New 'Mockingjay Part 2' Trailer Will Debut on GMA Wednesday Morning!

Up, up, up tomorrow morning tributes! It's going to be a BIG day! An all-new Mockingjay Part 2 trailer will debut on Good Morning America tomorrow morning. We just got the confirmation from Lionsgate. You'll be able to catch the trailer online after the broadcast on GMA. There's no confirmed exact time that the trailer will air on GMA but the show starts at 7:00am ET on ABC. 

And stay tuned for more good things to come!

Liam Hemsworth on Jennifer Lawrence and Saying Goodbye to The Hunger Games

Liam Hemsworth is doing a load of press at the Toronto Film Festival for his upcoming movie The Dressmaker, and luckily for us he's being asked all sorts of Mockingjay Part 2 questions in the process. Liam spoke with Salon.com about the end of the franchise and compaired his leading ladies Jennifer Lawrence and Kate Winslet.

He sees similarities between Jennifer Lawrence and his Dressmaker costar Kate Winslet:

Asked about whether his Dressmaker co-star Kate Winslet shares anything with his Hunger Games co-star Jennifer Lawrence, he acknowledged that the two leading ladies have a lot of similarities. “They’re both extremely talented people in this industry,” he said. “Both possess that spunk that you’re talking about. They can come onto a set and just change the mood of everyone: they both have a larger-than-life energy.”

The ending of The Hunger Games is bittersweet:

After an overwhelmingly successful three year run, the final Hunger Games installment hits theaters this November, and Hemsworth says the ending brings mixed feelings. “It was bittersweet for all of us on the last day of filming,” he said. “There was a realization that we all came to that we didn’t have another film to come back to. And that was sad, because we’ve established such close relationships with each other, and experienced an important part of our lives together. We’ll always hold onto that. I’m looking forward to the last press tour. I’m really proud of the last film, it’s possibly the best one. It ties up all the loose ends. It’s not quite the happiest ending for everyone.”

We might get to see a Hemsworth brothers collaboration one day, if we’re lucky:

“We’ve always talked about it,” said Hemsworth, when asked about whether he would ever make a film with his “Thor” star brother Chris. “Whether it’s a big blockbuster film or an independent artsy film, either way, it has to be something great, something with an amazing director and a great story. Because we’ll probably only get one chance to do it — I don’t know how many films you can make with your brother. But if the right project comes along and all the stars are aligned, we’d love to work together.”

Read the full article at Salon.com.

Liam Hemsworth Talks 'The Dressmaker' & Growing Up Hemsworth With Vanity Fair

Vanity Fair's Krista Smith sits down with Liam Hemsworth to talk The Dressmaker at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Thank You For The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins

Today we've got a guest post from Tracee Orman, one of the first people I followed when I joined The Hunger Games fandom, who also happens to be a teacher using THG in her classroom (lucky students). Since we're honoring the books this week, I couldn't think of a better person to write an ode to the woman who started it all, Suzanne Collins.  

I want to take a moment to thank Suzanne Collins for writing The Hunger Games trilogy.  I’m not sure my words here will be able to express the amount of gratitude I feel for what reading her books have done for myself, for my students, and for the thousands of students who read them each year, but I will try.

The first time I had heard of Suzanne Collins' novel The Hunger Games was in September of 2008. Stephen King wrote a review of it in Entertainment Weekly, which immediately caught my attention since I both respect King's opinion and thought it was interesting he was reviewing young adult lit. So I ordered the book on Amazon based on his review and it sat on my nightstand for nearly a year collecting dust with other books I wanted to read but never had the time. 

Of course, I’ve been kicking myself for not reading it sooner ever since.

Suzanne Collins helped me renew my love for teaching during a time where I didn’t think I would last in the profession another year. In 2009 I had a difficult group of students–mostly boys–in a remedial freshmen English class. I had lost all hope of ever finding any material they would even attempt to read. All my old stand-byes had been exhausted.

