The Hunger Games Movie

To the citizens of Panem, we were once again brought to the edge of our seats as the 74th Annual Hunger Games finally happened in the theaters.

First off, let me greet you a Happy Hunger Games and may the odds be ever in your favor!

Photo from rottentomatoes.com

I was fortunate enough to bag some premiere (March 21st) midnight screening tickets in Greenbelt. But actually, I had a little fangirl crisis a day before the event, but I was rescued by my true friend, Abi. <3 Haha! I almost had no one to go watch it with! Can you imagine watching The Hunger Games alone and no one to fangirl before, during and after the movie? Not acceptable. Hence, my love for Abi just got deeper.

Fast forward to the next day, I watched it again with my sibs, Bigs & Aiah, in Glorietta. Before anything else, can I just say that the Glorietta crowd was more participative? Haha! Perhaps because more non-readers went to Glorietta and the hardcore fangirls watched in Greenbelt. I’m not implying any correlation though. It’s just that, I enjoyed watching with very reactive people.

Enough of my anecdote and let’s get to the “reel” deal. Let’s categorize my fangirl feelings into Liked and Disliked.

LIKED

Photo from rottentomatoes.com

1. JENNIFER LAWRENCE. This. woman. is. outstanding! She’s outrageous! She got the grit of a father-orphaned breadwinner, the innocence of a District 12 tribute plunged in the Capitol, the unforgivingness of a hunter and the heart of a sister, a friend and a team player. My nitpicking about her *body* was nothing and was the last thing on my mind when I was watching her shoot an arrow, get broken over a kill and grow anxious about Peeta. SHE. WAS. ON. FAYAH! “I VOLUNTEER AS TRIBUTE!!!!” –absolute muhfckn win!

Photo from geekygirlslovescifi.blogspot.com

Photo from tumblr

2. JOSH HUTCHERSON. The Hutch knows how to be Peeta. The true kindness in his heart, the pretend-face in front of the cameras, the charm (made me smile every single fckn time), the jawporn, everything. E-V-E-R-Y-T-H-I-N-G. Especially those pre-Arena and post-Arena interviews! Damn it, pretty boy, why are you so freakin’ charming?! Oh, and let’s not forget the rooftop scene where you smiled genuinely at Katniss as if she was the world to you! I DIEEEE. HENCE, I VOLUNTEER AS YOUR GIRLFRIEND AND I WON’T TAKE NO FOR AN ANSWER. Haha!

Photo from rottentomatoes.com

3. THE FLIRTING OF KATNISS AND GALE. Enough said!!!

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4. KATNISS’ LOVE FOR PRIM. It was exceptional. Tremendously reflected in the movie. Great job!

Photo from thehungergames2012.wordpress.com

5. GALE’S REACTIONS TO THE “STAR-CROSSED LOVERS SHOW” IN THE ARENA. Haha! Definitely uncanny. Made my heart too giddy. LOL

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6. ALEXANDER LUDWIG. Dude. Can I just say that if I was one of the Capitol residents, I would bet on him? This guy knows his sht. A legit tribute. HIS HOTNESS IS TOO MUCH FOR THE CAMERAS TO TAKE. HE SHOULD PROCEED TO MY BEDROOM THIS INSTANT.

7. ISABELLE FUHRMAN. “Where’s lover boy?” –this line sent chills to my spine!

Photo from thehob.org

8. RUE’S DEATH AND KATNISS’ GRIEF. Amazing and heart-shattering. No words for this. All the awards to Jennifer Lawrence!

Photo from tumblr

9. POST-GAMES. “I DON’T WANNA FORGET.” Peetaaaaaa, why are you doing this to me?! Come to me, Peeta. Come to meeeee!

Photo from hungergamesmovie.org

10. I LOOOOOOVED THE HAPPENINGS OUTSIDE THE ARENA. The dialogue between Snow & Crane, the explanation how Crane played the tributes inside the Arena and most especially–Haymitch’s “star-crossed lovers” suggestion to Crane. Wonderful. Loved it!

11. HOW CRANE DIED. Oh wow.

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12. CRANE’S BEARD.

