THE HUNGER GAMES: THE BALLAD OF SONGBIRDS & SNAKES PODCAST
Ready for a riveting journey back in time to the origins of the Hunger Games? Picture a young Snow, years before he became the notorious villain we know, navigating his path in a world shaped by the remarkable talents of Viola Davis and Peter Dinklage. This sneak peek into the prequel, "The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes," fills you in on the captivating storylines, rich characters, and atmospheric music that promises to immerse you in the dystopian world.
Hold tight as we converse with the film's director, Francis Lawrence, and producer, Nina Jacobson, who share their exhilarating experiences of creating a period piece, 64 years prior to the original series. Imagine a Capitol under reconstruction and the evolution of the Games. Feel the excitement building up as we introduce Viola Davis and Peter Dinklage. Davis, with her remarkable dedication, and Dinklage, known for his ability to convey raw emotion, make this prequel a cinematic masterpiece you wouldn't dare to miss.
The casting process is yet another aspect we delve into. Hear from Tom Blyth, the lead actor, as he opens up about his portrayal of Snow. Rachel Zegler, our Lucy Gray, along with Joshua Kantara, who plays Gaius, discuss how their real-life bond adds depth to their on-screen performances. Whether you're a Hunger Games enthusiast or a newcomer, this journey offers a unique insight into the creative process, where we capture the anticipation and excitement that surrounds the release of the Hunger Games prequel. So gear up, listeners, for a thrilling ride into the world of the Hunger Games prequel!
THE HUNGER GAMES: THE BALLAD OF SONGBIRDS & SNAKES PODCAST
Ready for a riveting journey back in time to the origins of the Hunger Games? Picture a young Snow, years before he became the notorious villain we know, navigating his path in a world shaped by the remarkable talents of Viola Davis and Peter Dinklage. This sneak peek into the prequel, "The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes," fills you in on the captivating storylines, rich characters, and atmospheric music that promises to immerse you in the dystopian world.
Hold tight as we converse with the film's director, Francis Lawrence, and producer, Nina Jacobson, who share their exhilarating experiences of creating a period piece, 64 years prior to the original series. Imagine a Capitol under reconstruction and the evolution of the Games. Feel the excitement building up as we introduce Viola Davis and Peter Dinklage. Davis, with her remarkable dedication, and Dinklage, known for his ability to convey raw emotion, make this prequel a cinematic masterpiece you wouldn't dare to miss.
The casting process is yet another aspect we delve into. Hear from Tom Blyth, the lead actor, as he opens up about his portrayal of Snow. Rachel Zegler, our Lucy Gray, along with Joshua Kantara, who plays Gaius, discuss how their real-life bond adds depth to their on-screen performances. Whether you're a Hunger Games enthusiast or a newcomer, this journey offers a unique insight into the creative process, where we capture the anticipation and excitement that surrounds the release of the Hunger Games prequel. So gear up, listeners, for a thrilling ride into the world of the Hunger Games prequel!
Because we now have the Cinema Judge Music. Hello, hello, hello and welcome to the Cinema Judge. I hope my voice finds you well To all my regulars out there. You guys are fantastic. If you're new to the show, welcome aboard Now approach the bench. Today we have the prequel to the Hunger Games series the Hunger Games the Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. Now here's a synopsis, and this is really a short synopsis. It really doesn't give you the full picture, but that's coming up soon. Snow mentors and develops feelings for the Female District 12 tribute during the 10th Hunger Games. And again, this is a prequel to all those other films. So Snow this is the younger version, the character played by Donald Sutherland, and this is how he begins and how he becomes his evil ways. Here's a trailer for the Hunger Games the Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, mr.
Speaker 2:Snow. After everything you've seen out there in the world, what are the Hunger Games for?
Speaker 3:The Hunger Games are to punish the districts. Those tributes don't have a choice.
Speaker 6:Your role is to turn these children into spectacles, not survivors.
Speaker 2:We're live Smile. It's why we have teeth.
Speaker 7:Imagine it was your name that they pulled. I just want to know that somebody still cared about me, that I was still a value.
Speaker 3:Welcome to the Capitol.
Speaker 4:You look like you shouldn't be here.
Speaker 3:I shouldn't, but I'm your mentor.
Speaker 4:A rebel.
Speaker 5:I am going to get you out of here.
Speaker 2:You want to protect people and it's essential to accept what human beings are and what it takes to control them. Let's see you use that famous Snow charm.
Speaker 4:You seem like a good man, Koelina Snow.
Speaker 3:I have seen what war does to people.
Speaker 2:Filled with the terror of becoming prey. See how quickly we become predators. I want my enemies to see a rainbow of destruction and golfing the world.
Speaker 7:You monsters, all of you.
Speaker 6:Good luck with that poor little songbird. Where is she? It's a mystery, and mysteries have a way of driving people.
Speaker 2:Mr Snow, let me ask you one final time what are the Hunger Games for?
Speaker 6:It's the things we love most and destroy us.
