Happy Hunger Games!

I went to see The Hunger Games: Catching Fire today, and it was awesome. It is already being reported it was a big winner at the box office, with the biggest November opening ever.

'About Time'

My husband and I went to see About Time, a movie about time travel and love, on Saturday. It was charming, with some laugh-out-loud moments, but it was also mild. I was afraid it would be too "chick-flick" for my husband, and I was right. (When I asked him if it had been as bad as he thought it would be, he said yes.)

Ah well. I offered to see the tense, lost-at-sea film All Is Lost, but he declined. (Turns out that movie is best seen on a really large screen, which isn't available at the Nugget.)

Which one would you see? Check out the trailers!

Books to Movies: 'Ender's Game'

My husband and I went to see Ender's Game last night. He said it was interesting. I liked it but didn't love it.

I wanted to love it because I loved the book when I first read it in the 1980s. I didn't remember it well, however, so I listened to the audio book last month. It was different from what I had remembered, and not as striking, but it was still a very good story.

I think the biggest change in the movie is the condensing of the story. The book starts when Ender is about 6; the main action is finished when he is 12, I think; and it finishes when he is a young adult. In the movie, he is about 12 years old throughout. No doubt this was a cinematic necessity.

I thought Asa Butterfield was OK as Ender, but neither he, nor his kid compatriots, really nailed it. And without that, the movie just can't fly.

The Los Angeles Times has a much longer and more positive review, replete with videos and all kinds of stuff, if you're interested.