Webslinger

Whatever 21 Jump Street might lack in substance, it more than makes up for in entertainment value. The film is hilarious (easily the funniest movie since last summer) and stays loose and fun throughout despite a somewhat lengthy 110-minute running time. The pairing of Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill works brilliantly. Together, they make for a great duo and get maximum mileage out of their unlikely partnership. Tatum is at what is by far the most enjoyable I've seen him, while Hill is funny without coming off as abrasive, unlike in past roles. Given how well the comedy works and how short the stretches between laughs tend to be, taking a light approach rather than a serious one was the way to go in rebooting the show for the screen in 2012, and the playful self-referential humor is effective (at least half the auditorium seemed to laugh out loud when the captain was talking about making old programs hip with new faces and hoping no one would notice while the camera focused on Tatum and Hill). The action scenes are also effective, and the filmmakers and stars capably blend laughs with thrills in these scenes. It's a blast. B+

Maybe it's because I saw the movie coming off a pretty down day, but I did not feel this way at all. Valentin's depressed state is practically the character's defining trait in the second half of the film. Anyway, I loved this movie. It's a gimmick, to be sure, but it's a gimmick that's played brilliantly and doesn't fail to rivet throughout its 100 minutes. Much of it is highly charming, but the filmmakers are also successful in tracing the darker elements that come into the story. Jean DuJardin gives an absolutely terrific performance; whether it was worthy of the Best Actor Oscar is debatable, but he accepts and nails the challenge of conveying information and building a complete and authentic character without the audience being able to hear what he says. Berenice Bejo is also immensely charming as the female lead, and she and DuJardin sparkle in the scenes they have together. The film obviously has old-fashioned sensibilities given that it's a silent film set at the end of the era of silent filmmaking, and while these sensibilities (like the simple storyline, the inserted cards with dialogue, and the frequent presence of the adorable Uggie the dog) go a long way toward giving the film its charm, it's the pathos the filmmakers successfully establish (even sans audible dialogue) and the emotional authenticity of the lead character that elevate it toward standing as a great film separate from its gimmick. Perhaps it wasn't the best movie of 2011, but I think it's certainly among the cream of the crop. A

$49 million would be an astounding number for Saturday. That would probably put it in line for something in the mid-150s for the weekend.Even though it's clearly not behaving like a typical non-sequel, the fact that the first Hunger Games is doing this well makes me wonder just how high Catching Fire might climb in its first three days.

Not really. As tribefan was getting at, it was a decision that seemed to contribute to the gritty feel the filmmakers were going for in establishing the setting.But to be fair, I usually don't tend to have that much of a problem with the shaky cam technique, and I did see the film on a relatively small screen.

Arriving as the newest "it" young adult literary saga to make the jump to the big screen, The Hunger Games delivers upon the lofty hype that its adherents have set up for it. Under the direction of Gary Ross (who evidently picks his projects carefully given the fact that this is only the third movie he has directed between 1998 and now), this film is one that immediately grabs audiences and pulls them into the world onscreen, and doesn't lose its grip at any point during its lengthy 142-minute running time. As one would hope with this adaptation, the filmmakers take the themes about media power and manipulation seriously, and the violence achieves the desired effect of being sobering rather than rousing. Indeed, this is easily the darkest and most violent of the movies adapted from young adult fantasy, and it's the work of clever editing and camera angles that keep things contained in the PG-13 ballpark. In addition to engaging the intellect with fascinating ideas about government control, the power of media to keep people in check, the rewards that can come from making brave sacrifices for others, and the things one can do to maintain identity and dignity amid oppression, it also packs an emotional punch on numerous occasions, and has one scene about two-thirds of the way through that is so poignantly done that it shouldn't come as a surprise to see much of the audience tearing up. Another major factor working in the film's favor is the stellar performance from Jennifer Lawrence. Lawrence is at turns commanding and tender as the protagonist Katniss Everdeen, which allows her to sell the character exactly as Suzanne Collins wrote her on the page. The role itself is reminiscent of the Oscar-nominated one she had in Winter's Bone, and her work here is at least on par with what she did in that film, if not better. And of course, the audiences who rightfully bemoan the idea of Twilight's Bella Swan as any kind of role model for young women will be happy to see that Katniss is a brave, determined, and often selfless person who looks out for the well-being of people she cares about. Josh Hutcherson and Woody Harrelson are also very good as Katniss' fellow district competitor and mentor, respectively. Hutcherson ably conveys his character's own acting within the games, while Harrelson packs a great deal of inferred information into his character simply through his tone and gestures. Although the word in many quarters is that this installment is the strongest one of Collins' trilogy, I remain excited for the sequels; the filmmakers have opened up an interesting world filled with intriguing ideas, and perhaps the highest compliment I can pay to it is that even though I was not a rabid fan going in (I only read through about 250 pages of the first book beforehand), I was left hungry for more by the time the credits started to roll. A- And to respond to one of the issues that has been brought up elsewhere in the thread, I didn't have a problem with the shaky camerawork. Given that the filmmakers seemed to be trying to disorient the audience in a similar way to how the protagonist experiences disorientation in the film, I thought it went with the territory, so I didn't find it to be significantly distracting.