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39 T he latest “Hunger Games” are yet to begin, but the fans have already arrived in force. Seven hundred fans of the popular book trilogy spent the weekend camped out on the concrete in front of LA Live plaza, and they were rewarded with games, celebrity meetings and tickets to Monday’s premiere of “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire.” “I’m floored!” said Alyce Kozar, 24, who said she just joined the fan camp “to be with those sharing my fandom.” The Los Angeles resident bonded instantly with 23-year-old Jemmie Yamson of Minneapolis, whom she met when the camp began, and now the two are planning to travel to Comic-Con together. Fan camp participants won their spots in an online lottery. The camp began Saturday morning, when fans were split into “districts,” echoing a tenet from the books. They were responsible for their own tents and sleeping gear, but Lionsgate, which also hosted a fan camp for the first “Hunger Games” film, provided diversions such as cast visits and contests. Director Francis Lawrence and star Josh Hutcherson were among the stars who dropped by during the two- and-a-half-day campout. Fans brought their own hand-made posters, and many carried copies of the second book in the series by Suzanne Collins. Danny Hernandez of Azusa, California, was among those with book (and Sharpie) in hand. He applied for the fan camp so he might get a chance to see the film early, but found connecting with fellow fans even more rewarding. “The coolest thing was meeting all of these people,” the 29-year- old said, adding that he had come alone but now belonged to a group of 10, who planned to watch the film together. Cheyenne Deen of Las Vegas convinced her mom and sister to travel to Los Angeles for the camping adventure. The 22-year-old and her friend, 19-year-old Michelle Mota, came to the first “Hunger Games” fan camp and also slept on the sidewalk for the “Twilight” premieres. They have a tip for fan-camp folks: “Never leave the camp because there’s always something going on.” The two participated in a scavenger hunt and collected autographs from Hutcherson and others. Deen’s mother, Elaine, who’d never attended a fan camp before, was dazzled to near speechlessness. “I’m star-struck,” she said. “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire” opens Friday. 700 fans camp out for ‘Catching Fire’ premiere File photo shows “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire” cast members, from left, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hems- worth and Jennifer Lawrence pose for a portrait with director Francis Lawrence at the Four Seasons Hotel, in Beverly Hills, Calif.—AP A considerable upgrade over the first “Hun- ger Games” movie, “Catching Fire” comes across more like a remake than a sequel. In the adaptation of the second installation in Suzanne Collins’ young adult trilogy, there’s cer- tainly plenty that has changed. Rebellion against the totalitarian rule of President Snow (Donald Sutherland) in the 12 districts of Panem is grow- ing. Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) is now a beloved hero with the weight of celebrity on her shoulders. And Philip Seymour Hoffman, bless him, has found his way into the proceed- ings. Yet the general plot - a journey from Katniss’ poor hometown of District 12 to a climactic game of human hunting in “the arena,” with high-speed train rides and training sessions in between - is identical to the first “Hunger Games.” More has shuffled behind the camera, and “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire” is much the better for it. Francis Lawrence (“I Am Legend”) has taken over directing from Gary Ross, whose poor handling of the first film didn’t stop it from becoming a sensation. Lawrence has given the film (the budget was nearly doubled) a more settled environment heavy on greys and a more appropriately grave emotional atmosphere. These are kids being forced to kill other kids, the franchise seems to have realized. “Catching Fire” opens with Katniss back in District 12, haunted by the experiences of her first Hunger Games. There, too, is her flame Gale (Liam Hemsworth), who’s slaving away in the mines. (Hemsworth, a nonentity in both films, makes about as convincing a miner as Ben Stiller’s Zoolander did.) But Katniss’ success in the Hunger Games was partly due to her for-publici- ty-sake romance with her co-winner Peeta (Josh Hutcherson, who seems about half the height of the screen-dominating Lawrence). President Snow, aware of the put-on, insists they keep up the charade to help pacify the uprising. There’s an ironic satire of modern celebrity somewhere in “Catching Fire.” Katniss has be- come famous only to find it a trap. As her Hunger Games coach Haymitch (Woody Harrelson) says, “You never get off this train.” Lawrence isn’t so different. “The Hunger Games,” along with her more interesting work in “Winter’s Bone” and “Silver Linings Playbook,” has made her an enor- mous star. She is quite literally “the girl on fire,” as Katniss is nicknamed. When she’s trotted out with Peeta on a victory tour of the 12 districts to “feed the monster” - that is, to distract the masses with their tabloid romance - one can’t help but see “The Hunger Games” as the same kind of diversion. It’s dystopia-lite: a bloody tale of oppression watered down for a PG-13 rating. The act doesn’t work as Snow intended. On the tour, we get glimpses of protesters, embold- ened by Katniss, swiftly snuffed out by Storm Trooper-like guards. (Any actual dying in “The Hunger Games” always happens just off screen). With his plotting new adviser (Hoffman, add- ing a dose of intrigue), Snow announces a twist: The next Hunger Games will be fought between former Games winners. He hopes these Hunger Games will reveal - in