The Hunger Games. What can you say about it? Well, it was a decent book that spawned a decent movie.

It also features the very cute Jennifer Lawrence, which doesn’t hurt. Of course, there’s a sequel, and it’s called Cathing Fire.

Of course again, a new trailer for the movie dropped during last night’s MTV Movie Awards. Don’t get us started on how useless the awards are, just enjoy the new trailer.

Or, don’t. No pressure. We won’t judge you either way. Lawrence, Liam Hemsworth, and Josh Hutcherson are back for the Francis Lawrence (no relation)-directed November 22 sequel.

Check out the teaser after the break.

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That’s right, two weeks in a row and two episodes in a row. The boys are on a roll. Amazing.

This week on The Flickcast Chris and Matt discuss all manner of topics including their final take on the post-Oscar controversy, an awesome new Wonder Woman fan trailer, the trials and tribulations of the VFX industry, the upcoming Planet Hulk movie, DC vs. Marvel and what show Tom Welling should be doing.

They also make some picks this week including Matt’s pick of Injustice: Gods Among Us and Chris’ pick of the CW series Arrow.

As always, if you have comments, questions, critiques, offers of sponsorship or whatever, feel free to hit us up in the comments, on Twitter, at Facebook or via email.

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Yes, the Oscars were last night and without putting too fine a point on it, Chris and Matt did reasonably well in predicting the outcome. The only real surprise of the night was Argo‘s win for Best Picture.

Sadly, this was probably a result of director Ben Affleck’s snub for a Best Director nomination. Still, it is nice to win Best Picture. Although, if you ask Argo producer Grant Heslov, who just couldn’t let it go, it wasn’t enough and we really need to know Ben Affleck was the Director of Argo.

No shit. Thanks for pointing that out. Look we get it, you’re angry your buddy didn’t get nominated. Sure, that hurts, but you need to let it go now. Ben is going to be just fine. . . and so are you.

We’re also glad Tarantino got a win for writing Django Unchained and it was nice to see Christoph Waltz take one for that movie as well. He did a great job in it. And lets not forget host Seth McaFarland. Great job Seth. You killed it.

Anyway, for a complete list of winners, click on through. Before that, however, take a look at the trailer for Jimmy Kimmel’s latest opus Movie: The Movie Part 2. It’s pretty funny.

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Yes, that’s right. After a bit of time apart to “find themselves” and/or work on solo projects, Chris and Matt are back together again for an all-new season of The Flickcast.

And to kick things off, the boys talk all-things Oscar and make some predictions about who and what will take home the gold guy during Sunday’s festivities. Plus, they take a bit of a detour through the upcoming Star Wars movies and the various casting rumors as well as the most recent installment of the Die Hard franchise.

Hopefully you won’t be too disappointed but Chris and Matt don’t make any picks this time around, mostly because they don’t know if that bit is going to continue. So that means you don’t have to link to anything this week.

However, if you do want the picks bit to continue, let us know via the comments. And, if you have any other comments or suggestions about the show, feel free to let us know that too.

Look for brand new episodes of The Flickcast right here each and every week!

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Nominees for the 28th Annual Spirit Awards were announced today and in many of the categories, some familiar names seem to be recurring. Best Feature nominees are Beasts Of The Southern Wild, Keep The Lights On, Moonrise Kingdom and Silver Linings Playbook.

Sean Baker’s Starlet will receive the Robert Altman Award, given to a film’s director, casting director, and ensemble cast. Among distributors, Searchlight leads the way with nine nominations, followed by Music Box with seven and IFC Films, Focus and Sony Pictures Classics with six apiece. Winners will be announced at the ceremony on February 23.

The full list of nominees follows:

BEST FEATURE
Beasts of the Southern Wild
Michael Gottwald, Dan Janvey & Josh Penn (producers)
Bernie
Liz Glotzer, Richard Linklater, David McFadzean, Dete Meserve, Judd Payne, Celine Rattray, Martin Shafer, Ginger Sledge, Matt Williams (producers)
Keep the Lights On
Marie Therese Guirgis, Lucas Joaquin, Ira Sachs (producers)
Moonrise Kingdom
Wes Anderson, Jeremy Dawson, Steven Rales, Scott Rudin (producers)
Silver Linings Playbook
Bruce Cohen, Donna Gigliotti, Jonathan Gordon (producers)

BEST DIRECTOR
Wes Anderson, Moonrise Kingdom
Julia Loktev, The Loneliest Planet
David O. Russell, Silver Linings Playbook
Ira Sachs, Keep the Lights On
Benh Zeitlin, Beasts of the Southern Wild

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Figures it would take David O. Russell to come up with one of my favorite rom-coms of 2012. I’m not ashamed to admit that rom-coms are maybe my favorite movie genre, even though the genre is, as a rule, a pitiful one. Good rom-coms come along once in a blue moon and the bad ones are not only plentiful but painful. In fact, the last really good one I remember is last year’s Bridesmaids, which wasn’t even technically a rom-com, but did have as one of its many virtues a very believable and sweet love story between the Kristen Wiig character and the nice Irish cop.

