My bad, I guess it was too good to be true. They are only free previews. That's the Kobo app for you, it's clunky and not user friendly. I apologize. You can buy them from Kobo though.
They let me download them, so I thought I got the whole books (because the only other book I did that with was Lord of the Rings, I got the entire book).
My bad. So sorry.
Oh, ha. Well, I'll see what happens.
Does it cut you off after having the app open so long, or read so many pages...?
I saw the movie today. Haven't read the books, heard that they are ok and a quick read but don't have much staying power. The movie, I think, is about the same. A lot seems rushed, even though its 140 minutes long, and none of the characters are really that interesting or sympathetic. The only thing I can remember being interested in about the plot is how the one colony that has won most of the recent games trains their tributes. But in terms of dystopia, I thought it was mostly not that interesting.
Is there a way I can get this on my iphone (yeah, I'm that guy), I can't find it on iTunes/iBooks. I'm going to see it Wednesday, and I desperately want to try and read the book first.
Kindle store is the only way.
I think that's the only e-book medium they have. I know you can basically get any book for free through Torrents...if you're willing to take that risk.
Quote:
Originally Posted by GKJ
By the way, why is the movie PG-13?
As opposed to what? Being PG or R? They say the movie was toned down to get the PG-13 rating...not sure if I buy that but I don't exactly know how much hype could've been generated by acting like this movie was super-violent and they needed to tone it down.
As for the PG-13 rating? I mean it's kids fighting to the death. Not something you let your 10 year old go to see alone...though....I never agree with those ratings. 7-12 year old kids are watching rated R movies and TV-MA shows like it's no big deal. Don't really see the point of mandatory parental accompaniment.
As for the PG-13 rating? I mean it's kids fighting to the death. Not something you let your 10 year old go to see alone...though....I never agree with those ratings. 7-12 year old kids are watching rated R movies and TV-MA shows like it's no big deal. Don't really see the point of mandatory parental accompaniment.
What's funny is that when you think about it, technically a four year old can see a G movie by themself.
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Every post comes with the Nalyd Psycho Seal of Approval.
How good is this series every girl on my facebook news feed won't shut up about it. Trying to figure out if it's just because there dumb girls or if it's actually good.
Thanks
How good is this series every girl on my facebook news feed won't shut up about it. Trying to figure out if it's just because there dumb girls or if it's actually good.
Thanks
first book is very good.
second and third are kinda meh.
girls will love the love story, men will be intrigued by the social commentary.
Saw the movie. I think it was really good and very well acted. The fan-girls in the crowd were more behaved than I thought they would be. They screamed once when the lights went down in the theater and then they were completely silent (save for crying after one of the characters died...but you could tell they were doing their best to keep it down). I think because of what they left out and what they added, the book and the movie are two completely different experiences. But it was enjoyable for sure.
All the characters played their roles very well (I thought the writing was fairly weak at times for a book to film adaptation that included the books author), but I have to give major props to Jennifer Lawrence. I saw her in Winter's Bone and she's easily my new favorite actress. She is just on another level in terms of talent. The scene where she yells at her mother was phenomenal. I heard that they were thinking of Abigail Breslin and god knows who else...they made the right choice.
Quote:
Originally Posted by danishh
first book is very good.
second and third are kinda meh.
girls will love the love story, men will be intrigued by the social commentary.
Bingo. Loved 1984 and that's what got my attention about this series. The love triangle...just made my eyes roll. I mean I did like Peeta's character and I was pulling for him but...the whole indecision about "which guy do I pick"...it didn't spoil the series...but it was pretty irritating. I actually liked the second one the best. It started out slow...but I think the second one had more overall meaning and was twice as interesting (the whole clock arena, what happened after winning, this rebellion starting their uprising)
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nalyd Psycho
What's funny is that when you think about it, technically a four year old can see a G movie by themself.
Yeah exactly.
And it's so stupid that I can't accompany a minor to an R movie or buy two tickets. I tried to take my brother to 21 Jump street and I couldn't buy him a second ticket. I had to buy a ticket for the Lorax and sneak him in. He's 14 and has seen like every single R movie that's ever been popular. Just cause I'm not 21 for another few months.
