Katie Bircher braved the midnight show to report on The Hunger Games.

In order to get Richard to go I think I'm going to have in turn see Footnote, an Israeli father-and-son drama that doesn't exactly sound up my alley (anybody else who was bored by A Separation, raise your unwashed hands). But i did watch, in Katniss's honor, Tomorrow, When the World WAR (thank you Jennifer, I always get that wrong!) Began and Battle Royale. The first was fun, with gorgeous shots of the Australian bush and some welcome humor providing balance to the explosions, but the inconclusive ending made me annoyed rather than hungry for more. Battle Royale was gleefully horrifying and too kinky for me. I haven't read the book, but the movie doesn't provide any particular evidence that Collins had swiped stuff from it. With the publication of apocalyptic and dystopian fiction (the distinctions between which being helpfully discussed in an article by April Spisak forthcoming in our May issue) continuing unleashed, I'm seeing the same tropes over and over again. it's a zeitgeist thing, baby.