The Hunger Games: The Story So Far

Greetings, ladies and gentlemen! Today I’m going to be doing something a little bit different that may end up being the start of a new series on this website. The final installment of the ‘Hunger Games’ series, ‘Mockingjay Part 2’, will be out soon and because I have already done reviews for all three of the previous ‘Hunger Games’ films, obviously doing a retrospective post would be completely redundant. But I did want to do something as a way of commemorating the impending release of the new film so I decided to do a post that would do either one of two things for people; either refresh their memory of the previous films or, in the case of newcomers, get them ‘up-to-speed’ with everything that has happened so far. Because as we all know, franchises have become a huge thing nowadays and some can go on for a while, to the point where it could potentially get a bit confusing for those who are going into this films fresh. So consider this the first in a series of posts that I like to call ‘The Story So Far’. And today, I’ll be recapping what has so happened so far in the ‘Hunger Games’ franchise beginning with 2012’s titular first installment and concluding with the most recent release, 2014’s ‘Mockingjay Part I’. Whether you’re a die-hard fan of the series or someone who doesn’t know a single thing about it, this post will help you with pretty much everything you need to know in time for the finale to the saga of Katniss Everdeen, the ‘girl on fire’.

‘Hunger Games’, based off of the book series of the same name by author Suzanne Collins, takes place in the dystopian world of Panem, which is established as being located within the ruins of North America. Panem consists of the lavish and extravagant city/totalitarian government that is ‘the Capitol’ and the oppressed and much poorer 12 districts that surround it. The ‘Hunger Games’ that the series is named for is an annual event that the Capitol holds as a means of punishing the districts after a rebellion 74 years earlier had resulted in the Capitol defeating the rebellion and the 13^th District supposedly being destroyed. Every year, one young boy and girl from each District are selected as ‘Tributes’ to partake in a nationally televised duel to the death. As the first ‘Hunger Games’ begins, it is the year of the 74^th Hunger Games and in the poorest district of all, District 12, young Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) prepares for the annual Reaping ceremony along with her sister Prim (Willow Shields). Prim is scared to be chosen but Katniss assures her that it won’t happen because it’s her first time participating in the Reaping and unlike the older kids who have been in multiple Reapings, her name has only been entered in once. But as fate would have it, when the Reaping occurs, Capitol representative Effie Trinket (Elizabeth Banks) ends up selecting Prim’s name.

Not wanting to lose her sister, Katniss boldly volunteers to take her place as the female representative of District 12. Along with male representative Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson), the son of the local baker who had once helped Katniss years earlier by giving her bread when she was starving, Katniss is immediately whisked away to the Capitol. The two are placed under the mentorship of District 12’s only winner, the drunken Haymitch Abernathy (Woody Harrelson), who’s key piece of advice for them is to attract sponsors who will help them during the games by sending them gifts while they’re in the arena. He also warns them about the ‘Career Tributes’ from Districts 1 and 2 who are much more prepared for the games than they are, having been trained for them from a young age, and are basically the fan favorites. When they arrive at the Capitol, Katniss and Peeta begin their training for the Games while also attempting to attract sponsors, as Haymitch suggested. Katniss quickly ends up becoming a crowd favorite, primarily due to both her bold sacrifice to save her sister as well as the reveal by Peeta that he is in love with her during the live interviews with TV host Caesar Flickerman (Stanley Tucci).

When the 74^th Hunger Games begin, Katniss narrowly survives the bloodbath that occurs at the start as a result of most of the Tributes trying to grab supplies at the Cornucopia located at the center of the arena. Katniss manages to stay clear of the other Tributes for a while but ends up getting brought back into the action by Head Gamemaker Seneca Crane (Wes Bentley), who drives her back with a forest fire controlled by him and his fellow Gamemakers. She then escapes from the Career Tributes as well as, to her surprise, Peeta, who has apparently formed an alliance with them (though ultimately this was just him trying to ‘gain their trust’). With the help of District 11 tribute Rue, Katniss manages to kill District 1 Tribute Glimmer, steal her bow, which is the weapon that Katniss works with the best, and destroys the hoard of supplies that the Careers have been collecting. Sadly, Rue ends up getting killed by District 1 Tribute Marvel, who Katniss then kills in retaliation, and her emotional grieving causes a riot in District 11. In response to this, Haymitch suggests to Seneca a rule change that would allow two winners if both come from the same district. After this change is announced, Katniss finds Peeta and the two outlast all of the remaining tributes. But when Crane changes the rules back to there being only one winner, the two defy the Capitol by threatening to commit suicide via poisonous berries. Quickly named the co-winners of the 74^th Hunger Games, the two return home to District 12 though they are warned that their actions aren’t going over too well with Panem’s ruler, President Coriolanus Snow (Donald Sutherland).

