I didn't see it. I haven't read the book. I have only a passing familiarity of the subject matter based on my teen daughter explaining in teen speak the plot. Apparently there are wasps involved and a bow.

Past that, I can only imagine this as a reality show in Ethiopia circa 1984.

I thought it was very well-done. My husband, who is amusingly ignorant of pretty much all popular culture and therefore knew nothing of the books, loved it. No, it didn't cover all the ground the book did, no movie ever will. It did, however, cut WAY back on Gale and Cinna, which was kind of surprising. As I suspected the violence was toned down considerably but enough was left in to make the point even if everyone died a little too prettily. I also rolled my eyes that Katniss had on a perfectly coordinated, well-fitting and new-looking leather jacket and boots for her hunting but had on a faded 1940s schoolgirl dress for the Reaping. But, small details.

I did. The crowds were bigger than I expected for a matinee, so we had to stand in line. I thought it was well done, although it could have used more explanation on how bad the districts have it... They don't let on that Katniss' poaching is punishable by death and that it's necessary for survival. And because they don't explain too much of that, their wonder at the Capitol is diluted.

I wasn't a huge fan of their portrayal of Haymitch, because I picture him as a drop-down drunk and he seemed too competent in the movie. But I really liked Sutherland as President Snow, and Lenny Kravitz as Cinna.

Just like the book, the movie kept its pace and was very entertaining. I thought it was neat to get some perspective from Plutark's position as Head Gamemaker in the control room.

I read the series when it came out. First book is good, 2nd is just okay, but 3rd is pretty decent. Still, I really enjoyed it for YA fare and it's introducing a lot of the Twitards to a vastly superior series, so I continue to root for its continued success.

The movie was an okay adaptation but, on its own, just meh. I understand it's difficult to portray two dozen 12-18 yo's battling to the death and still keep a PG-13 rating, but a lot of what made Katniss really interesting was left out. And the rest of the cast are just so much cardboard cut-outs in various bad wigs. The reaping scene where she volunteers in place of her sister was REALLY well done, as was the scene w/Rue in the arena. I just think too much was left out in order to set up for the sequels.

Gig103: I wasn't a huge fan of their portrayal of Haymitch, because I picture him as a drop-down drunk and he seemed too competent in the movie.

I just read his description in the second book and it said something about his "dark hair and olive skin" which Woody Harrelson is not.

brigid_fitch: The reaping scene where she volunteers in place of her sister was REALLY well done

I actually had a huge problem with this - the amount of people. This was the reaping for an entire district, right? One of the 12 districts of the entire country. And the amount of people who showed up at this reaping was like a small town. I'm sorry, it really took me out of the scale of what was happening. Does District 12 have a population of 2,000 or something? It made no sense and took me out of it.

homeschooled: Oh yeah, and the lack of Peeta stripping down into his underwear and Katniss washing his clothes and keeping him warm with her BODAYYY was disappointing.

WTF is up with her not wanting to look at his peen?

DamnYankees: Does District 12 have a population of 2,000 or something?

In the book she refers to "thousands" of slips of paper. It even felt small in the book. I haven't yet seen the movie, but that whole scene reminded me of a retelling of Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery."

DamnYankees: Does District 12 have a population of 2,000 or something? It made no sense and took me out of it.

They do say in the second book that it is one of the smallest districts, if not the smallest.

thismomentinblackhistory: In the book she refers to "thousands" of slips of paper. It even felt small in the book. I haven't yet seen the movie, but that whole scene reminded me of a retelling of Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery."

This is exactly true.

Alpha Sierra Foxtrot: They do say in the second book that it is one of the smallest districts, if not the smallest.

That's still an unbelievably small amount of people to be in one of the 12 districts of an empire, and it bothered me.

Gig103: although it could have used more explanation on how bad the districts have it...

So could the book.

You have an electrified fence which hardly ever works. No word of cruelty against any of the District 12 residents beyond a passing references to District 13 and the one anecdote involving the hovercraft.

Where's the sense of fear? It seemed more like they're all hillbillies, even the Peacekeepers. Where's the iron fist of control?

North Koreans would kill to live in District 12.

There! I said it!

Kyro: The bad: One-dimensional characters, sloth-slow first hour, a flawed premise in that the districts would tolerate this sh*t for 74 years.

