Five on Friday: Favorite Bad Lip Reading Videos

Like many of you out in Internetland, I'm a peruser of YouTube. I like to start with a video and just watch similar vids until I feel like I've reached a sufficient level of WTF-ery. Case in point: Bad Lip Reading. I first came to know of BLR several years ago when they parodied the video of my dear Michael Bublé, to which he posted an amazing response video. I've been a fan ever since and love to keep up with their newest releases. Since joining YouTube on March 21, 2011, BLR has garnered 4,146,593 subscribers and 424,525,344 views. I believe it, too. Their 2012 Presidential Election videos were insanely popular and I see their pop culture parodies circulated often.

Around the Web: The Doctor Games

When The Master makes all 14(!) faces of The Doctor fight in a battle royale, who will win?

*Warning: If you are waiting until the Christmas episode of Doctor Who to find out who the 12th Doctor is, do not watch this video. While he is not named explicitly, there is a reference to him within.*

In addition to the 50th Anniversary of Doctor Who, this weekend marks the release of The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, the follow-up to last year's YA hit, The Hunger Games. Now, the two have been merged into an amazing homage to 50 years of Doctor Who. There are elements from The Hunger Games and Catching Fire within the parody, but it definitely has more of a focus on Doctor Who. And that's fine, it hits the cultural notes of THG while focusing on the minutia of Doctor Who.

Stuff That Doesn't Suck 15

Stuff That Doesn’t Suck is a meme where I graciously share with you the things that I come across in a week that do not suck. This includes a variety of things from books to music to YouTube and even more. Feel free to join in on the comments or on your own blog.

This week certainly has been a busy one. As I prepare to move, I've been packing like a mad woman, cleaning, and trying not to freak out. So, I'm very happy that I found some things this week that brought me joy and a bit of an escape from the stress of moving. Speaking of bringing joy, Leila and I recorded a nre episode of The Eclectic Geek Podcast this week and we had a lot of fun with it, so be sure to have a listen.

Trailer Tuesday 10/29

Gravity ruled the box office for several weeks since the last Trailer Tuesday. The Fifth Estate quickly tanked, though its star garnered much acclaim. Honestly, I had no intention of seeing it, even for Benedict Cumberbatch. I am excited, however, to see him in Twelve Years a Slave and August: Osage County, the latter I believe might be my family's Christmas movie now that Monuments Men has been moved to February. And, of course, I'm waiting patiently for The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug. This pretty much is the year of Cumberbatch and I'm perfectly okay with that.

Is There a Connection Between Breaking Dawn Pt 2 and The Hunger Games?

...aside from the Lionsgate association, I mean."Another Twilight post?" you ask. I am feeling quite alright and I promise I do not have a fever, however there was something I had to share. Last night on the Entainment Weekly Facebook page, a new image from Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part 2 was released. Looks pretty harmless, really. It's just Renesmee (the vampire spawn of Edward and Bella) and her mother, played by Kristen Stewart looking at some sort of locket. Granted, I have no context for the picture, but are the inside of some sort of magical blanket fort to protect the child from the Volturi? I don't know... BUT! the point of this post is to examine one specific part of the picture.

So yeah, they're examining the locket and some such, but looking at the picture, I noticed the insignia on Bella's jacket sleeve. It looks oddly like the seal for the Capitol city of one dystopian country named Panem.

So yeah, if you look closely at the seal on the sleeve of the jacket, it looks an awful lot like the seal of Panem.

So, it's not exact, but it's very similar. Maybe a nod to The Hunger Games in Twilight? They're both properties of Lionsgate after all. Now, I'm no conspiracy theorist, but...

I know this is bullshit, but I wanted to make a Conspiracy Keanu meme.

Anyhoo, I don't know anything about the jacket that K-Stew is wearing in the picture, but the insignia really does look like that of Panem.

That's all.

Good day.

Image from Breaking Dawn Pt 2 courtesy of Lionsgate and Entertainment Weekly.

Francis Lawrence to Helm Catching Fire

In late breaking news, director Francis Lawrence has become Lionsgate's choice to head up Catching Fire, the highly anticipated sequel to The Hunger Games. This comes less than two weeks after Gary Ross, THG's director, made his decision not to be involved with the rest of the franchise. His decision was due to the filming schedule for Catching Fire and the high demand for the film's star Jennifer Lawrence, who will be splitting her time between filming the movie adaptation of the next installment of the Hunger Games series and the sequel to 2011's X-Men: First Class, in which she played a young Mystique. The wildly successful Hunger Games adaptation has grossed $336,666,363 as of April 15,  $152,535,747 of which is the total for the opening weekend.

