#savanah sees thg

[iwatchedyougoinghomeeveryday]

I have seen The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. I am a changed person. Here are some thoughts. (Gonna try not to be too spoilery but there might be some.)

First... Tom Blyth, you LEGEND. He was perfect as young Snow. In fact, out of all of the cast members in this franchise (new and old), I think he is the actor who embodied the book character the best. His performance felt straight from the page, with even more nuance. INCREDIBLE.

Rachel is a STAR. She captured Lucy Gray's complexity, which I was always worried about because Lucy Gray has more depth than people give her credit for. Some people will just say she is a nice, noble character. (Lol, the snake in the dress?!) Some say she is totally manipulative. The truth is somewhere in-between and I got that from Rachel's performance. Also the songs, GOOD LORD. They sounded way better than what I imagined. And Rachel's raw emotion while singing them... geesh. Her "KISS MY ASS" has haunted my brain.

Josh as Sejanus broke my heart, as expected. THAT'S MY BOY RIGHT THERE. I do wish that we got to see more scenes with his parents, especially his Ma. I needed that impact not just for *that* scene, but for when Snow basically leeches off of them and uses their wealth to gain power. MORE MA

I think I have my initial book thoughts typed up on here, but my book ranking has always been Part 3 > Part 1 > Part 2. I think the movie's version of the Games was a lot better. I felt like I understood the tributes better. REAPER BROKE ME.

I went into the movie knowing that people thought Part 3 was rushed, but honestly, I do not think it was more rushed than any other part of the movie. The whole movie somehow felt rushed, which has positive and negative points. I appreciate that they included all of the important moments from the book, but it did feel like we were quickly moving from one event to the next without room to breathe. (Like going from Clemensia's snake bite straight to the arena bombing.) I cannot fault the movie too much, since they had a lot to include, but that was an issue I had with the whole movie, not just Part 3.

Mostly I just think this was one of the closest book-to-movie adaptations that I have ever seen. (It helps that I just finished rereading the book.) The world-building and overall vibe was spot-on. Again, my favorite part about the movie was the cast. Us fans are so lucky to continue to have a wonderfully talented cast who blow us away with their performances. I am in awe of them.

I do not think I can pick a favorite scene yet, but The Old Therebefore was stunning.

[iwatchedyougoinghomeeveryday]

This past week, I have rewatched all four Hunger Games film and reread The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. (MJ 1 is vastly underrated and Part 3 of TBOSAS is still my fave.) I just can't believe that tomorrow I am going to see a new Hunger Games film. I never thought I'd be able to say those words again. The Hunger Games fandom has meant so much to me (see: my URL) and even though I have not been as active on Tumblr, it has been so wonderful to share the excitement with fans and friends, new and old. Seeing the whole team back together, along with the wonderful new cast (wish we had more interviews with them, but I am grateful for what we got these past two weeks) has been so nostalgic. Lol, I even did a presentation on The Hunger Games' marketing in my Business of Film class week. I just love this series so much and I am so excited for tomorrow.

(I'm going to the earliest showing at 3:00 PM. That's SO early. I remember the good old days when I saw The Hunger Games at a true midnight premiere. Nothing beats that.)

To the whole fandom, it's so sweet to be back and ENJOY THE SHOW.