The Hunger Games

The Hunger Games, Fans of the best seller “The Hunger Games” turned out in force Monday night at the Los Angeles red-carpet premiere of the postapocalyptic survivor flick.

Published in 2008, the first novel in Suzanne Collins’ trilogy has become one of the most anticipated films of the year. Some predict the films will be the next “Twilight” or “Harry Potter.”
“The book is amazing, and the actors they picked are beyond perfect,” said aspiring actress Jasmin Rodgers, 20, of Poughkeepsie, who camped out hoping to snag one of 400 fan tickets to Monday night’s performance at the Nokia Theatre.
“The first time I saw the trailer on TV, I was flipping out, running around my house screaming, I was so excited,” Rodgers said.

The movie stars Academy Award nominee Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson as lead characters Katniss Everdin and Peeta Mellark.

The film also features Woody Harrelson, Elizabeth Banks, Donald Sutherland, Stanley Tucci and Lenny Kravitz.

“I really loved watching myself disappear in the mirror every day and watching Effie appear. It was three hours in hair and makeup,” said Banks. “They really helped me feel like I was working in a different time and a different place. The undergarments were really constricting, so it was a constant reminder Effie wasn’t truly free. …I hope that young people remember that they matter and that their actions have consequences.”

Salmon Fishing In The Yemen

Salmon Fishing In The Yemen, What do you call a school of actors swimming upstream against an underwhelming script? How about “Salmon Fishing in the Yemen”? Yes, that will do, even if the movie won’t.

It’s not like Kristin Scott Thomas, Ewan McGregor and Emily Blunt don’t spawn copious amounts of charm, because they do. But even they don’t have the strength to make a successful run against roiling rapids of over-plotted comedy and drama that amalgamate into a swirling eddy of missed opportunity.

Surprising, since the script was penned by three-time Oscar-nominee Simon Beaufoy (“Slumdog Millionaire”), who tries in vain to infuse “Salmon Fishing in the Yemen” with the same blend of quirkiness and heart that he brought early in his career to “The Full Monty” and “Among Giants.” This time, though, he and director Lasse Hallstrom (“Chocolat”) try much too hard to win us over, eventually reaching the point of diminishing returns once the half-dozen or so busy plot strands finally come together in a ridiculous finale.

They throw everything they can think of – image-conscious politicians, a good-hearted sheik, a troubled marriage, a soldier missing in action and a couple of terrorist plots – in trying to tell what should have been a simple story about a man and woman casting their fates to an impossible dream of bringing salmon fishing to the arid desertscapes of Yemen. And waiting there at the end of the film’s hook is a whopper romance between a pair of impossibly beautiful actors pretending to be lovable losers.

To say this movie requires an utter suspension of disbelief is a vast understatement. The only thing more obvious is where this trifling, predictable story is headed. And the longer it takes its sweet time to get there, the more you refuse to take the bait. That’s saying something, too, when the lure consists of McGregor and Blunt, two highly appealing actors who overcome their complete lack of chemistry with performances that suggest depth where none exists.

The Hunger Games

The Hunger Games, Talking exclusively to MTV News following the premiere of her new video for “Safe & Sound” from “The Hunger Games,” Taylor Swift revealed that the clip contains several references to the best-selling YA book series that fans should recognize.

“I felt like I was really needing to pay tribute to this movie and tell this story,” Swift said. “There’s this moment in the music video where I find this mockingjay pin and hold it up.”

For those who have not read the books, the mockingjay pin is one of the most iconic symbols from the series. It was given to the main character, Katniss Everdeen (played in the film by Jennifer Lawrence), as a token to take into the arena to remind her of her Home, District 12.

The mockingjay and the pin itself are both symbols of rebellion in the books. The mockingjay is a species of bird inadvertently bred when the Capitol released “jabberjays” throughout the nation of Panem in an attempt to spy on its citizens. After the mission failed and the citizens of Panem learned how to feed lies to Capitol spies through the jabberjays, the Capitol ended the project, but the birds bred with mockingbirds in the wild, creating the mockingjay, which the Capitol was never able to eradicate.

We won’t spoil the rest, but the third book in the series is titled “Mockingjay,” and that isn’t just a reference to the bird or the pin anymore.

“Having a music video with that much symbolism in it is something I’m not used to,” Swift continued. “Everyone who is a ‘Hunger Games’ fans knows what it means when there’s fire in the trees and they know what it means for the house to be burnt and they know what it means for the ‘Hunger Games’ pin to be covered in rust and old. Everybody can take their own meaning away from it, but it all goes back to the symbolism of the book.”

To avoid spoiling the books and film, the only bit here that we’ll address are the burning trees, which can be seen throughout Swift’s video and briefly in the film’s second trailer. In the arena, the Gamesmakers use fire to keep the tributes from hiding in trees and to push groups of them into the same area so they can fight to the death for all to see.

New Hunger Games Trailer

New Hunger Games Trailer, Jennifer Lawrence portrays Katniss Everdeen in a scene from “The Hunger Games,” set for release on March 23.  The Mockingjay has landed.

With just 50 days away until “The Hunger Games” hits theaters, Lionsgate released a new trailer for the eagerly awaited first installment in the trilogy based on Suzanne Collins’ trilogy.

Set in a dystopian future where 12- to 18-year olds in the outlying districts are subjected to a lottery to produce 24 “tributes” that have to battle to the death for the ammusement of the capital city of Panem, “The Hunger Games” introduces straight-shooting (so to speak) heroine Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) to moviegoers.

The minute-long clip shows more of Katniss volunteering to go to certain death in the games in place of younger sister Primrose (Willow Shields). It sets up the love triangle involving Katniss’ hunting partner Gale (Liam Hemsworth) and her fellow “Hunger Games” competitor Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) that will be at heart of the trilogy.

The trailer also gives a cool look at the capital city of Panem, a hive of scum and villainy in the books that makes Mos Eisley look like Disneyland.

“Be stronger than they are,” says Gale in the clip.

“There are 24 of us, Gale, only one of us comes out,” answers Katniss.