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☆ ‘The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes’ Review: Prequel Without a Purpose
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-17 | by ( Kyle Smith | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

Rachel Zegler and Tom Blyth Photo: LionsgateAlong with the “Twilight” series, the “Hunger Games” films now seem like an unfortunate artifact of Obama-era teen taste. Interest in the latter saga fizzled amid the unwise decision to stretch out the third novel in Suzanne Collins ’s trilogy with enough filler to constitute two films. As the audience sensed it was being exploited, the concluding chapter was the lowest-grossing one in the series. This time the lead actress is another young performer whom Hollywood hopes to turn into a global name, “West Side Story” and “Shazam! Fury of the Gods” star Rachel Zegler .

Persons: Rachel Zegler, Tom Blyth, Suzanne Collins ’, Jennifer Lawrence, Hollywood, Billy, Kid, Francis Lawrence Organizations: Lionsgate, Hollywood

Everyone had resigned themselves to the fact that “The Hunger Games” ended in 2015. But Suzanne Collins’ Katniss Everdeen saga was over. And while the team was excited about the possibility of working together again, there were some nerves about whether or not there was an appetite for Hunger Games movies “without Katniss,” Lawrence told The Associated Press in a recent interview. And he felt like a star.”For Lucy Gray Baird, the District 12 tribute Snow is assigned to mentor for the 10th Hunger Games, Lawrence already had someone in mind. “Rather than seeing it as a pressure cooker just waiting to explode, I see it as a really big blessing.”Blyth, in his first starring role in Hollywood, felt some pressure.

Persons: ”, Jennifer Lawrence skyrocket, Suzanne Collins, Katniss, Collins, Francis Lawrence, Nina Jacobson, “ Mockingjay, Lawrence, Jacobson, Coriolanus Snow, ” Lawrence, they'd, ” Jacobson, “, Viola Davis, Peter Dinklage, Jason Schwartzman, Snow, Donald Sutherland, Tom Blyth, He’s Juilliard, Lucy Gray Baird, Rachel Zegler ’, Maria, Steven Spielberg’s “, ” Zegler, ” Blyth, “ Suzanne, Trish Summerville, ColorForce, Barbie ’, ‘ Oppenheimer Organizations: Hunger, Associated Press, Lionsgate, 10th Hunger Locations: Hollywood, Germany

☆ Arts Calendar: Happenings for the Week of November 12
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-12 | by ( Wsj Arts In Review Staff | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Sandro Botticelli’s ‘Head of a Woman in Near Profile Looking Down to the Left’ (c. 1468-70) Photo: Christ Church, OxfordFilm• “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes” (Nov. 17): The prequel to the ultra-popular young-adult dystopian series, based on Suzanne Collins ’s book, is a coming-of-age tale that once again sees youthful citizens competing to survive. Francis Lawrence (“I Am Legend”) directs a cast that includes Tom Blyth , Rachel Zegler , Josh Andrés Rivera , Hunter Schafer , Peter Dinklage , Jason Schwartzman and Viola Davis . • “Fallen Leaves” (Nov. 17): Two lonely, underemployed singles in Helsinki meet and find romance and a chance at self-improvement through their relationship in Aki Kaurismäki ’s tragicomedy, which won the Cannes Jury Prize.

Persons: Sandro Botticelli’s ‘, •, Suzanne Collins ’, Francis Lawrence, “, Tom Blyth, Rachel Zegler, Josh Andrés Rivera, Hunter Schafer, Peter Dinklage, Jason Schwartzman, Viola Davis, Aki Kaurismäki Organizations: Church , Oxford, Helsinki, Cannes

Some of them, like “Dune: Part Two," have been postponed until next year due to the ongoing actors and writers strikes. Gillespie’s film features a freewheeling ensemble including Pete Davidson, Anthony Ramos, Seth Rogen, Shailene Woodley, America Ferrera and Nick Offerman. “Fair Play” (in theaters Sept. 29, on Netflix Oct. 13)Hedge funds also play a role in writer-director Chloe Domont’s drama about sexual politics and gender dynamics in the high-charged, male-dominated world of finance. Eight years after the last “Hunger Games” movie (“Mockingjay – Part 2”) a prequel is returning to the science fiction dystopia of Panem. Francis Lawrence’s film, set 64 years before the events of the first “Hunger Games” film, introduces a host of new characters in the lead-up to the 10th Hunger Games.

Persons: ”, Expendables, Gael García Bernal, Roger Ross Williams, Saúl Armendáriz, Williams, Bunny, Craig Gillespie’s, ” Paul Dano, Keith Gill, Pete Davidson, Anthony Ramos, Seth Rogen, Shailene, America Ferrera, Nick Offerman, Chloe Domont’s, Phoebe Dynevor, Alden Ehrenreich, Aristotle, Dante, “ El Conde ”, Flora, Son ”, Henry Sugar ”, “ Carlos ”, “ Dicks, Justine Triet’s, Palme, Sandra Hüller, Martin Scorsese’s, David Grann's, Lily Gladstone, Scorsese, Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro, Robbie Robertson, Baz Luhrmann’s, Elvis Presley, Sofia Coppola, Priscilla Presley, “ Elvis, ” Jacob Elordi, “ Joan Baez, “ Taylor Swift, Nyad, “ Rustin ”, Colman Domingo, Bayard Rustin, George C, Martin Luther King Jr, Panem, Francis Lawrence’s, Tom Blyth, Rachel Zegler, Peter Dinklage, Viola Davis, ” Ridley Scott, Joaquin Phoenix, Napoleon Bonaparte, Vanessa Kirby, Joséphine Bonaparte, Sly ”, “ Orlando, Maestro ”, “ Leo ” Organizations: GameStop, America, Netflix, Sundance Film, Paramount, Apple, Cannes Film, Hüller, Hunger Locations: Shailene Woodley, Venice, Osage, Washington

☆ ‘Slumberland’ strands Jason Momoa in a nightmare of a movie
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-18 | by ( Review Brian Lowry | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —A movie about dreams becomes the stuff of nightmares in Netflix’s utterly misguided “Slumberland,” an attempt to build a sprawling fantasy adventure from the bones of the early-20th-century newspaper comic strip. Most notable as a vehicle for Jason Momoa, this wannabe spectacle from “The Hunger Games” director Francis Lawrence serves up lots of special effects desperately in search of a story. The realm of dreams is described as “a world with no consequence,” but as constructed, that comes in a movie with no clear creative compass, proving more mystifying than magical. Along the way, they run afoul of something called the Bureau of Subconscious Activities, a surreal bureaucracy that sees Flip as an outlaw. Those attributes feel wasted, however, in the surreal confines of “Slumberland,” which, as amusement-park-type names go, doesn’t even qualify as a nice place to visit.

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