How To Throw A Hunger Games Party

You know you have reached the next level of "obsession" when you want to throw a theme party celebrating the release of the DVD in your favorite movie franchise. My friends and family long ago accepted my tendency to obsess, and they just go with the flow. Fortunately for me most of my friends and family are equally obsessed with The Hunger Games and were super excited to attend my DVD release parties for Catching Fire and Mockingjay Part 1.

I started planning the parties as soon as I found out the release date for each DVD. You could get as creative as you want to with this type of party. Honestly, the possibilities are endless. I have seen some awesome Hunger Games birthday invitations that could easily be converted into regular party invitations if you want to go the traditional route. To start, I created an event page on Facebook where I was able to keep a tally on the number of guests and keep them informed.

 

The next thing I started working on was decorations. I gathered everything I owned related to The Hunger Games (books, posters, dolls, magazines) and put them in one place. Then, I looked for different ways to display these items in a decorative manner throughout the party space. I also began to search Pinterest for ideas. I found a ton of free printables and lots of creative ideas. (Check out our Hunger Games party board here for tons of printables, including the ones in this story) I purchased inexpensive tablecloths, streamers and tissue paper in fire colors to create decor. I lucked out and found a cardboard Peeta on clearance at a local record shop, so I snagged him. Ebay and Amazon are great for decorations if your budget allows.

I did my Catching Fire party myself, so I didn't get very creative with food. It was just typical party fare. Before my Mockingjay Part 1 party I got my hands on "The Unofficial Hunger Games Cookbook." My best friend took over the food part and made lots of recipes from the cookbook and labeled every food item we had with a coordinating Hunger Games tag. She even made the bread that Peeta tossed to Katniss in the rain! This is another area where you can go as big or as small as you want. You could just do chips, popcorn, and drinks if you want, or have a desserts-only party featuring a Mockingjay cake.





After having one successful party under my belt, I started to think big for my Mockingjay Part 1 DVD release party. Any time I found any Hunger Games related merchandise on sale I got it and saved it for the party. I had my guests put their names in a bowl, and we did a "reaping" where I gave away prizes. We also rented a screen and projector to really give it the "theater" feel. If you wanted to, you could do a trivia game (ther are several on our Pinterest party board) or play one of the Hunger Games board games (The Hunger Games: Training Days Strategy Game and The Hunger Games District 12 Strategy Game are both on Amazon) This was such a fun party, and all of my guests seemed to genuinely have a great time. I am already working on ideas for the next one!

You can find Amber on twitter @AmberHRailey.
 

Don’t forget to enter this week’s #ParTHG giveaway in our #100DaysofMJ celebration through the widget here, and stay tuned as our countdown to Mockingjay Part 2 continues with more fun themes and prizes!

New Interview With Liam Hemsworth From Film Ink Magazine

Film Ink recently posted a new interview with Liam Hemsworth where he talks about the end of The Hunger Games franchise, training for the films and Gale's larger role in the final 2 films. 

You were involved a lot more in the last two Hunger Games movies…

“Yeah, a lot more. There’s a lot of action in these films. The most fun is when we have scenes where we’re all in the same room with Woody and Jennifer, Josh and Jeffrey Wright. There were a couple of different scenes throughout these last two films which were hard to get through because we’re all like little kids. It’s tough to get through takes sometimes.”

Who behaves the most like a little kid?
“Woody! Woody is like a little kid at all times, especially if he doesn’t have lines in a scene and the rest of you do have lines. He’ll just go all day long. He’s quite hard to work with sometimes.”

You shot both the movies back to back…

“It made the shoot a lot longer.”

Do you get on each other’s nerves working together for so long?

“No, we’re pretty lucky. You’d hate to do something for this long with people that you didn’t get along with. We’ve been together for years now, and we’re all really good friends. It makes those long days a lot easier when you enjoy being around them.”

How did you feel about the sad death of Philip Seymour Hoffman?
“Yeah, it’s very sad obviously…it was extremely sad. He was a good friend of everyone, a great actor, and a great person. It was really upsetting and very shocking.”

Gale has a much bigger role in this movie. Did you have to go, physically and emotionally, to places that you hadn’t been before?

“Yeah, physically a lot, and emotionally as well. Gale has been held back from doing anything in all these stories, and now all of a sudden he’s in a position where he’s able to fight back. He’s ready to go to war; he’s willing to do anything to take down The Capitol. I got injured so many times on these films just from doing stunts all day long. I like to do my own stunts, as much as they’ll allow me to do it. But it gets repetitive, and you get beaten up through the process. I do a lot of physical activity outside of work when I’m doing something like this. I train with all the stunt guys, and do various different sports: boxing, kick-boxing, running, sprinting and lifting things…”

Were there any new skills that you picked up from that training?

“Yeah, we did a lot of kick-boxing training beforehand with guys who have been doing kick-boxing for most of their lives. You learn a lot doing stuff like this with guys who really know what they’re doing.”