Russell’s genre is family wackadoodle, which (with the notable of Three Kings) he’s explored in every major film project he’s written/directed: Spanking the Monkey, Flirting with Disaster, I Heart Huckabees, and now the new Silver Linings Playbook. The wacky family in Playbook are the Solitanos of Philadelphia: Pat, Sr. (Robert De Niro), an extremely superstitious and OCD Philadelphia Eagles fan who’s been barred from Eagles stadium for life for brawling with supporters of opposing teams.

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The Avengers and The Dark Knight Rises were not the only box office behemoths in the last year. The Hunger Games took the world by storm back in March raking in over $650 Million globally. That’s number that might seem quaint compared to Joss Whedon’s big budget nerd-gasem, but contextually it’s a massive hit on a surprising scale.

So all eyes are now on its sequel which is about to begin filming, and one of the major new characters has just be cast. Most people probably do not know the name Sam Claflin, but he has been in a few big budget blockbusters and now is primed to take the next step into wide-spread recognition, by taking on the role of Finnick Odair.

Claflin was a bit of an afterthought in Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, but he actually turned in an impressive performance in Snow White and the Huntsman, so much so that some people actually liked his character more than Hemsworth’s Huntsman. Now he has a chance to turn heads in a film that will no doubt be a cultural event when it is released.

Hopefully this casting is another in the long line of impressive casting decisions so far in the series, managing to get good actors not just pretty faces like another sparkly franchise that has been popular lately.

Keep an eye on The Flickcast for any new Hunger Games news bits as the anticipated sequel heads towards production.

If you can forgive us the headline long enough for us to tell you the news, we would appreciate it. The search for a director to take on the Hunger Games sequel Catching Fire after Gary Ross decided to walk away is over.

The man Lionsgate has chosen to take up the torch and continue the blockbuster franchise is Francis Lawrence. Lawrence won the coveted gig after after other directors like Moneyball helmer Bennett Miller had to drop out due to a scheduling problem.

According to the report, he was always a top pick for Lionsgate but his deal finalized when others such as Miller had to drop out of contention. Additionally, Lawrence can get started right away so the film can get into production before star Jennifer Lawrence (no relation) has to head back to the Marvel Universe and suit up for the sequel to X-Men: First Class.

In case you can’t place the director’s name, his previous credits include Water For Elephants, I Am Legend and Constantine as well as music videos for Britney Spears, Jennifer Lopez and Green Day. So, he’s got some directing chops as we like at least two of his movies (no, not the one with RPat).

So, with the sequel to Hunger Games now seemingly on track, look for it to arrive in theaters late in 2013.

Now that Hunger Games shattered tons of records, making it the biggest film in the past few years, other studios are doing what they can to compensate for the massive train which will be the production of the rest of the Hunger Games trilogy.

The first in that line is Fox, as they’re moving the start time for production on Matthew Vaughn’s X-Men: First Class’s sequel. From THR:

Sources tell The Hollywood Reporter that Fox is informing talent agencies Thursday that the studio plans to begin shooting its in-development sequel to X-Men: First Class in January. That means Lionsgate could move forward with an August-September start date for the Hunger Games sequel Catching Fire without a conflict for Lawrence, who is set to star in both. 

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Now that The Hunger Games is such a huge success, it makes sense that Relativity Media will be focusing more of their media campaign for the horror film The House at the End of the Street on Games star Jennifer Lawrence. That tactic is pretty evident in the brand new trailer for the film just released.

In it, Lawrence is front and center as Elissa, daughter of single mom Sarah (Elisabeth Shue) who have come to small town America looking for a fresh start. Of course, things don’t go as planned and unexplainable events begin to happen, Sarah and Elissa learn the town is hiding a terrible secret: most of the people in the house next door to them were murdered.

As they learn more, things spiral out of control and they end up in mortal danger. Of course they do.

Actually this sound (and looks) like a pretty good premise for a horror/thriller. And let’s be honest, Shue and Lawrence make quite the mother/daughter team.

Check out the trailer after the break. Look for The House on the End of the Street to hit theaters on September 21.

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Lionsgate has released its first trailer for The Hunger Games, the Gary Ross-directed adaptation of the first of a trilogy of Suzanne Collins novels. In case you’re not familiar with the books and/or the upcoming film, here’s a bit of info directly from Lionsgate:

Every year in the ruins of what was once North America, the evil Capitol of the nation of Panem forces each of its twelve districts to send a teenage boy and girl to compete in the Hunger Games. A twisted punishment for a past uprising and an ongoing government intimidation tactic, The Hunger Games are a nationally televised event in which “Tributes” must fight with one another until one survivor remains.

Pitted against highly-trained Tributes who have prepared for these Games their entire lives, Katniss is forced to rely upon her sharp instincts as well as the mentorship of drunken former victor Haymitch Abernathy. If she’s ever to return home to District 12, Katniss must make impossible choices in the arena that weigh survival against humanity and life against love.