The second film, ‘Catching Fire’, opens as Katniss and Peeta are preparing to go on a Victory Tour through the other districts. But before that happens, Katniss is visited by Snow at her home, who makes it clear that her rebellious actions have not only caused uprisings across Panem but have also put her and her loved ones in danger. This forces Katniss to have to convince Snow that her romance with Peeta in the arena was true and not just a means of defying the Capitol. But even after the Tour is done, which ultimately does nothing to stop the uprisings despite Katniss and Peeta’s best efforts, Snow and new Gamemaker Plutarch Heavensbee (Philip Seymour Hoffman) develop a new plan to both subdue the uprisings and get rid of Katniss via the 75^th Hunger Games AKA the third ‘Quarter Quell’, a special Hunger Games that occurs every 25 years where a special rule change is instituted. Snow announces that this year’s Quarter Quell will consist entirely of surviving victors and because Katniss is the only female victor from District 12, this of course means that she’s forced back into the arena once again. Katniss and Haymitch try to keep Peeta from having to compete again as well but during the Reaping, Peeta volunteers to take Haymitch’s place when the latter is initially chosen as the male tribute. The two return to the Capitol to once again prepare for the Games. This time around, Haymitch advises them to make alliances with some of the other Tributes, telling them that they’re all angry at the Capitol for making them compete in the Hunger Games a second time.    

Despite all of the attempts made by the Tributes to try and sway the citizens of the Capitol to protest the Games in the hopes of stopping them, the 75^th Hunger Games start without a hitch. Katniss and Peeta ally themselves with charming District 4 champion Finnick Odair (Sam Claflin), his elderly mentor Mags (Lynn Cohen), tech-savvy District 3 Champions Beetee (Jeffrey Wright) and Wiress (Amanda Plummer), and fiery District 7 champion Johanna Mason (Jena Malone) as they try to survive in this new arena that is divided into 12 sections like a clock where each section contains a different kind of hazard ranging from angry monkeys to a poisonous fog. Beetee comes up with an idea to defeat the remaining Tributes by using the electrified tree hazard to electrocute them. But when that plan fails, Katniss instead uses the lightning to destroy the arena’s force-field and as the arena crumbles around her, she is extracted by an airship commanded by members of the rebellion, including Haymitch and Plutarch. They tell her that they’re on the way to District 13 so that she can become the face of the rebellion; the ‘Mockingjay’, named after a mockingbird/jabberjay (blackbirds) hybrid species symbolized by a pin that Katniss wore during the Games. However Katniss is discouraged to learn that Peeta wasn’t rescued along with her and was captured by the Capitol along with Johanna. After being sedated after angrily attacking Haymitch for not protecting Peeta, Katniss is told by her best friend Gale Hawthorne (Liam Hemsworth) that while her family is safe, District 12 has been destroyed.

As it turns out, District 13, the district that was apparently destroyed during the original rebellion against the Capitol, had survived by relocating to an underground facility. There, Katniss meets the leader of the district, President Alma Coin (Julianne Moore) who, along with Plutarch, encourage her to become the ‘Mockingjay’ for the growing rebellion. Katniss is at first reluctant to do so given the fact that Peeta was abandoned in the arena but then changes her mind after seeing that Peeta is alive but is being manipulated into being a pawn for the Capitol in order to quell the rebellion. She agrees to be the face of the rebellion on the grounds that Peeta and the other captured tributes be rescued at the earliest opportunity. With the aid of Gale and her new film team, Katniss begins to inspire the citizens of Panem into fighting back against the Capitol by means of rousing video speeches and a song called ‘The Hanging Tree’ that Katniss learned from her father, who died in a mining accident prior to the events of the series, that becomes an anthem for the rebels. After a few attacks against the Capitol by the Rebels, including the sabotage of the Capitol’s power source (the dam in District 5), and an attack on District 13 by the Capitol that the district was warned of ahead of time by Peeta during a live Capitol broadcast, President Coin finally orders an extraction mission to rescue Peeta, Johanna, and Finnick’s love interest and fellow Hunger Games victor Annie Cresta (Stef Dawson).

