I read the Songbirds novel when it came out a few years ago, and thought it was pretty bad. (I felt like it succeeded at the prequel worldbuilding, but didn't tell a particularly effective story in that space or tell us anything new/interesting about Snow. Lucy Gray also struck me on the page as a one-note -- pun intended -- manic pixie dream girl for his self-actualization, but I could imagine that aspect at least being better handled in adaptation.) I haven't ruled out seeing the movie at some point, but I liked the book so little that it certainly won't be a priority for me.
I agree that there's a vein of cynicism running through these franchise extensions, but for me that varies with how open-ended the saga has seemed overall. Some things like Star Wars or the MCU feel like they've always been pitched as an ongoing story, so new project announcements don't get the same automatic eyeroll from me as when a seemingly-finished series suddenly gets revived for another cash-grab.
The Hunger Games is one of the few series where I didn't try to read the book before seeing the film, but once I saw it I immediately dove in. I really enjoyed the books and thought the movies were solid, though I think it took me a while to get around the seeing movie four since I thought it was a bit ridiculous they split it into two.
I never did read Songbirds however. Maybe I'll still see it?
As for this weekend, my family is going to a real life theater to see Napoleon on Friday.
If I hadn't seen The Holdovers already it would be the perfect movie to see with my parents while I'm home for Thanksgiving; it leans hard into melancholy holiday nostalgia. Maybe I'll see Napoleon while they watch that instead... The Crown is also well-timed for family viewing at home.
I went to see Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes knowing nothing aside from what was in a trailer I saw, so I was a little surprised that it was a President Snow origin story, but I enjoyed the first two-thirds a lot, and then wondered why the third part was there (I'm impressed that they resisted the temptation to make two movies). Seeing the early days of the Hunger Games was the biggest draw for me, but it was honestly the striking visual style (especially the mise-en-scene) revealed in the trailer that made me want to see this movie. I don't think Rachel Zegler can hold a candle to Jennifer Lawrence in the first Hunger Games movie, but she also doesn't have to because it's not her story.
I am fully invested in Monarch after these two episodes (I was in cynical media scholar mode about it until I heard that Matt Fraction was co-creating it, and then it became a must-watch). The scale is epic, the dual timeline structure is great, and I'm always up for learning more about mysterious organizations that investigate strange occurrences.
Thanksgiving media plans: For All Mankind and Overcooked couch co-op.
I tuned into the Godzilla show, despite never seeing any of the movies, entirely because I like Kurt Russell and was interested in seeing if this was stunt casting or what. He hasn't been on TV in like, 40 years? I'll give it a shot!
I lasted maybe 10 minutes? I'm not sure. It was so immediately dropping us into an established narrative that I couldn't become invested. There wasn't anything for me to grab onto! It was disorienting, as far as a TV pilot goes, and I felt very much at a disadvantage. That's fine! It was maybe unreasonable for me to think that this would be a viable entry point for me. It becomes easy to chalk this up to "possibly good franchise extension that isn't for me" and move on.
It felt like a lot of the dialogue was written by AI in Monarch and I don't care about the "mystery box" of what happened to the father but I thought the new monster they introduced was cool. I could enjoy this if it really is literally a monster of the week but I'm afraid they are going to be hampered by this mystery box structure. Prediction: we will get a brief glimpse of Godzilla in the finale. That might be enough for me if there is cool monster vs. monster action!
Also, it doesn't really make sense that Kurt Russell's character is in his 90s but whatever. Maybe MUTO radiation made him uh more spry or something.
I really loved the Songbirds novel. I think it much better handle on Snow's character than the movie ever managed. (I felt like the movie was a great scene-by-scene adaptation, but not a great adaptation of the entire book if that makes sense.) The movie verges pretty close to "Snow became evil because his girlfriend left him" which isn't at all the point the book makes. In there, it's much clearer that Snow's capacity for violence and ruthless ambition have been present the entire time and he is making the choice to do those things to get what he wants. Lucy Gray leaving is a consequence of who he is not a cause of it.
On a slightly more relevant note, I read an interview with one of the producers, Nina Jacobson on Polygon before the move came out where she was more or less like "We only did the movie because Suzanne came out with a new book and I'm only interested in doing more Hunger Games if Suzanne feels like she has more to say." The entire vibe she gave was that she wouldn't at all want a cynical cash-grab which makes it an interesting piece to look at.
(I know this is a substack about TV but if you end up reading the book, I'd be curious to hear whether it impacts your thoughts at all!)
