GSB Film Review: THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY

When I first heard about The Hunger Games I didn't know it was a teen book series. I leave that kind of important information to my fellow geek and avid reader Shumara a.k.a. @Illumeenous and other book geeks like her.

My first thought of the original film was that it must be a Battle Royal rip by the looks of it. But after seeing it I gathered the story had much more going for it. The second installment - CATCHING FIRE, with the introduction of other characters and underlying plots, solidified my understanding that the series was a more complex dystopian future than I first realized.

MOCKINGJAY brought the overall story to a whole new level.  The acting and drama were excellent. The story of Katniss stiring the fires of rebellion in the fascist state of Panam matured into a quality political piece which made you forget that this was supposed to be a teen oriented science fiction film.

Hats off to Jennifer Lawrence, who came back to reprise her role with even more gravitas after expanding her filmography in other major Hollywood projects (Silver Linings Playbook, American Hustle).  But, as good as Lawrence was, she did not outshine the rest of the cast including Julianne Moore, Elizabeth Banks, Josh Hutcherson and many others.  Hutcherson especially delivered a gripping scene in the third act.

Though a seasoned film-goer would probably see a few of the twists coming, the film worked in keeping the story believable through its intense situations and emotional tension.  Most of this was done by keeping Katniss in the middle of opposing factions, but also keeping her character genuine in light of the previous films. When you thought Katniss was among friends with the rebels you started to get the feeling  that they were only using her to meet their goals. And even though there were plenty of closeups of Katniss and Peta tearing up at each other, and people brainstorming on how Katniss could fan the flames of revolution, the movie had several scenes of life threatening or explosive action.  And a personal note: I liked how director Francis Lawrence mirrored the endings of the second and third film with a closeup of Katniss having all the feels of the moment.

Now that I've seen the first part of the final story I can see that the studio wasn't just doing a cash grab for more box office dollars by spitting the third book into two parts.  They probably needed two films to expand and complete the story properly.  I'm glad they went in that direction because one story might have rushed the plot.  But I'm sure they also wanted more money too. It is a business, right?

You can't watch this film by itself. It just wouldn't make sense just dropping you into the middle of it. You have to go back and watch the first two. That's the only drawback to an otherwise great continuation to the story arc.  In light of that I give THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY a rating of 4.25 out of 5 COSMIC AFROS.

Top 10 Black Directors for Marvel's BLACK PANTHER Film

Last week Marvel released their slate of films coming out until 2019 including Avengers: Infinity War. Two films that fans were waiting to see were The Black Panther and Captain Marvel.  I'm glad they chose Chadwick Bosemam to play the ruler of Wakanda.  Of course we talked about the news on our podcast in depth.  One of our callers and friend of the show - @Bison4Life asked if Marvel should also pick a black director? We all agreed that it would be cool, but as long as they picked a great director, black or otherwise, we would be happy. Well Marvel, if you so decide on a talented director, that happens to be black, here are my top ten choices (in no particular order). Incidentally, I heard a rumor they were thinking of Reginald Hudlin, who wrote a Black Panther comic story and is an accomplished director.  Mmmmaybe he would be a good choice, but read my list and see what you think.

1. THE HUGHES BROTHERS - Okay, that's two.  But they come in a pair like an awesome pair of pants.  Well, they used to come in a pair. The directors of Book of Eli and From Hell have said they retired and went their separate ways. Do you think the Black Panther film would bring them back together?  Even if one of them decided to take on the project, I think either of them would be a good choice.

2. ANTOINE FUQUA - He knows his action with films like The Equalizer remake, Training Day and Olympus Has Fallen.  He's a serious director, but would he be interested joining the Marvel team?

3. TIM STORY - Say what you want, but this brother is the only director that I know of that directed not one, but TWO major superhero films.  Sure we didn't like the cast, the story plot, the writing and the characters of the Fantastic Four films. But was the directing bad?  If this man had a good story, script and a great cast to work with, what would happen?

4. SYLVAIN WHITE - Another brother that directed a film based on a graphic novel.  Did you like The Losers? 

5. MALCOLM D. LEE - He knows how to work an ensemble cast.  And he knows how to bring a range of emotion to a film as seen in his recent work Best Man Holiday.  Lee's style might not be too unique, but nuance may be the key for directing a Panther film.

6. KASI LEMMONS - Another director that would bring emotion and depth to the Wakandan Kingdom.  Talk To Me is one of my favorite Don Cheadle film. And since he's already War Machine, maybe we can have a head to head with Kasi directing the epic confrontation.

7. F. GARY GRAY - Action, Drama and Thrillers are under this man's resume. Gray has directed some classic films and his Panther film would probably be packed with a lot of awesomeness.

8. JOHN SINGLETON - This man knows how to bring the 'Cocky' out of a character and T'Challa isn't anything if he isn't cocky.  But from that Singleton also tells the story of the heroes journey in his films and the lessons learned from assuming too much too soon, which is a staple for some of Marvel's heroes.

9. PETER RAMSEY - Director of the feature animation Rise of the Guardians, Ramsey would be a great fit to bring the fantasy of the Panther universe to life.  Working as an artist, he would probably be familiar with the Black Panther comics and the essence of the material the film would be based on.

10. STEVE McQUEEN - He would bring an introspective character portrayal to the Black Panther.  I think McQueen's Marvel film would be atmospheric and draw you wholeheartedly into the story.  I could see scenes of T'Challa pondering the desperation of some parts of Africa while his kingdom flourishes.

So what do you think?  Are there better choices I missed, like maybe Denzel Washington? Yeah, he's a pretty good director too. Feel free to add to the list so Marvel can't say we didn't try to help them out.