We posted the announcement for the upcoming Hunger Games nail polish line a few weeks ago, but Buzzfeed has just posted a look at the actual colors... and they include a tone called "Foie Gras". Was there a shout-out to goose liver pâté in the books that I've forgotten, or are they just upping the grossness factor for fun?
Like they're not going to make money hand over fist...
According to THR, the American Federation of Musicians intended to picket a shoot of the TV show Mad Men yesterday. I have little interest in Mad Men, but the reason the musicians are angry is actually Wordcandy-related: Lionsgate Films produces both the AMC TV show and the upcoming Hunger Games movie, and they've apparently chosen to score their mega-blockbuster-to-be entirely in Europe–despite filling it with what they describe as “native Americana music".
Uh... when I think about potential Hunger Games merchandising tie-ins, nail polish is not the first thing that leaps to mind. However, China Glaze has announced that there will be a line of HG-themed polishes, with 12 colors inspired by the various districts, and with Effie Trinket serving as the line's "face". (I'm hoping for a "Dystopian Taupe" shade for Katniss's home district.)
The first full-length trailer is out for The Hunger Games, and it focuses far more on the interpersonal drama than the kid-on-kid violence. Probably a smart move, considering I still have no idea how they can make this movie without giving it anything less than an R-rating.
And here we have the actual Hunger Games footage, dear readers. 90% of it is a pleasant walk in the woods, 8% is devoted to fireballs and arrows, and and 2% (maybe) is devoted to actual plot:
If you're really, really patient, MTV will be airing the first video footage from the upcoming Hunger Games movie adaptation during this Sunday's VMAs. For the rest of us, I'd recommend waiting until Monday morning, where we should all be able to watch the footage without sitting through what feels like a million hours of commercials and industry back-patting.
The new cover art has been released for the upcoming collectors' edition of Suzanne Collins's The Hunger Games. The new edition will cost $30, goes on sale in November, and features (inexplicably) a reworked version of the mockingjay pin on the original cover.
For a disturbing moment, I feared the book was covered in black velvet. But now I'm pretty sure that's just a printed-on discoloration... right?
Anyone else seeing Anne of Green Gables with a bow?
Well, Entertainment Weekly has released their May 20th cover image featuring Jennifer Lawrence as Hunger Games heroine Katniss Everdeen. And she looks fine, I suppose, although something about that collar says "Japanese school uniform" to me, which I would have skipped in light of the frequent comparisons between Collins's work and the Japanese series Battle Royale.
Well, Katniss Everdeen has been cast. And while Jennifer Lawrence is a lovely young woman and (from what I hear) a very talented actress, and I know Hollywood hair and makeup will go a long way towards making her look like an emaciated teenager... I'm sorry, but if you told me she was 30 years old I would totally believe you. (At least in this outfit.)
My, my: people are apparently all concerned that Lionsgate's upcoming film adaptation of Suzanne Collins's The Hunger Games has put out a casting call for a pretty, tomboyish, 15-to-20 year old Caucasian actress who looks "underfed but strong".
Um... people are surprised Hollywood is looking to cast a skinny white girl?
According to Cinematical, Lionsgate Films has announced a release date for their upcoming adaptation of Suzanne Collins's The Hunger Games: March 23, 2012. As far as I know, they have a director (Pleasantville's Gary Ross), but no cast has been announced.
Mockingjay author Suzanne Collins will be visiting Powell's Books in Portland, Oregon on Sunday, November 7th from 12:00 to 1:30 p.m. Due to a hand injury, Ms. Collins will be stamping books rather than signing them... but she'll be using a special commemorative stamp created especially for her 2010 Mockingjay tour, if that makes you feel any better.
Cinematical informs me that Lionsgate Films is pondering three directors for their upcoming Hunger Games movie adaptation: Gary Ross (Pleasantville), David Slade (The Twilight Saga: Eclipse), and Sam Mendes (Road to Perdition). They've also taken the original script—which was written by Suzanne Collins herself—and turned it over to a professional scriptwriter for a second draft.
Sounds like things are moving right along, although I suspect my enthusiasm for this project will depend heavily on casting, and only slightly less heavily on whether or not I can avoid seeing it in 3D. I'm sorry, but there are some things I really don't need to see flying out at me....
Okay, one last post on Mockingjay, and then I'm done talking about it (at least until the inevitable movie* comes out). The online magazine Slate has chosen Mockingjay as the subject of one of their book clubs, and I thought they raised several good issues, including the series' hugely imbalanced sex-to-violence ratio. (If you're new to the site, our review of the book was mixed. So is Slate's.)
