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"The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes" is a rare prequel that actually works very well as its own standalone movie, while also making what came before even better — very much like "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story" did. While /Film's own Jeremy Mathai wasn't so enthusiastic about the film, writing that it "feels caught between its humbler, more character-driven aims and the blockbuster expectations of reinvigorating a brand" in his review, the movie was a giant hit, and gave audiences a new favorite District 12 victor.

Years before Katniss Everdeen's revolution, and even years before Coriolanus Snow became the tyrannical dictator in charge of Panem, "The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes" follows Snow as a teenager trying to keep his family's legacy alive. When the 10th annual Hunger Games approach, he is assigned to mentor a tribute from District 12 named Lucy Gray Baird, causing Snow to wrestle with...

Variety’s 2024 Culture Catalysts Impact report includes the people behind memorable activations from “Bridgerton,” marketers keeping “Call of Duty” high on the lists of gamers and the movers and shakers behind some of the biggest-grossing movies and buzzed-about series of the year. The third annual Variety Culture Catalysts Dinner presented by TikTok will take place Oct. 15. The event will feature intimate conversations with the executives behind the year’s most talked-about titles.

Dea Lawrence, chief operating and marketing officer at Variety, says, “Our third annual Cultural Catalysts Dinner is sure to drive the conversation forward on entertainment marketing while the inaugural Gaming on TikTok Summit will provide invaluable thought leadership for those at the crossroads of video games, entertainment and content.”

Film And TV

ABC

Shannon Ryan

President, marketing, Disney Entertainment Television

Erin Weir

Exec VP, marketing, ABC & Disney Entertainment Television

Aaron Goldman

Exec VP, creative marketing, Disney Entertainment Television...

Stars: Tom Blyth, Rachel Zegler, Viola Davis, Peter Dinklage, Jason Schwartzman, Fionnula Flanagan, Hunter Schafer, Ashley Liao, Joshua Kantara, Amélie Hoeferle, Hunter Schafer | Written by Michael Lesslie, Michael Arndt | Directed by Francis Lawrence

It’s been eight years since we last visited the world of Panem. Now the world spans to five films and this time we’re sent back over 60 years to see the 10th annual Hunger Games and the rise of Coriolanus Snow. This time Snow is played by newcomer Tom Blyth, who has to carry the runtime of the film all by himself. He’s joined for the most part by Rachel Zegler, who plays Lucy Gray.

The two leads carry the film effortlessly, Tom Blyth in particular does a fantastic job of giving complexity to Snow, showcasing a flawed but ambitious character as we slowly see his loss of humanity grow on screen. The film, unlike its predecessors,...

Killer Collectibles highlights five of the most exciting new horror products announced each and every week, from toys and apparel to artwork, records, and much more.

Here are the coolest horror collectibles unveiled this week!

Leviathan 4K Uhd from Kino Lorber

Leviathan plunges onto 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray on February 20 via Kino Lorber. The 1989 sci-fi/horror film been newly restored in 4K from the 35mm interpositive with Dolby Vision/Hdr and 5.1 surround and lossless 2.0 audio.

George P. Cosmatos directs from a script by David Webb Peoples and Jeb Stuart. Peter Weller, Richard Crenna, Amanda Pays, Daniel Stern, Ernie Hudson, Michael Carmine, Lisa Eilbacher, and Héctor Elizondo star.

Special features include: a new commentary by film historians Steve Mitchell and Nathaniel Thompson; Leviathan: Monster Melting Pot featurette; interviews with Hudson and Elizondo; the trailer; and reversible artwork.

Pumpkinhead & Killer Klowns Puppets from Toynk

Reach out and grab some fun with Toynk’s Reachers,...

With Lionsgate’s “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” looking to continue its reign at the top spot of the box office, it’s time to consider the most sonorous secret to its success: its original, bluegrass-tinted song selection, including a theme written and produced by Dave Cobb (with lyrics from “Hunger Games” author Suzanne Collins), and sung soulfully by the film’s star, Rachel Zegler.

Reaching back to the 2020 prequel novel by Suzanne Collins that the movie is based on, Zegler points out how clearly Appalachian Lucy was, and how her accent exists in that vernacular throughout the duration of the novel, something that was destined to carry over into the music.

“District 12, where we exist canonically, lies in North Carolina and the Appalachian Mountains,” says Zegler, speaking from New York. “I’m glad Francis wanted to explore that — he even sent me the trailer for...

This article contains spoilers for "The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes."

Lucy Gray Baird, co-lead of "The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes," is a folk singer in the impoverished District 12 of fascist dystopia Panem. Chosen to fight in the titular death match, she wins over the Capitol of Panem with her voice, guitar, and songwriting. It's clear this is one reason why accomplished singer Rachel Zegler was chosen for the part; before Zegler was a movie star, she was belting out "Shallow" from "A Star Is Born" to her adoring YouTube subscribers.

