"Tonight, turn your weapons to the Capitol! Turn your weapons to Snow!"

Year: 2015

Directed by: Francis Lawrence

Written by: Peter Craig & Danny Strong, Suzanne Collins (novel an adaptation)

17-year-old Katniss Everdeen continues her task as the face of the rebellion - as the Mockingjay. She has to unite the districts against the Capitol, while Peeta has been manipulated by the Capitol to think Katniss is a monster.

---

It's weird to write about this film now. First of all I feel strange that now the whole story is finally done, and there won't be any more. Second of all I saw this film about 14 hours ago, and between then and now I've been sleeping and going to school and all that. I wish I had had the time to write about this immediately after seeing it, so it would be fresh in my memory. On the other hand, now I've had enough time to think about what I'm going to say, so I won't have to figure that out at the moment.

I love The Hunger Games trilogy mostly because it is so dark and brutal, and even if Katniss does what she has to do, she still suffers from everything that has happened. I mentioned this on the post I wrote about my The Hunger Games marathon. In a badly written version of the novels Katniss would behave like nothing ever bothered her, which would make her just seem violent and rash. When we know everything has gotten to her, we know what she is sensitive, we know that everything has actually touched her. 

The most horrifying thing is when you realise how young Katniss actually is. The original point of the novel series was how kids were forced to fight in the arena, and how a kid actually became the most important person to the resistance. Think about when you were 17, would you have been able to unite people against your oppressors? That's a really horrifying thought - and that was the point Collins was trying to make. Jennifer Lawrence is excellent as Katniss. She portrays her social clumsiness well, but also her emotional weaknesses and her bravery. She's a great actress, but there should've been someone else playing her, someone younger (and Native), because then it would look as terrifying at it was meant to.

Not all the events from the novel were included in the Mockingjay part 1 or 2. It's understandable especially when it comes to the part 2. For example, Katniss, Finnick, Johanna and Peeta being trained for the war? It would take too much time to show everything, considering how long the film already was. Sure, there's one emotionally heavy part I wish they had included towards the end, but I can see how hard it would've been to make that. I still wish we could've seen that. 

Some people are complaining about how they should've made the Mockingjay into a one film. I disagree. It is one film, but in two parts. And it works this way, because the second part starts so well - it starts exactly where it should start considering what happened in the end of Part 1. It works as two parts, and there was no need to wrap the story up any more. It was very dense already - things happen quickly but there is still time for important dialogue. And you never see critics complaining about Kill Bill being two movies instead of one. It definitely has to do with mainstream action film versus marginal "art" action film.

Here's a question I wish you would answer for me, even if you don't mind the two parts: If you'd make one film out of Mockingjay, what would you leave out? 

The 3D effects bothered me a bit. It sometimes makes it very hard to follow what was going on. I hope film makers stop using 3D that much (I doubt it) or they start using it better (I doubt that too). 

There's one thing that always manages to make people cry in The Hunger Games. It's the music, well, it's that one song. Rue's Farewell is so touching and beautiful that the audience is near the tears every time it plays. The film makers use this very well. The music in these films is almost unreal because of how beautiful it is.

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay part 2 is dark and brutal, but it has hope, some amazing hope that after all that darkness makes everything better. It's an amazing finale for the best young adult science fiction stories I have read or seen.

I feel weird that it's all over now. Suzanne Collins has created amazing characters who were portrayed so well over the years - or left out, as the case may be. Thanks for the ride, it has been amazing.

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

9 / 10

Valkoinen Raivo / White Rage

Year: 2015

Directed and written by; Arto Halonen 

Before you read this, I actually don't think you can spoil a documentary, but I'm going to say everything I can about the documentary, which means that if you are going to see it and want it to be surprise for some reason, I can't promise this post will be safe. Also this might include triggers, even if I try to avoid them. But how do you talk about massacres without it being possibly triggering?

