As for Cinna, the expetation I had was different. I envisioned Cinna as somewhat meek, not in character but given his skills and role I just didn’t think of him as a commanding physical presence. I thought he was using his skills to aid the rebellion (not really addressed until book 2) but wasn’t really a fighting force. However, Lenny Cravitz did such a phenomenal job that I can’t think of the character in any other way now, which has little to do with his color anyway O_O. Although I knew Cinna was part of the rebellion, or at least sympathetic (remember adult themes and politics are largely left out so we have no idea how involved he actually is-just that he is obviously supportive to Katniss) I left the movie feeling like he was not only a leader, but a force to be reckoned with. I keep getting off topic here – so……I think that if anyone brought that to the character, then they should be cast regardless of what color people think he ‘should’ be (or is? maybe I did miss that in the book). I can’t imagine the part being played by anyone else now, with his quiet strength and physical grace (or..whatever the manly version of grace is).

Ultimately…I didn’t even realize there was an uproar over it O_O. the ONLY thing in regards to race that I noticed was that entire districts seemed to be largely segregated. that was a little odd but I suppose it happens naturally (refer: chinatown, japantown, little italy etc etc etc) so maybe that’s what happened. It was just a weird thing to see.

To answer your question, there is no reason, it was just curiosity. I can definitely see why it would be hard to clasify too. I suppose my own personal definition would be that independent is art for art’s sake with financial gain/personal advancement as secondary or even less as the reason for the making of the film. Not to say there aren’t blockbusters that really make you think or small productions that are just terrible attempts at being more than what they are.

I would probably define foreign as a film that would bring a culture, language, actors and story that is not my own. I guess if it was a Canadian film with the intent of looking, feeling and essentially being an American Hollywood Blockbuster my definition might get blurred. But, to me a foreign film is simply something that is not made or written with the intention of being American. In my mind I think of a foreign film as being a window into another culture, good or bad, blockbuster or documentary.

Does that

And for the record, I LOVE the Airbender series for it’s quality animation, deep yet very funny stories and for putting high morals under the microscope and making the ‘good’ characters get their hands dirty. We’re on the third time through the whole series right now and I still enjoy ~almost~ every episode.

And second question, what is your definition of foreign? Yes this film was shot in France and yes some of the dialogue is in French however most of the dialogue is in English.

Now I have a question just for kicks and my own curiosity, why do either of these things matter to you watching the movie?