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Concision was never much in favor in the four "Hunger Games" films, which reached a seeming finale with 2015's "The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2. The intervening years have done nothing to shrink the ambitions of this unapologetically gaudy dystopic series where the brutal deaths of kids are watched over by outrageously styled Capitol denizens with names like Effie Trinket.
That clash of YA allegory and color palette is just as pronounced, if not more so, in “The Hunger Games: Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes," a prequel set 64 years before the original books, adapted from Suzanne Collins' 2020 book of the same name.
"The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, which opens in theaters Nov. 16, is an origin story of the Hunger Games, themselves, as well as numerous characters - primarily the devious President Coriolanus Snow, played by Donald Sutherland in the first four films. Here, Snow is an impoverished but opportunistic 18-year-old student played by Tom Blyth.
Just as in the "Hunger Games" films led by Jennifer Lawrence's Katniss Everdeen, the new one proves how much you can sacrifice in story when you've got a thrilling young performer commanding the screen.
Francis Lawrence's prequel often wobbles, especially in the early going. And yet, in the end, "The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes," propelled by Blyth's performance, manages to be the deepest expression yet of the series' melodrama of adolescence. In Panem, the only thing more tragic than the suffering inflicted by adults on the young may be a bright kid warping wickedly into one of those elders, too.
That generational divide was always at the heart of the appeal of "The Hungers Games," a fantasy where no adult or institution can be trusted, and the normal pressures of teendom are amplified in a modern, televised Roman Coliseum an "American Idol" with murder-concocted by elders. It's madness shrugged off as, "That's just the way it is."
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة November 17, 2023 من AppleMagazine.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
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هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة November 17, 2023 من AppleMagazine.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
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DEVELOPERS OF STALLED MINNESOTA COPPER-NICKEL MINE PLAN STUDIES THAT MAY LEAD TO SIGNIFICANT CHANGES
The developers of a long-delayed copper-nickel mining project in northeastern Minnesota announced this week that they plan to conduct a series of studies over the next year on potential ways to improve environmental safeguards and make the mine more cost- and energy-efficient, which could lead to significant changes to the design.
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CALIFORNIA GOV.GAVIN NEWSOM NUDGES SCHOOL DISTRICTS TO RESTRICT STUDENT CELLPHONE USE
California and South Carolina could become the next states to limit cellphone use in schools, with state officials taking up the issue this week.
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ELLIOTT SEEKS 10 OF THE 15 BOARD SEATS AT SOUTHWEST IN BID TO STRENGTHEN THE AIRLINE'S PERFORMANCE
Elliott Investment Management is launching a proxy fight with Southwest Airlines and plans to nominate 10 candidates for the 15-member board of an the airline where performance has lagged behind competitors.
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GOOGLE AND SELENA GOMEZ PARTNER TO FUND TEEN MENTAL HEALTH IN THE CLASSROOM
The unprecedented mental health crisis for children in the United States often surfaces where they spend much of their days: school.
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PEOPLE WITH ADHD ARE TURNING TO AI APPS TO HELP WITH TASKS.EXPERTS SAY TRY IT CAUTIOUSLY
Becky Litvintchouk didn’t think she’d be able to manage the mountain of tasks needed to become an entrepreneur.
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NEW MARS STUDY SUGGESTS AN OCEAN'S WORTH OF WATER MAY BE HIDING BENEATH THE RED DUSTY SURFACE
Mars may be drenched beneath its surface, with enough water hiding in the cracks of underground rocks to form a global ocean, new research suggests.
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LOOKING FOR AN ACTIVITY THAT'S SOCIAL AND WILL GIVE YOU A WORKOUT? GIVE SPORT CLIMBING A TRY
Watching climbing at the Paris Olympics makes it seem as if it’s a sport that would be completely out of the question for a weekend athlete.
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ARE YOU A CASH APP USER? YOU MAY BE ELIGIBLE FOR A PIECE OF THIS $15 MILLION SETTLEMENT
Current and former Cash App users could be eligible for a hefty piece of a proposed class-action settlement from the popular online payment service.
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CLASSES ACROSS THE COUNTRY HELP SENIORS INTERACT WITH A WORLD ALTERED BY AI
This is how older adults — many of whom lived through the advent of refrigeration, the transition from radio to television and the invention of the internet — are grappling with artificial intelligence: taking a class.
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THE PROS AND CONS OF BUYING A HYBRID VEHICLE OR PLUG-IN HYBRID
If you’re ready to move on from a purely gasoline-fueled vehicle but you’re not ready to go fully electric, you have two choices.