"White rage is a story about Lauri and through him many other victims of school bullying and separate childhood trauma. Lauri is a victim of 'white rage', which can lead at it's worst to school shootings."

We went to see this documentary Valkoinen Raivo  from school. Apparently it's not really out yet? I don't know what kind of in advance show that was. The director was going to talk after the documentary was shown, but I couldn't stay for that, since I had to go to other classes. I really wish I could've stayed, it would've been interesting. The whole documentary was interesting.

The documentary used the story of "Lauri" as a structure for the documentary. He was an excellent example. At the beginning I thought that he actually had committed some kind of decimation, but no. He managed to see psychiatrists and control his anger and the fantasies of killing people. He did become an academic researcher on the subject... You know, aggression and violent behaviour. And if I understood right he created the theory of white rage and black rage. Black rage is when you get so angry that you are almost out of control. White rage has been built over the years, and the person suffering from white rage is calm and collected. This is more common with mass murderers, apparently.

The documentary used examples that probably would feel distant to foreign viewers. The examples include Raumanmeri school shooting, Jokela school shooting and Kauhajoki school shooting. I still remember the last two, especially the last one. I still remember where I was when I learnt about it. I was about 12 at the time, and it happened... well, very close to our town. That kind of thing is scary for a 12-year-old, let me assure you. Those examples and the others felt so real when they were shown on a big screen, accompanied by the real story of someone. They showed clips from the news and clips from the videos to murderers from Jokela and Kauhajoki had uploaded to YouTube. Those made the whole thing feel very real and... well, distressing. There were examples from elsewhere too. One was a school massacre from the US, but I'm not exactly sure which one it was, but considering it was from 1999, I think it might have been Columbine High School massacre. Other examples were terrorist groups (very briefly) and 2011 Norway attacks.

The story of "Lauri" and the examples made it sure that the documentary was very distressing and agonising. I'd like to call it touching also, but that doesn't feel like exactly the right word. But after the documentary I felt like throwing up and slightly paranoid. That might sound like a bad thing, but it means that the documentary was effective. It needs to be effective! It is about something very, very important. Which is kind of why I want to tell everyone to go see this, if it's in any way possible. It is possibly triggering and makes you feel horrible, but it is so important.

The film definitely was well made. The cinematography was weirdly beautiful, which made the whole thing even more eerier. The music had the same kind of effect. It was amazing, and if documentaries are actually made this well, I just might want to see more of them. We'll see...

But I felt kind of weird in the audience considering people sitting next to me and my friend seemed like such professionals. They were taking notes, and the other didn't even glance at his notes but kept his eyes at the screen. That's damn impressive. I feel like I have much to learn.

And since I want to feel like a pro, I want to say that I think this film has potential for Academy Award Nominations. It is extremely well done, and even though the examples are Finnish and that way very foreign to the academy people in Hollywood, the subject is universally important. I don't remember if foreign documentaries had their own category or not (I think not), but still I think Valkoinen Raivo should be nominated. Well, maybe we should wait until it's published.

Valkoinen Raivo really made me think. It's an excellent documentary, and I think everybody who manages should see it. (By 'manage' I mean doesn't get too distressed and who actually can go to a show. I don't know if it's going to be shown abroad. It probably is, but I don't know where, and how many people are into documentaries.)

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

10 / 10

"I think it's our tradition. It comes out of a particularly painful part of our history..."

It feels like it wasn't too long ago when I went to see The Hunger Games for the first time. It's hard to think that in few days, I've seen the last part. It seems almost surreal.

I've loved The Hunger Game since I saw the movie. My love has not died but grown with each new book and movie.

This summer I had a marathon of all the Pirates of the Caribbean movies. The biggest difference between those and The Hunger Games? And I'm not comparing stories, directing, writing or anything like that. I'm just comparing the feeling you get from the movies. The Pirates of the Caribbean actually make you kind of happy. They are funny and end happily most of the time. The Hunger Games? It just keeps getting more and more horrible. The marathon is emotionally crucial. There's a lot of crying involved.