Just saw the movie and was pleasantly surprised. I've never read any of the books but as far as I can tell they appeal mostly to women...just wondering why that is? Outside of that little love triangle subplot and the fact that the main character is female, I didn't see much in the film that would appeal to women more than men. Also, was the movie based on the entire trilogy or just on the first book? It seemed to have kind of a cliffhanger ending.
Just saw the movie and was pleasantly surprised. I've never read any of the books but as far as I can tell they appeal mostly to women...just wondering why that is? Outside of that little love triangle subplot and the fact that the main character is female, I didn't see much in the film that would appeal to women more than men. Also, was the movie based on the entire trilogy or just on the first book? It seemed to have kind of a cliffhanger ending.
Just the first book.
To be honest I'm not sure. I was hesitant to pick these books up because it just sounded like...well some random teen series that was picking up steam. I kept hearing about it but it didn't seem like a must-read in comparison to any other tween series I've seen on the shelves. Then I heard it was going to be a movie with like a 150 million dollar budget and I decided to pick it up.
To be honest the romance angle is a very minor part of the series. The Twilight series is DEFINED by romance. I think the appeal to the female audience is strictly in the fact that it's led by a strong female character. The movie does a good job of showing that it's not a series written just for women. I never got that sense reading it.
It's for both genders and any age...well...hopefully not 10 year olds.
Saw it last night, thought up until the actual games the movie was a 10/10 with it's buildup, but once the games started it was a solid 7/10 the rest of the way mainly due to stupid little nitpicking by me that we all do in the action parts of movies where the characters decision makes no sense.
Spoil:
There were a couple scenes where the character could have done serious damage to the more dangerous contestants and passed it up. For example when she destroys their supplies. For an expert marksman she could've picked them off at will, or blew up the supplies without them really knowing with the way she did. Also at the end the one kid who is the bad ass that is enjoying hunting everyone else is now acting like the victim. Just seemed like to radical a change of character.
I saw the movie last night and thought it was pretty great. My expectations weren't very high despite reviews. I was most impressed by Jennifer Lawrence's performance. She was perfect. The beginning with the reaping was my favorite part.
I actually think they held back on the romance in this book, which frankly makes no sense.
Spoil:
I never felt like Peeta was "in love" with Katniss like he was in the books. It's stated multiple times that he was willing to sacrifice himself to keep her live because he cares for her so much. Peeta's character as a whole was extremely weak. I don't think it was necessarily all casting but it sure didn't help. There were times where it seemed like Katniss actually cared more about him.
I also didn't like the omission of the putting him to sleep scene but I can live with the fact that they couldn't fit everything in there. All in all I think they did a pretty darn good job. The additional scenes with the game makers were awesome.
Just minor spoilers there for anyone that cares.
Last edited by Pitt's Best #87 #66: 03-24-2012 at 07:03 AM.
girls will love the love story, men will be intrigued by the social commentary.
the frivolous little airheads...
I thought the violence was handled well in the movie--usually it's over quick, no penetration, no splatter, but you get the point (no pun intended)--but I am curious about what people who have read the book think as I am told the violence is more graphic in the text. Anybody have an opinion one way or the other?
Saw it last night, thought up until the actual games the movie was a 10/10 with it's buildup, but once the games started it was a solid 7/10 the rest of the way mainly due to stupid little nitpicking by me that we all do in the action parts of movies where the characters decision makes no sense.
Spoil:
There were a couple scenes where the character could have done serious damage to the more dangerous contestants and passed it up. For example when she destroys their supplies. For an expert marksman she could've picked them off at will, or blew up the supplies without them really knowing with the way she did. Also at the end the one kid who is the bad ass that is enjoying hunting everyone else is now acting like the victim. Just seemed like to radical a change of character.
Makes sense to me.
Spoil:
For starters, it was shown that she has a difficult time with her accuracy on the first shot. Second, she needed to put herself out in the open to take a shot at the apples, which means if she waited for them to come back she would have shown herself to the group, ruined her act of surprise, and potentially would have killed both her and Rue due to revealing herself. Also, even if she was hidden enough to kill one of them with her first shot, at that very moment they would all be running straight for her, and one mistake would cost her life. She was much more prudent than that.
