Tag Archives: The Hunger Games

Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper Caught On Film: Again!

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Jennifer Lawrence, the 21 year old star of the upcoming film, The Hunger Games is in full demand from Hollywood.

Lawrence who has just completed filming the House at the End of the Street, starring in The Silver Lining Playbook; which is in post-production; is now slated to play the female lead in upcoming adaptation of the period drama novel Serena. I’m not sure how she has the time to do this when she heads back into training for The Hunger Games sequel, Catching Fire in July.

Which means that Lawrence is set to reunite with Bradley Cooper on Serena, reports the Hollywood Reporter. This will be their second movie together as they just costarred in The Silver Lining Playbook. It’s good to know that Cooper and Lawrence are rounding out their acting chops, committing to films that should have a higher challenge rating in the ways of acting.

This may be the start of a new Hollywood screen couple. The last pairing I remember was Drew Barrymore and Adam Sandler. Yes, that long ago. Since then I haven’t really paid attention.

Bradley Cooper, The Hangover star is also known for the movie Limitless; I didn’t care he was in the Hangover until I saw Limitless. Intelligence enhancer in an addictive pill? It sounds awesome! Cooper also has a full plate in acting. He’s expected to film The Hangover 3 later this year.

Darren Aronofsky was previously attached to helm the film Serena as director. This was to be alongside Angelina Jolie as the evil wife. It is now reported that Susanne Bier, director of In a Better World is also to direct Serena. Bier who is known for movies that tell tales about damaged people, appears to be a better fit to bring this tale of woe to life.

Here is a synopsis for the novel Serena, written by Ron Rash, published in 2008:

“The year is 1929, and newlyweds George and Serena Pemberton travel from Boston to the North Carolina mountains where they plan to create a timber empire. Although George has already lived in the camp long enough to father an illegitimate child, Serena is new to the mountains–but she soon shows herself to be the equal of any man, overseeing crews, hunting rattle-snakes, even saving her husband’s life in the wilderness. Together this lord and lady of the woodlands ruthlessly kill or vanquish all who fall out of favor. Yet when Serena learns that she will never bear a child, she sets out to murder the son George fathered without her. Mother and child begin a struggle for their lives, and when Serena suspects George is protecting his illegitimate family, the Pembertons’ intense, passionate marriage starts to unravel as the story moves toward its shocking reckoning.”

So in the film Silver Lining Playbook, Cooper and Lawrence become a couple in what I suppose will be a feel good romance movie about enjoying life. In Serena, they act like the ultimate married couple out to destroy one another, running through the woods in a Hunger Games, killer lumberjack fashion. Hopefully if they have a third movie, it’ll be about a couple that pit their children against one another like in a pokemon battle.  That’s what my parents did.

 

Jennifer Lawrence, Katniss Everdeen, The Hunger Games

Hunger Games Star Credits Mom For Role

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Jennifer Lawrence, Katniss Everdeen, The Hunger Games

The Hunger Games hasn’t even hit theaters yet but fans and critics alike are already talking about star Jennifer Lawrence’s role in the film. Lawrence portrays the main character of the film and book series, Katniss Everdeen. We haven’t seen her in the role yet, but from the trailers her performance is already buzzing. But this star credits one person for taking the role, her mother.

Lawrence recently revealed in a new interview with Total Film that if it weren’t for her mom pushing her to take the role, she might not have taken on the film.

When it came to the lead role in The Hunger Games, Lawrence told a story of how her mother called her a “fraidy cat” when she was considering passing on the film. Her reasons being that she was worried that it might be to big of a project for her to take on.

“I always got asked why I did indies, not studio films, and I said it was about the script, it’s not about how big it is,” Lawrence relates. “And she was like, ‘This is a script you love, a character you love, and you’re about to turn it down because of the size of it? You’re a hypocrite!'”

Lawrence also revealed that it was actually her mother who read the book first and suggested that she consider auditioning for the role.

“My mom has a terrible habit of reading books, telling me to read them and then me doing the movie – she did the same with ‘Winter’s Bone.'”

