Katniss Marketing

In the buildup to the last installment, Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) is literally paraded by the rebel factions hidden in District 13. Led by President Alma Coin (Julianne Moore), Katniss becomes a thoroughly marketed symbol of hope for all the Districts breaking out in rebellion, with the highlight being a particularly rousing speech in District 8 post the bombing of a hospital. In the backdrop plays out the impending confrontation of Katniss with President Snow (Donald Sutherland), and the release of her boyfriend Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) with some complicated side-effects. Clearly a bridge-ing movie, The Hunger Games – Mockingjay – Part 1 preserves continuity, but has little new to offer

13.5/20

Girl on Fire

If you ignore the sheer murder of elements of ancient history – the pomp and splendor of the gladiatorial arena adorned by tributes in lycra, the hackneyed morality tale meets teen romance storyline, and the hangover of a tepid first part, The Hunger Games – Catching Fire is actually a (gasp!) taut well-narrated story. Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) and Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson) find themselves reluctant ambassadors for the Capital and President Snow (Donald Sutherland), and their ambivalence and potential to cause disruption is well-noted. Enter the latest edition of the games, and this time it is the 75^th edition and a kill-or-be-killed across previous winners. What the movie obviously lacks in a meaningful storyline, it makes up in some pretty cutting edge cinematography. Worth a watch and will not test your patience at all

14/20

No Hunger

Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) offers herself as a tribute to save her sister Primrose (Willow Shields) - and the Girl on Fire makes up in spunk what she lacks in battle training. As her personality manages to curry favor - albeit grudging - with Sponsors - Katniss steps into The Hunger Games - well rated, but perhaps with not the best of odds. Was skeptical at entry about a film adaptation of a teen novel, but was a good watch till the interval, i.e., the anticipatory build-up to the games. Not so the Hunger Games themselves. Contrived and brutal, and not quite Death Race, the movie version is a decent adaptation of a story about children slaughtering each other – and that, unfortunately, in the end reckoning, is rather tasteless

10/20

Eagle One

Marcus Aquila (Channing Tatum) has clearly not seen movies of the likes of Centurion. Hence when his father disappears with the Roman Ninth Legion in a Britain infested with Celtic hordes, Marcus sets out to redeem the family’s honour, into a territory so hostile that, beyond Hadrian's Wall, it marks the end of the Roman Empire. Marcus sets out into North Britain with the fiercely clannish local slave Esca (Jamie Bell) and manages to connect with the past – however, it is utterly uncertain whether he will manage to achieve his objective of recovering the Roman Eagle from an unrelentingly hostile territory. This is a reasonable watch but in all fairness outclassed in its genre. Watch this when you have run out of period movies, including (the Pict-infested) Centurion

12/20

The Peoples Princess.. er, President

For a nation that prides itself on being the guiding light for egalite', the realityis that there has been no female (US) President till date. Commander in Chief seeks to undo that inequity, albeit only in a TV series. The talented Mackenzie Allen (Geena Davis), who is everything that a copybook woman politician should be except overtly political, finds herself holding the highest office in the land in rather fortuitous circumstances. And immediately upon taking office, she has to toe the line on several issues of global import that her feminine charm helps handle with more than a little elan. Strictly for casual viewing, and kid-gloves approach to realpolitik not recommended for dealing with real life crises

11/20

Children of Modern Men

Currently, The Chronicles of Narnia - Prince Caspian (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0499448/) vies with Iron Man (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0371746/) for the US box office sweepstakes (#1 and #2 respectively) as well as remarkably high accolades (8.0 and 8.3 respectively on IMDB, currently). The latter is truly a remarkable movie. It is my hypothesis that the birth of the genre called the graphic novel has lifted the comic genre to a whole new stratosphere of consummate acting and emotive drama, with the so-called superpowers as a mere backdrop. Batman Begins starts the trend to my mind, and it shown so signs of abatement till I guess the Disney pantheon is exhausted. And of Prince Caspian - well, what can I say save it is a children's movie and best not reviewed by me. And with all due credit to authors and scriptwriters of *similar* genre, teleportation from London's subways and LOTR like vistas are beginning to get me down more than a little

Diane Lane (and Donald Sutherland) excel in Fierce People (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0401420/) but the movie certainly does not. The analogy that runs through the movie is a fairly weak hypothesis, the similarity of tribal ritual and those of the well-heeled - well, whoever labelled the latter as saints anyway? The tribal inserts are discordant at times and one cannot help but think that there is a singularly misplaced expectation that the audience expects some form of "barbaric/ primitive" behavior from the tribe, which the moviemaker is at pains to persuade is surpassed by the urban rich. A bit of a wasted effort, really