While the Capitol is distracted by a propaganda video starring Finnick, a Special Forces team, Gale being one of them, head to the Capitol to break the Tributes out of the Tribute Center. Despite the Capitol’s power returning in the middle of the operation and President Snow, who Katniss communicates with at one point in the hopes of distracting him further, revealing that he knew about the rescue mission, the team somehow manages to return with all of the tributes. But when Katniss tries to see Peeta, he starts attacking her though is knocked out by Katniss’ bodyguard Boggs (Mahershala Ali) before he can kill her. When Katniss comes to after being knocked unconscious by Peeta, she is told that Peeta has been ‘hijacked’ by the Capitol; brainwashed to kill Katniss by altering his memories of her via the venom of genetically altered wasps, ‘Tracker Jackers’. As President Coin announces to the people of District 13 the successful rescue of the Tributes and the planned assault on the Capitol’s primary military facility in District 2, Katniss witnesses Peeta violently struggling about in solitary confinement as doctors try and find a way to reverse Peeta’s brainwashing.

And that’s the story of ‘The Hunger Games’ series… so far. For fans of the franchise, hopefully this will help refresh your memory as to what’s happened so far in these first three films. If you’re not familiar with the franchise, though that’s probably unlikely given how this franchise has become a global phenomenon a la ‘Harry Potter’, this post should help you familiarize yourself with the world and characters of this series just in time for the release of the final installment, ‘Mockingjay Part 2’, this weekend, in which Katniss Everdeen and the citizens of Panem begin their final stand against President Snow and the Capitol. As I stated in the intro to this post, I’m considering making this ‘Story so Far’ thing a recurring segment on Rhode Island Movie Corner so sound off in the comments section below to tell me if you liked this post and want to see more of them. Until then, as they say in the ‘Hunger Games’, ‘May the Odds be Ever in Your Favor’!  

TOP 12 FAVORITE FILMS OF 2013: #9-7

Welcome back to Rhode Island Movie Corner’s end-of-the-year list of my Top 12 Favorite Films of 2013. This is Part 2, and today I’m listing Films 9-7.

I’ve gone on record saying that I’m more of a Marvel fan than DC. I’m not saying anything bad against DC. It’s just that Marvel’s had a better track record as far as their filmography is concerned. Also, I’m rather worried that DC might be rushing towards a ‘Justice League’ movie without properly developing it first. But DC fans rejoice because this year, for the first time since 2008, you finally have the best superhero film of the year… though 50% of you will no doubt disagree with me.

9. MAN OF STEEL



AKA the most polarizing film of the year; people either loved or hated this movie. There was no middle ground when it came to this one… and as far as me and my friend Matt was concerned, we’re on the side of those who loved it. He even calls it the best superhero film since ‘Spider-Man 2’. While I don’t necessarily think that this is the best of the genre, there are still many reasons as to why I think this is a terrific superhero film. The first, and most important, is that perhaps for the first time ever in these, ‘Superman’ is portrayed as more than just an icon. Don’t get me wrong, ‘Superman’ is an iconic superhero and Christopher Reeve was fantastic in the original ‘Superman’ movies (even the crappy ones). But let’s be honest, he’s not the most ‘interesting’ superhero out there. We’re talking about a character that’s pretty much invincible whose only weakness is the substance known as Kryptonite (and even that is kind of lame because it makes Superman too weak to do anything… thankfully it wasn’t even in this movie). That can get rather boring after a while when nothing can stop him. So I’m relieved that this film was the first where Superman was given real proper character development.

His struggles living amongst us on Earth actually make him pretty relatable, even though he is an alien from another world. He’s a fish out of water, and we see how he grows into the hero that we all know and love. Many have argued which of Superman’s two identities are his true ‘mask’; Superman or Clark Kent. As this movie shows, I believe that they are one in the same. Superman is a character with incredible abilities and that makes him a hero in the eyes of humanity but at the same time, he was born and raised in the town of Smallville and as such, grew up with the middle-American values that came from him being the son of Jonathan and Martha Kent. Let’s look at that controversial moment after Clark saves his classmates when their bus crashes into a lake. When Jonathan tells him that he has to hide his powers, Clark asks him what he was ‘supposed to do’… just let them die? Jonathan replies with a simple, ‘Maybe…’, but that doesn’t mean that he was saying that Clark should have just let them die; he’s just worried about how the world will react when they find out about his son’s powers. The same scenario applies to the scene where he dies in a tornado. I don’t see that scene as a pointless self-sacrifice. Again, he was worried about Clark’s secret getting out so he made sure that Clark did not try and save him, even though he obviously could. As such, this is one of the most emotional moments in any film this year and in fact I’d say this death was better handled here than in the original Superman movie.

