By Gigi LeFebvre

Reviews of two of the latest big releases, The Fault in our Stars and X-Men: Days of Future Past

The Fault in Our Stars

Whether you follow the hype of young adult novels/series becoming movies, you can’t deny how well they’re doing for the box-office. Movie franchises that started off as book series like The Hunger Games and Harry Potter have been the kind of investments that make money because of its large base, and The Fault in Our Stars is no different.

Hazel Lancaster (Shailene Woodley) has a terminal lung cancer that should’ve killed her years ago but still lives thanks to a lot of medication and an air tank. She meets Gus Waters (Ansel Elgort) after a cancer support group and the two strike up a bond unlike any other romance movie. Based on the best selling novel by John Green, the story is one for the ages, even if it is not a happy one.

A good movie formula is this: Good Writer + Fantastic Cast – Long Running Franchise=Oscar Worthy, this movie has everything it needs and more. Sure, this movie might be taken for granted because of all the young actors and it being based on a young adult novel, but it shouldn’t.

This moving film is filled with life lessons that even the healthiest of people should learn from; life is not a wish granting factory, and making an impact on one person is more important that making an impact on the whole world. Though this movie is hard to get through because of the reality of death and cancer, it is surprisingly heartwarming.

Five Stars and Two Tissue Boxes

You can read about the girl that inspired the book and the organization “This Star Won’t Go Out” here—>http://tswgo.org/our-mission.html

X-Men: Days of Future Past

Marvel Studios is famous for its Summer Blockbusters. This summer, they’re already making millions with Captain America: The Winter Soldier and The Amazing Spider-Man 2. So it was a bit shocking to find that X-Men: Days of Future Past wasn’t as good as expected.

Set in a apocalyptic future where Mutants are being hunted into extinction by Sentinels, robots created by humans that can detect Mutant DNA even in the most normal looking disguise. The only way to stop them is by going back into the past and stopping Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence) from causing this dark future. Which sounded like a good idea in the comics when Shadowcat (Ellen Page) goes into the future, but in the movie they had to change a few things in order to work with the story line of the movies. So much to nobody’s surprise, Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) is sent back.

As a person who loves the X-Men, I had some expectations that this movie would make me forget that The Last Stand ever happened, which it did. However, this movie was very hard to follow. With the conflicting storyline between what happens in the comics and what happened in the movies, there was no way to properly execute what could happen next for the X-Men. Bryan Singer, the director of Days of Future Past, tried to connect what he had done in First Class to the older movies in order to make a brighter future for the franchise, which seems nearly impossible.

Despite all the great actors and great story, this movie was boring and confusing. Not to mention I couldn’t even count how many times Wolverine said, “By the way, I’m for the future”.

Marvel has been beating the dead horse known as the X-Men franchise for too long, making two solo Wolverine movies and First Class. Frankly, if they want to make things right, a reboot with a new cast is what’s going to do it. It’s very hard to fix a vase that’s been thrown out an airplane.

Three Stars because Quicksilver was the only thing I really enjoyed.

By Gigi LeFebvre

Whether you’re a fan or not, it’s hard to ignore the hype that’s been radiating from the second movie installment of The Hunger Games franchise: Catching Fire. The trilogy, written by Suzanne Collins, has made itself at home at the top of the New York Times Bestseller list since the first book was published. Now, its movies are setting up shop at the top of the box office. On opening night, the domestic box office totaled approximately $25 million, and the weekend of release brought it up to $136.1 million.

Many people complained and were put off by the first movie: from shaky camera shots to Liam Hemsworth’s brooding looks, or the grisly fact that twenty four kids were forced to fight to the death for entertainment as people watched. However, many may rest assured knowing that with a new director and a bigger budget that Catching Fire is a film you should not miss.

The movie takes place a few months after the events of the first movie. Katniss Everdeen, played by Academy Award winning actress Jennifer Lawrence, returns home after winning the 74th Hunger Games with her fellow tribute and fake lover Peeta Mallark (Josh Hutcherson). The two of them then have to embark on the Capitol’s victory tour, where they visit all twelve districts. Katniss and Peeta won the games by attempting to eat poisonous berries. Many people in the Capitol saw this as just an act of love, while people in the districts saw the underlining meaning of defiance. This is what ignites the revolts and rebellions within the districts that Katniss visits during the tour. Katniss and Peeta then find themselves being forced to participate in the Quarter Quell, a special Hunger Games that takes place every 25 years. This time they are up against past winners of the Hunger Games from the other districts.

As a fan of the books, I saw The Hunger Games last year at the ungodly hour of 3:15 AM on the day it came out. So naturally, I then saw Catching Fire at 11:30 PM on the night before its release. Nevertheless, I was not disappointed, even though a scene I was anxious to see was cut out. Despite reading these books many times, I still found myself sitting at the edge of my seat thinking, “Run! Run! Run! Run! Run!”. Half of the movie is intense drama that leads up to thrilling action and suspense that doesn’t stop until the credits roll.

Fans of the books will enjoy not only the new actors like Sam Claflin (cast as Finnick Odair of District 4) and Jena Malone (cast as Johanna Mason from District 7), but the use of direct quotes from the books. I found that to be the most exciting thing. Even if you’re not a super involved fan or you haven’t read the books, you can still enjoy the story. The aesthetically pleasing scenery and graphics make this dystopian world all the more believable and real. The performances given by these talented actors and actresses are moving and powerful. Relatively obscure actors and actresses like Clafin will leave lasting impressions. I was exceptionally moved by Jennifer Lawrence’s portrayal of PTSD, which her character developed from being in the last games.

However, this movie is obviously not for everyone. There’s less blood and gore compared to the last movie, but there are scenes with loud explosions and noises that might give you a jolt. Unless you disapprove of violence and death, you shouldn’t have much to worry about with this movie. I recommend that you see it.