Two Great 'Hunger Games' Musical Tributes

You see what I did there? ;-) I know that these have made their way around the internet over the past few months, but I wanted to share them again. I love "The Hunger Games" and I love video parodies so this is pretty much a quadruple win. Both songs contain basic spoilers for the books and movie. Little details here and there, but they can probably be construed as spoilers.

Five Plot Points That Should Have Stayed in the 'Hunger Games' Movie

This is actually a response to a comment that I received on my review for The Hunger Games, which you can find here at KGG and at Word of the Nerd Online.
 It contains spoilers for both the book and the film.

Movie Review: The Hunger Games

After having read The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins a few months ago, I began to eagerly await the movie along with everyone else. I was drawn to the narrative that Collins had created and the way readers are able to empathize with Katniss Everdeen, the protagonist, as she navigates her way through her life as a citizen of Panem: from District 12, to the Capitol, and finally into the Arena. Panem, the former North America, has fallen into a post-nuclear, dystopian society in which a totalitarian government has replaced the democracy that once existed. The Capitol is surrounded by twelve outlying districts, each of which provides material goods which are in turn used by the Capitol to maintain its standing as a marvel of technological and cultural wonder. In order to keep stability and prevent uprisings in the districts, 74 years before the action of the book/movie takes place, a treaty was signed which instituted a "pageant" that would ultimately prove that The Capitol is still superior to the districts in every way: each district would send two young people into an arena to fight to the death in The Hunger Games. A total of 24 teenagers enter the arena, but only one will emerge victorious.

Book Review: The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Goodreads | Amazon

Publisher: Scholastic (September 14, 2008)
Age Group: Young Adult
Series: The Hunger Games (Book 1)
Source: E-book/Kindle Fire
ISBN-13: 9780439023481
Genre: Dystopia

In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. The Capitol is harsh and cruel and keeps the districts in line by forcing them all to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV.

Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives alone with her mother and younger sister, regards it as a death sentence when she steps forward to take her sister's place in the Games. But Katniss has been close to dead before—and survival, for her, is second nature. Without really meaning to, she becomes a contender. But if she is to win, she will have to start making choices that will weigh survival against humanity and life against love.

I will be the first person to admit that I put off reading this book. When I first heard about it earlier last year, I kind of dismissed it, but I was definitely judging the book before I even read the synopsis. I knew that it was popular and I knew that everyone liked it, but I had to see for myself exactly why. I was able to download the lending copy of this book onto my Kindle Fire and actually the digital edition was quite good. The book was a very fast read and I quickly found myself in the dystopian world that Suzanne Collins had created. One of the reasons that I liked the book so much was that she was able to take North America and completely wear it down into the new country of Panem, where the Capitol exploits its citizens and the 12 Districts provide the materials needed for the Capitol to maintain its luxurious lifestyle. While denizens of the Capitol enjoy haute-couture and parties, those in the districts are mostly living in poverty. That's especially the case in District 12, where we find Katniss Everdeen, the protagonist of the story.

By now, we've all seen in the trailer that Katniss announces that she'll volunteer in The Reaping, where the two district entrants for the Hunger Games are chosen. With this introduction to Katniss, we immediately see that she is extremely protective of her family.  She has largely become the provider for them, going out to hunt with her closest friend Gale. We learn that her father died in an accident at the coal mine, leaving Katniss, Primrose (Prim), and their mother to provide for themselves. Through trading her wild game in the Hob, Katniss is able to obtain the meager provisions that help her family to sustain themselves. She also takes out the tesserae, which provides    enough oil and grain for her family for a month. That also puts her name in for The Reaping more times than normal. Her self-sacrifice allows her family to hang on and when she volunteers for The Hunger Games, in the forefront of her mind is the prospect of her family being well taken care of if she wins.

