‘The Hunger Games’: Never Go See a Teen-Targeted Film on Opening Weekend

I saw The Hunger Games on opening night yesterday which was probably a big mistake. It wasn’t a mistake seeing the movie itself, because it was actually a very good and faithful adaptation of the novel. It feels wrong to say that I enjoyed it because it’s such a disturbing story about children killing children, but as a Hunger Games fan, I appreciated it. Jennifer Lawrence was fantastic, as always, and more than carried the film with her powerful on-screen presence. 

However, I do have two points to make. One, do yourself a favour and never go see a preteen-targeted film when it’s first released, because anytime a boy appears on-screen and there’s anything even remotely romantic, there will be unwarranted amounts of squealing and shrieking, which is not only very annoying, it ruins the mood. So whether you’re Teem Peeta or Teem Gale, shut the hell up because amidst all of the oohing and aahing, dialogue gets lost.

Two, it was extremely disturbing to witness a theatre full of children cheering when the so-called villainous tributes were killed. Yes, there was actual clapping when children were being slain onscreen. Obviously there’s been a disconnect of sorts between what author Suzanne Collins intended and how the audience was reacting. It seems like the audience kind of got lost in the drama of it all and forgot that the story is about how unjust and wrong the Hunger Games are. It’s supposed to show that no matter who is being killed, it’s horrific and sad to subject children to murder for sport. But somehow the movie audience was doing exactly what the Capital’s residents were – getting off on watching kids killing kids.

It's Back! It's Why You Need to Watch 'Community'

After all the hoopla surrounding the cancellation or postponement (whatever you want to call it) of Community, I ploughed through the existing two and a half seasons and I LOVED IT. It's exciting that the social media world could literally bring back Community from the dead, with Facebook pages, petitions and Tumblrs all in support of the show. Unfortunately though, these folks may make a lot of noise online but it hasn't been translating into viewer-ship. So spread the word - Community is an awesome, hilarious and smart comedy. The unlikely gang of misfits at Greendale Community College will steal your heart and keep you laughing (out loud - which is quite an accomplishment these days). We have to fight back against crappy TV. Enough with the Jersey Shores, the Glees and the American Idols. If you're going to watch network TV, then at least watch something good. Like Community. Which returns tonight with new episodes! Six seasons and a movie, people. Let's make it happen.

'Sons of Anarchy's Kurt Sutter Talks Social Media at Paley Fest

Kurt Sutter is hands down one of the best show runners in the business. He doesn’t just write and produce one of today’s best television shows, but he actually gets what makes a show successful today – and that’s social media. He gets that it’s not just about putting together 12 solid episodes for fans to watch each week, it’s about making connections with fans, connections strong enough so that if your show is ever in danger of cancellation, like Community was earlier this year, fans can actually make a difference. At this week’s Paley Fest panel for Sons of Anarchy, Kurt explained his use of Social Media so eloquently that I just have to share it. I’m paraphrasing of course, but this is pretty much what he said...

“For me it’s just about staying connected to the fan base. I don’t underestimate the power of social media and when you have a show that has this strong a fan base and when you’re only on for three months out of the year, I feel it’s my responsibility as a producer and a show runner to continue to engage people and keep them interested and keep them excited about what’s coming up. And I do that as much as I possibly can. Sometimes for my own survival because I want the show to be successful but also because I know how difficult that is and I appreciate that. We really struggled with that on The Shield, we would lose fans with each season because of the break. And I didn’t want our show to suffer that same fate. So I stay engaged, I try to stay active and really sometimes it backfires on me but for the most part it’s been great.”

Kurt Sutter manages his Twitter feed, a blog, and puts out weekly production videos on his YouTube channel.

Part 1: Sound's a bit off in the beginning.