Speaker 1:Well, that was the trailer. Up next I have a couple of featurettes for you Now. In these featurettes they talk about the story, the music, the characters, the new characters on board, some veterans and the veteran actors in here, our top shelf Viola Davis, peter Dinklage those two no-transcript get any better than that. The talent that these two bring this project is amazing. So in the first featurette there's a lot of what's the story about, who's coming back, talk about the story. And after that there's a second featurette. I'm just going to let it flow through, because that's what you're here for. You're here to hear about the movie. In the second featurette they talk a lot about the music, because in this one there's a lot more music involved. They show this young woman she's part of a band, she sings, she plays a guitar and how they implement that into this series. So that's what's coming up next. Guys, check it out.
Speaker 2:Introduce to you the creator of the Hunger Games themselves, Dean Casca Highbottom.
Speaker 6:I have summoned you all here today for the 10th annual reaping ceremony in which we choose two children from each district, throw into the capital arena to fight to the death in the Hunger Games. I am here to tell you that there has been a change this year. One final assignment to prove your worth.
Speaker 8:It's a story that takes place in 64 years, before the first installment of the movies, and focuses on young Snow. Look at you.
Speaker 6:Your makeshift shirt and your two tight shoes, trying desperately to fit in One. I know the Snows don't have a pot to piss in.
Speaker 8:Snow is being groomed to become the man he becomes as a mentor.
Speaker 6:Your role is to turn these children into spectacles, not suppliers.
Speaker 8:Persuade them to perform for the camera, lucy Gray, the one who Snow becomes the mentor for and also falls in love with. There's a very naturalistic quality to her, but she's a charmer, she's a musician, she's a performer. She's kind of the anti-catanist.
Speaker 9:She's part of the Covey, this kind of roving band of musicians. Snows never met anybody like her. That romance between them makes Snow question everything he was raised to believe.
Speaker 4:I think there's a natural goodness born into us all you know. Really you can either cross that line into evil or not, and it's our last work to stay on the right side of that line.
Speaker 8:Part of the love story starts to fall apart, and that is part of the creation of who he becomes.
Speaker 6:It's the things we love most that destroy us.
Speaker 8:Most everybody that I work with is coming back. Trish Somerville is doing the costumes for this movie. Yolwellums who shot Catching Fire the Mocking Jays. The one new person that I'm really excited about is Uli Hanish, who's the production designer. We talked about the sort of look and the feel of the movie.
Speaker 9:The visuals of this movie will be very different than Mocking Jays, but there's real consistency in terms of the capital architecture.
Speaker 8:We get to sort of reinvent the world of NM, just sort of deconstruct what the games are that we're sort of used to, and go back in time. It wasn't until I read it that I saw how much music was actually in here and we met with Dave Cobb. He's a fantastic songwriter and producer.
Speaker 10:It's going to be fun to take all this history of British Isles music and Southern music and mash it all together in this dystopian way in this future James Newton.
Speaker 8:Howard. It's my fourth Hunger Games film with him.
Speaker 5:The musical opportunity is great. Relationships are very powerful. In the movie, the good and the bad are very clearly laid out.
Speaker 8:For James and I it was really fun to explore a new sound for the Hunger Games. Sometimes it's foot stomping and rousing, and sometimes it's haunting, mysterious, and a lot of that is based on the kind of period of the movie itself. There's going to be some familiar elements as well.
Speaker 5:Hanging Tree is back in a completely different iteration and treatment.
Speaker 8:Here we get to see Lucy Gray coming up with it for the first time. Very early I remember being in my backyard and speaking to Cezanne Collins and when we were talking about the book Ballad and it was in that call that she actually said that there's a huge musical element to the story that sort of comes from the old ballads from Scotland and England and Ireland.
Speaker 4:If we met a bad midnight in the hanging tree.
Speaker 8:And so we hired a great music producer and songwriter, dave Cobb, and he and Cezanne had long talked about, like the history and the sort of references for each of the songs that she had written.
Speaker 10:Cezanne Collins tells me every single detail and the feel and the sound and the inspiration for the songs. It's going to be fun to take all this history of maybe British Isles music and Southern music and mash it all together in this dystopian way and this future, and kind of keep it raw and rugged and find a sound that isn't a sound that's been had before. So it's casting the right players. I'm having this incredible group of people come down and play on it.
Speaker 9:The artists that he works with and assembled for these sessions. The music he composed the way that it really fits Cezanne's lyrics, every song as we would hear the demos. They stay with you. They're so specific. There's not any two songs that you mix up with the other.
Speaker 4:When I got all of the scratch recordings for the music here, it just fell in love and was like we got this part right for sure.
Speaker 5:I really admire the songs Dave contributed. There's certainly a rural aspect to the District 12 music and I think that's been in there from the very beginning, and so to me it was just consistent extension of what we were stylistically trying to achieve.
