Hunger Games: Catching Fire

2013-12-26

I didn't like this movie and it is apparently highly rated. This bugs me a little. I feel like either ( a ) people have no taste anymore ( b ) the high ratings are manufactured ( c ) I'm old

I don't accept ( c ) as I've almost always disliked movies with huge issues. ( b ) is possible and if true I feel like there's a secondary problem which is that people don't think for themselves. They see it's considered good and want to feel cool/hip/in the know so they go along with the crowd. This is for example how I feel about many SF restaurants whose food is not that great but people want to say "I went to hipster restaurant XYZ and I'm cool because I like it too". Yes I realize they might actually like it. Whether that's because they haven't had better or because it matches their taste and not mine is another issue.

Then there's ( a ). I tend to believe ( a ) or maybe people never had taste haha. I guess I want to believe people didn't used to highly rate bad movies as much. Maybe I'd have to go back and check.

Hunger Games Catching Fire is full of so many problems.

−−−SPOILERS−−−

How is parading around Katniss and Peeta supposed to help the state? Sure maybe it was supposed to be a good idea but you'd think after 1 or at most 2 riots/protests they would have stopped it.

How is the 75th Hunger Game supposed to stop the revolution? We're supposed to believe that if Katniss dies people's will to rebel against the state will end. Makes zero sense that it would. It also makes zero sense they'd leave it to chance. Of course Plutarch, the game designer, is manipulating the president into the decision I suppose but is the president really that stupid?

How is giving the 75th Hunger Game players an open microphone on national TV not the stupidest idea ever? Assuming they were stupid enough to do that, which already is unbelievable, you'd think they'd censor it. Ever see Sinead O'Connor on Saturday Night Live when she's protested the Pope on live TV? Probably not. It's one of the reasons why most TV shows are not actually live anymore but have a 5 second delay so that the editors can cut off anything someone says that's out of line.

Katniss' seems on and off again all the time. One scene she's emotionless. Next scene she's screaming/crying. It seemed massively out of character to see that flip flop.

What was the big plan? Did it count on Katniss shooting that arrow to the dome because there's no way they could have counted on that.

That's probably the one part I did like in that the game designer is in on it so a few things make sense. The lightning tree was added to give enough power to take down the dome. Maybe the original plan was for Beetee to bring the dome down himself but none of that was conveyed in the movie. If it was it would have made the luck of Katniss' actions far more interesting. We would have known the plan, been rooting for Beetee, then dismayed when he failed, but then been cheering when Katniss saved the day anyway.

Speaking of which, Katniss shooting the first arrow at the dome and saying "it's a dome" was stupid. Everyone knew it was a dome from the last time they each played. Heck, if nothing else they'd know it was a dome from the projection of the deaths on the dome. She certainly knew it from the last game.

The spinning island seemed ridiculous to me but let's let that slide and ask, wasn't spinning the island risking Katniss' death? I suppose it was to get the attackers off of her.

Why did Katniss and Peeta go along with being separated at the tree? I didn't buy that part either.

Her instant anger about Peeta after waking up from being rescued seemed ridiculous.

The ending was really silly. Not that she got rescued, but her silly crying to determination face closeup scene and the golden symbol after. Rolleyes.

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I don't go into a movie expecting to dislike it. I go in expecting to thoroughly enjoy myself. Sometimes I might go in with low expectations but I certainly couldn't do that with all the hype around this movie and even if I had lower expectations I would still have had all the same issues.

What I don't get is why so many others have no problems ignoring all the glaring issues. It's the same for "The Walking Dead", "Lost", etc... The friend I went with had many of the same issues with Hunger Games: Catching Fire as I did so I'm not totally alone here.

I enjoyed the first movie. I didn't think it was amazing or great but it was entertaining and not full of nearly as many flaws. This second movie though is a far worse movie.

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PS: Going back and checking if taste was better in the past. Of course this is subjective but I think I can find enough people to agree with me 😛 According to this page the top movies by decade are.

