Charley Barnes’ Take On “The Hunger Games” [POLL]

I have done some really cool things in my life but none nearly as cool as what I did last night and the fact that my daughter Taylor was on hand was exactly what made it so special!

I was shopping for some Christmas presents in 2008 for my daughter Taylor who loves to read and had been totally absorbed in the "Twilight" saga so I asked the clerk of anything else she might like and the store clerk recommended a book called The Hunger Games which no one had ever heard of before.

So I took the chance, bought the book and wrapped it up.

As soon as Taylor finished the book in 1 day she came to me and said I had to read the book and that I would really like it.  Keep in mind, that upon hearing her tell me this, I thought she the cheese had slipped off her cracker if she thought I would like a book she did.  So I decided it couldn't hurt to read the first chapter and take it from there.  Well, I took the book to bed with me that night and by 2am I was half way through it and finished it the next day. She was right, we were hooked!

There was never any talk of another book but we both thought it was an open ending and could only hope.  After doing some searching I found out there would be in fact another book and then one more after that.  By the time the 3rd book came out called "Mockingjay" she and I were already jonesing for the movie and that night came last night.

Taylor and I have been waiting for the movie for a year and a half so last night was a long time coming.  We bought our tickets online months ago and as she and I were driving to the movie house last night we both were as giddy as a couple of high school kids.  We got there at 11PM for the 12:01AM showing and all three theaters were entirely packed.  We found some seats in the 3rd row from the front and nestled in for the long wait.

Trust me when I say I was easily the oldest person there but I knew if my daughter didn't care then neither did I!  After all, I think I was more excited to see the movie than she was!

• The Hunger Games is a young adult novel written by Suzanne Collins. It was first published on September 14, 2008 by Scholastic.  It is written in the voice of sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives in a post-apocalyptic world in the country of Panem where the countries of North America once existed. The Capitol, a highly advanced metropolis, holds absolute power over the rest of the nation. The Hunger Games are an annual event in which one boy and one girl aged 12 to 18 from each of the 12 districts surrounding the Capitol are selected by lottery to compete in a televised battle in which only one person can survive.

. . . Click here to see the HD movie trailer . . .

I am here today, barely, to tell you the movie was INCREDIBLE!  LOVED IT!  It followed the book pretty close and all the main characters, events and places were all covered pretty well I thought. The PG-13 rating implies that the movie is not nearly as graphic as the book when it come to the actual event.  The deaths are brutal, sad and packed with emotion but family oriented if that makes any sense at all!

If you read the book you will love the movie and if you haven't read the book you will love the movie and I highly recommend it to anyone!  This movie is not a "chick" flick nor a high school movie for girls.  I saw as many boys, if not more in the theater, and even a handful of old fuddy duddies like myself!