My favourite thing about The Hunger Games is Katniss. She's written so well. She's an interesting character. She's a native American (a-hem, casting, take note) who is definitely asexual and / or aromantic. AND she doesn't just do things. She actually suffers from the games, everything that has happened to her. It's realistic. It's amazing. She's strong and weak at the same time. It's amazing. Kudos, Suzanne Collins, you have truly created amazing character.

There is a clear difference between the directors. Gary Ross' style is different from Francis Lawrence. Both have done excellent job, though. Both show what was in the books. They both show what wasn't in the books, but probably did happen - everything between president Snow and Seneca Crane / Plutarch Heavensbee / all those people in Mockingjay. It's actually amazing to see more, when in the books you only know what Katniss is doing and thinking. Katniss' POV is amazing though. I'm not sure why, but I've always enjoyed reading the books and hearing what she's thinking. If you haven't read the books, you should. Katniss' thoughts give a lot depth to the story. And if you haven't seen the movies, you also should see them. Seeing things from other perspective is also important.

 I wish I knew what else to say. I think I would know better on Wednesday. I'll write more then, after I've been amazed. As you can see, my hopes and expectations are set high. I hope I won't be disappointed.

The Hunger Games

Year: 2012

Directed by: Gary Ross

Written by: Gary Ross, Suzanne Collins and Billy Ray

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

8 / 10

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

Year: 2013

Directed by: Francis Lawrence

Written by: Simon Beaufoy & Michael deBruyn (screenplay), Suzanne Collins (novel)

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

8 / 10

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1

Year: 2014

Directed by: Francis Lawrence

Written by: Peter Craig and Danny Strong (screenplay), Suzanne Collins (novel & adaptation)

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

9 / 10

"The future lay in our hands. Uncertain, yet promising."

Year: 2003

Directed by: Wolfgang Becker

Written by: Bernd Lichtenberg, Wolfgang Becker, Achim von Borries, Hendrik Handloegten & Christoph Silber

A mother wakes up after 8-month coma. Her son is trying his best trying to hide the fact that their home land, DDR, is now gone.

---

In philosophy class we had two choices: go watch Spirited Away or Goodbye Lenin after school. If we watched it in school, we didn't have to actually write anything about it, but if we watched either of those movies at home, we had to write about them. I thought I'd see this one at school, but then I realised I'd write at least this blog post about it, so why not watch it at home and write properly. After all I haven't really written anything interesting on my blog for a while, and NaNoWriMo is slowing me down even more.

The voice-over narration in this movie is gold. It was absolutely well written, perhaps not entirely realistic, but it still was excellent. 

The soundtrack of this movie was interesting - mostly the music played in the beginning and in the end. It gave a different feeling to the movie than the movie itself did. The beginning made me think the movie would be much deeper and sadder, and the end made me think the movie was deeper than sadder than it was. It's an interesting effect.

This movie shows very well how hard it would be trying to live in the past these days. This movie took place in the 1990s. Think about how hard it would be to live that kind of life in this day and age? Think about the Internet and the amount of information coming from every possible source. It would be close to impossible. 

It's interesting to see how the main character Alex developed, not so much during the story, but comparing his childhood to the "current" for the main part of the movie. A child living in DDR was hopeful, thinking the nation is the greatest and all that. The young adult was much more cynical towards DDR, but still seemed to appreciate it somehow. Especially when Alex does all those things for mother... Was it all for her mother? Was it partially for himself? How greatly? 

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

7 / 10

"With this hand I will lift your sorrows. Your cup will never be empty, for I will be your wine. With this candle, I will light your way into darkness. With this ring, I ask you to be mine."

Year: 2005

Directed by: Tim Burton & Mike Johnson

Written by: John August, Caroline Thompson & Pamela Pettler (screenplay) and Tim Burton & Carlos Grangel (characters)

A nervous groom keeps screwing up the wedding rehearsal, so he goes to the woods to practice his vows. Unfortunately he puts the ring on a corpse's finger, and he realises he's now married to a dead woman.