Now, she sings Lucy's songs on the silver screen. The highlight of her discography is the lively and defiant shindig song "Nothing You Can Take From Me."

Music has been important in "The Hunger Games" even before this prequel. In particular, the song "The Hanging Tree" from the original two-part trilogy finale "Mockingjay.

[This story contains spoilers for The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.]

Prequels are tough to get right. For every Better Call Saul, there are ten more stories that failed to enrich the works that came before them. However, Francis Lawrence’s The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes manages to not only stand on its own, but as a prequel, it also deepens the text of the Hunger Games films starring Jennifer Lawrence’s Katniss Everdeen.

The filmmaker chalks it up to the strength of author Suzanne Collins’ source material, as well as the performances of his two leads, Tom Blyth and Rachel Zegler. In one of the climactic scenes of the film, Blyth has to sell Coriolanus Snow’s transformation that would later define Donald Sutherland’s tyrannical version of the character, and Lawrence remains in awe of what the young actor accomplished with minimal dialogue.

“[The forest sequence] my favorite sequence in the movie.

“Hunger Games” prequel film “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” is full of references to the four films that come after it, but the biggest connection between this movie and those is musical.

As sourced in Suzanne Collins’ prequel novel, Lucy Gray Baird (Rachel Zegler) wrote “The Hanging Tree” inspired by historical events in District 12, which she and Coriolanus Snow (Tom Blyth) both witnessed. The song takes on more meaning when imbued with the backstory of Panem and how President Snow came to be as the Hunger Games also developed.

“Hunger Games” fans will remember it’s a song that Jennifer Lawrence’s Katniss Everdeen sings in “Mockingjay.” Producer Nina Jacobson, who has produced all the “Hunger Games” movies, told TheWrap that music is key to this franchise.

“What I loved was that this adaptation really made me think about how critical music has always been to these movies. I...

This article contains major The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes spoilers.

What ever happened to Lucy Gray?

It is a question that haunted Coriolanus Snow at the end of The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, and which is likely to haunt him still when, as an old man with absolute power, he sees Katniss wear a dress that catches fire. We suspect some audiences will wonder too about the fate of Lucy Gray Baird, who is ambiguously played by Rachel Zegler. Of course that is the point.

As Peter Dinklage’s self-loathing Dean Casca Highbottom taunts young Corio (an also eerily haunting Tom Blyth), it is the mysteries we cannot solve which drive us mad. For Casca, that mystery is revealed to be finding a way to make the Hunger Games end. He invented the concept of the Games as a cruel drape—a drunken answer to...

The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes soundtrack will feature a star-studded list of contributors including Rachel Zegler and Olivia Rodrigo. However, Nicki Minaj is not on the list, despite what you might have heard.

During a recent interview, Rachel revealed how she was responsible for getting those rumors started.

Keep reading to find out more…

.@rachelzegler accidentally made up a rumor that @Nickiminaj would be on the @TheHungerGames: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes soundtrack...

Rachel Zegler and Tom Blyth in The Hunger Games: The Ballad Of Songbirds And Snakes Photo: Murray Close/Lionsgate The Hunger Games: The Ballad Of Songbirds And Snakes arrives in theaters this week, which means it’s time to take the long train ride back to Panem. It’s been...

Rachel Zegler and Tom Blyth in The Hunger Games: The Ballad Of Songbirds And SnakesPhoto: Murray Close/Lionsgate

The Hunger Games: The Ballad Of Songbirds And Snakes arrives in theaters this week, which means it’s time to take the long train ride back to Panem. It’s been almost...

After unveiling Hunger Games single, “Can’t Catch Me Now,” earlier this month, Olivia Rodrigo released the video for the brooding track on Monday.

Set to feature in the franchise’s sequel, The Ballad Of Songbirds & Snakes, the song tells the story of inescapable revenge, as the Rodrigo sings, “There’s snow falling over the city/You thought that it would wash away/The bitter taste of my fury and all of the messes you made/Yeah, you think that you got away.” For the chorus, she taunts: “You...

As evidenced in its title, music plays a big part in “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.”

In the prequel to the original trilogy, “West Side Story” star Rachel Zegler portrays Lucy Gray Baird, the female tribute from District 12 for the 10th annual Hunger Games, who hails from a musical and nomadic people called the Covey. The film features Zegler singing several songs, including franchise favorite “The Hanging Tree.” Much of the music is folk-inspired, and Zegler sang each track live during filming. At the film’s London premiere — which came one day after SAG-AFTRA reached a tentative deal with the AMPTP to end the actors strike — Zegler told Variety who inspired her when it came to developing Lucy Gray’s voice.