Either way it happened, I am happy Lawrence decided to audition and take the role. I can’t blame her though for thinking it might be to big of a project. If you have read all three books you know that it only gets harder for our lead character as the story progresses. Thankfully, she has signed on for all four movies based on the trilogy and I am sure this series will rock the world.

The Hunger Games is the film adaptation of the book of the same name written by Suzanne Collins. It is based on the first book in the trilogy followed by Catching Fire and Mockingjay. You can read the article about why The Hunger Games casting for the film is perfect here.

The Hunger Games Becomes an Adventure Game

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In an associated pairing of entertainment mediums, a new social media game will be released the same day The Hunger Games hits theaters. The game, like the film is based on the popular young adult book series by Suzanne Collins. It’s called The Hunger Games Adventures; Games-Game would have been silly; and will be launched on March 23 of this year with the movie.

It used to be Saturday morning cartoons, action figures and cereal.  Social media games are now the new ploy to capitalize on something that is popular right now.

Funtactix, an independent game developer is no stranger to movie tie-in games. Previously they’ve put out online games based on the animated movie Rango and Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol.

This focus on creating games based on movies comes at a time when others in the industry are wary of touching that game genre.

Which doesn’t come to me as a surprise. Games based on movies have never been good, unless it’s sub-based on Lego. Then it’s cool. Yes, the children do make certain titles popular, but it’s only because parents buy these games for them, hoping it’ll shut them up or win them points with child services. My nephew for example will go absolutely nuts for anything based on the animation Cars. He’ll play a Cars game, but then he’ll drop it after five minutes in favor of angry birds. Anything beyond the age demographic of 6 – 12 is reaching for a developer hoping to make a movie based game.

THQ announced last month that it will no longer work on kids licensed games like Kung Fu Panda 2 or Up. Which makes sense as the initial market was for child fans of the movie back in 2008. It’s been 4 years since, so they might have upgraded to murder simulations and car jacking.

Two years ago, Take-Two Interactive Studios’ then-CEO and president Ben Feder declared to attendees that “Licensing content is dead.” according to Gamasutra. Well the same can be said about movies based on games. Take the Super Mario Bros. Movie of 1993 up to Prince of Persia: Sands of Time in 2010; How was Jake Gyllenhaal Persian?

Funtactix doesn’t think movie tie-ins are dead though. Sam Glassenberg, the CEO of Funtactix had this to say to Gamasutra about the problems with games based on films:

“The console-based film games business is rapidly disappearing. The game quality has fallen for years, and consumers have come to realize this, resulting in a collapse of the console-movie-games market.”

“The production cycle for a good console game has grown to two to three years, which is longer than the production window for a film… Hitting day-and-date on a quality game is a near impossibility.”

Glassenberg however points out that social game developers; say games for Facebook; can bring a Facebook title to market in months, instead of years. This makes it possible for those developers to put out; what is considered high-quality for social media; games at the same time with a movies debut.

Console games are at a distinct disadvantage due to product shipping, selling and review. Social media games on the other hand are instantly available online and free; so long as you don’t buy the credits to give you the needed advantage over others.

Game development is a tricky business overall and requires knowledge of trends, cost analysis, marketing and great workers. Then maybe a decent game on top of all that. I should know. I beat Dev Story, the 8-bit simulation where you manage your own game company and try to create a million-selling game.

‘Hunger Games’ Film Director Says It’s a ‘Very Faithful Adaptation’

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If you are like me, you are counting down the days till The Hunger Games hits theaters. But if you have read the books you are probably a little frightened of what they might do with the beloved trilogy. (There have been very few times when a film adaptation wasn’t off base from its source). However, according to a recent sit-down with the director of the film, Gary Ross, we know a little better what to expect from the adaptation. Continue reading →

New Hunger Games Song By The Decemberists Released

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We have already heard the song by Taylor Swift for the upcoming Hunger Games soundtrack, but a new track has been released. The song, “Our Engines” by the incredible band, The Decemberists, was revealed and is one that will be feature on the official soundtrack. The song is gorgeous (like most of their songs) and I think it will fit in well with the rest of the soundtrack. Continue reading →

New Motion Viral Posters for the Hunger Games

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The Hunger Games is getting closer everyday (as my excitement exponentially gets bigger) and recently three new posters were released. But these posters are not normal posters, they are actually motion posters featuring Seneca Crane (Wes Bentley), Casear Flickerman (Stanley Tucci) and Cinna (Lenny Kravitz).