But then I remembered the book on my nightstand. Since my students were mostly into hunting, I thought perhaps I could at least read a little more about that world since it was foreign to me. Honestly, the description of The Hunger Games didn’t appeal to me at all.  But by the time I read the first few pages, I started to care about this sad futuristic world that was a result of our present-day abuse of the planet and of each other.

Collins drew me into the story because I was truly interested in how our actions today will affect future generations. But when I shared the novel with my students, I learned that her story-telling is so much deeper, richer than I had realized.

While I was initially interested in the world of Panem, some students were immediately drawn to Katniss and her survival skills. Some were enthralled with the concept of the Games, and some wanted to know everything there was to know about the Capitol and all its modern conveniences and gadgets. And many girls loved the idea of two good-looking boys vying for Katniss’s attention. There is literally something included in the novel to appeal to practically everyone. Nature-lovers, hunters, miners, gear-heads, techies, fashionistas, make-up and tattoo artists...everyone.

And it isn’t just the content of Collins’ novels that appeals to all readers. It is the way she tells the story. Her style of writing has a way of drawing the reader in using humor and suspense while keeping the reader engrossed with sarcastic dialogue and heart-wrenching moments. (Seriously heart-wrenching moments.)

At a time when I thought it could be my last year teaching, teaching Collins’ novels gave me hope for the future of my students and for my career as a teacher. The first time I shared The Hunger Games with students who absolutely hated to read (and vowed they wouldn’t read anything I assigned), I watched them transform into students who couldn’t wait to read the next chapter. It wasn’t a slow transformation, either. By the second day of reading in class, they fell in love with the story as I had. And I looked forward to class as much as they did. Teaching was no longer a chore or something I dreaded and wanted to stop doing. It was a passion again. For that, and so much more, thank you, Ms. Collins.

 

 

Tracee Orman

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Liam Hemsworth Says ‘Mockingjay Part 2’ Is The Best ‘Hunger Games’ Yet

Liam Hemsworth tells MTV's Josh Horowitz what he thinks of The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 while promoting his new film The Dressmaker at the Toronto International Film Festival. 

“I’ve seen it. I saw it,” he told MTV News. “It’s great. I think it might be the best one. It’s more action-packed for sure. I think start to finish it just doesn’t give up. The whole time you feel like anyone could be killed at any moment. It’s like that in all of them but I feel like this is, the stakes are a little higher.”

When asked if he was emotional watching the film, Liam was more grateful than sad. 

“No, it wasn’t emotional,” he said. “It’s definitely the end of a journey, but to have made friends like Jen [Lawrence] and Josh [Hutcherson], I couldn’t have asked for more. Such a fun time we’ve had together, and I’ll always look back at is as being a great time.”

Mockingjay World Tour Dates Announced!

The Mockingjay World tour is coming! Lionsgate has announced the Mockingjay World Tour aka the Mockingjay Part 2 worldwide red carpet premiere stops. We will update this post as more details, locations and confirmed cast appearances are announced! 

And look - new stills! 

First stop: Berlin on Wed Nov 4, 2015! Berlin gets the Mockingjay Part 2 World Premiere this time around! Congrats, Berlin! This is especially poignant since the filming wrapped in Berlin.  

UK Premere is set for November 5th. According to Digital Spy and a Lionsgate UK press release, this will be held at Odeon Leicester Square in London. 

The Paris Mockingjay Part 2 premiere is November 9th.

The Mockingjay Part 2 US premiere in Los Angeles will be November 16th.

As of now, Lionsgate hasn't confirmed any details other than the general locations. 

For those asking about tickets to these premiere events, no matter what you read out there, there hasn't been any concrete fan access information announced at this point. In the past, the only way to get access to the red carpet premieres was by winning a contest, attending a fan camp (for THG and CF only), or by queueing up at the premiere location and obtaining one of a limited number of first-come, first-served wristbands (with the exception of the Paris premiere which we hear you could actually purchase tickets for). 

