Mockingjay Introduction

Lauren Has an Idea!

Do you capitalize 'an'  in titles? Sorry, I really don't feel like looking it up.

Anyway, blogging:

For some people, capitalized 'an' or not, I think this title may be their very least favorite sentence in the world. My ideas usually involve field journals, ignoring homework, guts, and money that usually doesn't belong to me (i.e., Project Lunch Room, The Making of Beauty and the Beast). But they result in some pretty good blogs.

Today I have two ideas. Actually, I've had them for a while, but I forgot to put "BLOGGING" on my to-do list.

Number one: I'm going to read every book in my room. I don't know what your room looks like, but from where I'm sitting right now, that's a pretty big job. There's about 300 books in here and I haven't read 109ish of them. But I've been working on it for two weeks now, and I have 107ish left now. I should be posting reviews, huh? One blog at a time.

Number two: This has been in the works for literally over a year. People keep asking me why I'm doing it. Usually when people spend hundreds of dollars on a movie and get no money back, they call it a "Passion Project". I call mine a "I-Already-Bought-a-Cardboard-Cut-Out-and-Therefore-Can't-Back-Out-Now Project". But both kinds sort of work the same way.

Something Pretty Awesome in a Nutshell You Ought to Read

I'm sorry I haven't posted, I WAS IN SHOCK. Then I recovered, went to see The Hunger Games again, and WENT back INTO SHOCK. Is this going to be a good movie review? Yes. But don't stop reading now I've ruined it. You'll miss the big news. Here- I'll indent and everything.

I thought this movie would stink.

Not that I wanted it to. What kind of despicable human being would be rooting for the Hunger Games to fail? The kind of human being who hates Nutella and pauses Zac Effron movies just to punch the screen. I wanted this movie one of those movies that wins every Oscar and everybody gets sick of hearing about except for me. But I was worried about it, especially after watching every one of the teeny tiny little clips they let leak to the internet. There were like, two, but I was still worried, because they didn't look all that great.

Well, apparently I'm not a very good judge of movie character at first sight, because, news flash: that movie rocked. Way for crushing my expectations to a pulp and then blowing my little fan-girl mind with awesomeness. An FYI for you, just in case you live in District 13 and haven't seen it (because why else would you have not seen it yet?): Hunger Games rocked. Me, 85% of American movie critics, and (most likely) Miley Cyrus* say so.

But unfortunately, I'm not here to give you a list of Ten Reasons Why You Will Fall in Love With Josh Hutcherson After This Movie (although I do have a list of that), or rave about Katniss' dresses or use fifty-seven exclamation points or something. I'm here to make another point. Something slightly more important (then I'll get to that stuff). 

It didn't stink, (YAY!) but it wasn't perfect either. Hang with me for two more seconds and I'll tell you why.

(Lots of spoilers ahead. If you don't like spoilers, you're a little bit too grumpy for a pink blog, and should be reading something else. LIKE THE HUNGER GAMES. Then come back.)

Number one. Too little character development between Peeta and Katniss. Character development between your love interests, my friends at Lionsgate, is the magic secret to adorable romances.Where, in an action packed romance thriller, are we going to fit character development? Suzy Collins knew. I know now too, because I listen to Suzy Collins. And it isn't very hard.

If you ask me, all we needed for me not to have to complain about this was ten more minutes in the cave scene. Clear up Katniss' internal conflict (namely, the fact that she's having any at all) and let Peeta rant about his undying love a bit. For just seven minutes. Just a little bit more. That's all it would take.

I know, I know: selling the show for the romance turns all us crying fans in the audience into the Capitol and that's not the point. But it sort of is. The genius irony behind the story is that we are the audience. Also, Katniss and Peeta's romance is sort of kind of, just a little bit, maybe the crux of the yet to come monsters of box office domination that are Catching Fire and Mockingjay. Giving the romance more to go on would make sequels easier.

But instead, we have one conversation where Peeta sounds like a stalker (but Josh can pull it off anyway!), Katniss gives him ONE kiss (yes I counted how many kisses there were in this movie- but it isn't very hard to count to ONE) then poof! Holy Haymitch does your head injury look better. Let's get out of here and be attacked by wild dogs.

Costumes. They're fine. But The Hunger Games isn't like Twilight. It's not a fad the world loves now and but is going to laugh at in 2025 (and laugh at a little right now, too). Hunger Games is a story that future generations will probably need to hear even more than we need to. It has a message we can't afford to forget. While in 2012 all the tributes look pretty awesome and inspire Halloween costumes, they're decked out in 2012 every bit as much as we are. 

In 1982, Tron was nominated for Academy Awards for outfits that lit up. Now I look at those costumes, and it's a joke I can't take seriously. Hunger Games can't afford that. They needed to make it look eternal.
This leaks into set, too. If they wanted my kids to one day take it seriously, everything should have been classic. The Capitol, gold and marble and velvet style.

I have a little bit more, but I'll complain later to anybody who'll listen in the school hallway. Now, would you like to hear some awesome reasons the movie is worth watching anyway? And watching again?

