'The Hunger Games'

I saw this movie with my 10-year-old boy this afternoon. My wife saw it with our 16-year-old boy last night. After watching I felt like Ridley Scott could have really done something with it (he made "Black Hawk Down" and "Gladiator"), but it's a PG-13 film, so that's a wish too far. I think the impact for me is the odd feeling I got that this could be the United States down the road. I kept thinking to myself, "Freedom ain't free," like a bumper sticker flashing before my eyes. The Roman architecture and the computer-generated Nazi-style graphics by the game-programmers in The Capitol got me thinking about George Orwell. I imagine Glenn Beck might have some interesting comments about this, but I haven't been watching his show since he left Fox News. Either way, it's thought provoking in a way that's very close to home with the Obama-depression lingering, although no doubt the filmmakers were hoping for the next blockbuster teen franchise.

Ed Morrissey has a review at Hot Air, "Film review: The Hunger Games." And from Manohla Dargis, at the New York Times, "Tested by a Picturesque Dystopia."