Speaker 10:In a lot of ways, this is really the first time they've had a singing character like this, and I think that's going to be. The fun part of the film is discovering the sound of Lucy Gray.
Speaker 8:Singing for her, and this is where we really got lucky. Not only could she do the sort of pre-record in the studio versions of these songs.
Speaker 8:But we also knew that once we had her on set Rachel really could do it. It's just so easy for her. So it was just great to be able to go in and do these musical moments with her and just know how comfortable she was in that zone. She and Dave Cobb and the musicians were really able to sort of capture that kind of 1920s to 1930s sort of Appalachian quality that we all loved and we were all aiming for and I think it's just a great added element to the movie and to the story.
Speaker 1:Like I said, there's a lot going on in this film In addition to adding more music and texture, and I think sometimes that could really add a lot to characters, motions and everything involved. And what I really like about this episode this week is the studios really gave some great in-depth interviews and gives us a deeper, deeper dive. And that's what I love about doing this sometimes, when you really get to just sink your teeth into all the information. I personally eat that up and I hope you do too.
Speaker 1:Now coming up next, we're going to have interviews from the director and producer. First we're going to hear from the director, francis Lawrence. He didn't talk about the script and world building and also the look of the film, because, yes, this is a Hunger Games film, but remember it's set what I think they said 60 years before 50, 60 years before the series that we're used to. So they had to set it up to look differently not just a mashful place that it turns into, but more of a post-war world which they talked about in the other films. But this is seeing it, so they had to depict it that way and I love hearing about what they draw from, what era they draw from and how that just moves the story along. In the same vein we're going to hear from producer Nina Jacobson and she also talks about that and delves a little bit more into the origin of the series. But I think what might separate this from other kind of origin films?
Speaker 1:This is actually based on a book. The author contributed, wrote this already. It wasn't just filmmakers or somebody just trying to make a buck, going hey, let's just make up something and what happened beforehand and just try to milk the series. This was an actual book, so it's not like they're just pulling stuff out of the hat, so we actually have something to work on. So I think that might separate this a little bit. So here's the director and the producer.
Speaker 8:Sure, you know, one of the things that I was really excited about when I first read this manuscript was discovering that the world of the story takes place 64 years before the first book and the first movie, which gave me the opportunity for many more new ways to world-build.
Speaker 8:To figure out how to do a period piece was really, really exciting, and I enlisted production designer Uli Hannes, who's German based, and together we decided to focus on reconstruction era Berlin right after World War II, since our story takes place just years after the Dark Days of War itself, and what that gave us was a look at what a city would look like, with the rubble in the streets and the reconstruction of old buildings and the erection of new buildings that might lead in to Panem. But it also gave us an opportunity to look at the more rudimentary nature of technology and how people would look differently in terms of their clothes, and we looked to that same era the 40s and the 50s for references of automobile design and clothing and hair and makeup, and so really, really fun. And it's just, it very much feels like a Hunger Games movie, but the world feels entirely new and fresh.
Speaker 9:I think it will be exciting for audiences to get to see that this is not just the story of a young Coriolanist, snow, and the origins of how a young man grows to be the president's snow who we all loved to hate, but the origins of the capital as well and of seeing. We've heard reference in the original movies to the war, to the dark days, but we have only ever really seen the capital as this place, that seen through Katniss' eyes, seen through the eyes of a person who's grown up in very different circumstances. We've never told a story before that takes place through the eyes of a young capital citizen, and especially somebody like Snow, who has, who comes from great wealth and power but whose family has fallen into hard times that he's trying desperately to conceal from his peers. But to see both in our very early images in the film, to get a sense of what, that the way that the war devastated the capital and its citizens, and what the destroyed version of the capital, not this sort of shiny product that it becomes, but in the midst of those dark days, what had, what had, what the capital had become. But to also then see, as you meet Snow at age 18, as a senior, you know, at the academy, the beginnings of the panem that you recognize right down to.
Speaker 9:You know the reconstruction of the old but these new buildings that are going up, you know the cranes, the skyscrapers, the attempt for a city that has been devastated by war to rebuild, reimagine and move on. And so architecturally you're seeing things you haven't ever seen. And then when you get to the games, you're really saying another origin story. You know that the games were not always filled with this incredible. You know sort of sci-fi effects of these arenas that are so elaborate that it was once a much simpler affair and the the advent and the reasons why the games evolved the way that they did and the role that's no played in it. So I think there's a lot for people to see across the spectrum of panem, through character, through the games and through snow that I think people will find exciting, I hope.