“We channeled a bunch of people: Patsy Cline and Dolly Parton and Joan Baez, to name a few. That was really the voice that we were trying to find,...

It’s hard to pinpoint when exactly it became a thing, but in classically cinematic stories of good vs. evil it’s no longer enough to portray the complexities of the bad side. We now have to go back in time and understand the exact origins of evil. Was Cruella simply misunderstood? How about the Joker? Was he just unjustly treated?

In fairness, Coriolanus Snow, the tyrannical president of the dystopian Panem in the original “Hunger Games” films and novels, was never as one-dimensional as these aforesaid villains. But “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes” takes a page out of the playbook of their origin stories and gives us an adaptation of Suzanne Collins’ 2020 prequel novel with wildly mixed, overlong and clumsily paced results.

Directed by “Mockingjay Part 1 & 2” filmmaker Francis Lawrence, and written by Michael Lesslie (“Assassin’s Creed”) and Michael Arndt (“Catching Fire” and “Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens...

Olivia Rodrigo delivered “Can’t Catch Me Now” on Thursday — a song from the highly-anticipated Hunger Games prequel The Ballad Of Songbirds & Snakes.

Written and recorded by the Guts singer, the track features Rodrigo over an intimate acoustic guitar as the melodies build to a slow crescendo and tell the story of vengeance. “There’s snow falling over the city/You thought that it would wash away/The bitter taste of my fury and all of the messes you made/Yeah, you think that you got away,” she taunts...

The cast of the upcoming The Hunger Games prequel movie hasn’t been able to promote the film all summer long due to the SAG-AFTRA strike, but now they can thanks to an interim agreement!

Rachel Zegler, Tom Blyth, and Josh Andrés Rivera stepped out in Times Square for an event for their film The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes on Wednesday (November 1) in New York City.

During the event, the stars joined fans to watch the debut of a new spot featuring Olivia Rodrigo’s official song for the film, “Can’t Catch Me Now,” followed by a live performance from a 50-plus-member choir singing the franchise’s beloved song, “The Hanging Tree.”

The upcoming movie follows a young Coriolanus (Blyth) who is the last hope for his failing lineage, the once-proud Snow family that has fallen from grace in a post-war Capitol. With his livelihood threatened, Snow...

From the singer who brought us “Ballad of a Homeschooled Girl” comes “Can’t Catch Me Now” — a new song written and recorded by Olivia Rodrigo for the forthcoming Hunger Games prequel, The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes.

The three-time Grammy Award winner shared a snippet of the new track, which is being billed as the film’s official song, on Instagram Wednesday evening. Along with posting the single’s release date, Nov. 3, Rodrigo captioned the post: “soooo beyond excited that I got the opportunity to write a song for...

On November 17th, Geffen Records will release The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes (Music From & Inspired By) — the official soundtrack to the highly anticipated new film in The Hunger Games saga arriving the same day as the movie’s release.

Last Friday marked the premiere of “The Hanging Tree,” the first song released from the soundtrack. In the upcoming film (a prequel to the original Hunger Games trilogy), audiences will witness the origin of the storied song when Lucy Gray Baird (Zegler) sings it for the very first time. Also heard in the second official trailer for The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, “The Hanging Tree” has been passed down through generations and was previously performed by Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) in The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1.

View the featurette (above) to go behind-the-scenes with The Hunger Games: The Ballad Of Songbirds & Snakes director Francis Lawrence,...

Jennifer Lawrence became a household name starring as Katniss Everdeen in the Hunger Games film franchise, and now Rachel Zegler is set to propel herself to even greater heights by fronting the prequel movie The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.

Like Katniss, Rachel‘s character Lucy Gray is reaped to compete in The Hunger Games. The characters share multiple similarities. That will also be reflected in Lucy’s wardrobe.

In fact, one key piece has been modeled after an iconic Katniss look.

Keep reading to find out more…

Speaking to Harper’s Bazaar, costume designer Trish Summerville revealed Lucy’s rainbow dress featured a callback to one of Katniss’ outfits.

“We had the corset mimic the shape of Jennifer Lawrence’s Katniss’ blue mockingjay dress,” she explained. The dress in question is the one that Jennifer wore in The Hunger Games: Catching Fire before being sent to the Games for a second time.

Exclusive: Lionsgate and Francis Lawrence’s return to the Suzanne Collins franchise with a pic based on her prequel novel is looking like a $50M start on Nov. 17, which is in the vicinity of 2011’s Rise of the Planet of the Apes ($54.8M). While women 17-34 are indeed the hot demo for The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, it’s not excessively female as there is interest from males as well. The pic cost around $100M.