Collins presents Katniss as a character who is both completely unsure of herself and incredibly strong at the same time. She acts on instinct most of the time, and while it may seem to her mentors that she is hopeless, Katniss begins to emerge as a figure who can completely change the system. And it becomes clear that her fellow tribute, Peeta, has his own opinions of the Capitol and asserts that he wants to still be himself even with the horrific and brutal fighting of the Games. It's hard for her to discern his true feelings, and she struggles with her emotions toward both Peeta and Gale. Peeta is, however, incredibly calculating and he knows exactly how to play the Games. Both of the male protagonists come to play an important role in her life and their love triangle isn't simply a plot device, rather it actually drives the story and drives her motivation to win.

I really enjoyed this book and was very glad to have finally read it. There really is no minor character in this book. Each is given their own distinct personality and I am eager to see how the film adaptation captures the eccentricities of the characters. She captures each of the Districts and the Capitol with vivid descriptions, though it's obvious that life in District 12 is bleak. The pacing of the story was great and I found myself having devoured the book quickly. Though the movie premieres in just two days, I highly recommend everyone reading the book.

Rating: 5/5

Video for Taylor Swift's "Safe and Sound" Premieres

Last night on the Twitter account for The Capitol, the fictitious city in Panem, which appears in The Hunger Games, there was an announcement that the video for Taylor Swift's video "Safe and Sound" was to premiere tonight. Viewing was mandatory, as all things are in Panem. The video for Swift's addition to film's soundtrack appeared on MTV tonight during First Look: Taylor Swift.

Check out the video after the cut

Hunger Games News: New Trailer, China Glaze, and Capitol Couture!

With less than 50 days until the premiere of the much-anticipated film adaptation of Suzanne Collins' The Hunger Games, Lionsgate has really ramped up their advertisement. On Thursday, a second trailer went live and was shown tonight during the Super Bowl. It features much more of the story than the teaser or first trailer showed including Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) volunteering for The Hunger Games for her sister, a portion of her interview with Caesar Flickerman (Stanley Tucci), as well as Lenny Kravitz's Cinna pinning the Mockingjay pin to her uniform. I happened to see the first theatrical trailer on the big screen for the first time and I must say that it looks simply wonderful.

 

It would seem that movie tie-in nail polish is something quite popular now, with Twilight and The Muppets being among the movies that have seen their own versions. It was recently announced that the brand China Glaze would market a brand of fingernail polish based on The Hunger Games and they are now available for pre-order! There will be twelve colors in the Capitol Colours line which represent an aspect of each district. Among the polishes to choose from are Luxe and Lush, Stone Cold, and Fast Track. The colors range from flashy to neutral and would be a perfect accompaniment to any of the fine Capitol fashions. I'm hoping my local Ulta store will be carrying the polish and I'll give a proper review when it is released!

Speaking of which, a new fashion zine straight from the Capitol has gone online. Capitol Couture features the most stylish citizens of Panem as well as rumors and gossip about the 74th annual Hunger Games. The premiere issue showcases the ever so stylish Effie Trinket (Elizabeth Banks), one of District 12's mentors as well as the face of the China Glaze nail polish line. Effie is a definite balance to Haymitch Abernathy (Woody Harrelson), District 12 mentor and winner of the 50th Hunger Games. You can sign up for the mailing list to have each issue of Capitol Couture delivered to your mailbox.

Whether you've read the books or not, this movie does not look like it's going to disappoint. The odds are in our favor on March 23 when the movie releases, as there will be a special one week engagement in IMAX! Tickets go on sale February 22.

What district do you think you would live in? Share your thoughts in the comments!

Check out more posts from me over at Word of the Nerd.

Bringing out the inner nerd in everyone!

New trailer for The Hunger Games is released

I have not read this series by Suzanne Collins, but it's definitely on my to-read list! The film adaptation of the first book, The Hunger Games, will be released this March and stars Louisville, Kentucky native Jennifer Lawrence (X-Men: First Class, Winters Bone - for which she won an Academy Award)  and Josh Hutcherson (The Kids Are Alright, Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant), who is from Union, Kentucky. Check out the trailer after the break!

Teaser for The Hunger Games premieres during VMAs

One of the most anticipated movies of 2012 is The Hunger Games, based on the first of a dystopian trilogy by Suzanne Collins. The story follows a sixteen year old girl named Katniss, played by Kentucky-native Jennifer Lawrence as she survives in the ruins of what once was North America. Another Kentucky-native Josh Hutcherson plays Peeta and Liam Hemsworth was cast as Gale. Check out the video after the break!