Speaker 1:Now, like I mentioned earlier, this film has two icons, two treasures, actors that are just top of the game Viola Davis and Peter Dinklage. First, we're going to talk about Viola Davis. I mean, her laundry list of characters, movies, is insurmountable and she could do it all. That's what's great about her. She could do comedy, she could do action, she could do sci-fi. Nothing's out of her range For me. I'll watch anything she's in, because she won't. She doesn't go halfway in, she doesn't take a movie just to take a movie. It means something to her. She, a character, says something to whatever it is. You know, there's a reason other than well, I need a job because obviously she doesn't. She could do anything she wants. I mean, look, I'm gonna give you a brief list of some of her movies 2016, fences, 2011,. The Help 2022, the Woman King, suicide Squad, air, black, adam, the First Lady. I could go on and on. This woman is just. I mean, what can you possibly say more about her? As she's a treasure and I just, I just want her to keep making stuff for us, because I'm selfish and greedy and needy. I said it keep doing your stuff. What an incredible presence. And then that doesn't take anything away from Peter Dinklage. We all know him from Game of Thrones, but that's just again, tip of the iceberg. This guy is just phenomenal and I'll just give you a just a little bit of his great work just to because I can. I can go on and on with both these actors the station agent, x-men, days of Future Past, three Billiards Outside Ebbing Missouri that's a great film. If you haven't seen that, check it out. I care a lot In Serenal. And again, guys, if you haven't seen Serenal from 2021, it's part musical history, all these kind of things. He nails it and some of the songs in there are just sticking in your head and you cannot get it out. But if you ever are in the mood for something like that, check out Serenal. I mean, everything he does is great, but for that one I was just like, oh man, masterful work. So come up.
Speaker 1:Next we're gonna hear from the director. He's in a talk boat by Ola Davis and just how awesome it is to work with her, but how little nervous he was to about bringing this up to her. But I really. What I really like about this interview is this he gives us a little tidbit of behind the scenes of their world Because currently they're working on another project. He doesn't mention what it is, but just the idea that, well, we're trying to get it off the ground. What does that mean? Where are they at in the project and what is it about? That stuff just tickles my brain all night long and it's just like, oh man, it's so cool. But while that's happening, hey, I have another project for you. Would you be interested? And it just seemed how that maneuvers, how those, how everybody works in that world.
Speaker 1:And then we're gonna hear from Viola Davis, you know, talking about her character, the character's journey and how fun it is for her to play an evil character, and just talks about the prep for it when she comes out of the trailer, about how most of the work is done beforehand, all these kind of things. Hearing an artist talk about that kind of stuff I love. I could eat that up all day, like I said before, but hearing her talk about the character and developing of it is just super cool. And then we're gonna go back to the director and he's in a talk with Peter Dinklage just what he brings to this role, because in these kind of movies there's speeches and there's all these things.
Speaker 1:It's not just the words, it's how you deliver it and that's what sometimes sets people, people like Peter Dinklage, apart. He can say so much with his eyes, his face, his motions. It's not the words always, because sometimes it could be five pages long. How do you keep people entertained with that? It's your presence, it's your delivery, it's your confidence, it's finding that character and that's what sets him apart. He gets look and move his eyebrows with his face, whatever. If you, if you're familiar with his work, you understand what I'm saying. If you aren't, watch more of it, because his facial expressions speak volumes.
Speaker 1:And then we're gonna hear from Peter Dinklage Talk about working with this director, how much he has liked his previous work and what he brings the project and I again, I love hearing about that how and their actor will look at other people's work, their sci-fi work, Whatever, and said I want to work with this and now that I'm getting older, I want to work with people that I really want to work with. It's just fun to see the thought process of an actor taking on a project. And then we're gonna go to a clip. In this clip we have Viola Davis Introducing Peter Dinklage's character about what's going on in this next Hunger Games competition. She's up there, she introduces him, he turns around, he starts walking just in his grand way and starts explaining things. So that's what's coming up next, guys.
Speaker 8:I love Viola Davis, I love her work. I think she's one of the best actors you know living now, if not one of the best actors of all time, and so I really really admire her. And there's a project that I've been developing that she's a part of that we're still trying to figure out. So I had, you know, somewhat of a relationship with her a bit of one and from working on that, and as soon as I thought of, you know, dr Gull, I thought Viola would be perfect. And you know, the only stipulation About the casting of Viola kind of came from Suzanne, which, which was just that Suzanne had always imagined Gull being much older than Viola is.
Speaker 8:So we aged her with the makeup and wigs and things like that aged her up a little bit, and part of it is that she's a little quirky and she's like she. She says kind of weird things, she has her little rhymes, she's like can be a little giggly sometimes, but she can also be quite scary and and I remember being a little nervous pitching to her this, but it was the idea that for me the reference was Willy Wonka and the original gene wilder Willy Wonka, which is there's a sort of a sinister quality. It's kind of underneath but really it's a person who finds joy in the creative ways she's coming up with things. So even if there are portable things For a sort of torture or death or punishment, it's the creative side of it that like keeps her, that she finds fun and enjoyable, and if we can sort of keep that feeling Alive, I think will make make a character that's really unique.
Speaker 2:The journey she goes on is, I call it, a demented mentor, a sort of reluctant mentor. I had fun relishing in the evil. I had fun relishing in sort of molding and shaping snow tom blight into this person who I felt and deemed him to be, and that's all I could say. I mean, I felt like you know, with acting you get permission to go to parts of your imagination that you can't go to in life. What helps when you get a group of artists who work together, make up hair actor together? What you create when you walk out of the trailer is hopefully a character that you already have stepped into and that becomes the magic. That becomes what?
