carries the angst of growing up and the rebellion to be somebody else.

it also follows the dream of freedom to be what one must need to be in life.  that sometimes we have to run away from the shelter of it all to be ourselves; that there are times to let go of daydreams and make the dreams into life.

honestly, im too old for fairytales.  but since i have only just began to live and make dreams of reality, this lowly animated feature brought tears to my eyes and a sob from my throat.

in totality, tangled is a movie for kids.  but then again, aren't we all kids? hoping for that all elusive glimpse of the child that still makes magic in a world of harsh realities.  but maybe, without a need for a whole lot of shampoo!

*heres a link to TANGLED if you want to catch your childhood for the next 100 minutes -
http://vidreel24.com/movie/tangled-2010.html

i am number four (a review)

a common trend in movies is giving visions to words that have proven to be popular to readers, not only prompting them to watch and compare how their imaginations compare to that of the movie makers but also giving the opportunity to those less inclined to read the chance to share in the spectacle of how more "creative" people create worlds and circumstances that they otherwise would not have thought of.  in a few instances, the process is even reversed if a film has been popular enough that it deserved to be put into words.    in my remembrance, thats how it usually goes, never have i heard of a book optioned to be a film before it was published.  that is, until I AM NUMBER FOUR.

a novel of the same title written by james frey & jobie hughes (collectively known as PITTACUS LORE), it follows the story of a young man by the name of JOHN SMITH who turns out to be one of nine alien children gifted with extra-ordinary powers (no, those are not flashlights in his hands) and destined to save the world.  originally coming from the planet LORIEN, these nine children were scattered all over Earth with each a guardian that must guide them and hide them from the deadly MOGADORIANS set to conquer Earth after delivering Lorien to destruction.  the story is set in PARADISE, OH where Number Four aka John Smith struggles to stay anonymous after the death of Number 3 in the jungles of Kenya.

as a book, it kept me awake until I was done with the last page; including the first chapter of the next book in the series which is entitled POWER OF SIX set to be released August of this year.  (something i should not have done since I cant wait for it to come out - spoiler: its the story of SEVEN)  it had all the right ingredients of a well packed action and sci-fi with the right amount of mushy stuff inside.  and since then i had been dreaming of the scenes, the magic and the almost smallville-like discovery of power.

as a movie, its different.  the story is there, the action is there, and as movies from novels go - the magic.  i remember suddenly the outworldliness of harry potter, the mystery of narnia and the sweeping panorama of lord of the rings.  and like before, i forced myself not to compare what i see onscreen to the thoughts that i created when i was reading them.

as expected, some things were changed to fit into the media that is film.  but the more important stuff were kept and some were even added so as to be easier for those who were not fortunate enough to read the book.  from the death of number three to number four's discovery of his first legacy one cant help but be propelled like the story is pushed to its climax.  be amazed, gawk and be surprised ( i was surprised even if i knew what would happen next).  alex pettyfer {this 20 year old  british actor is set to be known as the novel prince; i saw him first as alex rider (2006) , he is set to be the beastly (March, 2011) , jace wayland in the city of bones,mortal instruments (2012), and talks are for him to play Peeta of the Hunger Games (2012)} shines in this film, though obviously older than the fifteen year old Number Four of the novel, the movie was adjusted to fit him perfectly.  the rest of the cast does not fail either.  Callan McAuliefe, the young australian actor playing Sam will be an actor to look out for, and NUMBER SIX totally sizzles.

as for the other aspects of the film, its all there; effects, suspense and a totally to die for soundtrack (some parts of the film plays like a music video - awesome!)

for the most part I AM NUMBER FOUR, both book and movie is highly recommended.  a word of advise though, i'd rather you watch the movie first then read the book.  you'll enjoy both all the better.

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