I had an issue w/the 1-dimensional characters, too but putting up w/the Games for 74 years is better explained in the book. All the districts except for the Capitol are kept on the brink of starvation. Each district only has one major job, which they alluded to frequently in the movie--Katniss' District 12 is coal mining, District 4 is fishing, District 11 is farming, etc. Everything is sent to the Capitol and re-distributed. Nobody outside the Capitol ever sees what life is like unless you're chosen for the Games, so they're kept ignorant of the fact that the Capitol is living it up while they're dying from starvation, disease, and lack of basic medicine (in the book, Katniss' mother is the de facto doctor, in that she knows basic homespun medical treatments and herbal remedies).

Anyway, they put up with the Games because if their tribute wins, their district gets a year's worth of food and supplies. They tolerate the Games because of the hope that maybe, for a short time, they won't be living on the brink of death. This is dealt with when Donald Sutherland is talking to the GamesMaster in the garden but not a whole lot.

No. I haven't seen it or read the book(s?) . I didn't even know it was a thing until a couple weeks ago seeing threads about it. I don't know how some highly anticipated movie can come out without me ever seeing a preview. I'm just oblivious sometimes.

DamnYankees: That's still an unbelievably small amount of people to be in one of the 12 districts of an empire, and it bothered me.

Panem is the continent that "used to be called North America" and District 12 was once around West Virginia so I imagine it is physically smallest as well. I don't think that the districts all necessarily touch, either, otherwise sneaking out under the fence would just put them into District 11, so why would going past the barrier be a big deal?

thismomentinblackhistory: Where's the sense of fear? It seemed more like they're all hillbillies, even the Peacekeepers. Where's the iron fist of control?

In the second book, they make it apparent that life in District 12, while difficult, wasn't really that bad in terms of Peacekeeper enforcement. The Peacekeepers bought the stuff Katniss and Gale poached and no one did anything about the black market.

brigid_fitch: Nobody outside the Capitol ever sees what life is like unless you're chosen for the Game

They get to see it on television. She says that it's even more beautiful than she imagined I believe. I'm not equating television with seeing it in person but they do know what it looks like...

Al_Ed: I actually started reading the book this weekend. My daughter had it, said I should read it, and I was curious about all the hub bub.

When I'm done, I guess my next stop is "Twilight".

Oh, God no. Not that. Seriously, it's irredeemably awful--the writing, the plot, the characters, everything. Spare yourself. If you must, watch the equally awful movies. At least they're only a combined 8 hours of your life wasted instead of 4 books' worth.

brigid_fitch: Al_Ed: I actually started reading the book this weekend. My daughter had it, said I should read it, and I was curious about all the hub bub.

When I'm done, I guess my next stop is "Twilight".

Oh, God no. Not that. Seriously, it's irredeemably awful--the writing, the plot, the characters, everything. Spare yourself. If you must, watch the equally awful movies. At least they're only a combined 8 hours of your life wasted instead of 4 books' worth.

I read the first two and...I guess I'm happy in the "know thy enemy" sense of being happy.

I totally have a crush on Kato. That is a gorgeous boy.

homeschooled: I wish they would've talked about how Katniss' mom was a healer and how it taught Katniss about plants. That was really important, so it was odd they left that out. Also wish they would've developed the friendship between Rue and Katniss more. That scene wasn't as touching as I thought it'd be. I cried when I read that part of the book, and in the movie it barely phased me.

Yeah, I was disappointed that they barely dwelled on her mother at all and they should have at least shown that she was the healer. If nothing else but to show just how downtrodden the districts are kept. Pfff...you want hospitals? Fark you--get down into those mines! But Katniss knowing about plants can be explained by the fact that she prefers the woods and hunts every day. People who didn't read the book (like my husband) just assumed that's how she knew about the berries. You don't spend a significant amount of time in the woods without knowing what not to eat. And showing her checking the moss in search of water in the arena supported that, so it worked out.

Kwame's life is like The Hunger Games if you switch out food with blowjobs.

Downloaded Battle Royale over the weekend and watched that instead. Man, what an f'ed up movie. Angsty teenagers with Uzis - you do the math.

I read the entire book cover-to-cover on Saturday, and went with some friends to see the movie yesterday. Maybe it was just because the book was so fresh in my mind, but I felt like they left out way, way too much in the movie.

All in all, the movie was ok, but I think an HBO style mini-series of five or six episodes would have been a better format for the subject. Not as much to cover as something like Song of Ice and Fire, but still too much for a movie.

/Oh, Jennifer Lawrence was fantastic, and I would disappoint her all night long

homeschooled: I wish they would've talked about how Katniss' mom was a healer and how it taught Katniss about plants. That was really important, so it was odd they left that out.

