The Hunger Games (Gary Ross, 2012)

7.5/10
Considering that much of the novel takes place within the protagonist's thoughts, I wondered how an on-screen adaptation would translate without an overbearing voiceover. Thankfully the movie did without one, but there were still a few moments where the film really grappled with the limitations of its format - particularly cuts from the action to the commentators, explaining rules or details almost directly to the audience (we're supposed to feel like they're talking to the spectators of the various Districts, but it's impossible not to feel like they're talking to us), and in one otherwise dramatic scene a particularly jarring subtitle to tell us what District we're looking at, in case we couldn't figure it out ourselves. That was my biggest nitpick but otherwise it's a pretty good movie, true to its source. Jennifer Lawrence simultaneously embodies strength and vulnerability in a way that makes her a natural choice to play Katniss, and she carries the movie. The film moves at a brisk pace and the action is taut, despite jerky camera movements obfuscating the fact that these are essentially children murdering other children - not good fare for PG13 ratings. There were a couple of deviations from the book I wasn't crazy about, especially the ending to the actual Hunger Games themselves, but that's inevitable. Otherwise, I enjoyed myself.

Sidewalls (Gustavo Taretto, 2011)

6.5/10
Quirky Argentinian romantic comedy from 2011 that I caught as part of the on-going Latin American Film Festival in Montreal. It focuses on two of those modern movie staples, the quirky-and-alone-but-not-sociopathic-or-ugly male and female. They live in Buenos Aires and the city's architecture is a big focal point as one of the numerous impediments keeping our two strangers of destiny from crossing paths. As usual in these Sundance-ready films, there are a couple of genuinely funny moments surrounded with a lot of groan-worthy spots of trying-too-hard. Overall the story is cute and it's passable entertainment, just nothing particularly remarkable.

We Are What We Are (Jorge Michel Grau, 2010)

7/10
The enthusastic line from a review used to push We Are What We Are is "does for cannibals what Let the Right One In did for vampires!". It's not hard to imagine that's what the filmmakers were going for, but I don't think it's quite true. Indeed, they've taken a subgenre that typically belongs to a schlocky horror genre and turned it into a more dramatic and emotionally weighty film (while still retaining some blood and gore, as LTROI did), but I don't think it succeeds as well. It's got a good story - when their father and provider dies, a mother and her three temperamental kids have to find a way to provide for themselves, which of course consists of finding human victims - and it's very well directed. There's a symphonic score that constantly threatens to be too much, but I liked it. It touches on a lot of themes (fatherless families, domineering mothers, family ties on the whole, homosexuality, poverty), many of which are probably representative of pertinent themes in Mexico that would require a better knowledge of the region to fully appreciate. I felt there were a lot of solid elements in place but the result only came off as "okay", and I probably would have liked it less if I didn't have such a prediliction for horror movies that at least try to be something more.