Part 2 (with the bit on Social Media):

Demián Bichir Breaks Hearts in 'A Better Life'

A Better Life, a film about a Mexican gardener living in East LA, does a great job of bringing attention to a considerable cultural issue among immigrants. The so-called ‘melting pot’, celebrated in the United States as something meant to eliminate cultural differences, does more to make kids resent their cultural individualism, something so wonderfully highlighted in A Better Life. The relationship between single father Carlos, played by Demián Bichir, and his teenage son, to be honest, kind of broke my heart. Carlos spends the film slaving away to make something of himself for the sole purpose of providing opportunities for his son in America, opportunities that don’t include joining a gang or dropping out of high school. All the while, his son Luis lazily slacks around the house and gets into trouble whenever he does choose to go to school.

As a first generation Canadian, I know and understand the struggle to maintain your cultural individualism while attempting to ‘fit in’ and mould into a Canadian. It’s tough – especially with parents who’ve sacrificed so much to give you a better life in a more secure country. So it hits home, and Demián Bichir’s performance was more than deserving of his Oscar nod.

Oh, and remember when he was Nancy Botwin's spank-buddy slash Mexican drug lord husband Esteban on Weeds?! Yeah, couldn't believe the transformation either.

The Best TV Dramas of the Past 25 Years

Vulture.com, one of the best culture blogs around, is doing a series to determine what the greatest TV drama of the past 25 years is, and it got me thinking about what I consider to be the best. HBO revolutionized the TV drama, making it more about the overall narrative of the series, and less about what happens in each individual episode, and it’s because of shows like The Sopranos and the emergence of TV DVDs and DVR, that the way we watch TV has changed. We're now more likely to sit and watch an entire season in a few sittings, as opposed to waiting a week for a new episode.

My picks:
The Sopranos
Six Feet Under
Breaking Bad
Friday Night Lights
Sons of Anarchy

Notable mention goes to Mad Men. And as for #1, it’s hard to choose. My gut tells me to go with The Sopranos because I love every minute of every episode of every season, including the phenomenal cast, the acting, and the narrative, but I think each show I’ve selected brings something very different to the table. It really is impossible to compare a show like Friday Night Lights to something like Sons of Anarchy.

Sons of Anarchy - Give SAMCRO a Chance

In the past month, I’ve become completely consumed with Sons of Anarchy, charging through the first four seasons TWICE. It's bordering on destructive, I know, but I’m finding it excruciating to wait until next season.

Sons of Anarchy follows Jackson (Jax) Teller (Charlie Hunnam), Vice President of the Sons of Anarchy Motorcycle Club also known as SAMCRO, in the fictional town of Charming, California. Although, if we're being honest, it's not so much a motorcycle club, as it is a gang that buys and sells machine guns to various other crews in neighbouring towns. Charming’s residents seems to respect them, perhaps out of fear, but at the heart of it all, SAMCRO is a brotherhood of blue collar guys just trying to continue on the tradition and legacy passed down to them - to ride and protect their town and family.

Making up the rest of the main cast is Jax's step-father Clay (Ron Perlman), President of SAMCRO, and Jax’s mother Gemma (who married Clay after his Jax's father's death), played by the fantastic Katey Sagal, the matriarch of the club. This is one woman you definitely want on your side – in the first episode alone, she eerily hands a crank-filled syringe over to her son’s junkie ex with the intent of killing her. Gemma’s freaking scary, she’s no damsel in distress. It’s a nice change to see such a powerful female character in a male-dominated story, as opposed to the women from The Sopranos, who were kept in the dark most of the time. Speaking of The Sopranos, fans will be pleasantly surprised to see everyone’s favourite dead mafia girlfriend, Adriana (Drea De Matteo). Unfortunately, we don't get to hear her scream 'Christufaaaah', though, so boo.

Sons of Anarchy is edge-of-your-seat engaging, and the characters have layers upon layers of depth – each one distinctly appealing. Maybe I'm just a romantic at heart but it's refreshing to see Jax interact with his newborn son and his high school sweetheart (Maggie Siff) who's just recently returned to town as a local Doctor. To see a machine gun-wielding, Harley-riding, gang member adorably coo to his baby and yearn for the love that left him heartbroken a decade earlier – it’s what keeps me coming back.

