About The Critics

Does college life give you a hectic schedule?  But are you struggling to keep up with the latest movies, shows, and events around campus?  We’re here to help!  Together the four of us will tackle the latest entertainment and spots around Ann Arbor to let you know how best to manage your time.  Here’s a little bio about each of us to help you see who you’re most like:

Shannon G:

Shannon G is a senior studying Political Science at the University of Michigan.  Shannon is from Connecticut, but has lived in England, Singapore, and New York.  In her spare time, she loves to cook, read, and go see plays.  She occasionally will watch a movie, but doesn’t keep up with the mainstream television shows.  She loves to explore the Ann Arbor restaurant scene both on South U and Main Street.  Her future plans are to move to New York City and work for an investment advising firm, where she hopes to frequent more Broadway plays.

Favorite TV Shows: The OC,  Friends, Sex and the City

Favorite movies:  The Italian Job, How to Lose a Guy In 10 Days, The Breakfast Club

Favorite books:  Girl With a Dragon Tattoo series, The Help, and My Sister’s Keeper.

Favorite Ann Arbor restaurants:  Cafe Zola, Black Pearl, Pacific Rim, and Eat Ann Arbor.

Shannon D:

Shannon D. is a senior studying English and Art History. After graduation, she plans to move to New York City and work at an auction house. In her free time (read: whatever little time is left between classes and tutoring at Sweetland) she enjoys contemporary art museums, discovering new recipes, reading her Nook, and playing volleyball.

Favorite TV shows: Arrested Development, The Office, Parks and Rec, New Girl

Favorite Movies: Safety Not Guaranteed, Django Unchained, Crazy Stupid Love

Favorite Books: Gone Girl, Harry Potter, Looking for Alaska, The Art of Racing in the Rain

Favorite Ann Arbor Restaurants: Produce Station’s Salad Bar, Melange, Real Seafood, Miki

Freddie S:

Freddie (Fredrika) S. is a senior studying Political Science at the University of Michigan. Freddie is from Grand Rapids, MI, and plans on moving to New York City in June after she graduates.  She is an avid movie watcher and enjoys watching the classics as well as going to the most recent box office hits. Freddie enjoys Jazzercising, relaxing, and hitting up Ann Arbor nightlife in her free time.

Favorite TV Shows: Shameless, Sopranos, Breaking Bad

Favorite Movies: Green Street Hooligans, Training Day, Inglorious Bastards

Ann Arbor Restaurants: Jerusalem Garden, Pacific Rim, Raja Rani, Sushi Town

Proma:

Proma Khosla is a senior majoring in Communications Studies at the University of Michigan. She was born in Boston and hopes to make it back to the East Coast after graduation. As a student of media studies, she can’t get enough television, movies, books, or music, and hopes to one day work in the entertainment industry. Her hobbies, apart from inordinate media consumption, include writing, dancing, making jewelry, and making the most of her remaining time in Ann Arbor.

Favorite TV Shows: There are way too many, but currently on-air shows include Parks and Recreation, Game of Thrones, Sherlock, and Downton Abbey (even after that last season).

Favorite movies: Back to the Future, Slumdog Millionaire, Titanic, The Dark Knight, The Avengers. She also watches a lot of Indian “Bollywood” movies.

Favorite books: Proma is a lifelong Harry Potter nerd. Also: Looking for Alaska, The Great Gatsby, The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks

Ann Arbor Restaurants: Sava’s, Shalimar, Cottage Inn, and the always classy Panchero’s Mexican Grill.

Our Rating System:

1: Don’t even bother

2: If you have an hour or two to kill, this is worth fitting into your schedule

3: Even if you have an exam tomorrow- check this out now!!

Our Discussion on Hunger Games

Welcome to Campus Critics.  In order to get to know our writers better to figure out who your interests align most with, we have decided to create a round table discussion on one of the year’s most popular films:  The Hunger Games.  

Hunger Games started as a popular young adult novel; how do you think the movie matched up to this best selling series?

Shannon D. says:

Disclaimer: I may be biased going into this review, since the English major in me would grab a book over a film the majority of the time. That being said, the movie adaptation wasn’t that disappointing. But while my love for Jennifer Lawrence runs deep (have you seen her candid interviews and trip-ups at awards shows??), I have to say that the Hunger Games film admittedly fell short of my expectations. I was a huge fan of the first book, and was so excited to see the film adaptation. J-Law, to me, was one of the film’s few saving graces, and her portrayal of Katniss was spot on, if not more dynamic. However, it was in the characters of Peeta and Gale (Josh Hutcherson and Liam Hemsworth, respectively) that fell flat. The two male characters were intriguingly complex in Suzanne Collins’ book, and I found myself flip-flopping in regard to whose “team” I was on. In the film, Gale and Peeta were almost caricatures who were much less multifaceted. The upside to this simplification is that the answer to the ubiquitous “Team Gale or team Peeta” question becomes much easier due to some casting decisions…give me Gale any day 😉

Shannon G says:

I had been skeptical about the Hunger Games because of my history with books adapted into movies not meeting my expectations.  However, this imitation brought the world of Panem and all of its characters to life just as I had imagined it.  Not only did director Gary Ross follow the story line that I read and loved, but he was able to create such a imaginative and suspenseful depiction that I was on the edge of my couch the entire time. To me, it was as if Ross had been inside my mind as I had turned the pages of Suzanne Collin’s trilogy.  The casting of the feisty and fresh Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Evergreen, the brooding Liam Hemsworth as Gale, and Josh Hutcherson as the kind, gentle Peeta.  The mystical, futuristic and frightening Capital.  The desolate, and deteriorating District 12.  For someone who can rarely sit down for an hour-long TV episode, I had been so engaged in this 2 ½ hours film that I even went back and re-watched it the following day.  For an adaptation of a children’s series, I’d say this film exceeded my expectations.

Proma says:

In my opinion, The Hunger Games is a pitch-perfect page-to-screen adaptation. As a longtime Harry Potter fan, I’d come to grips with never being fully satisfied with movie versions of my literary loves, but writers and producers should use The Hunger Games as a template for how to bring books to film. I remember that the novel read like a movie already, and with the author doubling as a screenwriter there was never a chance important elements could go missing. Apart from her excellent writing, the movie thrives on a truly amazing cast; the scene-stealing Stanley Tucci, the sinisterly sweet Elizabeth Banks, the unexpected-but-refreshing Woody Harrelson, and of course the young leads, Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson. I’m a big fan of Little Manhattan, a cute independent film Hutcherson starred in when he was just 13, and never questioned his acting ability. His portrayal of Peeta is honest and realistic, while Lawrence gives Katniss all the somber strength that makes this heroine great. This was easily one of the best films of 2012 and exemplary in every way.

Freddie says:

I would have to say that the movie didn’t quite do it for me. Unlike the Shannon(s) and Proma I didn’t read the book before watching the movie. I am not a huge reader so I didn’t have any idea of what the plot line was beforehand, but I had heard great things. I was thoroughly entertained throughout the movie, but it was the ending that really got to me. The whole movie is based around these Hunger Games where one winner lives to see glory for his or her town, but when it comes down to the final two—Katniss and Peeta—the boss of the Hunger Games changes the ruthless rules and both protagonists are spared their lives. The ending just seemed like somewhat of a cop-out to me. I get that there are two more books after this first one so they cant just kill off Katniss or Peeta, but it still irritated me how things just worked out perfectly in the end. Maybe if I had read the book series I would have a different opinion, but as a first time viewer I would have to say the movie was just mediocre.