From April 2012. An appearance by Henry Stern and this gem: "Those looking for erotic diversion will just have to rely on the Internet or their own devices."
“The Hunger Games” (-)
This film took in $155 million at the box office the weekend it opened, making it the third best debut of a movie in American cinema history. I thought it was a ridiculous picture, even for teenagers. Imagine a blockbuster film showing adolescents on the hunt to kill or be killed by other adolescents.
The audience was made up of teenagers and young adults in their 20’s. Being four times or more the average age of the audience, people sitting near me must have wondered what I was doing there. The truth is, there were no movies I was interested in seeing that weekend after reading the reviews of the opening films. After reading Manohla Dargis’s long screed in The New York Times about this flick, which made it sound interesting, I decided to go.
The plot of this sci-fi, futuristic film is simple. The U.S. has been divided into zones. Every year a male and female youth are chosen from each zone to contest. In order to win, they must kill all other participants, including their own zone partner, an idea perhaps taken from ancient Greek mythology.
Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) is the young female killer. Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson) is her partner. As Katniss searches a forest for her quarry, she and the others are viewed in their native towns on large television screens. A number of killings occur. She and Peeta ultimately meet up and are then chased by huge dogs which they miraculously outrun.
You should know that two sequels are scheduled to be filmed. Even if I’m in town, I won’t be seeing of them. My question is, “What has happened to our senses and culture?”
“Four Lovers” (-)
In his New York Times review of this film, Stephen Holden described it as “soft-core pornography.” I found the whole thing boring.
Rachel (Marina Fois), a jewelry designer, is married to Franck (Roschdy Zem), a feng shui expert. Teri (Elodie Bouchez), a former Olympic gymnast, is married to Vincent (Nicolas Duvauchelle), a website designer. The couples, who appear to be in their 30’s and are good friends, decide to exchange spouses for sexual romps.
All four have superb bodies, but there was nothing erotic about their actions. I found their behavior childish on at least one occasion when they covered themselves with flour. It diminished the sexuality of their actions.
I would have expected a long line of people to be waiting to see a film described in the Times as soft-porn. There were very few people in the theater. Avoid. (In French, with English subtitles).
Henry Stern said: This picture created a situation I had never seen before: an audience waiting impatiently for a porn film to end.
The rather simple plot showed two consenting young couples, social friends, frolicking in bed. They are just experimenting, not wishing to become emotionally involved with each other. Of course, they do.
What little drama there was in the movie followed this revelation and their attempts to deal with the situation. The film was not sexually arousing. It looked as if it had been shot through gauze. The tired actors could have been auditioning at a strip club.
Because of the pretensions of artistry, there wasn’t even a decent serving of meat and potatoes. Those looking for erotic diversion will just have to rely on the Internet or their own devices.