We will update you with ANY and ALL information we get the minute we get it!

Sit In On A College Class About 'The Hunger Games'

Think about anything else that day? Fat chance.

I’d been waiting for this for over six months.

Before I left college for summer, I enrolled in a Young Adult Literature class for the fall semester. The title is all I needed to hook me. What made it better? The book list we were required to read.

Number four on that list? The Hunger Games.

The day of class arrived. Barely keeping calm, I poked my Mockingjay earrings into my ears. I braided my hair (well, the best braid I can manage with hair that is as thin as tissue paper and only shoulder-length). I grabbed my bag, making sure a notebook and functioning pen came with me.

When I made my way to campus, I passed a few people. I caught them looking at me a second longer than they probably should have. “Who invited Katniss Everdeen?” The question reflected in their eyes; pride reflected in mine.

I was the first to get to class. I carefully placed my supplies on my desk, waiting for the company of my best friend, who turned me on to the novels in the first place. Soon, she was seated beside me half-shaking her head at my eagerness, half-fangirling over it. As others began to file in, I could not keep the smile off my face. A few who knew me better than the others asked me, “You’ve been waiting for this, haven’t you?” Ha, waiting. More like living for it. 

My professor made his way to the front of the class, cranking up the computer and old, semi-haunted projector. Finally, it was time to kick this into high gear.

“So,” my professor began. “The Hunger Games.” He paused. “Thumbs-up, thumbs-down? So-so?”

Every thumb in the room shot up to the ceiling. Soon, a three-finger salute went up and a Mockingjay whistle broke the silence from behind me.

This was going to be great.

We began with our professor giving us general information he had researched about the series. Soon, we broke off into groups, with a list of discussion topics we'd formulated as a class. Later, we came together as a whole and went over the discussion topics even deeper.

I never volunteered (ooh, puns!) so much in a class. Throughout the class, I was able to provide my professor and classmates with additional information about the events in the book series, Suzanne Collins, her inspiration for the novels, the movie franchise, and even the theme park. (Yep, that’s still a thing.)

Those two and a half hours were some of the best ones I spent at college. I could feel how much I belonged in that room, with those people. The love I had for this series only burned brighter upon my exit.

Since you couldn't be there with me, I'm sharing the notes I took in the class. First is the general information my professor brought to our attention. Second are the discussion topics that took up the meat of the class. What would you want to talk about in a class session completely dedicated to The Hunger Games? Sound off in the comments.

Click to read more ...

From Hunger Games Fangirl to YA Author - A Tribute's Journey To Recovery + Win a Signed Copy of Her Book!

My name is Jolene Buchheit, and I'm the author of Best Foot Forward, a book about a Hunger Games fangirl. The HUNGER GAMES series helped me through one of the most difficult experiences of my life. This is the story of why I wrote my book.

I was addicted to drugs.

To be clear, they were prescriptions drugs for narcolepsy, but they were the dreaded Benzodiazepines, and they were ruining my life. I was in bed exhausted or sleeping more hours per day than I was out of it. I also had short-term memory problems so bad that I couldn't remember the end of my sentence once I'd started speaking the beginning of it. By the time I decided to stop taking the addictive medications and suffer through the withdrawal symptoms, it was one week before HUNGER GAMES was due to release in theaters. I have a rule about reading books before I watch the adaptations, and I had not read the book yet. One of my teenage friends had begged me to read the book, and I promised I would before I took her to see the movie on opening day. Time was running short, but I couldn't read anything the way my memory was malfunctioning.

By Tuesday, the effects of withdrawal were taking over. Since I stopped taking the medications that my body was dependent on to help me sleep, I wasn't able to sleep at all. I was exhausted, but my mind was healing. I could say what was on my mind, and most importantly I could READ!! My goal was to finish reading the HUNGER GAMES before Friday. What happened was I finished it before the sun rose on Wednesday morning. I never one-click purchased a book so fast as I did CATCHING FIRE.

