A few early reviews have been released for The Hunger Games from major outlets, considered “top critics”, including Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, and The Guardian. All of them positive. So you can go into the weekend, the final weekend before The Hunger Games opens, with some relief.Again, my review and those of other lower ranking outlets, has been embargoed. Full Story

Here are photos from the premiere last night. And it’s Hunger Games Week on etalk. My interviews with the cast and director - Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Donald Sutherland, Lenny Kravitz, Elizabeth Banks, Woody Harrelson, and Gary Ross - will air every day until the movie opens on March 23. Full Story

I was just actively trying not to think about a new teaser trailer the other day. Oh look! Here it is!With 50 days to go until The Hunger Games opens, we now have another preview.I love it when she pleads with Gale to make sure her family doesn’t starve. I am...not sure what to think about her red dress. Full Story

So many of you have emailed today asking for my thoughts on Kristen Bell’s sloth appearance on Ellen. Even Sasha sent a message to both Duana and me all like, “I think I might not hate her anymore”. As already mentioned, I’m a late admirer of Veronica Mars. During Seasons 1 and 2, so, like, two weeks ago, you could say I was obsessed. Full Story

Awwwww!It’s long been rumoured that Jennifer Lawrence and Nicholas Hoult were dating after working together on X-Men: First Class. More on the sequel later. Though they’d been seen all cute and flirty at some award shows last year, both were able to keep their sh-t tight, and nothing more concrete was said about it until now. Full Story

If you need further proof that a movie studio can’t survive without a steady diet of cash-cow franchises, look no further than the Lionsgate/Summit Entertainment takeover. The talks began years ago and kept on in stop-start fashion, until late in 2011 it looked like some kind of a merger was really going to happen. Full Story

Here’s Josh Hutcherson at the GQ Men of the Year party last night. Yeah, no, I am just....not...feeling...it.A few of you pointed out the other day during the liveblog that Peeta was always the underdog and Gale was the one who was stronger and I get that, I do, but remember, in the end, she has to make babies with him. Full Story

You’re goddamn right, motherf-cker. The first full length trailer for The Hunger Games has been released. I.LOVE.IT.No, it’s not perfect. Haymitch’s wig is a problem. I’m not sure about Katniss’s prom dress on American Idol there, either. But these are minor, minor, minor complaints. What’s important, the most important, is tone. Full Story

There’s a Hunger Games profile in the new Vanity Fair featuring the cast in a photo that’s rather similar to the magazine’s shoot with the then-low profile cast of Twilight in 2008. Not sure if this is intentional since people are so eager for The Hunger Games to be the “next”, but if it wasn’t meant to be the same, someone in the Culture department needs some more imagination. Full Story

We are just about 5 months away from The Hunger Games movie in March. So far it’s been one step forward, one step back, particularly as it relates to casting. Lionsgate has released 8 character posters to start building momentum. There’s a lot of photoshopping and skin doctoring happening here. And still, I don’t hate it. Full Story

The Hunger Games is due in theatres in 7 months. They’re still shooting. It kinda worries me how much time they’ll have in post, and whether or not the CGI parts will be up to level, but I suppose, if the emotional urgency of the story is properly conveyed, it doesn’t really matter how real the arena looks. Full Story

New issue of Entertainment Weekly features the boys of The Hunger Games movie, Liam Hemsworth as Gale and Josh Hutcherson as Peeta. Yeah OK, I totally feel Gale. But Gale was never the major problem. It was Peeta who was stressing us out. So how do you feel now? Apparently director Gary Ross lobbied really hard to cast Josh Hutcherson in the role. Full Story

From North Carolina and the set of The Hunger Games – here are Jennifer Lawrence, Liam Hemsworth, Willow Shields, and author Suzanne Collins continuing production on the film. Good. Because with a March release date, and some work to be done in post, I feel like it may have been getting a little tight. Full Story

Jennifer Lawrence appeared on Letterman last night. It was a great interview. 20 years old and she laid down an awesome interview on Letterman that earned her a kiss on the hand. Well done. She’s poised but she’s not, like, overly produced and automatic. She’s not Taylor Lautner, she’s not Dakota Fanning, she’s not from Disney, there’s personality there, and a lot of wit, and a brain – quick, funny, confident, but not cocky, incredibly sexy… and you can tell, Dave was charmed. Full Story