So it's March Break here this week, which doesn't affect me at all since I must continue to go to work every day. But most of my nephews and nieces are off of school, including the homeschooling ones. One of my nephews read the Hunger Games books a while back and has been wanting to watch the films, so a few of us have been watching the movies this week- The Hunger Games on Monday night, Catching Fire last night, and tonight we're going to be watching Mockingjay- Part I. The plan is to continue with Part II and then watch the new prequel, The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes. Of the movie watchers, I'm the only one who hasn't read the books. I've also never seen any of the films, so I'm pretty clueless as to the plot(s) other than what I've gleaned from social media, of course. I was a little reluctant to watch the series, as I've been burned before... my sisters occasionally catch me in a weak moment and get me to agree to watch some lame rom-com or angsty young adult movie and those are usually pretty grim fare. And the last time one of them talked me into watching movies based on a series of YA novels I hadn't read, it was the Twilight films. A ghastly experience, and one I did not have the intestinal fortitude to endure; I managed to sit through the first movie, fell asleep during the second one, and skipped out on the rest. So I was understandably a little trepidatious about attending The Hunger Games watch party, but after all, I reasoned, no one will be glittering in the sun or changing into wolves, so how bad could it be? And so far, the answer is that it's not nearly as bad. I realize that's not exactly an enthusiastic endorsement... "The Hunger Games: better than Twilight"... but it's an accurate one. Not that I'm saying that's the only positive about the movies either, but I'll go into that further when I write a review when we finish the films. For now I'll just say that I'm having a much better time watching them than I thought I would.
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With the holy days of Easter swiftly approaching, I thought I would revisit some of the Easter-related reviews which I've written at various times, The first one will be of Risen, the 2016 film starring Joseph Fiennes as Clavius, a Roman Tribune who oversees the crucifixion of Jesus. After His body goes missing from the tomb, Clavius is ordered by Pontius Pilate to find it before the rumours of the Christ returning from the dead cause some sort of populist uprising.
One of the gifts that I gave my sister for her birthday was a copy of The Importance of Being Earnest, the 1895 play by Oscar Wilde. It is a satire/farce which is widely regarded as one of- if not the- best of his theatrical works, though it was not particularly successful in its London debut as it was forced to close early due to the scandal of Wilde being arrested, convicted, and imprisoned for gross indecency, as homosexual acts were at that time illegal. This of course had nothing to do with the quality of the play, which is great fun and full of witty dialogue. Though some theater critics did find fault with it for being without any kind of social or political message, tut-tutting over its lack of seriousness. I personally am unbothered by this; although I appreciate moving, thoughtful works of fiction as well as the next person- probably more than many- there is certainly a place and time for silly fun, especially that which is written with skillful wit... see also: PG Wodehouse. In any case, we've been so belabored with "messages" in so many movies and shows in the last number of years produced by twits who have somehow convinced themselves that it's their moral duty to re-educate the poor dumb masses, that it's a relief to watch/read something in which the primary focus is not lecturing us on some modern social pseudo-problem. Also, the alternate title of The Importance of Being Earnest at the time was A Trivial Comedy For Serious People so I'm not sure just what the critics thought they were going to see. The play begins with a meeting between two friends: Algernon Montcrieff and Ernest Worthing. Ernest is in love with Algy's cousin Gwendolen and has come up from his estate in the country to propose. Algernon however, refuses to consent to the match until Ernest explains a mystery; Algy has noted that his friend's cigarette case has an inscription from "Cecily" with love to "Uncle Jack". What's this about? Ernest is forced to admit that he's living a double life: at home in the country, he uses his true identity- Jack Worthing, a responsible landowner who is setting a good example for his sweet young ward Cecily, an heiress who is not yet out socially. When however, he wants to slip the bonds of responsibility by cutting loose in London, he tells Cecily he must travel to town to check on his reckless, wastrel younger brother "Ernest". There is, of course, actually no younger brother; Ernest is Jack's fun London identity. This confession by Ernest/Jack leads Algy to make one of his own: whenever he wishes to escape an unwelcome social event, he tells people that he must go to the country to visit an invalid friend named Bunbury who does not, in fact, exist. Ernest's love Gwendolen arrives with her mother Lady Bracknell to visit Algernon. Now accepting of his friend's suit, Algy helpfully distracts the disapproving Lady Bracknell, giving Jack (Ernest) a chance to propose. Gwendolen enthusiastically accepts but he is unnerved when she waxes lyrical about his name, making it sound as if she could only ever marry someone named Ernest. This is a problem as of course, his actual name is Jack. He immediately resolves to be quietly rechristened Ernest to head off any potential trouble. Speaking of trouble, Lady Bracknell is seriously displeased with the news of their engagement and immediately starts questioning Jack/Ernest about his background. A snob, she is horrified to learn that he doesn't know much about it; he was adopted by the Worthings as a baby after being found in a handbag at Victoria Station. She immediately forbids the engagement and tells Jack to stay away from her daughter. Before being dragged away by her mother, Gwendolen manages to pledge her love to Ernest and he swiftly gives her his address in the country- in Woolton, Hertfordshire- so she can write to him. What he doesn't realize is that Algy has overheard and made note of the address; greatly interested in Jack's description of his pretty, wealthy ward, he decides to travel into the country to meet her. Meanwhile in Woolton, Cecily has been left in the care of her governess Miss Prism. Algernon arrives and gains entrance to the house by introducing himself as Jack's younger brother Ernest. He makes himself very charming to Cecily, who has always been rather fascinated with tales of her guardian's absent black sheep brother. She falls in love with "Ernest" which leads Algy to make plans to have the local rector Dr. Chasuble rechristen him with the name Ernest. A spanner is thrown into the works by the arrival of Jack who, resolving to make himself worthy of marriage, has decided to give up his double life. He arrives dressed in mourning and announces that, tragically, he has received word that his younger brother Ernest has died of a sudden illness while visiting the fleshpots of Paris. Imagine his surprise when he finds his recently deceased "brother" is not only in residence on his estate, he's wooing his ward Cecily. Back in London Gwendolen, devastated by her mother's denial of her engagement to Ernest (Jack), decides to run away and, possessing her fiance's country address, makes her way to Woolton. Arriving at the estate, the first person she meets is Cecily to whom she introduces herself as Ernest Worthing's fiancee. Cecily is aghast, indignantly declaring that, in fact, she is engaged to Ernest Worthing. Further shenanigans ensue. I won't go into all the details in case you haven't read- or seen- the play, but suffice to say that, in the end, the romantic entanglements get straightened out and the mystery of Jack's origins- and the discovery of his infant self in a handbag- is delightfully resolved. I won't get into critiquing them now (it's getting late) but I've seen two film adaptations of The Importance of Being Earnest: the 1952 version and the 2002 version.
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