Speaker 8:50% of the work what's really fun is sometimes when you're developing these stories and you're working on scripts and you have these scenes specifically early in the movie where somebody's giving a big speech. You know you debate often about how much exposition you want to sort of spoon feed the audience and some you need, but it's always really tricky, right. But then you get Peter Dinklage coming in and handling that dialogue and it just becomes delicious and he sort of burns through it and you kind of forget that it's just exposition and he's just a master at it and also right out of the gate. So for me as a filmmaker you know when you're sort of working against time and you've got a lot to do and a lot of like a lot of coverage needed, but you have three pages of dialogue, of some speech or something, to have somebody who can kind of come out of the gate Really know all the dialogue but also have the performance down.
Speaker 6:I've always been a big fan of Francis Lawrence From back from his early video music video work. I think he's really original and the way he shoots is. It's quite riveting and I'm a huge fan of his Dijonres that he started out in with Konstantin and I am legend. I love that stuff. So, and talking to him, really it's because that's important to me, especially as I get older sort of who you put your trust in as a director and and the script was great. I watched the other films.
Speaker 2:How Tantalizing to see all your shining young faces on this auspicious day. I am dr Volunia goal, your humble head game maker in charge of the War Department and all its affiliated concerns. I broken free of my laboratory today to Examine you, the leaders of the next generation. I won't be around forever, after all. And now, to that end, I am honored to introduce to you the creator of the Hunger Games themselves, dean Casca, high bottom oh yeah select students, faculty and, of course, dr Gall.
Speaker 6:I have summoned you all here today For the 10th annual reaping ceremony in which we choose two children from each district, throw into the capital arena to fight to the death in the Hunger Games.
Speaker 1:I mean, come on, people, what more do you need? Viola Davis, peter Dinklage Epic kind of story. Whether you'd like these kind of movies or not, I'll just tune in just to watch those two shine on the screen, because, hey, that's just magic right there. Now. I don't know if it's just me or maybe you guys enjoy this too. I love hearing about how they cast roles. How do they get somebody, how does that? I'll maneuver.
Speaker 1:So coming up next, we're gonna have this really stellar interview with the producer and she talks about the process of of getting Rachel, getting Tom and some other actors. It is a Crazy cool story about just how everything works in that world. I'll let her explain it. It's just too cool. But then we're gonna hear from Rachel Ziegler, who plays Lucy Gray, and I like how she talks about when they read the book and our mother said, oh, you have to play this. And her sister read it, you have to do this. And just hearing that excitement about you know, I think you could do this role. And then we're gonna play a clip for you.
Speaker 1:In this clip, lucy Gray is standing in this open field or open area, everybody's lined up, and Then her name gets called, meaning she's gonna be part of the Hunger Games and here she's dressing this fantastic I guess the way I could look at it is a Unique hippie like dress and outfit, quite unlike anybody in that hole, that whole area. Because that's who she is. She's an artist, she's, she's flies by her own, no way. And she's walking down. This other guy goes hot, I didn't know. I didn't know.
Speaker 1:I'm sorry that you have to do this, but then, as the strings start picking up, in the background, when you hear the music, there's a woman in the audience who obviously is not a fan of lucy. She says something like sing your way out of this one. So then we have a picture of rachel walking towards the front and her hands behind her back and she has like a snake in her hand. It's just, it's not a big snake, but it says in a palm of her hand, she's just kind of strut along to her thing. And she walks up to that girl who said that to her about oh, sing your way out of this. She puts it down her shirt and screams and Wallah. There's my statement. That's what kind of sets these kind of characters apart. She's original, she's fun, she's not walking the line, she plays by her own rules. So that's what stuff's coming up next, guys.
Speaker 9:Well, you know, we of course, like as you'd imagine, auditioned hundreds of people. Finding tom was an incredible breakthrough for us. I really didn't know his work other than seeing his posters around for billy the kid, um, but when he once he auditioned he stole the part and you probably have heard. But you know, we wanted, we Francis met with rachel before anybody and we wanted her to do it, but she didn't think she'd been in london doing snow white alone during like that post covet isolation. She's like I can't start another movie in berlin three days after I rap.
Speaker 9:Then we had finally a breakthrough piece of casting on sagena's and I had no idea that josh was her boyfriend. He gives an amazing audition. I like, oh, we found our sagena's. He really like blew us away. Then let me form Well, he's the piece of her boyfriend. And then we get a phone call. Is it too late, can will you consider me now? I think it also really speaks so well of them, because Rachel was like you have to make sure that everybody knows that. Like he got the part he got. You know, I'm doing it because he's doing it. He's not doing it because I'm doing it.
