Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/430739
DECEMBER 10-16, 2014 UCW 17 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM Concert Connection Sponsored by IT'Z ENTERTAINMENT CITY www.itzentertainmentcity.com HUSKE HARDWARE HOUSE 405 Hay Street • 437-9905 www.huskehardware.com Dec. 12 Tommy King Dec, 13 Tommy King MARQUIS MARKET 116 Person St. • 483-1337 marquismarket.com Live Jazz every 4th Friday HILLTOP HOUSE 1240 Fort Bragg Rd. • 484-6699 www.hilltophousenc.com Thursday Live Music VILLAGE COFFEE HOUSE 3037 Boone Trail Ext. • 484-4515 Dec. 11 Acoustic Open mic THE CROWN COMPLEX 1960 Coliseum Dr. • (910) 438-4100 www.crowncomplexnc.com Dec. 10 Trace Adkins Jan. 8 August Alsina Jan. 9 Ron White's Nutcracker Jan. 11 Stomp Jan. 23 Wynonna and Friends Jan. 31 Eargazm Tour Volume 1 Fayetteville's Concert Connection Sponsored by IT'Z ENTERTAINMENT CITY www.itzentertainmentcity.com IN THE MORNING Weekdays 5:30AM to 10:00AM I enjoy The Hunger Games as a film franchise even more than I enjoyed the source novels, as I am slightly embar- rassed to admit. I still really wish The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 (123 minutes) had just been The Hunger Games: Mockingjay. I understand that production companies are trying to wring out the last pennies of profit by using the one book: t wo films (or, in some cases, three films) ratio, but as a rule I do not condone the practice and thus will automatically deduct a star when companies turn one book into t wo films. The only exception should have been Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Condensing the massive sub- plots that comprised the bulk of the novel into a single movie totally ruined that story. The story picks up af ter Katniss ( Jennifer Lawrence), Finnick (Sam Claf lin), and Beetee ( Jeffrey Wright) were rescued from the 75th Annual Hunger Games, leav ing Peet a ( Josh Hutcherson) and Johanna ( Jena Ma lone) behind. T he f irst hour or so is spent illust rat ing K at niss' P TSD and ex plor ing t he Dist r ic t 13 rebellion hideaway. President A lma Coin ( Julianna Moore) want s K at niss to ser ve as t he face of t he rebellion and K at niss want s t he President to promise to save t he host ages in t he Capitol. Katniss is still grumpy about the events portrayed in The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, and not even Plutarch Heavensbee (Philip Seymour Hoffman) can change her mind. He decides to send her on a trip to check out her former District and, when she returns from the mass grave that used to be her home, she sees Peeta in an interview, declaring her a pawn of the rebellion. Eventually, a deal is struck and Katniss heads out to rally the troops in District 8, with Cressida (Natalie Dormer) along to film every thing that happens for rebel propaganda. They capture some footage of war crimes, and go on to film what was lef t of District 12 af ter the Capitol got finished wiping it off the face of the map. There are some very taste- ful shots of the mountains of bodies lef t behind, and when the footage airs it includes Katniss singing "The Hanging Tree," as she did in the novel. Lawrence does the singing herself, and just like House at the End of the Street, she has a good voice for it. Haymitch ( Woody Harrelson) and Effie (Elizabeth Banks) return to serve as Katniss' handlers. Over time, their efforts to reveal the das- tardly deeds of the power elite culminate in a late night bombing raid on the remains of District 13, followed by the at tempted rescue of the Victors held hostage in the Capitol. Overall, Jennifer Lawrence continues to kill it as Katniss, Francis Lawrence continues to do an amazing job with directing, and Danny Strong continues to do amazing things with scripts. Josh Hutcherson is missing a bit of something or other in the third film and frankly, Liam Hemsworth is out of his depth when he is required to do any thing other than smolder at the camera and feel stuff. It was also very creepy to see Hoffman on screen and wonder which parts he filmed live and which parts were slapped together af ter he died, but I suppose that, compared to recasting the entire role, this was the lesser of t wo evils. The final shot of Peeta thrashing against his restraints is memorable, and should serve as nice lead-in for the second half. Now playing at Wynnsong 7, Market Fair 15, Carmike 7 and Patriot 14. Stop Turning One Book into Two Movies The Hunger Games: Mocking Jay Part 1 (Rated PG13) by HEATHER GRIFFITHS HEATHER GRIFFITHS, Contributing Writer. COMMENTS? Editor@ upandcomingweekly.com. 910.484.6200.