Lionsgate opted to stay the course with Songbirds and Snakes and not move the movie off the schedule due to the actors strike given the competitive advantage in the marketplace: Legendary/Warner Bros.’ Dune: Part Two jetted off the November schedule, giving Lionsgate access to more Plf screens. In addition, with a brand like Hunger Games, fans were already coming to this movie which touts a fresh face cast led by...

A new era of the Hunger Games is almost upon us. Rachel Zegler has unveiled a new take on fan favorite “The Hanging Tree,” previously performed by Jennifer Lawrence in 2014, ahead of the premiere of The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes.

In the prequel film, Zegler plays Lucy Gray Baird, a tribute from the impoverished District 12 who is selected to compete in the annual Hunger Games. The movie will depict the origin of “The Hanging Tree,” which is first sung by Zegler’s character and then passed...

Rachel Zegler takes on “The Hanging Tree” from The Hunger Games and the track just debuted on Friday (October 20)!

The 22-year-old actress will be performing the song as Lucy Gray Baird in the upcoming prequel movie The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, and it marks the origin of the song before it gets passed down generations.

If you recall, Jennifer Lawrence sang the song in The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 back in 2014.

Listen to Rachel Zegler’s version inside…

The lyrics for “The Hanging Tree” were written by “The Hunger Games” author Suzanne Collins, and the music was created by composer James Newton Howard, with Jeremiah Fraites and Wesley Schultz from The Lumineers.

Fans were first treated to Rachel‘s version in the latest trailer for the upcoming prequel movie back in September.

Producer Nina Jacobson has called Rachel‘s singing in the movie “jaw-dropping.

Rachel Zegler’s vocals ring through “The Hanging Tree,” the first song to be released as part of the upcoming “Hunger Games” prequel “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.”

The orchestral title, out today via Geffen Records, first appeared as the second single from the soundtrack for “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 1” in 2014. Jennifer Lawrence, who played Katniss Everdeen, offered her vocals for the track that was originally written by Suzanne Collins and composed by Howard, Jeremiah Fraites and Wesley Schultz from the band the Lumineers.

Audiences will witness the song’s origin in the upcoming film when Lucy Gray Baird (Zegler) sings it for the first time. “The Hanging Tree” is then passed down through generations, leading up to its appearance in “Mockingjay.”

Based on Collins’ prequel novel of the same name, “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” follows a young Coriolanus Snow (Tom Blyth), who strives to...

Director Francis Lawrence walks viewers through the basics of the story in this lengthy behind the scenes video from The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes. The nearly five-minute video offers a better look at the overall production and ends with Rachel Zegler as Lucy Gray Baird performing “The Hanging Tree.”

The cast also includes Tom Blyth as Coriolanus Snow,Oscar winner Viola Davis as Head Gamemaker Volumnia Gaul, Peter Dinklage as Dean Cesca Highbottom, Jason Schwartzman as Lucky Flickerman, Josh Andrés Rivera as Sejanus Plinth, and Hunter Schafer as Tigris Snow. Jerome Lance is Marcus, tribute from District 2; Ashley Liao is Clemensia Dovecote, one of Coriolanus’s closest friends and mentor to a tribute from District 11; Knox Gibson plays Bobbin, tribute from District 8; Mackenzie Lansing is Coral, tribute from District 4; and Aamer Husain plays Felix Ravinstill, mentor to a tribute from District 11.

Fionnula Flanagan plays Grandma’am,...

Rachel Zegler’s “The Hanging Tree” from The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes will be released this Friday, October 20th at 12:00Am Et.

Rachel Zegler in “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.” Photo by Murray Close/Lionsgate/Murray Close/Lionsgate – © 2023 Lionsgate.

In the upcoming film, audiences will witness the origin of the song, when Lucy Gray Baird (Rachel Zegler) sings it for the first time. “The Hanging Tree” is then passed down through generations, where fans most notably remember Katniss Everdeen singing it during Mockingjay – Part 1. Now, experience the story of The Hunger Games — 64 years before Katniss Everdeen volunteered as tribute, and decades before Coriolanus Snow became the tyrannical President of Panem.

The Hunger Games: The Ballad Of Songbirds & Snakes follows a young Coriolanus (Tom Blyth) who is the last hope for his failing lineage, the once-proud Snow family that has fallen from grace in a post-war Capitol.

An all-new trailer for “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes” sees District 12 tribute Lucy Gray Baird (Rachel Zegler) meet her “rebel” mentor, a young Coriolanus Snow (Tom Blyth), for the first time.

In the upcoming “Hunger Games” prequel — set 64 years before the events of the franchise films that starred Jennifer Lawrence — Baird and Snow form an unlikely bond as they work on her survival strategy together in the 10th annual Hunger Games.

