Catching Up!

I've got several items to bring to your attention in this post - as well as another separate one on Spike Lee's Chi-Raq, but this is already going to get long, so look for that one early this week.

First, Jennifer Lawrence wrapped up her run as Katniss Everdeen with the release of Mockingjay, Part 2. There's not much to say about this one - if you liked the others, you'll like seeing the ending. If you haven't seen the others, this is not the place to jump in! Donald Sutherland's performance as President Snow is well worth singling out, especially for a scene toward the end where he lays out some hard truths to Katniss who, in many ways, is still a pawn, just for another side. She's got choices to make and none of them are easy ones. The world of The Hunger Games is a dystopia and those never fix themselves just because people want them to. Keep an eye on Julianne Moore's Alma Coin - she and Snow aren't as different as we'd like to think they are. (Two sides of the same Coin? Hmm.)

Next, Sylvester Stallone and Michael B. Jordan (trying desperately to make people forget the reeking mess that was Fantastic 4) hand the Rocky Balboa tale off to a new generation with Creed, which is the 7th (seventh!) film in the Rocky franchise. I was amazed at how solid a movie this was. I must admit a certain guilty pleasure in some of the less-likely of the Rocky movies (I'm looking at you, Clubber Lang! Oh, and Ivan Drago! You Soviet machine!), but underneath the bluster was a thoroughly American tale of the underdog who won't be counted out. Creed is a solid picture, with much to say about legacies, hard work, and (interestingly) disability. A good film and definitely a feel-good one.

Netflix has released the first season of Marvel's Jessica Jones and, while I don't recommend it for anyone who thought Daredevil was too dark (there are spots in Jessica that make DD look like a Sunday-school picnic), it is astonishingly good. They went full-out film noir here, with Jessica as the hard-boiled, world-weary, hard-drinking private eye who's seen too much of this world to feel much of anything for it, but still has that tiny spark in her that want to do right in the world. Krysten Ritter (Jane from Breaking Bad) carries off the role with aplomb and David Tennant (the Tenth Doctor in Doctor Who) is frightening as Kilgrave, who has powers of mind control and no conscience. To him, people are furniture and he likes to decorate. The entire season can be easily read as an extended rape/consent analogy - in sometimes quite a literal way. For every woman who's ever been told to "smile, baby" while going about her business during the day, Jessica Jones will make you shudder and want to take a shower. The supporting cast is also strong and some seeds have been planted that will certainly come to flower in the next few Marvel projects.

Last for this catch-up post is the new release Spotlight, which tells the story of the Boston Globe's dogged investigative reporting to break the scandalous story of sexual abuse by priests and the shuffling around of pedophile priests by the Catholic hierarchy. It's a difficult film to watch in places, especially as the film progresses and you are faced with hard, cold evidence that higher-ups knew (not suspected, KNEW) that they were placing children in danger, yet continued business as usual. It's a quiet movie; one that's content to let solid performances work without being flashy. Michael Keaton, for my money, is better in this that in the over-praised Birdman and Liev Schreiber handles the role of outsider-in-Boston who has the responsibility of running with a story many would prefer to keep buried. But the standout may well be Stanley Tucci, whose role as a crusading lawyer who is patiently building an airtight case is in sharp contrast to his Hunger Games role as the brash TV host Caesar Flickerman. (How's that for bringing this post full circle?) You might have to drive a bit to find Spotlight and yes, the subject matter is upsetting, but the film never lapses into the lurid. This is a film about the power of an independent press and - in an age when too many of us get our news fast, furious, and often not fact-checked in the rush to be first - it's a reminder that accuracy takes time.

May the Odds . . .

The second installment of The Hunger Games franchise has been released and yes, it's worth a look.  I wrote about the first one back here and many of my concerns have been addressed.  It's been a while since I read the books - part of my job involves teaching teenagers, so I try to maintain a passing familiarity with the books that are the rage and Hunger Games fit that bill a few years back.  Suzanne Collins has been accused of ripping off Koushun Takami's Battle Royale, but I don't really see that.  Yes, there are thematic similarities - Takami's book (which is quite, quite good) does concern a fight to the death waged by unwilling teens raised in a totalitarian state - but Collins' trilogy takes the battle beyond the arena into the political sphere.

Catching Fire begins with Katniss back in District 12 and finding that her life has been changed, but not necessarily for the better. Remember that the purpose of the Games is to remind the districts of the consequences of rebellion and, to that end, the people are kept on the brink of starvation and despair.  How else could you convince kids to put in their names for the dreadful Reaping more than once?  (Each time you add your name, your family gets extra food rations - a choice that isn't really a choice.)  Catching Fire has a lot to say about the life of a celebrity.  Katniss and Peeta are supposed to be mouthpieces for the regime as they tour the districts to advertise the benevolence of the bloated, corrupt Capitol, but the cracks are beginning to show and Katniss just can't manage to smile and preen and stay on-script.  (By the way, there is really something deeply disturbing about the beauty product tie-ins for this movie - by buying these products, you're aligning yourself with the decadent layabouts of the Capitol whose all-important social life is dictated by how slavishly they follow the trends.  Keep people busy and distracted so they don't notice the real problems.  Much like French court life, I suppose.)

While I would have preferred more time on the arena scenes (which feel a bit rushed to me), at least they got rid of the shaky-cam which I found to be a cheap trick in the first film, as it let you think you were seeing more than you actually did.  If you're going to make a film about kids turning into vicious killers in order to survive another night, it's a tawdry gimmick to then blink away from showing it.  Katniss is soul-scarred from her time in the arena (and she wasn't all that warm and glowy to start with), and it was a coward's trick to not show that for what it was.

Costuming is gorgeous in Catching Fire - extravagantly eye-catching and the "smokey eye" is taken to bizarre extremes. Casting is strong and the characters are developed from the first movie.  (And yes, I'll unashamedly admit to being a Jennifer Lawrence fan.) Further, the underlying messages - that revolution can begin with  the slightest of sparks and the undeniable power of symbols - is one that is not bad to repeat.

For a little fun, click here to discover your Hunger Games name!