Francis Lawrence

The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes: Hits the Right Notes, With Just Enough Bite
THE HUNGER GAMES: THE BALLAD OF SONGBIRDS & SNAKES: Hits the Right Notes, With Just Enough Bite

The film has the action and entertainment of the previous installments with a new perspective — that of someone living in the Capitol.

The "Tiny Guy, Huge Girl" Trope Over the Years
The “Tiny Guy, Huge Girl” Trope Over the Years

Sometimes used to satirize social deviance or anxiety over women’s emergent political power, the Tiny Guy, Huge Girl trope can tell us a lot about the sexual politics of the era.

RED SPARROW: A Sultry, Seductive Star Vehicle In Which Jennifer Lawrence Soars
RED SPARROW: A Sultry, Seductive Star Vehicle

Red Sparrow is solidly engaging, a blistering and intense film with Jennifer Lawrence’s skill and Francis Lawrence’s well-crafted atmosphere.

RED SPARROW Trailer
RED SPARROW Trailer

So you want a female spy movie, huh? Well look no further than Red Sparrow, a star-studded tale of Russian and U.S. intelligence agents.

The Art Of Turning Places Into Characters
The Art Of Turning Places Into Characters

Settings are often so integral to a film that they can become as important as characters themselves; here are five prominent examples.

THE HUNGER GAMES MOCKINGJAY PT. 2: A Conclusion That Manages to Both Satisfy and Disappoint

Although initially derided as nothing more than a rip-off of similar dystopian novels (and their subsequent film adaptations) The Running Man and Battle Royale, author Suzanne Collins saw her book series become increasingly popular due to how it tied in with the contemporary societal fear of graphic violence co-existing with inane entertainment. Collins devised the idea for her original 2008 novel whilst at home channel-surfing, with the image of a bleak reality showcased by war reports on news channels making an uneasy bedfellow with the artificial reality of TV talent competitions. A dystopian fantasy that now closely resembles our reality As the adaptation of the final chapters in Collins’ trilogy closer Mockingjay Part 2 makes its way to the big screen, it is less than a week after the world was left horrified by images of terrorism in Paris.

The Hunger Games Mockingjay Part 2
THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY PART 2 Trailer

I am probably one of the least qualified to talk about The Hunger Games. I’ve never read the books and intermittently fell asleep (not because of the movie) as I was viewing part 1 on my 20 hour flight. Regardless, I present to you this trailer for The Hunger Games:

Mockingjay
THE HUNGER GAMES MOCKINGJAY PT. 1 Focuses on Worldbuilding

As much as I love movies, I’m completely against the franchise bandwagon. Every time I hear about a movie I love having a successful opening weekend at the box office I get a sense of impending dread that they are going to ruin my memories of it with a plethora of inferior sequels. Even though I grew up on the Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings franchises, both the books and the films, I’m not feeling nostalgia so much as cynicism whenever a prequel is announced or released.

How to Analyse Movies #2: Signs, Codes & Conventions - The Hunger Games
THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY – PART 1 Trailer

After a couple of talking head viral teasers, we finally get our first glimpse of the situation in Panem in the new trailer for The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1. Based on the final installment of Suzanne Collins’s wildly popular series of Hunger Games novels, Mockingjay moves from the games arena to a full-on rebellion reluctantly led by Katniss Everdeen.