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The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013)
As good as the book
This movie is true to the original book, but yet still somehow adds something that the book cannot provide. The cinematography is beautiful. When you watch the movie, you truly feel like you're in the future—the *real* future. Everything is pretty much the same as it is today, except oddly grungy as things have actually regressed in many ways, and people in some districts live more primitively, yet the signs of future technology are there. In this way, I feel the treatment of the future is very realistic. The cast is excellent. Jennifer Lawrence is beautiful as always. Woody Harrelson is at his best—could have stood seeing more of him. All the rest of the cast meets or exceeds their performances in the first Hunger Games movie. The movie is action packed and suspenseful. I would have given it a perfect 10 if the ending had been stronger. As this is based on the second book in a trilogy, the ending is not as satisfying as I would like, and serves mostly to give us a hing of what's coming in part three. But mostly this movie was excellent.
Kick-Ass 2 (2013)
I'm a sucker for super hero movies like this!
I'm a sucker for super hero movies in which the super heroes are real people who do not supernatural abilities. That's why I liked the movies Super and Kick-Ass, and this sequel to Kick- Ass did not disappoint. It's very real. Okay, kids would not be able to take kicks and punches like that, but aside from that, it's pretty realistic, or at least realistic enough for me to suspend disbelief long enough to enjoy the movie. I love the crass humor and vulgar language. Come on! Don't be a prude! This is how these characters would talk! Like Kick-Ass, Kick-Ass 2 is a great story. Then, on top of the great story, there is great action, decent acting, lots of funny lines, and even a little bit of drama. I hope they do a Kick-Ass 3! That said, this movie is not for kids. There's too much vulgar language and sexual references.
Now You See Me (2013)
Unbelievable (not in a good way) and tedious
I call this genre of movies "Keep track of a lot of junk and try to figure out what's really going on, but we'll make sure you're wrong," a.k.a. "puzzle movie." Too much work. Can't be bothered. I want to be entertained, not put to work. I gave it a 6/10 for some entertaining bits, and because I did like the characters, but the overall storyline was very annoying and *tedious*. A movie should be enjoyed, not tedious. And I think the reason it was hard to figure out what was really going on was because the explanations for so many things were just not plausible or believable. Also, I would have liked for the story to give more time to the skeptical side of magic and skepticism in general. The story alludes to the reality that magic is just distraction and illusion, but it doesn't tie that deception into life in general—that we should be more skeptical in all areas of life, for example.