Read More: First Look At Rachel Zegler And Tom Blyth In ‘Hunger Games’ Prequel ‘The Ballad of Songbirds And Snakes’

Tom Blyth as Coriolanus Snow and Rachel Zegler as Lucy Gray Baird in “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes”. — Photo: Murray Close/Lionsgate

In the clip, an 18-year-old Snow is seen wiping Baird’s tears in an intimate moment while telling her, “I am gonna get you out of here” before he...

The Ballad Of Songbirds And Snakes Photo: Lionsgate/Murray Close Back at the peak of Hunger Games fever, Jennifer Lawrence took “The Hanging Tree”—a fictional folk song about a man being put to death for committing multiple murders—to the number 12 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Nearly a decade later,...

The Ballad Of Songbirds And SnakesPhoto: Lionsgate/Murray Close

Back at the peak of Hunger Games fever, Jennifer Lawrence took “The Hanging Tree”—a fictional folk song about a man being put to death for committing multiple murders—to the number 12 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Nearly a decade later,...

Lionsgate has unveiled a brand new, explosive trailer for the upcoming prequel “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes.” Based on the book of the same name by “Hunger Games” author Suzanne Collins, the story takes place years before the events of the original trilogy, during the 10th Annual Hunger Games.

Tom Blyth plays a young Coriolanus Snow (played in the original films by Donald Sutherland), who is tasked with mentoring a young tribute from District 12 played by Rachel Zegler and helping head gamemaker Dr. Volumnia Gaul (Viola Davis) reshape the Hunger Games into a true spectacle.

The trailer is backed by a new rendition of “The Hanging Tree,” a forbidden song in the world of “The Hunger Games” that was sung by Jennifer Lawrence’s Katniss in “Mockingjay.”

Francis Lawrence, who directed “Catching Fire” and the two “Mockingjay” films, directed this prequel from a screenplay by Michael Lesslie and Michael Arndt.

Let the games begin as “Hunger Games” prequel film “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” slithers into theaters soon.

The latest trailer for the film captures the first televised Hunger Games in Panem. Per the official synopsis, after Lucy Gray (Rachel Zegler) commands all of Panem’s attention by defiantly singing during the reaping ceremony, post-war disgraced Snow family member Coriolanus Snow (Tom Blyth) thinks he might be able to turn the odds in their favor. Uniting their instincts for showmanship and newfound political savvy, Snow and Lucy’s race against time to survive will ultimately reveal who is a songbird, and who is a snake.

“The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” is set 64 years before the events of “Hunger Games.”

Zegler’s Lucy is the tribute for District 12, while Viola Davis plays the Head Gamemaker and Peter Dinklage is the Head of the Academy.

Francis Lawrence...

This post contains spoilers for the 2020 novel "The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes," as well as the "Hunger Games" movies.

Just to keep expectations grounded, it should be stated ahead of time: it's unlikely that the upcoming "Hunger Games" prequel movie will be as big of a hit as the original series. That doesn't mean it'll be bad -- it's just that the source material is slower and less action-packed than any of the books in the original trilogy, which puts the odds of a big box office success firmly out of its favor.

The book is centered around a young Coriolanus Snow (played by Tom Blyth in the film), long before he became the Capitol President who'd make Katniss's life a living hell. This premise takes a lot of the usual tension out of the story because even though characters do die in the book, the protagonist himself is never in danger.

Wow, a ‘new’ Sam Peckinpah western! While we await the rumored Blu-ray of Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid to surface (or was Alex Cox misinformed?), correspondent Darren Gross has come across a watchable web encoding of a Peckinpah TV drama that seems to be more or less ‘lost.’ Good star performances and intense characterizations prove once again that Peckinpah could deliver superior dramatics. The home video companies should do some investigating — there’s a market out there for this one.

The Lady Is My Wife

TV episode of Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theater

CineSavant Revival Screening Review

1967 / Color / 1:33 TV / 47 min. / first Aired February 1, 1967 / Not on Home Video

Starring: Jean Simmons, Bradford Dillman, Alex Cord, Begoña Palacios, L.Q. Jones, Roberto Contreras, Alan Baxter, Jim Boles, Billy M. Greene, E.J. André, Billy M. Greene.

Cinematography: Dale Deverman

Art Director: Lloyd S. Papez

Costumes: Kay Hayden

Film Editor: Edward Biery...

Locked and loaded with a decent screenplay, Michael Winner and Charles Bronson acquit themselves well in this brutal 1974 hit that launched a decade’s worth of nasty vigilante movies. The lynch-mob formula presents crimes so awful that the audience demands violent retribution. The shock is that this incitement to ‘fight back’ is not direct right-wing propaganda — vigilantism is glamorized but not endorsed. A fine supporting cast includes Vincent Gardenia, Steven Keats and unexpected treats like Olympia Dukakis and Jeff Goldblum. “Fill your hand!”