Show creator Kurt Sutter, who also plays the character Otto, an incarcerated SAMCRO member, is one of very few show runners who truly understands the value of keeping fans engaged through social media. He blogs and tweets all-year-round, giving fans a backstage pass to his writing process, filming, and the characters we’ve come to love. Like I said, season 5 starts in September, so you have lots of time to catch up on the first four seasons. If there's one show you watch this year, pick Sons of Anarchy.

Analyzing the Mad Men Season 5 Poster

Flavorwire.com

If you're having a hard time remembering where we left off at the end of season 4, I have a feeling you're not alone since by the time Mad Men returns to our TVs on March 25th, there will have been 525 days between episodes.

At this point, I may have to re-watch at least the last few episodes to jog my memory. I guess it's a good thing I wrote a Season 4 recap of sorts back in 2010. Wow, it really has been a while.

Could this be the beginning of the end for Don Draper? The Season 5 poster seems like it's teasing us with Don's descent, and even though it's straight from the show's opening credits, it may foresee what Flavorwire says is Don, "metaphorically jumping out of a building and/or floating in grayscale nothingness?"

Week 2 - Killer Elite

Filmofilia.com

Number 2 on my 52 weeks of DVDs from eOne Entertainment, Killer Elite is perfect for adrenaline junkies who enjoy an excess of explosions, a well-choreographed-but-unrealistic fight sequence, and Jason Statham (you know, that Transporter guy who seems to be in every action flick being released these days). Also starring the iconic (yup, I said it) Robert DeNiro, Clive Owen, and Prison Break fans should recognize a much furrier Lincoln Burrows (Dominic Purcell) with a cute little Aussie accent.

In a memorable scene, Clive Owen (who's handcuffed), Jason Statham (who's tied to a chair), and a third party, have this one-on-one-on-one fight that is jaw-droppingly cool but at the same time, impossibly ridiculous and completely unbelievable. But whatever, it is what it is, which is an action film with punches to spare. It's not deep and it definitely isn't Shakespeare but I liked it. Not a bad way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

I Won!

I got an early Christmas present this year when I, a self-proclaimed movie addict, won a contest from Canadian film distributor eOne Entertainment, that to be honest, I can't even remember entering. What I won is one free DVD a week, for a year, so basically, 52 DVDs. To say that I was excited was an understatement. Those of you who know me are aware of my constantly-growing collection of DVDs and Blu-Rays, and that I relish the thought of filling more and more shelves (even if the same people taunt me about my collection eventually becoming obsolete!).

What I've decided to do, is to watch all 52 of these movies as I receive them and take you along for the journey. So stay tuned for my posts.

Week 1: Shark Night
Week 2: Killer Elite
Week 3: Tree of Life
Week 4: 50/50
Week 5: Dream House
Week 6: R.E.D.

Why You Should Watch Downton Abbey

NYPost.com

It seems surreal to admit that a stuffy British mini-series has somehow risen the ranks and become one of the best television shows currently on the air, but it's true. This juicy Edwardian drama has a way of investing you in the characters the same way that Friday Night Lights did - where their dreams, successes and failures somehow feel like your own.

Taking place in Edwardian England, the stand-out Dame Maggie Smith portrays super snobby, quick-witted and sharp-tongued Countess of Grantham, who spews some of the best one-liners on television today. In a Pride and Prejudice-style dilemma, the Grantham family's home and inheritance can only be passed down through male heirs, but alas, the Earl of Grantham and his wife have only had girls. Typical, right? The girls always get the short end of the stick. This period piece really is no where near as stuffy as it seems, and since it hasn't been adapted from a novel, we have no idea how it will end. And what Downton Abbey does that makes it a success, is delve deeply into not only the lives of the Earl and his family, but also the large and complex staff that serves them, who don't just remain on the periphery and are just as, if not more, intriguing.