Also, from the start of the game she was not prepared to kill unless attacked first. The girl from 1 wasn't intentional, the boy from 1 was killed in self defense, the girl from 2 was killed by the boy from 11, and the boy from 2 (Cato) was killed to save Peeta.
Regarding Cato: At that point in the movie he knows that he isn't going to survive. He is desperate and with the new realization he goes from confident murderer to ridiculously distraught murderer. Just another aspect of how terrible the games are for its tributes.
Last edited by ArGarBarGar: 03-24-2012 at 01:17 PM.
Saw it last night, thought up until the actual games the movie was a 10/10 with it's buildup, but once the games started it was a solid 7/10 the rest of the way mainly due to stupid little nitpicking by me that we all do in the action parts of movies where the characters decision makes no sense.
Spoil:
There were a couple scenes where the character could have done serious damage to the more dangerous contestants and passed it up. For example when she destroys their supplies. For an expert marksman she could've picked them off at will, or blew up the supplies without them really knowing with the way she did. Also at the end the one kid who is the bad ass that is enjoying hunting everyone else is now acting like the victim. Just seemed like to radical a change of character.
That's always been a part of her character. She ever really wanted to kill anyone. And in the books, Cato, the "badass"
Spoil:
Went insane at the end. I thought he actually did a good job portraying that in such a small amount of time. Like Doc Holliday said. Even kids who are trained for this are still just kids. It's a harsh ecosystem for them to be under and it broke him. And again. Katniss' character only killed when it was necessary. She was the kind that would just want to survive as long as she could if that was a way to win.
Quote:
Originally Posted by kihei
the frivolous little airheads...
I thought the violence was handled well in the movie--usually it's over quick, no penetration, no splatter, but you get the point (no pun intended)--but I am curious about what people who have read the book think as I am told the violence is more graphic in the text. Anybody have an opinion one way or the other?
Much more graphic. This was intended to be a series for young adults and some of the deaths were seriously gruesome
Spoil:
Cato being torn to shreds by the dogs
The guy who killed Rue got an arrow through the forehead, not center mass.
The girl with the knives, her death was more elaborate then just hitting her head on metal and dying.
Rue's death was toned down pretty greatly. The spear went through her and it was there for a while.
I don't mind how they toned it down. The emotional impact was still there and that's all that mattered. In the books, as well as the movie, the deaths aren't there for sadistic people to get a kick, just show the horror of the event that this terrible government is forcing on its people.
Entertaining flick. However, I thought the 2nd half of the film was far less inferior. The game itself was devoid of any tension, the "shaky cam" ruined the action / kill scenes, and it just felt rushed.
On a related note, I would love to see Jennifer Lawrence get an Oscar nom for this. With the Academy being more open minded regarding nominations and big budget flicks, I wouldn't be surprised if this happened. Or at least a Golden Globe. Her work in this was better than her Oscar nominated performance in 2010's Winter's Bone.
Last edited by chuppa chupp: 03-24-2012 at 04:30 PM.
I have a question. Ive been hearing a lot of hype about "Hunger Games". I was shopping at wal
Mart and seen the book "hunger games" by Suzanne Collins for $6, so I bought it. Did I get shortened version or something? I read the title and see that I guess it's a trilogy.
Entertaining flick. However, I thought the 2nd half of the film was far less inferior. The game itself was devoid of any tension, the "shaky cam" ruined the action / kill scenes, and it just felt rushed.
On a related note, I would love to see Jennifer Lawrence get an Oscar nom for this. With the Academy being more open minded regarding nominations and big budget flicks, I wouldn't be surprised if this happened. Or at least a Golden Globe. Her work in this was better than her Oscar nominated performance in 2010's Winter's Bone.
They typically dismiss acting roles from pop-culture flicks. She does deserve it. No doubt.
The negativity of it wasn't the problem, but by the third book Collins was just lazy.
Spoil:
- The last mission was pointless. Everyone died for no reason, the rebels made it to the palace at the same time Katniss and her team did, and we didn't even get to see the capitol fall.
- Snow is apparently an idiot, given that the capitol is portrayed in the book as having failure after failure during the war. Given the amount that the capitol exploited the other districts and the ease with which they took over, one couldn't help but wonder why they didn't this sooner.