Speaking of death, let’s talk about what is probably the most controversial aspect of the film; the apparent ‘collateral damage’ that Superman causes during his fight with General Zod and his army of Kryptonians. There’s no denying it, Metropolis gets annihilated during the final battle; there’s plenty of property damage and a lot of people probably died as a result of it. But here’s the thing… did anyone actually die as a result of Superman flying around and fighting Zod and his army? If there was, then I didn’t see it. Maybe some did, but thankfully the filmmakers didn’t show it. Most of the death and destruction was caused by Zod, not Superman. How about the just as controversial scene where Superman defeats Zod by snapping his neck and killing him? Yes, I’m aware that Superman is a character that doesn’t kill. With that said, this scene can hopefully establish that in future movies and let’s face it Superman didn’t really have any other choice. Zod was about to kill some innocent civilians and even if Superman tried to stop him, he would probably keep trying to do it. And you know, in the last ‘Superman’ film to star Zod, Superman did kind of kill him in that one too. Just saying…

In the lead role of Superman, Henry Cavill is excellent; he doesn’t say much but he is still very charming and likable. As Lois Lane, Amy Adams has great chemistry with Cavill and I did like that, in this continuity, Lois actually figures out that Clark is Superman… and thank god they didn’t use the ‘mind erasing kiss’ plot point from the theatrical cut of ‘Superman II’. Russell Crowe and Kevin Costner are both fantastic as Superman’s two fathers, Jor El and Pa Kent, respectively. They both influence Superman’s actions throughout the course of the film, and in the case of Jonathan, no it’s not letting people die as I already established. The bottom line here is that this is a new take on the character of Superman and regardless of your opinion on the film; you can’t fault the filmmakers for trying something different. I’ll admit that I was rather hesitant about this film going in, if mainly because of director Zack Snyder’s previous film and my pick for the worst film of 2011, ‘Sucker Punch’. In that sense, let me just say that, Mr. Snyder, you proved me wrong.  

Number 8 is the next entry in a series that, coincidentally, held this exact same spot in last year’s list. It’s at this spot again this year, though this entry is actually vastly superior to its predecessor.

8. THE HUNGER GAMES: CATCHING FIRE



I really did like the first ‘Hunger Games’ movie, even with some of its flaws. That is because, after a horrendous series known as ‘Twilight’, this series that was also based off of a popular young adult book series had far better writing and a superior female lead in Katniss Everdeen. Still, the first film did have the whole thing about the shaky camera work during the actual Hunger Games. I didn’t really mind it that much, but there’s no denying that it was present. ‘Catching Fire’ on the other hand is a vastly superior movie and it’s interesting to note that, from what I’ve heard, this is sort of the least favorite book in the series for most people and yet, depending on how Parts 1 and 2 of ‘Mockingjay’ turn out, this might end up being the best in the whole film series. For one thing, you’ll be pleased to hear that the shaky cam and fast editing is no longer a problem here. I guess you can attribute that to the fact that in this film, the other competitors in this film’s Hunger Games are all adults so it’s not as brutal compared to them being kids in the first film.

But aside from that, this film really manages to explore the universe much more. It’s probably because the filmmakers had a better budget this time around, but regardless you get a greater sense of the turmoil amongst the districts of Panem. That idea of ‘expansion’ also extends to the character development, particularly the relationship between Katniss and Peeta. I love that the writers did remember to add in that plot point about how Katniss played up their relationship in the last movie to the audience, something that the last film did not include at all. Jennifer Lawrence is once again outstanding as Katniss, and Josh Hutcherson really shines this time around as Peeta. Of course, the rest of the cast is excellent as well, from the returning players (Woody Harrelson, Elizabeth Banks, Donald Sutherland, etc…) to the new additions (Sam Claflin, Jena Malone, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, etc…). Many consider ‘Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban’ to be the film that really got the Harry Potter franchise to where it is today and in that regard, ‘Catching Fire’ is the Hunger Games’ ‘Prisoner of Azkaban’. Nothing against Gary Ross and what he did in the first movie, but Francis Lawrence ended up making the superior film.