I read Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes when I was stuck home alone during early pandemic. I loved loved loved the first 3/4 quarters of the book, but hated the ending. I saw the movie last week and felt exactly the same - loved the movie until he went to District 12. Even when we had more time for the characterization to come through, I just didn't care about how this basically nice character (compared to what he grew up around, at least) turned so evil by the end.
One thing that amused me while watching was that I didn't understand why they were calling him Sir Janus - why wasn't Janus enough? Until most of the way through, when I said in writing that his name was Sejanus. It was embarrassing, especially given that I read the book!
I'll be seeing Napoleon in theatres this weekend. Living in LA, I have been fortunate to see most of the movies that are out already (other than Saltburn, which I don't think I'll sell my parents on) but Napoleon was specifically requested by my father so that's what we'll see.
Watching a million things, but have been most excited by For All Mankind. A little behind, since I just watched 401, but excited by the storylines that have been set up.
Saw Planes, Trains & Automobiles for the millionth time, but first in a theater, when my local theater played it for a matinee last weekend. Just absolute gold each time, with Candy at the height of his powers.
Monarch definitely has good VFX, but wild choice to start with very bad “John Goodman on a green screen” scene. I get using your biggest name/connection to the universe to start, but... that looked rough. MUTOs have been good and the POV of that Gozilla shot is movie-grade, as it should be.
I’d say with these two though, the concept of brand extension feels so hard given their relatively low impact on the culture at large? Hunger Games was definitely the most succesful post-Harry Potter YA adaptation, but it didn’t have legs after the last movie/book.
Compared to the Rings of Power/HOTD conversation last year, where the conversation felt different about higher profile franchises.
I do not know if I will watch either of these, and I have no wish to be pollyanna-ish, but if an author or creative wants to do something with an existing work, is it necessarily cynical? The money behind it and the producers and anyone looking to be commercially successful, sure. But I can imagine an author wanting to write more about a character or characters. I can also imagine a TV or movie writer wanting to expand on a story or tell another story in the same universe, which may or may not use the same characters.
To answer your last question: time at home means lots of catching up/watching new movies/tv shows with my family. This year, that means The Crown, A Haunting in Venice, Elemental, and more...
I read the Songbirds novel when it came out a few years ago, and thought it was pretty bad. (I felt like it succeeded at the prequel worldbuilding, but didn't tell a particularly effective story in that space or tell us anything new/interesting about Snow. Lucy Gray also struck me on the page as a one-note -- pun intended -- manic pixie dream girl for his self-actualization, but I could imagine that aspect at least being better handled in adaptation.) I haven't ruled out seeing the movie at some point, but I liked the book so little that it certainly won't be a priority for me.
I agree that there's a vein of cynicism running through these franchise extensions, but for me that varies with how open-ended the saga has seemed overall. Some things like Star Wars or the MCU feel like they've always been pitched as an ongoing story, so new project announcements don't get the same automatic eyeroll from me as when a seemingly-finished series suddenly gets revived for another cash-grab.
The Hunger Games is one of the few series where I didn't try to read the book before seeing the film, but once I saw it I immediately dove in. I really enjoyed the books and thought the movies were solid, though I think it took me a while to get around the seeing movie four since I thought it was a bit ridiculous they split it into two.
I never did read Songbirds however. Maybe I'll still see it?
As for this weekend, my family is going to a real life theater to see Napoleon on Friday.
If I hadn't seen The Holdovers already it would be the perfect movie to see with my parents while I'm home for Thanksgiving; it leans hard into melancholy holiday nostalgia. Maybe I'll see Napoleon while they watch that instead... The Crown is also well-timed for family viewing at home.
I went to see Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes knowing nothing aside from what was in a trailer I saw, so I was a little surprised that it was a President Snow origin story, but I enjoyed the first two-thirds a lot, and then wondered why the third part was there (I'm impressed that they resisted the temptation to make two movies). Seeing the early days of the Hunger Games was the biggest draw for me, but it was honestly the striking visual style (especially the mise-en-scene) revealed in the trailer that made me want to see this movie. I don't think Rachel Zegler can hold a candle to Jennifer Lawrence in the first Hunger Games movie, but she also doesn't have to because it's not her story.
I am fully invested in Monarch after these two episodes (I was in cynical media scholar mode about it until I heard that Matt Fraction was co-creating it, and then it became a must-watch). The scale is epic, the dual timeline structure is great, and I'm always up for learning more about mysterious organizations that investigate strange occurrences.