1. Jennifer Lawrence just makes Katniss better. So much better, in fact, that the character may even be tolerable in Mockingjay! And that's saying something. What it's saying is, she rocked it.

2. The Capitol is Salt Lake City. In the books, it says it's surrounded by the Rocky Mountains. And if you look, for seven whole seconds, you can see my Rockies, right behind Effie's apartment building. I like to think Gary Ross and Suzanne Collins snuck into my backyard to get the footage.

3. Somebody is an awesome cinematographer. I didn't watch the credits that closely, but Somebody gets my kudos.

4. Two words. Elisabeth Banks. One quote. "That is MAHOGANY!" And a nomination for Best Supporting Actress.

5. Do you even need a list of Ten Reasons You Should Fall in Love With Josh Hutcherson?

*I'm just assuming, here, seeing as her boyfriend is in a full eight minutes of this movie.

Being Me: Day in the Life of March

5:30 a.m.

Your alarm goes off. You ignore it because, psh, who sets their alarm for 5:30? That's nuts.

6:15ish a.m.

Wake up. Go downstairs and sit at the piano bench to start practicing. Wake up again. Remember to close the blinds so the neighbors can't see your hair while you play the piano. Sit down for a breather. Wake up. Play the piano.

7:15 a.m.

Wake up. Get ready for school really, really, fast. Run out the door. Oh yeah, you should have had breakfast. Maybe. 

8:00 a.m.

Enter school carrying school bag, and/or (depending on day):

• A really expensive video camera (not the best choice).
• Your tripod for said camera.
• Stage make up.
• Uncomfortable shoes.
• A tree branch.
• Lots of old books. 
• Big banner for the school play.
• Seriously, a tree branch. 

When people ask, tell them not to touch your camera, you use the tripod for documentary interviews, the make-up and shoes are for the musical dress rehearsal after school, and that's a tree branch. 

2:50 p.m.

Run really fast in those uncomfortable shoes to the auditorium and grab your costumes and run to the bathroom and put on your make up while you're at it and give your camera to somebody to film the rehearsal and curl your hair and find the microphone tape. Rehearsal time!

6:30 p.m.

Go home and eat something and change out of those tights.

P.S. The tree branch is a prop. For the musical. I promise.

busy.

Quote of the day: "I would tell you how busy I am, but I don't have time."

So, I really would love to blog, but I can't. I'm too busy.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9UtS1GELplc&feature=plcp&context=C30005bdUDOEgsToPDskLvS4gyWlCsE8y7cRIDwRMQ


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ykJRppO6Kk&feature=plcp&context=C31fccecUDOEgsToPDskKgG84cHr77VuYlDK43LPkIs

One of many projects . . .

Something random.

You always know when it's school musical time, because I don't blog at all. Here's a really overwhelming update of everything, while I have two seconds to myself. (And am trying to ignore that short story I should be writing.)

Our names are Sabrina, Selina, and Urquid. Oh yeah. Guess which one I am. Rehearsals, and the documentary  they're inspiring, have been full of fun and . . . other stuff.Yelling, hunger pains, too much texting . . . but mostly  fun!

How's my "Sherlock" hangover? Thank you for asking. Not that I'm any better or anything, but I appreciate the thought. It's hard to get over an awesome show with British accents. I find the only thing that helps is awesome shows with British accents. So . . . Thank you, BBC, for deciding not to stop making shows all together. It's helping. But that's no excuse. Give me "Sherlock" season 3 by March or give me death. (That's an good old fashioned American allusion, by the way. Not all of my allusions are British.)

"Downton Abbey" is pretty awesome. Not that I thought so at first, but it's pretty awesome. Watching this show does four things for me: 1) It makes me really really really want a maid servant to do my hair. Christmas wish list. 2) It makes me regret not having read more Jane Austen books. Or, okay, any Jane Austen books. 3) It makes want to steal Mary Crawley's whole wardrobe. Adorable. And 4) it confirms my conviction that all the best people in life are cripples. Peeta Mellark, the kid on How to Train Your Dragon, and Mr. Bates. 

Oh! I almost forgot. Eye exam. Best conversation ever. 

NEW EYE DOCTOR: Lauren? Finlinson? Nice to meet you. So, Lauren, what do you do for a living?

ME: I . . . survive my freshman year. 

STILL NEW EYE DOCTOR: Freshman year . . . of what?

ME:  . . . High school. 

Hahaha. But it's true. Check my blogger profile- occupation. 

(I don't look that old. I don't!)

Bonus- 
The rest of my family has become completely infatuated with a certain Cake Boss. They've probably watched and quoted every episode ever.

Why hasn't this helped me over my "Sherlock" stuff? In case you can't tell, frosting-on-the-face reality TV isn't really my thing. They can't figure out how to get me hooked on it. I told them I already have an incredible cake-decorating-master-baker with a goofy name in my life, and he isn't from New Jersey. 

I hope for your sake you get my joke, or you'd never survive in the teenage world.