Photo from thehungergames.wikia.com

13. STANLEY TUCCI. One of the most flexible actors in this generation!

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14. LENNY KRAVITZ. Here’s a public apology for not liking you before. But after seeing you on the big screen, damn Dude, you rocked as Cinna! You’ve given him an undeniably different attitude that I couldn’t even put into words. A-mazing!

15. THE CAPITOL’S FONDNESS OVER THE GAMES. Made me feel rage towards those heartless people. I know you felt that too.

DISLIKED

Photo from thehungergames.wikia.com

1. When did District 12 get that bright and clean? I was thinking of a gloomy place, as if it was your worst nightmare.

2. WHERE THE F WAS THE ALMOST-NAKED PEETA SCENE? WHERE? WHEEEEERE?

3. They should have given more attention as to how Katniss & Rue’s friendship grew. The progression was a bit abrupt for my liking. Tsk tsk.

Photo from hungergamesmovie.org

4. Honestly, the intimacy of Katniss and Peeta, while just for a show, was not established very well. It seemed like cut-out papers all hastily pieced together to form a story. Yes. I demand for more kissing scenes. And Peeta’s humor despite his condition was lost. He was supposed to be naturally teasing Katniss! What the hell did just happen?

5. They obviously balanced the exposure of each scene to be faithful to the plot of the book. While this should be a good thing for the readers, I assume they also did it for the non-readers. Still, I believe that they could have lengthened or given more effort to establish the parts with Rue and Peeta inside the Arena.

6. Another little peeve was they hugely adjusted to the “PG 13″ market. DAMN GUYS. We could have aimed for an R13 or R15! The morbidity of the Games lost its glory.

7. This may be a nitpicking on my part, but the ending should have been heartbreaking for Peeta–that Katniss’ romantic gestures inside the Arena was just a ploy to keep them alive. That she was just ~acting. That scene was essential to my life! Haha!

After a long list of likes & dislikes–

VERDICT: Above Average. Rocks my socks! A pretty decent adaptation of the book. But personally, I feel that it could have been a lot better but yeknow, my hardcore fangirl standards can work with that. Okay, scratch that. I CAN WATCH THE MOVIE ON LOOP FOREVER. Hihi. <3

And now we wait for Catching Fire. On the lookout: WHO WILL PLAY AS FINNICK ODAIR?

Daz it. I’m always open for a movie discussion so we can all pour our fangirl hearts out! Just holler!

Signing off,

Nash Albacea
Irrigator
District 11 

A Four-Minute London Tour

Charlie McDonnell, my favorite YouTube boy, is at it again! Haha. For this video, he was challenged to tour 10 landmarks in London for only 2 hours. But of course, the footage only lasts 4 minutes or so.

This is for us, who could only dream to see the beauty of this wonderful English land.

Oh, my heart’s desire to flee to a far-away place is just uncalled for. Must end my procrastination here.

But thanks, Charlie, for that 4-minute break from reality.

Can We All Just Take A Moment

…and ogle over Tom Hardy and Chris Pine?

Photo from rottentomatoes.com

Photo from aceshowbiz.com

1. That British accent
2. Those tattoos peeking from his goddamn sexy shirt (I think he’s the first guy that got me turned on with just his tattoos)

***

Photo from chrispinephotos.org

Photo from chrispinephotos.org

1. Those blue eyes
2. That just-the-right-built hot bod

Photo from rottentomatoes.com

Gawd, these men!!

This Means War was friggin hilarious! And it doesn’t help any concentration with these two hot stuff always on cam! I think my bad week just wore off. Hahaha!

P.S.
Finger and Klimt.

Thinspiration: Rooney Mara as Lisbeth Salander

Because it’s almost summer and I only have less than three months to prep for that most anticipated trip, I shall take inspiration from Rooney Mara in her role as Lisbeth Salander (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo).

Favorite shirt. Joanney must have this in her collection!

Those to-die-for cheek bones.

Ooooh that bod.

Closer look.

Main course? Haha!

The infamous dragon tattoo.

Calling Jona & Joanna! Good luck to us on April! Hahahaha!