Will this be good? Who knows. At least they don’t seem to be taking the Twilight approach and making it incredibly cheesy, so at least that’s something.

Check out the trailer after the break. Look for The Hunger Game, which stars Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson and Liam Hemsworth, to arrive in theaters on March 23rd.

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Even though I’m not all that enthusiastic about the upcoming big screen adaptation of The Hunger Games, I know some of you are. And because I love and respect all our diligent readers, we’ve got brand new character posters from the film to share with you today.

The poster collection includes some of your favorite citizens of Panem: Rue (Amandla Stenberg), Cato (Alexander Ludwig), Haymitch (Woody Harrelson), Effie (Elizabeth Banks), Cinna (Lenny Kravitz), Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence), Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) and Gale (Liam Hemsworth).

In case you never read the book, here’s some info on the story:

Every year in the ruins of what was once North America, the nation of Panem forces each of its twelve districts to send a teenage boy and girl to compete in the Hunger Games.  Part twisted entertainment, part government intimidation tactic, the Hunger Games are a nationally televised event in which “Tributes” must fight with one another until one survivor remains.

Pitted against highly-trained Tributes who have prepared for these Games their entire lives, Katniss is forced to rely upon her sharp instincts as well as the mentorship of drunken former victor Haymitch Abernathy.  If she’s ever to return home to District 12, Katniss must make impossible choices in the arena that weigh survival against humanity and life against love.

The Hunger Games opens in theaters everywhere March 23rd, 2012. Click through for some larger versions of the posters after the break.

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Big book franchises are all the rage these days, obviously. Harry Potter is now out of theaters, Twilight only has another year left in it, and now it’s time for a brand new franchise to take over Hollywood, in the shape of kids fighting to eat in a post-apocalyptic world.

For those who aren’t aware, here’s the film’s synopsis, based on the first book in the trilogy by Suzanne Collins.

Every year in the ruins of what was once North America, the nation of Panem forces each of its twelve districts to send a teenage boy and girl to compete in the Hunger Games. Part twisted entertainment, part government intimidation tactic, the Hunger Games are a nationally televised event in which “Tributes” must fight with one another until one survivor remains.

Pitted against highly-trained Tributes who have prepared for these Games their entire lives, Katniss is forced to rely upon her sharp instincts as well as the mentorship of drunken former victor Haymitch Abernathy. If she’s ever to return home to District 12, Katniss must make impossible choices in the arena that weigh survival against humanity and life against love.

The first teaser trailer doesn’t give us much (just a “tease”, if you will), but it’s certainly enough to get us excited for the film’s release on March 23rd, 2012.

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For those keeping count, X-Men: First Class is the fifth film in the X-Men series and, chronologically, the first. It opens with the same sequence of a young Erik Lensherr in a Nazi concentration camp, wrenched from his parents and twisting the metal gates, as in the original X-Men film, but expands on the events immediately following: Erik is brought before Nazi scientist Sebastian Shaw (Kevin Bacon), who tries to harness Erik’s gift by promptly shooting his mother. Across the world, a young Charles Xavier, possessing the gift of mind-reading, catches the shapeshifter Mystique breaking into his family mansion.

Fast-forward to 20-some years later, it’s 1962 and Charles (now played by James McAvoy) is a prominent biologist at Oxford whose work focuses on genetic mutation; Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence) is working as a waitress and posing as Xavier’s sister; Lensherr (Michael Fassbender) is hunting down the Nazi scientists who killed his family; and Shaw is now leading a terrorist organization known as the Hellfire Club, aided by his henchmen Emma Frost (January Jones), who also has the power to read minds as well as morph into a sexy diamond, and the demonic-looking Azazel (Jason Flyming), who can teleport as well as impale victims on his pointy tail; finally, there’s Moira MacTaggert (Rose Byrne), a CIA agent who’s hunting down Shaw.

MacTaggert’s investigation uncovers Shaw and his merry band of mutants, which leads her to team up with Xavier and take the villains on aboard Shaw’s yacht, right in step with Lensherr. Shaw escapes, and MacTaggert, Xavier, and Lensherr head back to the CIA, where the three set up a mutant task force (the gathering of which is one of the movie’s best scenes) to save the world.

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Clips are flowing like water these days as we get closer and closer to the June 3rd release date of Fox’s X-Men: First Class from Kick-Ass director Matthew Vaughn.

We brought you some great clips showcasing the original team of mutants like Banshee, Havok, and Mystique, but now we’re giving Hank McCoy a.k.a. Beast some love.

From what we can gather from the clips we’ve seen, it looks like McCoy (played by About a Boy star Nicholas Hoult) and Mystique (played by the up and coming star Jennifer Lawrence) are set to be in a bit of a love story, which is interesting considering the shared color the two have in common.

Check out the clip after the jump of Beast and Mystique meeting for the first time, and be sure to catch X-Men: First Class in theaters on June 3.

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