The Hunger Games – Mockingjay – Part 1: Different Game, Different Rules

Melanie & Melvin continue their adventure through the popular Hunger Games saga with Mockingjay – Part 1! They describe the movie from beginning to end, exploring themes of repressed individuality amidst cultural responsibility, and also observe how the film very much feels like half of a book (because it is!).

Topics:

• (PATREON EXCLUSIVE) 36-minutes discussing the danger of idolizing storytelling, and how the recent news regarding Michael Oher’s potential conservatorship with the Tuohy family jeopardizes the fantasy of the “American Dream” as showcased in the successful 2009 Oscar-winning movie The Blind Side. (PATREON EXCLUSIVE)
• Brief background on the previous two films, both of which they’ve done episodes for!
• Although Mockingjay – Part 1 isn’t nearly as visually stark and pleasing as Catching Fire, a lot of the movie still looks really great.
• Melvin appreciates that even though the proper Hunger Games have ended, Katniss as a character is still subservient to the game that is cultural codependence, and that Mockingjay – Part 1 still has her character wrestling with who she is, and wants to be, amidst all of these people and expectations.
• The characters in the Hunger Games series, and their dynamics, are quite engaging. They are deceptively complicated figures in a deceptively complicated story.
• Mockingjay – Part 1‘s climax, like most of the film, is oddly unspectacular, but it definitely feels like that’s on purpose. And, just because it’s not spectacular doesn’t mean it’s necessarily bad. Rather, it’s pretty dang complex and intense!

Recommendations:

• Madison Ryann Ward (Musician)
• Saw VI (2009) (Movie)

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 is Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action, some disturbing images and thematic material. It features Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Woody Harrelson, Donald Sutherland, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Julianne Moore, Willow Shields, Sam Claflin, Elizabeth Banks, Mahershala Ali, Jeffrey Wright, Stanley Tucci, and Natalie Dormer. Directed by Francis Lawrence. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 is available here.

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Melvin Benson is the Founder, Editor-In-Chief, and Lead Host of Cinematic Doctrine. Whether it’s a movie, show, game, comic, or novel, it doesn’t matter. As long as it’s rich, he’s ready and willing to give it a try! His hope is to see King Jesus glorified as far as the east is from the west!

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