I know I can never achieve this skinny bod, but I should at least try. Or else I shall wear sweats at the beach! *knock on wood*

Thoughtless by S.C. Stephens

Photo from www.goodreads.com

This left me breathless almost constantly while I was reading it.

Just to give you a gist, Thoughtless by S.C. Stephens is a story about true love dying and true love sparking. Kiera moved in with her boyfriend, Denny, to Seattle as Denny got a huge internship offer from a world-class Ad Agency. She left her family and school at Ohio just so she can be with him. They could never stand being apart from each other, until Kellan came into her life.

Kellan is Denny’s friend, who apparently owns the house they’ll be renting in while at Seattle. Kiera and Kellan grew their friendship when Denny was indefinitely away for a business trip (estimated two months). She was so miserable that Denny left her shortly after they transferred to another state, and Kellan was there to be her refuge.

And the rest was history…

The matured content was, honestly, breaking innocence for every reader. And the best part was… THERE’S – JUST – TOO – MUCH – ST! It was tremendously sensational. If you know what I mean.

I couldn’t believe that there’s an author who could write more graphic intimate scenes than Richelle Mead and Jamie McGuire before I’ve met S.C. Stephens’ actual words. My brain just automatically tuned out everything and everyone, and with just one line, I was already devoured by the book.

Although, admittedly, the first few chapters were kinda boring. If you practically have the skill to skim, just skim! But don’t ever miss the part where Kiera Allen, our naive heroine, first locked gazes with Kellan Kyle, the rockstar sex god.

Kellan Kyle.

Words do not even suffice how much… how much…

Sorry, guys. I think I just melted there. Excuse me while I continue ogling over Kellan Kyle’s godlike image in my mind.

Here’s an excerpt from the book where Kiera first saw Kellan. And believe me, this is nothing compared to what he’s capable of in the next chapters.

He had intense eyes that were busy scanning the crowd of adoring women clustered around the front of the stage. His light, sandy-brown hair was a thick, wild mess. It was longer on the top with shorter, shaggy layers all the way around and he was running his hand through it in a rather adorable way. As Anna would say, he had “bedroom hair.” Well, okay, she would use a cruder adjective, my sister could be a little crass, but it was the kind of style that looked like he had just been ravished in the back room. I blushed as it occurred to me that maybe he had been… Anyway, it was alarmingly attractive on him. Not everyone could pull off that kind of look.

His clothes were surprisingly basic, like he knew he didn’t have to accessorize his looks. His shirt was just a basic gray tee, with the long sleeves pushed back to the elbow. It was just tight enough to hint at what was most definitely a fabulous body underneath. He wore perfectly lived-in black jeans with black, heavy boots. Simple, yet stunning. He looked like a rock god.

Even with all that, the most amazing part of him, besides his alluring voice, was his unbelievably sexy smile. He only showed glimpses of it through the words he was singing, but it was enough. A smooth halfsmile here and there – flirting with the crowd. Utterly charming.

He was downright sexy. Unfortunately, he knew it.

- Chapter 1, Page 7

And did I mention that there’s too much ST, it hurts?! If you must’ve guessed, the world of the story is pretty much myopic but Kiera’s great internal conflict and Kellan’s piercing emotions vehemently pull you–made my thoughts borderline unmanageable. Kiera and Kellan’s relationship went through a vicious cycle but you’ll never get tired of it. You would keep on wanting more. It’s kind of addicting, actually.

Anyway, I’ve got some songs playing in my head while reading this book. Just my incoherent mind putting up a playlist.

1. Kiera-Kellan affair – Sensual Seduction by Snoop Dogg and Lips of an Angel by Hinder
2. Kellan confessing his childhood to Kiera – Use Somebody cover by Hannah Trigwell
3. Kiera realizing she loves Kellan –  Can’t Help Falling In Love version by Ingrid Michaelson
4. Kiera moping for months after the accident – Emotions version by Destiny’s Child
5. Kellan’s song for Kiera that got them back together – The Man Who Can’t Be Moved by The Script

If there’s one thing that I’ll carry on from this book, it’s knowing that going out of your safety net, of your comfort zone, may actually lead you to THE ONE. <3

OKAY SO NOW SOMEBODY BOOK ME A FLIGHT