Speaker 4:I remember reading the book in 2020 would had come out and my we had one copy of the book that went through our house, so my mom read it first and said Rachel needs to play this part, and then my sister read it and she said rachel needs to play this part. Finally, I got to read it and I just absolutely fell in love with her sense of strength and, um, she was so sure of herself and I really, really love that about her. I think it's so inspiring. But also she gets to sing and play guitar, which is two things that I really love to do, and so getting to do that made it all the better for me to play this part.
Speaker 7:Lucy Gray, sing your way out of this one. Lucy Gray, lucy Gray, what is that dress? She's some sort of clown.
Speaker 2:Lucy Gray. I didn't know, I didn't know.
Speaker 5:I'm sorry.
Speaker 1:Lucy Gray. Now we're gonna stay in the casting realm. We're gonna hear from the director and he's gonna talk a little bit more about casting Tom as snow. And then we're gonna go to Tom and he's gonna talk about what drew him to the role. And then we immediately go into a clip and in this clip Snow was talking to young Tigris and he's trying to ask her what can I do to make her trust me? Speaking of Lucy, because Tigris is telling him why would you want to, you know, share anything with you at this particular juncture? It has to be some give and take and get trust. So it's just a little scene With him and young Tigris just trying to get his stuff together, saying how can I get her to work with me?
Speaker 8:You know, it's interesting we we had a pretty exhaustive casting process for the three main roles for the snow, so Janus and Lucy Gray role, and with snow we saw a lot of people and there were a few people that were like pretty interesting. But he kind of came in late to the game At least to me, his self-tape and he just kind of knocked it out of the park. There was, there was a quality about him, there was a nuance to his performance. I mean a real Sense of understanding the character. Um, I could also see, even though he had dark hair at the time, that he bore resemblance to Donald Sutherland a little bit, but there was also just a sense of control in his performance that I really liked.
Speaker 8:And you could tell that this guy, based on the scenes he was doing, that he had real craft and he really knew what he was gonna he was gonna do and he was gonna be really prepared, um, and was gonna be able to really convey the complete sort of emotional arc Of this kid, of this. Like kid he's, you know, desperately like putting on a show with the charisma to sort of fit into society, but desperate to to feed his family and like slowly becoming the monster that is Snow, I think it was. It just became clear really quickly with him that he was going to be able to tackle that and tackle it in a really Fantastic way.
Speaker 3:I think what drew me to choreo is I mean, aside from being a fan of the franchise Originally and going to see them when I was a teenager Um, what drew me to choreo specifically is his kind of um, his multitudes. Like you know, he's not one thing. He's ambitious and he's hungry, but at the same time, he tries to remain humble and yet, at the same time, he wants to be the best in his class. And I think he's this, this person who contains just just multitudes within him. Um, and when I'm looking at a character, I always look to play someone who Contradicts themselves, because I think that's what life is like. That girl's not gonna win these games. You saw her. She's underfed unstable.
Speaker 7:The dean said it's not just about winning everything is about winning.
Speaker 3:If not the games now, then the crowd. Lucy gray won't survive a minute inside that arena, so that means we have to make every second before then count. I'll get her to sing again.
Speaker 7:I wouldn't sing a note for you. If I was her, I wouldn't do anything at all unless I could trust you.
Speaker 3:She's district of tigers. She knows we hate her and she wants us dead. How am I supposed to get her to trust me?
Speaker 7:Imagine it was your name that they pulled and you had been ripped from your home. I just want to know that somebody still cared about me out here. Don't discount her just because she's district, choreo. You might have more in common with her than you think.
Speaker 1:Now sometimes when studios do this would do a prequel You're putting the whole fan base Kind of on edge either. Some people are so dedicated to the original they don't want to delve backwards, they want to move forwards. So it's that whole tricky walking that line and up. Next we're gonna hear from some of the actors talking about why they think people will enjoy this film. First we're gonna hear from tom blithe, then rachel zeigler, and we'll go back to tom and then just talking about what this movie brings to you and why they think you'll enjoy it. And then we're gonna have a clip for you and in this clip lucy is picture A blown out building in a war zone.
Speaker 1:It crumbles everywhere, just submit everywhere and basically the games are about to begin. There's a bunch of young people standing, not quite in a circle, but all the stuff laying around them, and then let the games begin. And then people start charging at each other and Lucy's like whoa, what's going on? And Snow is watching this on a TV monitor and he's just telling her run, run. So there's not a lot of dialogue in this scene, but basically the fighting has begun and people are attacking each other and you see Snow looking at her Lucy going come on, run. And then we're going to hear from the director after that clip talking about why he feels this movie is fulfilling and how it addresses the origins of the story, the books, and he just feels as overall thing that people will enjoy this film.