Thanksgiving media plans: For All Mankind and Overcooked couch co-op.
I tuned into the Godzilla show, despite never seeing any of the movies, entirely because I like Kurt Russell and was interested in seeing if this was stunt casting or what. He hasn't been on TV in like, 40 years? I'll give it a shot!
I lasted maybe 10 minutes? I'm not sure. It was so immediately dropping us into an established narrative that I couldn't become invested. There wasn't anything for me to grab onto! It was disorienting, as far as a TV pilot goes, and I felt very much at a disadvantage. That's fine! It was maybe unreasonable for me to think that this would be a viable entry point for me. It becomes easy to chalk this up to "possibly good franchise extension that isn't for me" and move on.
It felt like a lot of the dialogue was written by AI in Monarch and I don't care about the "mystery box" of what happened to the father but I thought the new monster they introduced was cool. I could enjoy this if it really is literally a monster of the week but I'm afraid they are going to be hampered by this mystery box structure. Prediction: we will get a brief glimpse of Godzilla in the finale. That might be enough for me if there is cool monster vs. monster action!
Also, it doesn't really make sense that Kurt Russell's character is in his 90s but whatever. Maybe MUTO radiation made him uh more spry or something.
I really loved the Songbirds novel. I think it much better handle on Snow's character than the movie ever managed. (I felt like the movie was a great scene-by-scene adaptation, but not a great adaptation of the entire book if that makes sense.) The movie verges pretty close to "Snow became evil because his girlfriend left him" which isn't at all the point the book makes. In there, it's much clearer that Snow's capacity for violence and ruthless ambition have been present the entire time and he is making the choice to do those things to get what he wants. Lucy Gray leaving is a consequence of who he is not a cause of it.
On a slightly more relevant note, I read an interview with one of the producers, Nina Jacobson on Polygon before the move came out where she was more or less like "We only did the movie because Suzanne came out with a new book and I'm only interested in doing more Hunger Games if Suzanne feels like she has more to say." The entire vibe she gave was that she wouldn't at all want a cynical cash-grab which makes it an interesting piece to look at.
(I know this is a substack about TV but if you end up reading the book, I'd be curious to hear whether it impacts your thoughts at all!)
I read Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes when I was stuck home alone during early pandemic. I loved loved loved the first 3/4 quarters of the book, but hated the ending. I saw the movie last week and felt exactly the same - loved the movie until he went to District 12. Even when we had more time for the characterization to come through, I just didn't care about how this basically nice character (compared to what he grew up around, at least) turned so evil by the end.
One thing that amused me while watching was that I didn't understand why they were calling him Sir Janus - why wasn't Janus enough? Until most of the way through, when I said in writing that his name was Sejanus. It was embarrassing, especially given that I read the book!
I'll be seeing Napoleon in theatres this weekend. Living in LA, I have been fortunate to see most of the movies that are out already (other than Saltburn, which I don't think I'll sell my parents on) but Napoleon was specifically requested by my father so that's what we'll see.
Watching a million things, but have been most excited by For All Mankind. A little behind, since I just watched 401, but excited by the storylines that have been set up.
Saw Planes, Trains & Automobiles for the millionth time, but first in a theater, when my local theater played it for a matinee last weekend. Just absolute gold each time, with Candy at the height of his powers.
Monarch definitely has good VFX, but wild choice to start with very bad “John Goodman on a green screen” scene. I get using your biggest name/connection to the universe to start, but... that looked rough. MUTOs have been good and the POV of that Gozilla shot is movie-grade, as it should be.
I’d say with these two though, the concept of brand extension feels so hard given their relatively low impact on the culture at large? Hunger Games was definitely the most succesful post-Harry Potter YA adaptation, but it didn’t have legs after the last movie/book.
Compared to the Rings of Power/HOTD conversation last year, where the conversation felt different about higher profile franchises.
I do not know if I will watch either of these, and I have no wish to be pollyanna-ish, but if an author or creative wants to do something with an existing work, is it necessarily cynical? The money behind it and the producers and anyone looking to be commercially successful, sure. But I can imagine an author wanting to write more about a character or characters. I can also imagine a TV or movie writer wanting to expand on a story or tell another story in the same universe, which may or may not use the same characters.
To answer your last question: time at home means lots of catching up/watching new movies/tv shows with my family. This year, that means The Crown, A Haunting in Venice, Elemental, and more...