As someone who saw the movie and didn't see the books, thank god they left this out. It was clearly not at all important, since not a single scene in this movie depended on knowing this information, and Katniss does nothing at all with plants and healing.

DamnYankees: homeschooled: I wish they would've talked about how Katniss' mom was a healer and how it taught Katniss about plants. That was really important, so it was odd they left that out.

As someone who saw the movie and didn't see the books, thank god they left this out. It was clearly not at all important, since not a single scene in this movie depended on knowing this information, and Katniss does nothing at all with plants and healing.

But she should have. It is how she knows what plants are edible and what are poisonous.

myschief: But she should have. It is how she knows what plants are edible and what are poisonous.

Again, coming from someone who didn't read the books, I saw zero need for this to be explained any more. She was a hunter who spent time in the woods, so she knew these plants were poisonous. You really dont need to explain this any more.

DamnYankees: Alpha Sierra Foxtrot: They do say in the second book that it is one of the smallest districts, if not the smallest.

That's still an unbelievably small amount of people to be in one of the 12 districts of an empire, and it bothered me.

It's one of the smallest districts and possibly one with the least amount of eligible children. District 12 is a coal mining district and unless a kid has a specific job already, like Peeta in the bakery, they're put to work in the mines. Heavy casualties there. I just assumed that only adults w/kids showed up for the Reaping.

But the shell-shock Katniss feels when she hears her sister's name, all the people around Prim slowly backing away from her, and the almost robot-like way Katniss shuffles out of line to volunteer...all very realistic. And damn, can the kid playing Prim screech! That's what I meant by it being well done. I really didn't register the lack of people.

brigid_fitch: It's one of the smallest districts and possibly one with the least amount of eligible children. District 12 is a coal mining district and unless a kid has a specific job already, like Peeta in the bakery, they're put to work in the mines. Heavy casualties there. I just assumed that only adults w/kids showed up for the Reaping.

I understand, but this is a theoretical defense against an actual screen put on camera.

Smallest district? Sure.
Not a large population of breeding adults? Totally fine.

Showing me an actual scene where the population of this district appears to be 2,000 people? Not ok. The very idea that the children of an entire district (which seems to cover several states of geography) would actually gather in one physical location was ridiculous to begin with.

tsalaroth: This is one of the things that pisses me off, the immediate comparison to Twilight, because it's a young-adult series.

Actually, I LIKE that it's almost constantly compared to Twilight. Twilight's such a god-awful series and I just don't understand the attraction. I know a large part of it is because Bella is such a Mary Sue that all these angsty girls can easily put themselves in her place but why the fark can't they see what a controlling, creepy asshole Edward is and what an abusive, co-dependent relationship they really have? At least the constant comparison is leading the Twitards to a far better series with a much better role model. I've been able to convert a few that way.

meanmutton: Isn't anyone else kind of apprehensive about going to a movie about children murdering other children? Doesn't that seem a little twisted to anyone else?

One of the problems with the movie is that I don't think it treats the subject as darkly as it needs to be. I don't think it is successful at hammering home just *how* twisted it is.

meanmutton: Isn't anyone else kind of apprehensive about going to a movie about children murdering other children? Doesn't that seem a little twisted to anyone else?

It may, in fact, be the point that it is a twisted form of entertainment.

LineNoise: No, but I will admit to buying the book. "Oh, look, its that book that is a big to do. Hmm, its only 6 bucks, might as well buy it"

Now to figure out how to read it on the way to work without looking like a dork.

Went to half price books with my fiancée looking for it this weekend brcause everyone on Facebook was talking about the movie. Of course they didnt have it and it was mortifying to ask somebody. What's the opposite of a hipster? Someone who only likes things because other people do? There's gotta be a named personality disorder for that...

"Hey, have you heard of game of thrones, everyone at work was talking about it." "Yeah, I told you you should watch it 6mo ago."

"Hey, you should watch true blood, you'd love it." "Vampires again? Uhg, I'll just watch Buffy again." ff a few months... "Sundat night, true blood time!!!! And I just finished the 3rd book."

Bandwagonitis, it's infuriating.

DamnYankees: Showing me an actual scene where the population of this district appears to be 2,000 people? Not ok. The very idea that the children of an entire district (which seems to cover several states of geography) would actually gather in one physical location was ridiculous to begin with.

Ah, I see the issue now. District 12 may have a lot of area but it's essentially just one mining town where the entire population lives. That's established in Book 2.