Number 7 is easily the most underrated movie of the year. It did get good reviews but it wasn’t really a big hit at the box office.

7. RUSH



Now at first glance from a box-office perspective, ‘Rush’ may not initially seem like a box-office flop. It earned $90 million worldwide, surpassing its $38 million budget. But take away exactly 70.1% of that gross and you’ll see that, here in America, it only grossed about $26 million. I’m guessing the main reason why this film didn’t do so well here in the states is similar to why 2011’s ‘Warrior’ didn’t do so well. I’m pretty sure that Formula One Racing is not exactly the most popular sport here. But there’s more that this movie has in comparison to ‘Warrior’ besides the fact that it wasn’t a bit hit stateside. ‘Rush’ is the story of the rivalry between F1 racers James Hunt and Niki Lauda during the 1976 season, a season where they both experienced their own personal highs and lows and yet neither is portrayed as the bad guy. They’re both very compelling people and you root for both of them at the same time. Not only that, but they are both totally different people. Hunt is the playboy with something to prove while Lauda is the calculating precisionist whose life is put on the line after a near-fatal accident at the German Grand Prix. Not only are these two characters very compelling to watch, but Chris Hemsworth and Daniel Bruhl are both outstanding in the roles. I’ll admit that I’m not a big fan of director Ron Howard’s work (‘The Grinch’ is a Christmas classic and ‘Apollo 13’ is terrific, but ‘The Dilemma’? Ugh.), but this easily one of his best films to date and one that is highly underrated as far as its box-office performance in North America is concerned.

Check back tomorrow for Part 3, for Numbers 6-4.

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013) review

The first ‘Hunger Games’ film was a huge success both critically and commercially when it came out back in March 2012. However, while the film was very good thanks in part to the writing and Jennifer Lawrence’s outstanding performance in the lead role, there was room for improvement, namely in regards to the shaky camera work and fast editing during the actual Hunger Games. That’s not to say the film wasn’t bad. It’s always been the case with most book-to-film franchises in that most of them get better as their series go on (e.g. Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings). It’s the responsibility of the first film to set up the universe and characters, and the first did a great job as far as that was concerned. So now all eyes are on the first sequel ‘Catching Fire’ to continue the story. In the director’s chair this time around instead of Gary Ross is Francis Lawrence (no relation to the leading lady), director of ‘Constantine’ and ‘I Am Legend’, who impressed Lionsgate enough to be chosen as the director for the final two Hunger Games films, parts 1 and 2 of ‘Mockingjay’. He’s certainly the right man for the job, because while I do really love the first ‘Hunger Games’, ‘Catching Fire’ is far superior to it in almost every way.

After their victory in the 74^th Annual Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) and Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson) return home to District 12 before heading off on their ‘Victory Tour’ through the other districts of Panem. However, while both of them are looking to get on with their lives, they soon learn that their defiant actions in the Arena, where they became the first dual winners in the history of the Games, have inspired rebellions all over Panem. This now makes Katniss not only the symbol of hope for the rebellion, but also a target of the Capitol and she is warned by President Snow (Donald Sutherland) to make it look like her actions were done out of her supposed love for Peeta and not as an act of defiance; otherwise her loved ones will be killed. But soon, Katniss and Peeta are forced back into the arena for the 75^th Annual Hunger Games due to the 3^rd Quarter Quell, an event that takes places every 25 years where the Games are affected by a unique rule. In this case, all of the Tributes are past Hunger Games winners, making things even more challenging for Katniss and Peeta this time around.

The biggest advantage that this film has over its predecessor is perhaps the fact that, with a bigger budget, F. Lawrence is able to expand on the world of Panem in ways Gary Ross couldn’t necessarily do with the first one. We get a greater sense of this world and, more importantly, the rebellion that is now happening in it. We don’t necessarily see a full-out rebellion as it’s more focused around Katniss and her reluctance to be the symbol of hope for the districts, but we clearly see that it’s beginning to take shape. Obviously, this rebellion will become much more important in the next two films. Once the film gets into the arena for the 75^th Hunger Games, you folks will be pleased to know that the shaky cam and fast editing of the first film is no longer a problem. It’s all terrifically shot and, while I’ll be spoiler-free about what happens during these Games, the whole arena is very unique, which makes it a little more interesting this time around.