Death Wish, 4K

4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray

Kl Studio Classics

1974 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 93 min. / Street Date January 24, 2023 / available through Kino Lorber / 39.95

Starring: Charles Bronson, Hope Lange, Vincent Gardenia, Steven Keats, William Redfield, Stuart Margolin, Stephen Elliott, Kathleen Tolan, Jack Wallace, Fred J. Scollay, Chris Gampel, Robert Kya-Hill, Ed Grover, Jeff Goldblum, Christopher Logan, Gregory Rozakis, Christopher Guest, Paul Dooley, Olympia Dukakis, Al Lewis, Robert Miano.

Cinematography: Arthur J. Ornitz...

Click here to read the full article.

When audiences settle in for The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, they should be ready to enter a different version of the annual Hunger Games.

In a first look at the upcoming Hunger Games prequel for Vanity Fair, the movie’s director Francis Lawrence and producer Nina Jacobson tease how they plan to bring Suzanne Collins’ prequel to the big screen.

An origins story of the Hunger Games villain President Coriolanus Snow, the 517-page novel explores his life before stepping into his role as Panem’s tyrannical leader, along with laying the foundations for the dystopic nation fans read about in the author’s original trilogy and saw across all three movie adaptations.

“To be able to show a different side of Panem at a different time in its history has been really exciting,” Jacobson said of working on the prequel. “It’s completely different stylistically,...

One of the best yet least seen of John Sturges’ westerns couples a fine screenplay with strong star perfs and superb direction: the straightforward story builds tension throughout. Kirk Douglas is a sheriff out for both justice and revenge and Anthony Quinn is the he-bull rancher who stands in his way: the guilty party is Quinn’s son. It looks sensational in VistaVision, with a fine music score by Dimitri Tiomkin — it’s a pleasure all the way through, with strong support from Carolyn (swoon) Jones, Earl Holliman, Brian Hutton and Brad Dexter.

Last Train from Gun Hill

Region-free Blu-ray

Viavision [Imprint] 101

1959 / Color / 1:78 widescreen (VistaVision) / 95 min. / Street Date December 29, 2021 / Available from Imprint and Amazon / 39.95

Starring: Kirk Douglas, Anthony Quinn, Carolyn Jones, Earl Holliman, Brad Dexter, Brian G. Hutton, Ziva Rodann, Bing Russell, Val Avery, Walter Sande, John Anderson, Dabbs Greer, Ty Hardin, Glenn Strange, Julius Tannen, Sid Tomack.

Cinematography:...

Movies about the blacklist aren’t common, probably because as Robert Vaughn wrote, the period produced no happy stories, ‘Only Victims.’ Robert de Niro, Annette Bening and George Wendt give a bite of immediacy to the way the blacklist upset careers and blighted lives. Few of us would like to be publicly branded an Enemy of the People, but doing so seems to be America’s number one spectator sport.

Guilty by Suspicion

DVD

The Warner Archive Collection

1991 / Color / 1:85 enhanced widescreen / 105 min. / Street Date May 12, 2015 / available through the WBshop / 17.99

Starring: Robert De Niro, Annette Bening, George Wendt, Patricia Wettig, Sam Wanamaker, Luke Edwards, Chris Cooper, Ben Piazza, Martin Scorsese, Barry Primus, Gailard Sartain, Robin Gammell, Brad Sullivan, Tom Sizemore, Stuart Margolin, Gene Kirkwood, Illeana Douglas, Adam Baldwin.

Cinematography: Michael Ballhaus

Film Editor: Priscilla Nedd

Original Music: James Newton Howard

Uncredited writer: Abraham Polonsky

Produced by Arnon Milchan

Written and...

“To really live, you must almost die,” sings Marty Robbins, a lesson learned by Austrian import star Maria Schell. Delmer Daves’ best western puts virtue and faithfulness to the test: Gary Cooper’s distrustful, manipulative doctor hides his dark secrets and punishes those that admire and love him. Yet the ultimate reckoning demonstrates that sins can be forgiven and goodness rewarded, even in a corrupt and lawless community. That’s a fairy tale I still want to believe in.

The Hanging Tree

Blu-ray

Warner Archive Collection

1959 / Color / 1:78 widescreen / 107 min. / Street Date January 23, 2018 / available through the WBshop / 21.99

Starring: Gary Cooper, Maria Schell, Karl Malden, Ben Piazza, George C. Scott, Karl Swenson, Virginia Gregg, John Dierkes, King Donovan.

Cinematography: Ted McCord

Film Editor: Owen Marks

Original Music: Max Steiner

Written by Wendell Mayes, Halsted Welles from the novel by Dorothy M. Johnson

Produced by Martin Jurow, Richard Shepherd

Directed by Delmer...

