The Moth Chase

This is a response to Natalie’s fabulous first post on The Hunger Games. Read her post first to catch up on the conversation.

Dear Natalie,

I am sorry it took me so long to respond to your excellent first post on this movie/series/phenomenon. It was not out of lack of interest. Nay, after finishing my dissertation last month and entering that blissful and often illusory state of Free Time, I read this entire series twice in ten days and have since seen the movie twice. The first time through the books (and I think we talked briefly after I had just finished them once), it took me until the very end to decide if I really liked them. I was clearly addicted, but the whole way through I kept thinking “does Suzanne Collins know what she is doing?” Does she, in fact, realize that she is writing a trilogy about the trauma of war and the devastation of violence and loss, or is she just playing around with dystopia? By the end of Mockingjay, I decided she did know what she was doing, but then I worried that it was all too subtle, that the final desolation of Katniss’ future would seem somehow like a happy ending instead of the refutation of that very idea, at least in the way we might have come to expect from The Absolute Bliss of (Vampiric) Eternal Love. Read the rest of this entry »

Hi all,

I’m under the impression that this is an unpopular opinion, but I found this movie so much more moving than the book on which it was based. Throughout the entire trilogy, I found myself utterly unsympathetic to Katniss. I wanted to interpret this as my own Capital-esque inability to engage the suffering of trauma when it was on display before me. Despite buying the fact that this was Susanne Collins’ intention, though, the writing never quite let me feel it. The film, on the other hand, captures this theme perfectly, in my view. First of all (as my sister texted me right after she saw it) it’s a lot harder to watch children get killed than to read about it (at least when it’s not Dostoyevsky’s Grand Inquisitor sequence, or some other such writing of breath-stealing terror, that is).  And so, when Rue is killed, and we watch Katniss bury her in flowers and then just break down in agony…we actually see her psyche shatter.

What I loved about the movie (in contrast to the book) though, is that it reminds us consistently that this is not the first time Katniss’ psyche has shattered Read the rest of this entry »

Dear Kathryn,

Well, the very two things that stuck out to us so much in the first movie remained ever-present for me as I watched this sequel: the chemistry between the two male leads and the strangely intellectual dimension to Holmes’ physical skills. Whereas I think you described the first installation as a long trailer for the true act with Moriarty (and I whole heartedly agreed with your interpretation at the time), I can’t say I enjoyed this second one nearly as much as the first. There were a few moments – when Holmes met with Moriarty in his office, for example – when the tension between the two, and Jared Harris’ acting in particular, was quite stunning. But I felt like the whole movie ran like a series of vignettes that, while quite beautifully produced, nevertheless lacked much narrative coherence. I thought the genius of Moriarty would bring us a great story – he seemed mostly to bring more explosions.

So, on to these two ever-present ponderings: first, the male lead chemistry. I don’t quite know what to make of it! I couldn’t tell if I was frustrated that they Read the rest of this entry »

Dear Natalie,

It is a bit bizarre to write this up on Christmas Eve, because I found the American version of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo anything but restful, peaceful, or even that hopeful. Still, I can’t stop thinking about it, so that has to count for something. Let’s leave aside the question of whether or not this movie even needed to be made given the excellent Swedish trilogy that is already completed (really, was this just for lazy Americans who won’t read subtitles?), because something different was going on in this film and it started for me with the opening titles.

Did you feel like you had accidentally stumbled into a James Bond film when the titles started to roll? Read the rest of this entry »

Kathryn and Natalie both posted separate “takes” on The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part I. Below is Natalie’s post. You can read Kathryn’s post here. And check back soon for a conversation where they respond to each other.

Oh my, Kathryn – I cannot wait to hear what you thought of this film!