Season 1 introduces us to the upstairs and downstairs residents of Downton. The matriarch Violet, Dowager Countess of Grantham (Maggie Smith), her son Robert the Earl of Grantham, his American wife Cora, and their three daughters, the eldest Mary, then Edith and the youngest Sybil. When the series begins, the eldest daughter is engaged to marry Earl of Grantham's heir Patrick, but when Patrick and his father go down with the Titanic, Robert's next heir is something like a second cousin, once-removed - Matthew Crawley, who then moves to town with his mother Isobel.

Downstairs, we get to see how a house of this size and status would have actually run in those times. With butlers, housekeepers, countless lady's maids to personally take care of each lady, valets (pronounced with a hard 't' apparently!), cooks and waiters. Things appear smooth on the surface, but in Downton Abbey, these 'downstairs' characters have their own hopes, aspirations, and complicated love stories that more often than not, cause as much emotional turmoil and heartache as to their employers.

One Culture Junkie's Take on the Best TV Shows of 2011

Photos via hitflix, fanpop, tvfanatic, thedailybeast.

I’m hesitant to call this a Best-of-2011 TV list, because let's be honest, I don’t watch every show on TV. I’m picky about what I choose to watch and hardly watch half-hour sitcoms so even though I may chuckle at a passing episode of Happy Endings, I much prefer the one-hour intensity of a TV drama. So instead, let’s call this what it is: one culture junkie’s take on the best shows of 2011.

Oh, and SPOILER ALERT.

Friday Night Lights
One of the most realistic (if you pretend season 2 never happened), heartwarming, and artfully written television shows came to an end this year after five seasons of disappointingly low viewership. When Coach Taylor said his final "Clear Eyes, Full Hearts, Can’t Lose", I’m not ashamed to admit my stomach was in knots and tears were inevitably streaming. I’ve never been so emotionally attached to a cast of characters before - there will never be a family quite like them. And of course, saying goodbye to Riggins was pretty much heartbreaking.

Revenge
Officially the guilty pleasure show of 2011 and what I consider to be the best new show on network TV. A prime-time soap complete with enough secrets, betrayal and treachery to keep any soap lover content. Takes place in the Hampton’s, where elite socialites and lavish parties provide the backdrop for some very juicy scheming.

Boardwalk Empire
The last three episodes of season two were absolute, jaw-dropping, game-changers. When Angela was taken out, we knew that no one was safe and that it was a definite possibility that the main characters we came to love over the past two seasons could potentially start dropping like flies. As cringe-worthy as the penultimate episode was (incest is really having a moment right now on TV), and even though we knew a showdown of sorts was coming, nothing could prepare us for the torture of having to see Nucky actually put two bullets into the man he pretty much raised. Well, at least we still have Richard Harrow.

Breaking Bad
Hands down, the best hour on television right now, with the most satisfying season finale I’ve seen on TV, maybe ever. Plus, the plot twist in the very last scene was completely unexpected and disturbing. For four seasons, we’ve watched the once-timid, cancer-ridden chemistry teacher evolve into a ruthless criminal capable of unimaginable lows. And I can’t reference this season without at least mentioning the shocking death scene of arguably the creepiest bad guy to ever exist on television - Gustavo Fring, who literally got his face blown off à la Walking Dead.

Review: Fassbender & Mulligan in Shame

Hollywood Reporter

Shame, the NC-17, sex-heavy film from director Steve McQueen stars Michael Fassbender as a New Yorker driven only by his addiction to emotionless sex. His unstable sister (Carey Mulligan) moves in and proceeds to disrupt his sequestered and unraveling world.

Fassbender gives an unnerving and agonizing performance, putting a disturbing face on sexual addiction, from his piercing stares at random conquests to the façade he barely manages to maintain in his professional life. Mulligan was phenomenal as his sister, completely fragile and unhinged, and we get to see her vulnerability and brokenness in one of the most emotionally-charged scenes of the film - Mulligan’s haunting rendition of 'New York, New York'. Hinting but never fully acknowledging an unusual childhood relationship between the two, she says, “We’re not bad people, Brandon. We just come from a bad place”.

Shame was unapologetically explicit, hard, and definitely unsettling. But beautiful. Exquisitely beautiful.