Speaker 3:I think this movie is going to be quite rewarding to the fans of the original series because there's a lot of Easter eggs and a lot of connections between this new installment, this prequel in the original series, and a lot of explanation as to why Snow President Snow in the original films detests Katniss so much. I think Katniss in the original series reminds President Snow of Lucy Greybeard and we get to find out in this movie and in this book, because it explains how Corio became who he becomes and how he becomes this dictator and why his hunger for power grows so strong. And a lot of that is because of Lucy Grey and because of her kind of enigmatic nature that he can't quite understand. So when Katniss comes along later on, when he's a lot older and a lot more powerful, I think she scares him because it almost feels like going back in time.
Speaker 4:I think Hunger Games fans will love that. It's something that is fresh. It's a fresh take on the films and the stories that we love so much from Suzanne Collins. It's also very, very true to the book that she wrote. Why would you want to change something that is so amazingly written? Suzanne created amazingly dynamic characters with so many facets of these multifaceted characters. I think they're going to really love the performances from our cast and I think they're also just going to love the music and that's my hope, because it was really my baby while we were shooting was the music in our film, and so I really think they're going to be excited to be welcome back into Pan Am, but with a whole new lens of the characters that they already think they know so well, I think what fans are going to love most about the film is that it's a return to the games, a return to Pan Am, without being a repeat.
Speaker 3:It feels like it honors everything we loved about the original franchise, while also revealing so much more that is new and fresh and answers a lot of unanswered questions about why our most beloved characters are how they are.
Speaker 8:I mean, I think, look, I think the movie on its own stands on its own. So ideally, new fans can come in, whether or not you know the books or the movies or whatever, and come in and enjoy this experience. I think, for fans of the movies and the books, what's great about this is it's an origins movie and it's not just the origin of a villain. We know it's the origins of the world, the origins of the game, the origins of songs. We know of behavior, we know of relationships. We know there changes your perception of the books and the movies that people are familiar with and I think it's wildly fulfilling.
Speaker 1:Now, what do you guys think? Is this something that you want to see? Let me know how I did. Does this make you want to see the movie or to make you think, no, I don't want to see this movie? Because our goal here at the Cinema Judge is this we just want to present you the evidence so you can make up your own mind. I'm not here to heavy hand you saying not to see something or to see something. That's not what we do here at the Cinema Judge, because any movie is somebody's favorite movie. Because we all want the same thing, guys. We all want an enjoyable movie experience. Because we all want to spend our hard on money wisely.
Speaker 1:You'll never hear me criticize yell at Hollywood. Be a crybaby like that, that's not my jam. Leave that to the professionals. There's some very professional crybabies out there. We just love movies.
Speaker 1:Consider this a movie oasis, a place where you could come here and learn about a film and that's it. I don't care about all that other noise. I want you to come here and just get away from it. Our lives are complicated and noisy. This is our place. Sit down, sink your teeth into it and escape for a little bit, because there's that time.
Speaker 1:Every once in a while, you might find that gem of a movie where you said I would have never seen this movie. Now I really want to see it. Or you might say you know what, now that I hear a bit more about it, maybe I don't want to see it. But you know what? That's your progative, that's what you're not wrong, and that's what I don't get about. Some gigs, people get upset if somebody wants to see a movie. If they don't want to see a movie, how does it affect your life? We want to just escape for a while. That's what movies are for and that's what I'm trying to do here for you. Give you the evidence and you make up your own mind.
Speaker 1:Now, if you want to watch the TV version of this on demand whenever you want, 24 hours a day, go to bitly-cinema-judge. If you go there right now, it's not going to be there, because right now it's Sunday. I don't usually try to break the bubble of time whatever, because I want you to come here and feel like it's just being like I'm saying this now, but if this drops today, you need to go there. And you, hey, buddy, where is it? Well, I didn't finish the TV version of this until like three o'clock in the morning. So I was like you know what? I'm not even going to start the podcast, because usually I do this late at night.
Speaker 1:This is a rarity where I'm doing it basically on a Sunday afternoon. Here I am just sitting in the basement. So this is kind of weird for me, being in the middle of the afternoon doing the show. That rarely happens. This is usually my nighttime gig Down here. I have to work whatever, just talking movies. So anyway, that's what's happening in my little world.
Speaker 1:I've had so many appointments this last couple of weeks. Everything got thrown off so I was unable to do the TV version, which becomes this you know how that is, guys. When I'm doing that, I'm cranking tunes in my happy place, because that's what makes my world go around Movies and music. If I could have both those, what more do I need? So that's my happy place.
Speaker 1:And when I was doing this particular episode, I'm like well, you know what this one deals with. You know strong women and music and guitar playing people. So I said you know what? I don't know what I'm going to listen to. I said why not listen to the new Taylor Swift 1989, her version. I've never listened to it before. I've listened to a couple other albums. I said you know what that woman just has? Everything she has. She has talent, generous. So I said why not listen to something similar in portraying, you know and when listening to this to do in a show who somebody lives at an artist?