Once again, Jennifer Lawrence shines in the role of Katniss Everdeen, the reluctant symbol of the rebellion who is also sort of traumatized by her experiences in the previous Hunger Games, which we see early on when Katniss suddenly has a vision of one of the tributes from the last film while hunting with Gale (Liam Hemsworth). The relationship between Katniss and Peeta is far more developed in this film, mainly because the writers actually did remember to use the plot-point of how Katniss was playing up their relationship in the arena to win over the audience; the previous film omitted a key scene at the end where Peeta learns about this. Because they have far more substantial roles to work with in this film, Hutcherson and Hemsworth are able to get into their roles more. The idea of a ‘love triangle’ is there, but it’s not overplayed. Like the last film, this one has a great supporting cast with great performances all around from both returning characters (Woody Harrelson as Haymitch, Donald Sutherland as President Snow, etc.) and new ones (Sam Claflin as Finnick Odair, Jena Malone as Johanna Mason, etc.).

While I do love the original ‘Hunger Games’ film, despite its flaws, ‘Catching Fire’ is superior to the original in almost every way. Now with the whole idea of ‘establishing’ the universe out of the way, thanks to the first film, this sequel allows us to explore this world even more and with that, we’re able to see the growing rebellion that is beginning amongst the Districts of Panem, making things quite suspenseful at times for the main characters. The cast once again brings their all to it and once the film moves into the Arena this time, the shaky camera work and fast-editing from the first film is non-existent which leads to a much more exciting Hunger Games. Francis Lawrence certainly proves that he’s the right man for taking over this franchise, more specifically the two-part finale, ‘Mockingjay’. I’m a little hesitant on the idea of splitting the final book into two films. It’s not because of who’s involved behind the camera, or the quality of the material; it’s just if there's enough material to work with like ‘Harry Potter’. We’ll just have to wait and see when ‘Part 1’ comes out next November.

Rating: 5/5!

2013 Preview: November

We are now two months away from the end of 2013 and the start of a new year of movies. Welcome back to Rhode Island Movie Corner’s year-long preview of the films set to come out during 2013. This is Part 11 and today we’ll be looking at the lineup for the month of November 2013. There are quite a lot of films to talk about this month, including some blockbuster sequels, a couple of animated films (including Disney’s latest), and much more.

NOVEMBER 1- A trio of films open up the month, along with the nationwide expansion of a major awards contender.

*The first animated film of the month, ‘Free Birds’, is directed by Jimmy Hayward (director of 2009’s ‘Horton Hears a Who!’). The film focuses on two turkeys (voiced by Owen Wilson and Woody Harrelson) that team up and steal a time machine to travel back in time in order to change history so that the turkey is no longer a staple of the Thanksgiving menu.

*Author Orson Scott Card’s 1985 best-selling novel ‘Ender’s Game’ gets its big-screen adaptation directed by Gavin Hood (‘X-Men Origins: Wolverine’). After an alien race known as the Formics attack Earth, a group of young children are trained in order to find the next leader of the ‘International Fleet’. Hugo’s Asa Butterfield stars at the titular Ender alongside Harrison Ford, Ben Kingsley, Hailee Steinfeld, Abigail Breslin, and Viola Davis.

*A group of Hollywood legends headline ‘Last Vegas’, a comedy directed by Jon Turteltaub (‘National Treasure’). Michael Douglas, Robert De Niro, Kevin Kline, and Morgan Freeman star as a group of friends who head to Vegas for a bachelor party when Douglas’ character gets married.

*It seems like this year’s Oscar race will come down to two films; Alfonso Cuaron’s ‘Gravity’ and ’12 Years a Slave’, directed by Steve McQueen (‘Shame’). Based on the book of the same name by Solomon Northup, the latter film tells the tale of Northup (Chiwetel Ejiofor), a violinist living with his family as a free man in New York in the year 1841. However, he is then forced into slavery in the South. The cast includes Michael Fassbender as Northup’s vicious slave owner, Benedict Cumberbatch, Brad Pitt, Paul Giamatti, and more.