Season 2 of HBO's How to Make it in America - Finally Makin' It

To give them some credit, the cast and crew of How to Make it in America had some serious hype to live up to from the beginning. A show about a group of guys hustling to 'make it' big, backed by Mark Wahlberg - everyone kind of assumed it'd be like the next Entourage. Of course it wasn't like Entourage at all, and it wasn't very good either. Last season, How to Make it in America suffered from that, 'trying too hard to be hip', problem that's spread across North America like a virus. It was all about being underground, ultra-exclusive and going to the 'coolest' parties, but pretending like it was no big deal.

I've got to hand it to them though, because, this season was a vast improvement. The Rene storyline wasn't as isolated as last year, and they managed to get some pretty alluring guest stars, like Gina Gershon, Joe Pantoliano (Ralphie from The Sopranos!) and even Pharrell. They got rid of characters that no one gave a shit about, like Gingy (sorry Shannyn Sossamon), Rachel's hotelier boyfriend and ex-boss (Martha Plimpton has a better gig anyway, on Raising Hope). Plus, those Neanderthal hipsters are hilarious! Like, hey, I grow my own self-sustaining garden, let's bicycle around Bushwick at night for no reason and do shrooms cuz, well, why the hell not?! Oh, hipsters.

The improvements may be too little, too late though, because the way-too-short season 2's over and there's been no word from HBO on giving the boys (+ Lake Bell) a round 3. Finger's crossed. It's not the greatest show on earth, but I'd hate to see Bryan Greenberg and Victor Rasuk go out without actually 'makin it'.

From Mean Streets to Hugo: Martin Scorsese's Films by Genre

We may know him as a crime film genius, but Martin Scorsese has made contributions to more genres than you may think. In fact, some of his most memorable and iconic characters aren't even gangsters. Alright, they're definitely not as memorable as, say Tommy DeVito, but still. His latest movie, Hugo, is out now and, perhaps he's following Francis Ford Coppola's lead because it's quite the departure for good-ol' Marty. Yup, the man known the world over for his gritty and violent portrayal of crime, has made a 3D kids movie. 

Review: The Descendants

Totalfilm.com

George Clooney, the suave charmer we’ve come to love, does his best to portray a man completely detached from his life and family in this comedy-drama. He hardly knows his daughters and has neglected his wife who now lays comatose after a boating accident. The accident forces him to move from “backup parent”, as he refers to himself, to the only parent, to his two broken and foul-mouthed daughters who are, in fact, quite a handful. When he finds out his wife had been cheating on him and was planning to leave him, he sets out with both daughters and the older one’s stoner-boy friend, to find the guy who was sleeping with his wife.

Playing Clooney’s eldest daughter, Shailene Woodley unexpectedly shines, as an emotionally conflicted and angst-filled teen, who has a hard time letting go of the anger she holds towards her mother, even as she lays dying. And maybe it was all those Hawaiian shirts, the goofy hair, and constant look of desperation, but, I for one, forgot it was swoon-worthy George Clooney on the screen.

The Descendants sits somewhere between a heartbreaking drama and comedy, centered on a family dealing with the loss of a loved one, and the regret, heartache and, ‘could’ve, would’ve, should’ves’ that come along with unexpected death and infidelity. The lesson is that humans are imperfect and families are dysfunctional at best, but that doesn’t have to be the the end of it all, you can try and make up for your mistakes.

Review: Martha Marcy May Marlene

Screenrant.com

Last night I went to a screening for Shame and even though I was 45 minutes early, the screening was obviously way-overbooked and I didn’t get a seat. But since I was there, and I hadn’t yet seen Martha Marcy May Marlene, I thought why not, I’ve already paid for parking. On a side note, this was the first time I watched a movie in the theatre, by myself. Yup, that’s right, I walked right up to the ticket-selling-man, and sheepishly requested, “one for Martha Marcy May Marlene, please”. And his response was, “WOW, the whole thing?”, which left me a bit confused, wondering if that was some sort of remark at my being at a movie all by my lonesome. But apparently what he meant was, ‘no one who’s bought a ticket for this has said the whole name of the film’. It's true - the title is quite a mouthful, and then some.