---

Corpse Bride is one of those almost classic movies you should watch on Halloween if you're not too into horror movies. That's kind of the speciality of Tim Burton: he makes dark movies emo or goth teens are way too invested in. I don't know if it has to do with the plots or the aesthetic.

But the aesthetic of Corpse Bride is amazing: almost colourless land of the living, the colourful and fun land of the dead. The characters look amazing, everyone looks different and has different shapes of their faces and body. It's a nice change from typical animations, but of course the main characters are tall and skinny with the typical Burton styled faces: pale skin, huge eyes with dark circles around them. Still, every little detail in the animation is amazing. I could talk about stop-motion animation all day long, but perhaps not.

Danny Elfman's music is pretty but generic. It's been heard over and over again. Sure, Victor's Piano Solo may give the viewer goose bumps, but other than that, every song feels like it's been done so many times before. The soundtrack is alright, but could be way better.

The story is interesting and well-written. It's short, and many things are left unexplained, but it's better that way. It's good that it ends quite suddenly without anything like "FEW WEEKS LATER" because that would kind of ruin the moment. The movie is about what it is about, it doesn't need anything else. The structure of the story is very similar to The Nightmare Before Christmas. No, it's not entirely the same, it's not "copied", but it has some sort of parallels and symmetry.

Corpse Bride is a good movie to watch around Halloween, but that's about it. I can't imagine watching it during the summer or anything. Corpse Bride has charisma, unique aesthetic and astonishing setting.

☆☆☆☆

4 / 10

"That morning was just like any other. No love. No luck. No ride. Nothing changes."

Year: 1992

Directed & Written by: Robert Rodriguez

A town has two visitors, both dressed in black, both carrying guitar cases. One is a travelling mariachi, another is killing drug lord's men for revenge. Of course the innocent one is mistaken for the killer.

I realised I haven't watched anything during October yet. I was going through Netflix and couldn't find anything to watch. Eventually I just thought I'd keep watching From Dusk Till Dawn, which made me think of Robert Rodriguez's movies. Again, Netflix couldn't really offer me anything interesting, but thankfully my dad has the whole trilogy: El Mariachi, Desperado and Once Upon a Time in Mexico. So, don't be surprised if I'll write about the last two also.

One very notable thing about El Mariachi is the excellent cinematography. The visual side of the movie gives strong Tarantino vibes, but there was something else too. The shots may not be exactly beautiful, but they are close to perfect. There's something enchanting about how they shot the film. And together with the narrating in the beginning, the movie reminded me of some kind of 60's or 70's art films, which is quite far from how the film really is. Also Rodriguez has used some very interesting effects in the movie, but very skilfully. They weren't used too little or too much, just the right amount.

The music in El Mariachi is weird. It's weird and it shouldn't suit to any film - but it does. The soundtrack is a spot-on. It's different and weird, which is a good thing. All action movies tend to have one kind of soundtrack, so it's great seeing (well, hearing) something other for a change.

The editing is also great. The movie is not very long, but it doesn't feel too short. El Mariachi also uses both speed and slowness as interesting and effective stylistic devices, without disturbing the pace of the movie.

The story of El Mariachi is as simple as a plot can be. However, usually action films make the mistake of wasting extra subplots to the movie to make the story seem deeper. El Mariachi has one story, and it sure as hell is short, but it still is thrilling and as interesting as it can be. It's good enough.

It's admirable how a movie like this can be heavy and bloody, and yet still have that weird, light humour that is caused by the weirdest things. They aren't always even that funny, but like certain effects used in the filming make you smile, even if you're afraid for the main character's life. 

El Mariachi is simple and almost modest, yet it is skilfully made and one of the best action movies I've seen. I had high hopes for Robert Rodriguez, and I'd like to think he met my expectations. Well, we'll see about that when I see at least one other movie.

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

9 / 10