You might remember that while the rest of the Twilight fanbase HATED the final book, it was – and remains – my favourite. There is more than enough ink spilled (keys stroked?) on the conservative sexuality agenda buried (not that far beneath the surface) in the Twilight universe, and there is definitely plenty of evidence for that agenda in both book and film. But what continually intrigues me about the whole Twilight empire is how by the end of it all, we have this constant unraveling of the conservative themes through the strange – certainly abject – empowerment of the central figure, Bella. Read the rest of this entry »

Natalie:  For the first time in Moth Chase history, we’re bringing all four of our writers together for a little chat.  Perhaps it’s to Black Swan’s credit that it’s the catalyst for us doing so, but I’m not ready to grant that (seeing as we’ve been talking about doing something on Buffy the Vampire slayer together, I’d rather give Whedon the kudos than Aronofsky!).  I wanted to like this movie, but I found it to be as histrionic as the teenage girl themes it seemed to explore.  Every time I scratched the surface (pun intended) to try to get at what more brilliant thing was going on, all I could come up with was the melodrama of teenage identity parading as something adult (I’m all for teen angst, but I like it in teen angst form, not as pretending it’s something more).  In the end, it felt like a 2 hour spectacle, existing only for the purpose of beating up on women’s bodies in the name of art. Indeed, perhaps the thing that annoyed me the most was watching Mila Kunis (who has said in interviews that there were days she couldn’t drive her car because of the dizziness created by the level to which she had to starve herself for this role) eat a cheeseburger – which no ballet dancer, not matter how irresponsible, could ever do! Aronofsky tortures his actors as much as his characters, extracting confessions from each that don’t feel worth hearing, to me.  And don’t get me started on how tired I am of the crazy stage-mother trope!  Characters were so one-dimensionally unbelievable, hyper-active in the performances of the point they were trying to make, but not making any point worth making, that I wished my Black Swan viewing had ended at Jim Carrey’s hilariously parody of it on last week’s SNL.

All right friends – if that’s not a vitriolic enough opinion for you to have fun responding to, I’m not sure what is!  I know you liked it Martin, so please help me see what I was missing…I’m ready to be swayed! Read the rest of this entry »

To read K’s review, that I am responding to, see here

Dear Kathryn,

Well, I’m almost hesitant to respond to your beautiful analysis of this movie!  Nevertheless, what I have to offer connects to your reflections in an interesting way.  Usually I try to avoid going on at length about the differences between the book and the film (as we tried to avoid with our discussion of The Road).  But I am struck by how some of the more poignant moments for you were precisely the moments that the Coen brothers played with and changed.  And so I think a little reflection on the book/film differences might be warranted. Read the rest of this entry »

Dear Natalie,

I am not sure if you’ve seen The Fighter yet, but in the luxury of grandparental babysitters, we saw it this week. On the list of films I desperately wanted to see this holiday season, the Ward boxing biopic was not at the very top of my list. But in retrospect that was a mistake. I loved it. Read the rest of this entry »

Hey Kathryn,

So as I write this, I know you are prepping yourself to head out to see Eclipse.  Tyler and I went to see it last night at the Drive-in with some friends (a setting that doubles any movie’s enjoyment level). With the third book being my least favourite of the series, I didn’t have the highest expectations for the film…which is possibly why it wasn’t that disappointing.  I mean, it’s a pretty bad movie.  But there were a few things to think on that made it worthwhile and fun for me. Read the rest of this entry »

Dear Natalie,

I have to admit, I am pretty geekily attracted to superhero and spy thrillers and the prospect of a super-sexy synthesis in the updated detective of Baker Street had me more eager for this movie than was perhaps warranted. Not to mention I love Robert Downey, Jr. and relish any chance to see his well-honed wit and well-toned abs in action. I grew up watching the British television series The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, with the lean, wry, arrogant Jeremy Brett as Holmes, and had long arguments with my older sister about the inappropriate physique of Downey, Jr. to play the logical mastermind (she suggested Adrian Broddy instead), not to mention the liberties taken with the action sequences and plotlines. Read the rest of this entry »