The film is the big screen adaptation of the novel of the same name by Suzanne Collins. It is the first in a series of four films that will adapt the three books of the series.

Each of the posters is actually an ad but using the characters from the film.

In case you need a refresher here is the official synopsis of the novel and first film:

In the ruins of what was once the United States, the nation of Panem, hosts a brutal game of life and death called The Hunger Games. A competition in which contestant, or tributes, from each of the 12 districts compete to the death until only one is left alive to be the victor. Each district must give up one girl and boy to the Games each year. The Games serve as a reminder to the 12 districts of the unsuccessful rebellion that happened 74 years prior. The story follows Katniss Everdeen, who becomes a tribute to the games after she takes the place to spare her sister Prim. She competes in the games against the other distri, as well as Peeta Mellark, the boy tribute from District 12, who has secretly loved Katniss since childhood, and who once did her a kindness she never could forget. Haymitch Abernathy is a drunk and the only living victor from District 12, mentors both Katniss and Peeta before and during the Hunger Games.

You can see the three character motion posters below:


Let the Twilight Games Begin!

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It’s official, there is no deity out there looking out for our best interests. All viewings of The Hunger Games in theaters will be preceded by a trailer of Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part 2.

This move was announced by Lionsgate to investors during a hoity-toity third quarter business call.

I’m sure this was to assure investors that yes, we’re still doing our absolute best in milking our target demographic. Or to infer that the success of one movie will transfer by osmosis and contribute to the success of their latest venture. The basic message, “You’re guaranteed to make money on this!” This was an expected marketing move as Lionsgate recently acquired Summit Entertainment, which previously distributed the “Twilight Saga” films.

Lionsgate Chief Executive Officer Jon Feltheimer said:

“We’re very excited about the opportunities created by our recent acquisition of Summit Entertainment. The February 11 home entertainment release of ‘Twilight Saga Breaking Dawn 1,’ the March 23 theatrical release of ‘Hunger Games’ and the November 16 theatrical release of ‘Twilight Saga Breaking Dawn 2’ lead a strong combined slate that we believe will enable us to deliver increased consistency, profitability and value to our shareholders.”

As with all corporate goons, I picture someone wearing a Bela Lugosi vampire type costume while talking about the value of money. Possibly with a fangy accent.

The Hunger Games is another fantasy novel aimed at young female teens, but while Twilight is a fantasy novel where men act the way woman want them to, the Hunger Games is more like the Japanese cult classic film, Battle Royal; where the worst school children are shipped off to an island with exploding collars and issued random weapons to kill one another. So both films; Twilight and the Hunger Games; feature female leads in weird love triangles… So I heard. I swear I haven’t read the books.

As there are twice as much women in the world as men; that live longer by feeding off of us; these contemporary, “Chick flicks” do their best to cash in on the myth that love is real. I won’t be surprised if these movies are remastered in the future using the George Lucas method; slowly re-releasing with never seen before cut footage in special box sets.

Why would they do this? For this I examined what Mina Kelly of Boomtron had to say about Twilight products,

“Fans will likely look past all the blood and gore focusing more on the love story of Bella and Edward. Rewinding and Fast-forwarding to their favourite bits and pieces of the movie which DVD’s and Blu-Rays lend very well to. The idea of the romantic vampire and immortal love is indeed held in very high esteem by the young adult. While everyone likes a good love story, I remember when vampires were brutal, undead killing machines, not sparkling pretty boys.”

When videos used to be rented on VHS, I recall getting movies that would play at weird speeds at certain scenes.  As if someone had rewound it to that spot and paused a countless number of times for some unwholesome reason.

Oh yes, fans will see it in the theater and buy it as well, many, many times over to come. What a gullible fan base. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have some Star Wars remastered lego clone animation on Blu-Ray to watch.