Martha Marcy May Marlene is a gut-wrenching film about a cult, something that we, as humans seem to be fascinated with. We first meet a twenty-something Martha/Marcy Mae/Marlene (who we all know as the other Olsen sister, Elizabeth Olsen) as she’s making her escape from the cult she has been living at, a place where the men eat first and the ragged women watch on in a sort-of trance, silently awaiting their turn. What we see doesn’t seem blatantly wrong or suspect, but feels weird, like things aren’t as they should be. Martha finds refuge at the home of her sister and her husband and the story cuts back and forth between present and past, as Martha goes in and out her depressive and damaged state, reliving the events of her ‘programming’, the rape she was subjected to, and her terrifying, but captivating ‘leader’ (John Hawkes).

The film was dark, beautifully shot and haunting, with Elizabeth Olsen convincingly and beautifully portraying a damaged and fragile woman coping with a trauma that she may never completely heal from.

Happy 39th Birthday to HBO!

To the people that brought us True Blood, Six Feet Under, and the GREATEST piece of television of all time, The Sopranos... Happy Birthday.

Halloween Mask for Boardwalk Empire's Richard Harrow

vulture.com

Richard Harrow (John Huston) is arguably the best character on TV right now and it looks like the writers at Boardwalk Empire have finally clued in because he's been getting a lot more screen time lately. Now it looks like he's getting his own Halloween costume (even if it is a DIY one) which basically means he's made it. I'm seriously considering doing a last minute switcheroo so I can be Richard Harrow this Halloween. 

Just the like Dexter Ben & Jerry's ice cream and the True Blood sunscreen, this is from illustrator Jon Defreest, designed especially for Vulture. Download your own full-size Richard Harrow masks here and here.

Play Truth or Dare with Lip Gallagher from Showtime's Shameless

I'm not going to lie, I have a little bit of a crush on the eldest Gallagher son Lip (Jeremy Allen White). Although it's not so much a crush, as it is an all-encompassing mission to be his partner in petty crime, while trying with all my heart to save his little bad boy soul. Anyway, I digress. Shameless won't be back on TV for a few months (January 8th, to be exact), but while we impatiently wait for everyone's favourite dysfunctional brood to return, take comfort in their latest social media promotional campaign.

Showtime will be putting out a web series featuring Lip, where fans can submit to play Truth or Dare with him through Shameless' Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter pages (Twitter tweeps can submit their truths and dares with the hashtags #liptruth and #lipdare). According to The Hollywood Reporter, the network will then pick 10 finalists and have Lip answer the chosen questions or do the submitted dares for the web series. How very Old Spice of them.



I'm smitten by this social media campaign - it's socially interactive, we get to see more of Lip (who, if you ask me, doesn't get nearly enough screen time), and it gives fans extra and new content between seasons so we don't have to keep watching reruns of season 1 for the third or fourth time... yeah, I've done that.

Heathers - The Original Mean Girls

I recently saw Heathers for the first time - I know, I know, how had I not seen it until now! Starring a pre-klepto Winona Ryder, and a pre-90210 Shannen Doherty, Heathers screams and oozes the essence and style of the (fabulous) 1980s.

Veronica (Winona Ryder) is the only non-Heather member of her exclusive high school clique, and along with her diabolically demented new boyfriend JD (Christian Slater), goes on a violent rampage to bring down the clique from the inside.

Killerfilm.com

With snappy dialogue and memorable one-liners, this cult 80s classic - yes, I said classic! - is one of those really bad films that is so much fun to watch. Heathers satirizes high school life in a pretty unbelievable way, but at the same time, addresses the many every-day issues that teens face - bullying, suicide, homosexuality, and eating disorders. Of course, in no way is Heathers an after-school-special. It's dark and sadistic, while managing to be pretty funny, and the Heathers clique is so bitchy and deliciously evil, they make the cast of Mean Girls look like harmless pussycats.