THE 1970s DECADE
TOP TEN FILMS
(unadjusted domestic gross totals)
  1. Star Wars (1977)
  2. Jaws (1975)
  3. The Exorcist (1973)
  4. Grease (1978)
  5. The Sting (1973)
  6. Saturday Night Fever (1977)
  7. (National Lampoon's) Animal House (1978)
  8. The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)
  9. The Godfather (1972)
  10. Superman (1978)
  11. Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977/80)
  12. Smokey and the Bandit (1977)
  13. Blazing Saddles (1974)
  14. Rocky (1976)
  15. The Towering Inferno (1974)
  16. American Graffiti (1973)
  17. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)
  18. Love Story (1970) (tie)
  19. Kramer vs. Kramer (1979) (tie)
TOP FILMS BY YEAR
(unadjusted domestic gross totals)

1970: Love Story (1970), also Airport (1970)
1971: Billy Jack (1971), also Diamonds Are Forever (1971)
1972: The Godfather (1972)
1973: The Exorcist (1973), also The Sting (1973)
1974: Blazing Saddles (1974), also The Towering Inferno (1974)
1975: Jaws (1975)
1976: Rocky (1976)
1977: Star Wars (1977)
1978: Grease (1978)
1979: Kramer vs. Kramer (1979)



---
THE 1980s DECADE
TOP TEN FILMS
(unadjusted domestic gross totals)
  1. E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
  2. Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983)
  3. Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
  4. Batman (1989)
  5. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
  6. Ghostbusters (1984)
  7. Beverly Hills Cop (1984)
  8. Back to the Future (1985)
  9. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)
  10. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984)
  11. Tootsie (1982)
TOP FILMS BY YEAR
(unadjusted domestic gross totals)

1980: Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
1981: Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
1982: E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
1983: Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983)
1984: Ghostbusters (1984), also Beverly Hills Cop (1984)
1985: Back to the Future (1985)
1986: Top Gun (1986), also Crocodile Dundee (1986)
1987: Three Men and a Baby (1987), also Fatal Attraction (1987) and Beverly Hills Cop II (1987)
1988: Rain Man (1988)
1989: Batman (1989), also Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)



---
THE 1990s DECADE
TOP TEN FILMS
(unadjusted domestic gross totals)
  1. Titanic (1997)
  2. Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999)
  3. Jurassic Park (1993)
  4. Forrest Gump (1994) (tie)
  5. The Lion King (1994) (tie)
  6. Independence Day (1996)
  7. The Sixth Sense (1999)
  8. Home Alone (1990)
  9. Men in Black (1997)
  10. Toy Story 2 (1999)
  11. Twister (1996)
TOP FILMS BY YEAR
(unadjusted domestic gross totals)

1990: Home Alone (1990)
1991: Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
1992: Aladdin (1992)
1993: Jurassic Park (1993)
1994: Forrest Gump (1994), also The Lion King (1994)
1995: Toy Story (1995), also Batman Forever (1995)
1996: Independence Day (1996), also Twister (1996)
1997: Titanic (1997)
1998: Saving Private Ryan (1998), also Armageddon (1998)
1999: Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999)

 



THE 2000s DECADE
TOP TEN FILMS
(unadjusted domestic gross totals)
  1. Avatar (2009)
  2. The Dark Knight (2008)
  3. Shrek 2 (2004)
  4. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006)
  5. Spider-Man (2002)
  6. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009)
  7. Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005)
  8. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
  9. Spider-Man 2 (2004)
  10. The Passion of the Christ (2004)
TOP FILMS BY YEAR
(unadjusted domestic gross totals)

2000: How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000)
2001: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001)
2002: Spider-Man (2002)
2003: The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
2004: Shrek 2 (2004)
2005: Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005)
2006: Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006)
2007: Spider-Man 3 (2007)
2008: The Dark Knight (2008)
2009: Avatar (2009)

 



THE 2010s DECADE
TOP TEN FILMS
(unadjusted domestic gross totals)
(tentative only)
  1. Marvel's The Avengers (2012)
  2. The Dark Knight Rises (2012)
  3. Toy Story 3 (2010)
  4. Iron Man 3 (2013)
  5. The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013)
  6. The Hunger Games (2012)
  7. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2 (2011)
  8. Despicable Me 2 (2013)
  9. Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011)
  10. Alice in Wonderland (2010)
  11. Iron Man 2 (2010)
TOP FILMS BY YEAR
(unadjusted domestic gross totals)

2010: Toy Story 3 (2010)
2011: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2 (2011)

2012: Marvel's The Avengers (2012)
2013: Iron Man 3 (2013)

So let's compare. Top movies listed in the 70s I'd argue were crap

Top movies in the 80s I'd argue were crap (though I might have liked a few of them at the time)

Top movies in the 90s I'd argue were crap or full of holes (yes, I enjoyed a couple of them).

Top movies in the 2000s I'd argue were crap or full of holes.

Top movies in the 2010s I'd argue were crap or full of holes (even if I enjoyed 1 or 2 at the time).

Seems like a clear trend. More crap movies are making it into the top lists.

I don't mind people enjoying crap movies. I know someone whose favorite movie of all time is the 1998 Godzilla movie with Matthew Broderick. Rather it bugs me when movies and TV shows full of holes are praised as "well written", "amazingly well made", "quality film making", "best movie of the last decade", etc...

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