Speaker 1:But here's the rub, it bummed me out. I'm sitting here editing this show but for whatever reason my little device here kept sopping and pausing and wasn't working very well. So I didn't really get the full experience. I kept having to tell you, hey, what's wrong? You know, keep playing and continue. I'm like come on. So I didn't get the full experience of listening to that whole album and its purity, but I got a general idea because I just kept saying play again, or next song, what have you. But that's what I was listening to when I was doing the TV version which becomes this version.
Speaker 1:But I would love your feedback, please, if you want to cinemajudgeathotmailcom, because I can't grow if I don't know or go to most platforms out there, whether it be Apple, spotify, whatever platform results for podcasts. I would love your feedback. But also, this show often plays in some kind of way on YouTube. Sometimes there, due to copyright restrictions, some parts of the show might get edited down. So when you listen to this and then you watch it, maybe on YouTube sometimes not all the time, but every once in a while I have to completely cut out a segment due to copyright, so you might be watching that going. Hey wait, he just mentioned that this was going to happen and this didn't happen. Well, it's because I don't want the whole show, the whole channel, to get popped out. So sometimes things have to go on YouTube that aren't on here. Just so you generally know, if you are listening on YouTube, which a lot of you do, I Salute you and I'm very, very grateful and I love you guys reaching out to me on YouTube.
Speaker 1:Your comments are helpful, they're insightful, because I want to grow. I want to make this a show where you could come here and listen and just enjoy it and not be like come on, buddy, spit it out, do better. That's what I want. Construct constructive feedback. You don't have to be a meanie, and none of you are. That's I said. I want to be a community where we could just share movies, talk about movies, escape. That's our jam. So, other than the platforms and YouTube. You can always follow me on Instagram it's the cinema judge. I love it when you guys leave messages there threads I'm also there.
Speaker 1:The cinema judge, pinterest tumbler hive mastered on tick tock. A lot times I drop or show a little mini feature at sometimes on tick tock. So if you ever cruise on tick tock, I'm there in. You know not not all the time, but I do drop some stuff on there from time to time. I would love hearing from you guys, so please feel free to do that. Also. I'm in the meta universe. So if you ever get in the meta world, go to horizon worlds. I'm usually there hanging out with a bunch of people talking movies. It's a great time and people make some great worlds out there. I'm usually there late at night, so if you're ever there in horizon worlds, look up. Cinema judge I'm there. I'm. I love talking movies, so feel free.
Speaker 1:But now coming up next is one of my favorite parts of this show. This is where I give shout outs to all the people who've listened to the stuff on the platforms. This does not include the YouTube people. This just includes people who listen to the podcast. So if you want a shout out, listen to the podcast and always gives a ballpark of your general area. It doesn't give you a street, it just says, hey, maybe in this state or this country.
Speaker 1:But this is where I say thank you, because of all the things you could be doing in this world. You take time to listen to this show. That's so humbling and it just blows my mind to be honest with you, the million of different things you'd be doing. And you come here to learn about a movie. That is just astonishing to me and I know some of you might not even listen to this. Like the next day or next week you might be listening this two years from now, two months from now you might be on a road trip. Who knows what you're doing? But I always say this Wherever, whenever or whatever you're doing, this is for you, to all my listeners around the United States, germany, you guys always listen.
Speaker 1:Thanks for sharing. Thanks so much, germany. Same thing with the United Kingdom, portugal, italy, philippines, just to name a few. You guys always listen and thank you so much for sharing. Man, that's, that's so cool. Knowing other side of the planet, you guys are listening. That's just so cool.
Speaker 1:Minneapolis, minnesota, north Rhine Westphalia, holly, minnesota, province of it's a Laguna, milan, bloomington, minnesota, lottie, florida, central Lisbon, frankfurt, a main Hesse thoroughfare. New Jersey, uly, florida, stillwater, minnesota, valencia, california, cooke Haga follows Ohio, is that right? Ohio, irmle, south Carolina, chelms, ford, x6, Jacksonville, florida, tampa, florida, houston, texas, and that's just to name a few. I can't get to everybody, but that's. I am so grateful. Keep listening if you like. Shout outs. That's what I hear, because that's what I do, because I I don't want you to think I take it for granted, because Anyway, I know, I know I got to calm down. But thank you so much, but now it's time for the bourbon. Shout out now.
Speaker 1:This week I got a few for you because I've had so many weird doctors appointments the last couple weeks. But there are some so kind and hard-working doctors out there, whether it be for my wife or for me, you know, with my hip and her cancer treatment, all these things you guys out there are just insanely awesome, from Dr Suzie, kate, karen, asha, chastity, and I know there's a lot more. I'm missing and I'll remember and I'll do you later in another episode. But to every single solitary one of you who are taking care of me, making my life a lot better, because Sometimes things fall apart and you just make it all easier and understanding, and I salute every one of you who are there to help me. I mean, it's amazing what you do. So to all you doctors, cheers. Oh, that is it. My glass awaits. I'm thirsty, so cheers to you and to the movies. So until next time, be well, be good, and I'm gone. I'm Jeff. Thanks for listening to the Cinema. Judge you.