Jennifer Lawrence & Josh Hutcherson Talk Hunger Games

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Courtesy of the good people over at MSN.com who recently did an interview with the stars of the upcoming film, The Hunger Games we have the video of the interview.
Josh Hutcherson who plays Peeta Mellark in the film and Jennifer Lawrence who plays heroine, Katniss Everdeen spoke about their on set friendship as well as the sequels of the film.
Lawrence, who is best known for earning an Oscar nomination for Winter’s Bone, and taking on the role of Mystique in the latest “X-Men” franchise, is now going to make quite a mark with her heading the cast and film of the adaptation of the The Hunger Games and its trilogy.
The Hunger Games was written by Suzanne Collins and is the first book in the trilogy. It is followed by Catching Fire and Mockingjay. The series adaptation will be filmed in four films rather than three so as to break up the third book into two films.
The official plot of the film is as follows:
At an unidentified future date, the nation of Panem has risen out of the ruins of what was once known as North America. Due to an uprising by the districts of Panem, a raffle is held to choose one boy and girl, aged 12–18, from each of the 12 districts to risk their lives in the Hunger Games, a ruthless competition in which each contestant, or tribute, tries to kill the others until only one is left alive. The winner receives honor, gifts, and enough food and supplies to never worry for anything material again. The Games, while entertainment for the Capitol’s citizens, are a yearly reminder to the 12 districts of their unsuccessful rebellion 73 years ago, during which District 13 was completely destroyed.
In District 12, sixteen year-old Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) cares for her mother and sister Primrose “Prim” (Willow Shields) since her father died in a mine accident when she was 11. Each year, since the age of 12, Katniss has put her name in the lottery, or reaping, more than once. In return for taking this extra annual risk, she receives extra grain and oil for her family. In addition, Katniss has been illegally hunting for food outside the gates of District 12 with her friend Gale (Liam Hemsworth), whose father died in the same mining accident as Katniss’ and who similarly cares for his family.
Prim, now age 12, has her name placed in the reaping for the first time — only once — and it is unexpectedly drawn. Katniss watches as Prim is taken away by four peacekeepers, and volunteers to replace her sister in the Games. She competes with other tributes, including trained “Career Tributes” who have been illegally training for the Games their entire lives, as well as Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson), the male tribute from District 12, who has secretly loved Katniss since childhood, and who once did her a kindness she never could forget. Haymitch Abernathy (Woody Harrelson), a drunk and the only living victor from District 12, mentors both Katniss and Peeta before and during the Hunger Games.
I am so excited for this movie, after reading the novels, I just have high hopes for the film. (I also have to admit that I am totally jealous of Lawrence because I pretty much love Josh as Peeta.)
You can watch the interview with the stars below.
The Hunger Games opens nationwide March 23, 2012.

Exclusive New Trailer For The Hunger Games Disappoints

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Yahoo news recently revealed a new exclusive trailer for the upcoming film, The Hunger Games. It sports a few new scenes from the film that weren’t featured in the other trailers, but it also includes several disappointing scenes as well. There two different scenes that are not similar to the novel. If you have read the books then you probably saw them instantly just like myself.
In the trailer, Katniss gives the mocking jay pin to her sister Prim before the reaping as a sign of good luck. Yes thats a sweet moment.
But in the novel, Katniss’s friend Madge gives her the pin before she leaves for the Capitol after the reaping is already over. I don’t like this change because it was a really nice moment in the book when Katniss realizes that maybe she had a friend in Madge all along, even if this self-realization is a bit to late at that point.
Also featured in the trailer, is again the mockingjay pin. In the trailer, you can Cinna secretly putting into Katniss’s clothes. However, in the novel, the Capitol at the last minute allows her to keep the pin on the front of her jumpsuit and everyone can see it while she in the arena.
These are small things, granted. But really, how hard is it to get those two scenes the way they are in the novel? Each scene is only a few sentences long in the book, and I think they are more powerful then the ones portrayed in this new trailer.

Lenny Kravitz Talks The Hunger Games

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One of the stars of the upcoming adaptation, The Hunger Games recently spoke out about his character. Singer/Actor Lenny Kravitz was recently interviewed by Rolling Stone magazine about his role as Cinna in the highly anticipated film. He spoke about why he loved his character and the story. Continue reading →