hunger [huhng-ger]

a compelling need or desire for food; a strong or compelling desire or craving

Synonyms include: craving, demand, hankering

I watched Hunger Games twice in one day – don’t judge me. A week after pre-sale tickets were available, there were still no plans to see it with anyone so I figured I’d buy a couple of tickets and make my sister go with me.

“I haven’t even read the books,” Tin said.

“It doesn’t matter,” I told her. “And don’t worry – it’s not Twilight.” For some reason, that sealed the deal.

A week later, Iya organized a morning get-together to watch it and I almost forgot I bought tickets to Gold Class Cinemas to watch it with my sister. There are too many things going on on my calendar and I’m starting to forget things. I wanted to join the rest of the group to watch it, just as we promised a few months ago, but still enjoy the Gold Class experience (if you haven't tried it - it's a must!), so I said, screw it. I'm probably going to end up watching it more than once anyway. Why not in one day?

So on Saturday morning, I woke up at 8:30 and 11 of us saw the 10:30 am showing of The Hunger Games at the Arclight in Pasadena. Here’s my thing with movies I can’t wait to watch – I try to have as low of a level of expectation as I can so that I won’t be disappointed. It’s hard, though, when you’ve read the books a second time and watched the trailer a dozen times. But I just learned to accept that expectations aren’t just unavoidable – they’re part of the experience.

I’d seen Josh Hutcherson (Peeta) and Jennifer Lawrence (Katniss) in a few movies and I’ve seen a slew of their interviews and I just couldn’t wait to see how they portrayed these characters that are so richly infused with all the best qualities and flaws that protagonists should have – ability to sacrifice for love, difficulty in dealing with that sacrifice, occasional moral abiguity – it’s all there in the Hunger Games series and I really wanted to see if these actors could not just PLAY the parts, but BE them, just like Daniel Radcliffe wasn’t some English actor in a movie – he WAS Harry Potter.

I wasn’t disappointed, in either the first or the second viewing. There were some parts in the book that I loved but, due to time constraints, I realize either had to be left out or cut short, but nonetheless, the movie told the same story and I enjoyed it just as much.

Even my sister liked the movie. Then again, those recliners for seats, the mozzarella sticks and sweet potato fries during the movie might’ve helped sway her, just a smidge =)