- Peeta's character was essentially erased throughout the entire book.
- Katniss was drugged or in a hospital for 2/3 of the book.
- WAY too much action occurs "off screen."
- Major characters are killed off with zero fanfare in sloppy ways. Finnick dies because Katniss couldn't get up a ladder fast enough despite Collins implying that they had plenty of time to escape? Prim is dead? Cinna gets beaten to a pulp and then we just never see him again?
- Katniss never develops. She becomes more and more of someone else's tool as the series goes on, and the prologue seems to indicate she's an empty shell of a human. Sweet.
- The love triangle thing was built up, only to be settled by something as stupid as "well, Gale went over here, so she went with Peeta, lol."
- Wow-is-that-tough-to-believe crap: Shooting down futuristic bomber hovercraft with a bow and arrows? Hacking a televised broadcast constantly, without a hitch? The whole pods-in-the-city nonsense to make it feel like the original hunger games?
- Snow's death is lame. Crushed by the crowd? Seriously? Ugh.
- The pacing is generally horrible.
After reading the whole series, I think the first one was great... the second one was pretty mediocre, and the third just had the piss rushed out of it. It sucks to say, but I think Collins got lucky with the 1st and the sequels rode its laurels. The third was bad enough that I'd consider recommending to other reads to just stop after the first.
I felt the same way about the final book. I haven't read the books in a couple years (so I don't remember all my gripes with the novel, but those were definitely a few. I'm not sure Collins knew what to do with the plot once she:
Spoil:
Had no Arena to throw her characters into. She had a simple enough formula for the first two:
Arena + Fight to the Death + Romance = Best-seller
In the third she had to wade her way into uncharted territory with her plot and the story died. Most of it, Katniss was a nervous wreck pining over Peeta. From a writing standpoint, Collins made a critical mistake:
Inconsistent characterization - your characters should never act out of character unless unpredictability is part of their personality. Katniss goes from a determined, persistent, and independent woman to a weak-willed, flimsy character (spends 70% of the book drugged into oblivion). The concept of pressure being so intense it shatters even the strongest person's spirit is interesting, but it would extremely difficult to pull off with a main character.
I haven't seen the movie (and probably won't) but that's great it's getting such rave reviews. The first two books were definitely exciting (albeit light) reads.
I felt the movie was rushed and it left me a little disappointed. I felt some key characters/scenes were left out, especially the explanation behind them.
Example: The significance of the bread that Gale and Katniss share which symbolizes how poor they really are. They never have anything fresh or baked, especially bread which often leaves them hungry and having to hunt for themselves.
- I was disappointed that they cut out the Mayor's daughter and the mayor. She was the one who gave her the mockingjay pin when she visited her in the novel.
- There was no mention of Octavia, Flavius, and Venia were not mentioned once which is strange considering her fondness of them that grows throughout The Hunger Games and the last two books.
- The mutations did not represent the fallen tributes nor did they have any human like resemblance.
- During the explosion it makes no mention of Katniss' left ear being damanged which hampers her at times throughout the games.
- Katniss nearly died of thirst at the beginning and had to beg Haymitch to give her water. This was a significant part of earning her trust from Haymitch that a water source must have been close by to where she was and she did not need a gift.
- They didn't break the crown in half at the end which signified their defiance.
- It doesn't explain well or show Cato charging at Peeta and Peeta defending Katniss during the tracker jacker attack.
Film was great. Loved the feel pre-Games. Acting was superb all the way around. Things just how I pictured them and incredibly true to the book. Loved the scenes with Snow and Seneca.
The Games themselves were great...but something felt a little...off. I actually enjoyed the cutaways to Caesar/Seneca, but there just wasn't as much tension as I was hoping for. Some tense scenes, sure, but during the Games in the book you're on pins and needles literally the entire time. Outside of the Fire, Tracker Jackers, and Mutts, there wasn't a huge feeling of danger.
The film suffered a bit I think from shaky cam. I understand it was used to help tone down the violence, but I think it hurt in a couple key scenes. The Cornucopia scene could've been way better. I was okay with it ending quick, as it does in the novel, but you just couldn't see anything.
Still, about as faithful an adaptation as I've seen in a long while, and the additions they put in were superb. Definitely an A.