NOVEMBER 8- Only one film is set to open this week but hey, when that film’s a Marvel film, you can see why no one else wants to compete with it.

*The next film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, ‘Thor: The Dark World’, the sequel to 2011’s ‘Thor’, hits theaters as the second film in Marvel’s ‘Phase Two’. Chris Hemsworth reprises his role as the titular Asgardian God of Thunder, as he fights to save the Nine Realms from a new threat; the Dark Elves led by Malekith the Accursed (Christopher Eccleston). The majority of the main cast from the first film, including Natalie Portman as Thor’s love interest Jane Foster, Tom Hiddleston as Thor’s brother/nemesis Loki, and Anthony Hopkins as their father Odin, return to reprise their roles from the previous film and are joined in this film by Eccleston, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, and Zachary Levi (Levi replacing Joshua Dallas in the role of Fandral).

NOVEMBER 15- Again, only one film this time; this one being a sequel to a film that came out 14 years ago.

*Malcolm D. Lee, cousin of Spike Lee, directed a romantic dramedy in 1999 called ‘The Best Man’. Now, 14 years after that film was released, Lee and the main cast of the original film (Taye Diggs, Morris Chestnut, and Regina Hall among others) return for ‘The Best Man Holiday’.

NOVEMBER 22- The next entry in the Hunger Games franchise goes up against a Vince Vaughn comedy.

*Vince Vaughn stars in ‘Delivery Man’, a remake of director Ken Scott’s 2011 film ‘Starbuck’. Vaughn plays a man who learns that, through being a sperm donor, he has fathered over 500 children. When most of them try to sue the sperm bank in order to reveal this information, he must decide whether or not he should come forward about it. Chris Pratt and Cobie Smulders co-star.

*The first film adaptation of Suzanne Collins’ best-selling book series, ‘The Hunger Games’, opened to very positive reviews and almost 700 million at the box office when it opened back in March 2012. Its first sequel, ‘Catching Fire’, will hit theaters this weekend. Francis Lawrence (‘I Am Legend’, who will also helm the final two films, ‘Mockingjay Parts 1 and 2’) takes over directing duties from Gary Ross for the film, which finds Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) and Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson) caught in a rebellion that is brewing in the districts of Panem following their victory in the 74^th annual Hunger Games. Woody Harrelson, Liam Hemsworth, Elizabeth Banks, and Lenny Kravitz return with most of the original cast and are joined by Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Jeffrey Wright, Sam Claflin, and Jena Malone.

NOVEMBER 27 (Wednesday):  The biggest week of the month starts early with 4 major releases, including Disney’s newest film and an American remake of a Japanese classic.

*Director Spike Lee’s newest film, ‘Oldboy’, is a remake of the 2003 South Korean film of the same name. Josh Brolin stars as a man who is imprisoned for years, eventually seeking revenge against those responsible once he gets out. The film also stars Sharlto Copley, Elizabeth Olsen, and Samuel L. Jackson.

*The latest Disney film, ‘Frozen’, is based off of the fairy tale ‘The Snow Queen’ by Hans Christian Andersen, author of ‘The Little Mermaid’. The film is co-directed by Chris Buck (co-director of Tarzan) and Jennifer Lee (screenwriter for ‘Wreck-it Ralph’). The film follows Anna (Kristen Bell), a princess of the land of Arendelle, who has to team up with a mountain man named Kristoff (Jonathan Groff) and a snowman named Olaf (Josh Gad) to find her sister Elsa (Idina Menzel), the other princess of Arendelle who has the ability to create snow and ice who, after having gone into hiding, caused an eternal winter across the land. The film will feature songs written by Robert and Kristen Anderson-Lopez (‘Avenue Q’).

*While not starring in it, Sylvester Stallone produced and wrote the screenplay for ‘Homefront’, an action-thriller starring Jason Statham as a DEA agent who comes into contact with a group of drug traffickers led by a meth kingpin named Gator (James Franco). The film also stars Winona Ryder and Kate Bosworth.

*Finally, there’s ‘Black Nativity’, which is an adaptation of a retelling of the Nativity story with a black cast originally written by Langston Hughes. The cast includes Forest Whitaker, Angela Bassett, and Jennifer Hudson.

And that’s the film lineup for November 2013. Come back next month for the final part of this year-long preview where we’ll take a look at December’s lineup of movies.