Here's a brief look – to be expanded – at Turner Classic Movies' June 2017 European Vacation Movie Series this evening, June 23. Tonight's destination of choice is Italy. Starring Suzanne Pleshette and Troy Donahue as the opposite of Ugly Americans who find romance and heartbreak in the Italian capital, Delmer Daves' Rome Adventure (1962) was one of the key romantic movies of the 1960s. Angie Dickinson and Rossano Brazzi co-star. In all, Rome Adventure is the sort of movie that should please fans of Daves' Technicolor melodramas like A Summer Place, Parrish, and Susan Slade. Fans of his poetic Westerns – e.g., 3:10 to Yuma, The Hanging Tree – may (or may not) be disappointed with this particular Daves effort. As an aside, Rome Adventure was, for whatever reason, a sizable hit in … Brazil. Who knows, maybe that's why Rome Adventure co-star Brazzi would find himself playing a Brazilian – a macho, traditionalist coffee plantation owner,...

Blood, bikinis, and neon panthers made for a B-movie gone wrong murder mystery on Bones Season 12 Episode 10.

Our TV Fanatics Ashley Bisette Sumerel and Christine Orlando are joined by Pam, a Bones fan, to debate Aubrey leaving for La, Wendell’s lack of passion, and if anyone will die before the series is over.

Do you think Aubrey should take the job in Los Angeles?

Pam: Yes, he can go far, and he should. He can still be friends with everyone, but he needs to grow and experience what he can do in other departments.

Ashley: Yes, absolutely. I love that he's being offered a promotion, and I think he deserves it.

Christine: Aubrey has really grown on me. If the show were continuing, I’d want him to stick around, but since it is ending, I’m happy he’s getting a promotion and moving on; he deserves it.

Delmer Daves' easygoing cattle drive western can't make an action hero out of Jack Lemmon, but with fine work from co-star Glenn Ford it presents a thoughtful anti-myth: no glorious rescues or noble gunfights, and the demure maiden doesn't wait for the handsome cowboy hero. With Brian Donlevy (excellent) and Anna Kashf. Cowboy Blu-ray Twilight Time Limited Edition 1958 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 92 min. / Ship Date February 9, 2016 / available through Twilight Time Movies / 29.95 Starring Glenn Ford, Jack Lemmon, Anna Kashfi, Brian Donlevy, Strother Martin, Dick York, Victor Manuel Mendoza, Richard Jaeckel, King Donovan Cinematography Charles Lawton Jr. Production Designer Cary Odell Film Editor Al Clark, William A. Lyon Original Music George Duning Written by Edmund H. North and, originally uncredited Dalton Trumbo from a book by Frank Harris Produced by Julian Blaustein Directed by Delmer Daves

Reviewed by Glenn Erickson

Not Delmer Daves' best Western, but a rather good movie, Cowboy...

Titan Comics have announced another highly anticipated new Rivers of London mini series, Rivers of London: Night Witch – written by Ben Aaronovich (Remembrance of the Daleks) and Andrew Cartmel (Written in Dead Wax) with art by Lee Sullivan (Doctor Who, Judge Dredd) and Luis Guerrero (Doctor Who, The Troop) – in stores and ​on ​digital devices from March 16th 2016.

No sooner has the last mini-series, Body Work, ended than Titan announce another comic, set within the world of the best-selling Rivers of London series. This all-new story is a prequel to the forthcoming novel by Ben Aaronovich, The Hanging Tree.

A police vehicle on a routine prison transfer in north London is stormed by Russian hoodlums seeking to free a very particular prisoner. Their target is a witch. A very powerful witch who doesn’t want to be free. Things rapidly turn very ugly for the hoods and it’s soon...

Pat O'Brien movies on TCM: 'The Front Page,' 'Oil for the Lamps of China' Remember Pat O'Brien? In case you don't, you're not alone despite the fact that O'Brien was featured – in both large and small roles – in about 100 films, from the dawn of the sound era to 1981. That in addition to nearly 50 television appearances, from the early '50s to the early '80s. Never a top star or a critics' favorite, O'Brien was nevertheless one of the busiest Hollywood leading men – and second leads – of the 1930s. In that decade alone, mostly at Warner Bros., he was seen in nearly 60 films, from Bs (Hell's House, The Final Edition) to classics (American Madness, Angels with Dirty Faces). Turner Classic Movies is showing nine of those today, Nov. 11, '15, in honor of what would have been the Milwaukee-born O'Brien's 116th birthday. Pat O'Brien and James Cagney Spencer Tracy had Katharine Hepburn.