the reality show broadcast of the event Katniss as a killer, not a symbol of populist hope. The most pleasing moment in “Catching Fire” comes when these other former Victors - a motley crew of veteran warriors - is introduced. Among the bone-crushing murder profession- als is, of all people, Jeffrey Wright. He proves a cunning brainiac. Back are Elizabeth Banks (as the Capitol escort Effie), Lenny Kravitz (as Katniss’ pyrotechnic stylist) and, easily the high point of both movies, Stanley Tucci as the campy broad- cast emcee Caesar. Among the newcomers, Sam Claflin, as the arrogant Hunger Games veteran Finnick Odair, has a mischievous charm. But “Catching Fire” is, to be sure, Lawrence’s show. The exaggerated world of “The Hunger Games,” with its cartoonish decadents, teenage Roman gladiators and theatrical allegory, would overwhelm most young actors. But Lawrence (convincingly tormented in this film) has a calm sincerity and steely determinism that cuts through it all. Katniss’ rise is hers, too. “The Hun- ger Games: Catching Fire,” a Lionsgate release, is rated PG-13 by the Motion Picture Association of America for intense sequences of violence and action, some frightening images, thematic elements, a suggestive situation and language. Running time: 146 minutes. Two and a half stars out of four. MPAA definition of PG-13: Parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inap- propriate for children under 13.—AP ‘Catching Fire’ an upgrade for franchise Review This image released by Lionsgate shows Stanley Tucci as Caesar Flickerman, left, and Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen in a scene from “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire.”—AP A h, the boom box. The portable stereo brings back memories of a specific time in music, when some of the sounds blaring from the speakers in- cluded the stew of punk rock, reggae and early hip-hop cooked up by the Clash. Bass player Paul Simonon de- signed the group’s new box set to look like a boom box. Lift up the cover and you’ll find the complete recorded output of the classic Clash lineup - the late Joe Strum- mer, Mick Jones, Simonon and Topper Headon - with outtakes, videos, fanzines, stickers, a poster and more. The survivors worked a few years to get back control of their music, remaster it and restore the original artwork. The Clash were leaders of London’s punk rock class of 1977, made one of rock’s most enduring albums in “London Calling” and soaked up the sounds of the street in hits like “Train in Vain” and “Rock the Casbah.” Jones and Headon were fired in 1982 and although replacements were added and another album, “Cut the Crap,” released in 1985, that final chapter is ignored in the “Sound System” box. The balding Jones now looks like a kindly British professor as he sits down to talk about the project. Simonon, who always looked better than he played, is impeccably tailored. They confide a few myth- puncturing details in an interview with The Associated Press earlier fall: “The Only Band That Matters” declaration was record company hype that they detested, and the band poked fun at their political crusader image in the song “Know Your Rights,” only people took them too seriously to notice. Before the Clash, Jones went to art school not to learn how to draw, but to meet other musicians. He took a grant given to buy art supplies and bought an amp instead. It proved to be a good investment. AP: Were the Clash destined to burn bright and burn out fast? Simonon: We didn’t know it at the time, but I guess so. When we first started, I was surprised that we got through the end of the week, really. Jones: Nothing was guaranteed. I knew that we worked really hard, nearly every day. AP: Is it a regret that you ended when you did? Simonon: We were starting to lose track with Earth because fame and success brings you many things that you’re not really prepared for or know how to deal with as a human being. When it does happen, it’s very easy to get swallowed up and be taken along with it and become a casualty or lose touch with reality. The fact that we fell apart when we did, sacking everybody, in some ways stopped those potential problems. AP: Did you make your peace with Joe Strummer before he died (in 2002)? Jones: It was well before he died. It was just a few months after I left the group that we became friends again. Simonon: We appeared in Mick’s B.A.D. video for “Medicine Show,” just to show outwardly that we were friends again. AP: If he had lived, do you think the Clash would have gotten back together? Jones: We had opportunities. That’s it, really. It didn’t happen. It never seemed right. AP: Why? Jones: We didn’t want to do it. Simonon: It’s a better story at the end of the day that we didn’t get back together. We saved all that time and effort by not reforming. It seems like we would have squandered what we’d achieved by reforming. Why do people get together? Why do bands reform? Oh, they’re good mates. Well, that’s nice. It’s usually because of a financial situation that has to be adhered to. Basically, everyone’s broke. Jones: Our band is an idea as well. It kind of said, ‘You can do this.’ We can say all this now in retrospect and sort of understand it. When we did it, we just did it instinctively with no thought of future significance. AP: Does the world need a band like the Clash today? Jones: There’s not much going on, is there?--AP Looking back: The Clash in a (boom) box File photo shows Paul Simonon at the Black Market Clash pop-up exhibition and store in Soho to mark the release of the group’s remastered collected works “Sound System” box set in London.—AP photos This box set cover image released by Sony Music Entertainment shows “Sound System,” by The Clash. LIFESTYLE WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2013 M u s i c & M o v i e s
