{"id":32620,"date":"2023-12-18T16:35:45","date_gmt":"2023-12-18T16:35:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shows4.com\/?p=32620"},"modified":"2023-12-18T16:35:45","modified_gmt":"2023-12-18T16:35:45","slug":"the-hunger-games-the-ballad-of-songbirds-snakes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shows4.com\/?p=32620","title":{"rendered":"The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes"},"content":{"rendered":"

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This slow-burning prequel tells the origin story of Coriolanus Snow, the future president of Panem. The 18-year-old Coriolanus Snow (Tom Blyth) \u2014 future president of Panem, eventual tormentor of Katniss Everdeen \u2014 begins \u201cThe Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes\u201d with his stomach growling. This slow-burning prequel by the franchise\u2019s returning director Francis Lawrence rewinds six and a half decades in the life of the despot (played in the other films by Donald Sutherland) to find young Snow tinkering with the 10th Hunger Games, a rinky-dink massacre hosted by a weatherman (Jason Schwartzman). (Katniss would suffer the 74th.) Only its designer (Viola Davis) sees the potential in developing a Grand Guignol. Aggrieved that the outer districts bombed his hometown and obliterated his family\u2019s wealth, Snow is hungry and he\u2019s playing two strategic games. First, he must convince his snobbish schoolmates that he belongs among the Capitol\u2019s well-fed elites. Second, he must ace his final project: Boost the blood bath\u2019s ratings by coaching a sacrificial tribute into a telegenic star. As class assignments go, it\u2019s a candy bar fund-raiser combined with caretaking a hard-boiled egg.<\/p>\n

Fortunately, Snow is assigned a stunner named Lucy Gray Baird (Rachel Zegler), the only girl in the coal-mining District 12 who wears mascara. Better still, upon being selected for death, Lucy Gray belts a bitter shanty. Surprise! This is (moderately) a musical. Once we stop snickering, things improve. We even enjoy the later numbers in which Zegler, launched into fame as Maria in Steven Spielberg\u2019s \u201cWest Side Story,\u201d downshifts her Broadway pipes into a reedy, expressive Dolly Parton twang.\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Genres:<\/strong>Action, Adventure, Drama<\/div>\n
Director:<\/strong>Francis Lawrence<\/div>\n
Cast:<\/strong>Rachel Zegler, Tom Blyth, Viola Davis<\/div>\n
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