What will you miss the most about filming The Hunger Games?
“I’ll miss the relationships that we’ve all built, from the cast to the crew. The crew’s been the same since the beginning, and there are so many people that I’m really close friends with now. Towards the end of shooting, me and Jennifer would sit there and get quite emotional about the fact that it was coming to an end, and the fact that we wouldn’t be spending as much time with all these people. That’s what we’ll all miss the most.” 

Read the rest of the article, including what Liam misses most about Australia at FilmInk.com. 

Jennifer Lawrence & Amy Schumer Dance on Billy Joel's Piano

Jennifer Lawrence and Amy Schumer surprised fans at Billy Joel's Wrigley Field concert on Thurdsay night, hopping up to dance on the piano for Joel's "Uptown Girl" encore. The fun starts around the 2:00 mark.

 Images via @amyschumer on instagram

Image via @clairemercuri on instagramThe appearance wasn't a total surprise. Amy's friends and family posted photos of the group rehearsing earlier in the day. 

Photos via @kyledunnigan1 on instagram

Jen and Amy also posed for some photos backstage with servicemen and women at the concert. 

100 Days of Mockingjay Week 3 - #ParTHG - The Hunger Games Parties & Celebrations

"The presidential palace, the party of the year. Eyes bright, chins up, smiles on! I'm talking to you, Katniss."

gif by mockingjaysourceIt's Week 3 of our 100 Days of Mockingjay celebration (what the heck is that? Go here.) and this week we're talking about Hunger Games parties. "Hunger Games parties?" you say, "Isn't that a little antithetical to the entire message of The Hunger Games trilogy? Isn't that just a little too Capitol, Panem Propaganda?" To this we say: 

gif by gifthgNot only are parties just plain fun, but they’re also a great excuse to get your loved ones together to celebrate something you love - The Hunger Games. They break up the monotony of the everyday, and they give you a chance to express gratitude and caring towards those around you. So PARTY ON! 

This week we’re focusing on Hunger Games celebrations of all kinds: your fan created parties, cakes, decor, weddings, etc. We’ll also be looking at celebrations within The Hunger Games books and movies and some of the crazy bashes Lionsgate has thrown for the franchise. 

This week (Aug 26 - Sep 1st) share your Hunger Games party, food, decor, etc. photos on social media with the hashtag #ParTHG. We’ll be pinning them to our Hunger Games party board on Pinterest.

Another week, another giveaway! This week we’re going to get you started on your own Hunger Games party with a set of 4 drinking glasses by PanemPropaganda (that’s US!) plus a black Mockingjay pin to wear. You’re the host; you need to look the part.

The giveaway is a RANDOM DRAWING and is, we're sorry to say, US only this time around due to weight restrictions. You must enter through the widget below to qualify. Sharing on social media isn't required to win or part of the giveaway selection - it's just for fun!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Press Has Begun For 'Mockingjay Part 2'

Image via @carlyjsteel

Based on a flurry of tweets and instagram posts, it's obvious "long lead" press has begun for Mockingjay Part 2. Jennifer Lawrence is pictured above with Pop TV's Carly Steel and Laurie Feltheimer. She and Liam Hemsworth were filming a segment for an upcoming show "Jet To The Set." Fun fact: Laurie Feltheimer is Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer's wife. But we digress....

Image via @carlyjsteel on twitterphoto via @lauriefelt on instagram

MTV's Josh Horowitz did a shoot with Jen, Josh and Liam. We can't wait for the crazy! His interviews with the cast are always the best. 

Can't wait for this one!

Long lead press is usually press for outlets that need a longer editorial lead time: national monthly magazines, filmed features that need time to produce (hence the green screen), etc. 

And Joey Graceffa! 

Photo via @JoeyGraceffa on twitter

Also leaked out in the press junket excitement, Jennifer Lawrence and Amy Schumer are writing a screenplay and will star in said film as sisters. This we MUST see! Read about that HERE thanks to Brooks Barnes of the NY Times. 

We know we won't be seeing these interviews for months to come, but the official start of press always gets us really hyped. We've got lots of fun stuff to look forward to in the months to come, tributes! Stay tuned! 

New Mockingjay Part 2 Banner - "Fallen Snow"

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins was released 5 years ago today. To celebrate, Lionsgate has released a beautiful brand-new Mockingjay Part 2 banner called "Fallen Snow." Click to enlarge the banner above and check out some of the close-ups from the image below.

See the rest Squad 451's close-ups in our gallery here. 

Celebrate Mockingjay's 5-Year Anniversary Snapchat Contest

 

Mockingjay is having a birthday! It was 5 years ago today that Suzanne Collins' final book in The Hunger Games trilogy was released. 

To celebrate, there's a week-long book giveaway on the official Hunger Games Snapchat account. Add #mockingjaypt2 on Snapchat and snap them back a selfie with your copy of Mockingjay, and you might win the chance to give a friend the gift of Mockingjay. We'll update with for more details as we get them. 

Happy Birthday, Mockingjay!

 

Happy Birthday, Mockingjay! 5 years ago today, Suzanne Collins' final (and my personal favorite) book in The Hunger Games trilogy was released! Can you believe how quickly time has flown?