Jennifer Lawrence sure does one heck of a Cher impression!   The "Hunger Games" star, who's currently at Comic-Con in San Diego, stole the spotlight during an appearance on "Conan" with costars Liam Hemsworth and Josh Hutcherson.   After being teased about the success of her single from "Mockingjay-Part 1", "The Hanging Tree", the 24-year-old actress admitted that singing is not exactly one of her favorite things. "It wasn't me," the Oscar-winner admitted. "Singing in front of people is my biggest fear in the entire world!"    But the host and her co-stars wouldn't let her get off that easy without showing off her singing chops to the audience.   "You do break into song occasionally! Is that true? Does she like to break into song occasionally?" Conan asked Liam and Josh. "Yeah she likes to sing on occasion," the Aussie actor teased. "What do you like to sing?"  Lawrence then launched into a rendition...

Jennifer Lawrence may have a budding career as a Cher impersonator.

The actress showed off her vocal chops during an appearance on Conan, Thursday, with her Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 costars Liam Hemsworth and Josh Hutcherson.

After being goaded by her co-stars and Conan O'Brien about the success of her first formal foray into music (her Mockingjay – Part 1 single "The Hanging Tree" topped the charts), Lawrence admitted that despite feigning disinterest, she sometimes does enjoy carrying a tune.

"She likes to sing on occasion," Hemsworth, 25, told the audience, before Hutcherson, 22, prompted the Oscar-winner into the impressive rendition of Cher's "Believe.

Is there anything Jennifer Lawrence can't do? After Conan O'Brien hosted The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 panel at San Diego Comic-Con Thursday, the TBS host invited Lawrence, Liam Hemsworth and Josh Hutcherson to appear on Conan. At one point, O'Brien complimented Lawrence on the success of "The Hanging Tree," which reached No. 1 after a dance version was released from The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 soundtrack. "Oh, it was beautiful," Hutcherson said, to which Lawrence replied, "Shut up! F--k you!" Lawrence said if she had made a fart sound, "It would've reached No. 1." "It wasn't me. Singing in front of people is my biggest...

Executives today announced the 15 finallists in the Micro-Budget Production Program for 2015-2016 representing all regions of the country.

Telefilm Canada brass also said at a press conference at Toronto’s Tiff Bell Lightbox that the Talent Fund will subsidise the Program, while Technicolor is offering free digital distribution encoding services to finallists who want it.

This is the third annual round of projects in the Micro-Budget Production Program, which supports emerging filmmakers seeking to produce their first feature-length films.

The scheme places emphasis on the use of digital platforms and developing their potential for distribution and audience engagement. Budgets for these projects must not exceed $250,000.

“In just three years, the Micro-Budget Production Program has already proven it can deliver,” said Telefilm Canada executive director Carolle Brabant (pictured). “It’s discovered inspiring new talent, several of whom have made it on the festival circuit.

“I’m thinking for example of Christian Sparkes, whose film Cast No Shadow...

The final installment of The Hunger Games film franchise will be unleashed this November, and by the looks of the Mockingjay – Part 2's first trailer, it'll be the tensest yet.

"Make no mistake. The game isn't over," President Snow (Donald Sutherland) says to the series' protagonist Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence). The film's trailer previews the revolution Mockingjay – Part 1 set up and delivers scenes of hope (Finnick Odair's wedding to his beloved Annie Cresta) and despair (more destruction at the hands of the Capitol, as run by President Snow). Leading the war is Katniss,...

The main problem with The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 is right there in the title: “Part 1.” Even at 123 minutes, this is still just about half of Suzanne Collins’ final Hunger Games book, and it unfortunately feels like half a movie as well. It’s an introduction lacking a conclusion, all foreplay and no action, a film mostly concerned with tablesetting for its forthcoming sequel. In other words, it’s half the movie that fans of this franchise deserve.

What’s on offer in this partial outing isn’t bad, mind you. As it opens, embattled heroine Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence, brilliant as always) has escaped the clutches of the totalitarian Capitol and is in the keeping of District 13, an area she’d been brought up to believe was long since lost. Now, it’s a top-secret base for those hoping to overthrow the government of evil President Snow...

The International Film Music Critics Association has revealed nominations for best in movie music from 2014, and prolific composers James Newton Howard ("The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1," "Maleficent") and Alexandre Desplat ("Godzilla," "The Grand Budapest Hotel," "The Imitation Game," "The Monuments Men") led the way with seven and six nominations respectively. Film score of the year contenders include just two Best Original Score Oscar nominees: "The Grand Budapest Hotel" and Hans Zimmer's "Interstellar." "The Imitation Game" and Jóhann Jóhannsson's "Theory of Everything," however, were both nominated in the drama category. "Maleficent" landed the most nominations for a film with four, while DreamWorks Animation's "How to Train Your Dragon 2" picked up three (each of them another if you count composer of the year honors for Howard and John Powell respectively). Check out the full list of nominees below. Winners will be revealed on Feb. 19. And be sure...