The Hunger Games: Ballad of the Songbirds and Snakes (#486)

I know I must have seen an early Hunger Games film, because Jennifer Lawrence was in it, but I didn’t remember anything about it.  Which is why I read synopses of the film in an attempt to understand what was going on.  They didn’t help, so the bottom line is, I was clueless.  From what I  gathered from reading, this takes place 60 years before all the other films.  The leading man, Coriolanus Snow, is the son of a once powerful family who is trying to restore the family’s position and reputation by participating in some way with the games , a cruel, vicious spectacle which has captivated the world he lives in.  The leading lady, Lucy Gray, is a player in the games, survives all the violence,  and is declared the winner (I am guessing that Corio cheated somehow to let her win).  They are sent in disgrace to a remote district and it is too complicated to try to explain more, but it felt like there was a hint of another episode in the works. The good news  is, it was nearly three hours long so I got some nap time in.  Hollywood sometimes knows what audiences like because 91 % gave it a thumbs up but only 62 % of critics did.

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