In general, I too am irritated by the way YA publishers are more comfortable dealing with violence than sex (for example, many high school libraries contain Stephen King books—some of which contain sex, although it isn't their primary focus—but wouldn't dream of stocking romance novels). However, I'm not sure the lack of sexual urges in this series is unrealistic—after all, it's not like Katniss has much time to sit around mooning over boys (unlike, say, Bella Swan), and even if she did, there are some cold, hard, unpleasant realities she'd have to consider first. I don't know about you, but I suspect I would find the existence of the Hunger Games—and the idea that I would have to submit any potential children to them—a real incentive to keep my pants on.
*Which I'm really, really, really hoping will not star Miley Cyrus.
Well, dear readers, I waded through both Catching Fire and Mockingjay yesterday, and my emotions were mixed. There were elements I liked, but the violence was so constant that I found myself actually bored by it—out of a few hundred speaking roles, how many characters survive? Twenty? Fifty? Literally everyone else bites it, and most of 'em in the most hideously gory way possible.
For those of you who've skipped this series, Catching Fire and Mockingjay are the sequels to 2008's The Hunger Games, which we reviewed here. In Catching Fire, Katniss struggles to deal with the fallout from her unconventional Hunger Games victory as the Capitol forces her to participate in the creepy spectacle of the post-Games events. In Mockingjay, Katniss joins (not fully by choice) the rebel movement of District 13, but it's unclear if her new “allies” are better or worse than her old opponents.
There are a lot of things to admire about this series. Katniss is a wonderfully complex character, and Collins does a superb job of taking current trends and pushing them to their creepiest extremes—at their best, these books have some of the disturbing topicality of Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale. Her love triangle (which is less of a plot point than the plethora of “Team Peeta” and “Team Gale” t-shirts available on the Internet would have you believe) adds a human touch to the story, without being irritatingly dragged out.
Unfortunately, many of these virtues were hard to appreciate after yet another chapter full of decapitations, mutilations, and flesh-melting. (At one point, Nathan walked into the room and asked me how Mockingjay was going. Choosing a sentence at random, I started reading aloud: “My face lands in a still-warm puddle of someone's blood...” That's seriously how the book goes. Practically every page!) I still managed to enjoy myself—I have a strong stomach—but I'm sincerely hoping that the next series from Suzanne Collins heads in a very different direction.
If you're a Hunger Games fan and 21 years of age or older, be sure to check out Forever Young Adult's Hunger Games Drinking Game, which I'm sure will make the whole "Peeta Vs. Gale" debate a whole lot more interesting.
Well, dear readers, today is August 23rd, and tomorrow is the release date for Suzanne Collins' Mockingjay. If you're desperate to celebrate this event, you can nip down to your local Hot Topic and pick up one of their not-very-creatively-designed Hunger Games merchandising tie-ins, which range from t-shirts to bookmarks to those ugly rubber bracelets.
I, on the other hand, still haven't read Catching Fire, the second book in this series. I'd like to say this is a testament to my dazzling self-control, but the fact is that while I liked The Hunger Games well enough, I still haven't gotten over the crushing disappointment of the final book in the Gregor the Overlander series. I'm planning to read Catching Fire today (I might even post a short review later on), but I'm fully bracing myself for a knife to the back when I pick up Mockingjay tomorrow.
Portland, Oregon's Powell's Books is hosting a midnight release party for Mockingjay, the third and final book in Suzanne Collins's bestselling "Hunger Games" trilogy. The shindig will start at 9:00 p.m. and include a costume contest, trivia battle, and giveaways. Sadly, this is a Monday night event (August 23rd), so attendance might be limited to people who don't have to get up early on Tuesday (read: shrieking teenagers).
NPR is full of Suzanne Collins goodness right now: their site is offering both a sneak peek at chapter two of her just-released novel Catching Fire and a lengthy interview with the author.
The Hunger Games author Suzanne Collins is allowing fans to vote on three questions per month, one of which she will answer. This month's questions are:
Does Katniss feel any love toward Peeta? Which character can you relate to the most? Where did you get the idea for Rue's death song?
It seems like an artificial way to interact with fans, but seeing as my first question would be "Why did you choose such a stupid ending for the Underland Chronicles, and are you ever going to write another book to fix it?", that might be a smart move.
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