By Wednesday night, it had been several days since I had slept for more than an hour or so at a time, and then only when my body would shut down from weariness. I couldn't stop shaking, but I also couldn't stop reading. I was deep into CATCHING FIRE by 7:00 pm when I started hearing our piano playing even though the lid was closed. My husband decided I needed to seek help for the withdrawal symptoms before things got even crazier. I was reading about Morphlings and Peeta's fog-induced body control issues as I struggled with hallucinations and muscle spasms of my own. I read the last page in the hospital emergency room and broke my own one-click speed record for MOCKINGJAY.

The doctor prescribed a small dose medication to help me get past the worst of the effects wracking my body. It stopped the shakes but didn't help me sleep. I read most of the night. In the morning, I had an appointment with my family doctor. While in his office, I started uncontrollably crying. I couldn't say what was causing the tears, both because of the sobs stealing my voice and because I did not know. He suggested that I consider voluntarily admitting myself into the psychiatric ward of the hospital to get assistance with what I was going through. I went home and finished reading MOCKINGJAY.

I recognized that what Katniss did to hold onto her sanity is what I had been doing to hang on to mine, restating the tiny truths about my life. Reading about the process of recovering mental wellness and overcoming fears while I was reclaiming mine and facing my demons was cathartic. Moments before my husband returned from work, I finished reading the book. When I saw my husband's concerned face, who could tell I had not slept, it made me appreciate how much of a Dandelion in the Spring he was for me. With his guidance, I admitted myself into the hospital. I wanted him to have a restful night, knowing I was being cared for.

I spent four days in there focusing on my health. When I checked out, I started training my body to be healthy, even though my brain could not recover from narcolepsy. I started with running; I completed the couch to 5k program in nine weeks. Then I returned to my love of the water and swam some laps. My sister loaned me a bike and encouraged me to sign up for a triathlon. I had unfinished business to take care of first, I went to see The Hunger Games movie in a second-run theater and then went home and reread the books again. I wanted to know if it was my mental health that had made me cling to the books. It wasn't. Those books spoke life and hope into me.

In September, I competed in my first triathlon. I was the second to last person to complete the entire event, but I guarantee I was one of the proudest. While I was training and competing in the event, a story idea came to me about a HUNGER GAMES fangirl who participated in triathlons.

During NaNoWriMo, I began writing that story. It became a full-length, optimistic, young adult book that was published three years after my hospital stay. Though I wrote it for personal healing reasons, I truly hope others will enjoy all of the fangirl and fanboy references. Peeta and Katniss helped me through the most challenging experience of my life (and just keep in mind, I have given birth twice) and I try to thank them every day by keeping my eyes bright, chin up, smile on, and by putting my Best Foot Forward.

Be sure to check out Jolene's Facebook page and say hello! You can also find her on twitter @BeeJolene.

US Tributes can purchase Best Foot Forward on Amazon HERE. 

Canadian tributes HERE

Australian tributes HERE

UK tributes HERE.

You can also find her book at Barnes and Noble and SmashWords.

You can win a signed copy of Jolene’s wonderful book Best Foot Forward by entering through the widget below by Friday at 8pm. Here is a synopsis of the story:

After one bad experience, Iowa high school senior, triathlete, and fangirl Lucia “Luc” Guzman swore off relationships. Well, that was until Connor Kohlton and his southern accent moved to town. With the help of her childhood best friend, Jax Weber, she discovers her “college only” dating rule may be causing her to miss out on a great guy. Luc's parents have always taught her and her sister to put safety first and she applies that rule in all areas of her life; her training, her work, and her heart. However, she must throw caution to the wind when she decides she can’t fight her feelings anymore… But what will it cost her? When things start to fall apart, it’s hard to tell who’s to blame, because everyone is putting their Best Foot Forward.

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