Abosas - Blog Posts

Kenneth Branagh has the opportunity to do the funniest thing possible

Spoiler Free Review of Sunrise on the Reaping from someone who just stayed up all night to read it and is now broken emotionally

Suzanne is not fucking around anymore. This book is about so many things but the thing that stuck out most to me was the rage I think dominates this prequel more than any other book in the series.

When the news came out a book about Haymitch was coming after years of fan requests (and a film to be developed in tandem) I’ll admit, I had my doubts.

But what Collins delivers is more brutal a gut punch than I think even the most hard core fans of this series were anticipating. In the wake of political unrest across the US and world wide, in an era of disinformation, she tells the reader clearly to look and think for themselves, and shows the atrocities that can come when we do not.

This book is about anger and injustice and it does not try to convince its reader otherwise. At times you can feel Collins shaking the reader by the shoulders: ‘See?! See what happens when you blindly accept what they tell you? See what you let them take?’.

Fans familiar with Haymitch will not be surprised by a lot of the major beats of this story but the focus on propaganda still leads to some interesting reveals. This is the goriest of Collins series and in many ways I think will be the hardest to adapt, perhaps her own rebellion against the industry that continues to profit off her work and contort her message

Thinking about the lyrics from ballad of Lucy Gray but applied to Haymitch and Maysilee Donner, and his girlfriend, and his family, and literally all the people haunting him while he slowly drinks himself to death after winning the games

I’m sure someone else has already said it but…

The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes should’ve been a 6 episode miniseries.

With how obsessed some studios are which short seasons (with long episodes & single seasons too) adapting songbirds where each part is two episodes would’ve been great.

The movie left so much out and doesn’t do a good job of depicting Snow’s psychological/philosophical journey. I get that it is hard to make internal narration show when adapted for viewing, but there are ways especially if the teams have more time to work with. (Playing with light and perspective or even voiceovers.) The movie also missed out on some cool characters like the nightclub owners, Ma, and the rest of the Peacekeepers and Covey too.

Even as a two+ hour movie, if you haven’t read the book you lose a lot of the context.

The moment Tigris tells Snow he looks like his father, my heart broke.

That's her Prim.

That's the child she took care of while being a child herself, stuck with an adult who couldn't care for them all that well. She tried so hard and sacrificed so much for the boy that despite all her love still turns into a monster.

Katniss's Prim dies, but Tigris' Prim destroys every part of the boy she raised, to the point she wants him dead and has nothing in her heart for him except absolute loathing.

Seeds of resistance 🪐🌊

[ Reaper Ash. Hunger Games. ]

I can’t get Reaper out of my head. Out of all the characters, he truly stays with you. He was so raw and had a rage so many can relate to. One thing that truly gut punched me was the parallels to real life. The outrage from the crowd as a flag was torn down. Meanwhile not a word for the countless lifeless bodies of children. My heart hurt for Reaper, and my heart breaks for what’s happening in Palestine.