Donald Sutherland

CHICAGO – Lionsgate announced 2-disc Blu-ray and DVD editions of their massive hit “The Hunger Games” to be released on August 18, 2012 complete with three hours of extensive bonus features. The highlight of the bonus material is an eight-part documentary called “The World is Watching: Making of The Hunger Games.”

CHICAGO – What is remarkable about the book phenomenon known as “The Hunger Games” is how rich, literary and symbolic the series is, considering they are for a “young adult” audience. Jennifer Lawrence, Stanley Tucci, Elizabeth Banks, Woody Harrelson and Josh Hutcherson bring the characters to life.

CHICAGO – Gary Ross’ “The Hunger Games” is a spectacular piece of blockbuster entertainment, a movie that should connect across all demographics from those who have never heard of the book to those who have shrines to Katniss and Peeta in their closets.

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Jennifer Lawrence

CHICAGO – This 21-image slideshow contains a selection of the Lionsgate-provided official stills from Gary Ross’ “The Hunger Games” with Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Woody Harrelson, Stanley Tucci, Elizabeth Banks, Lenny Kravitz, and Donald Sutherland.

CHICAGO – Fans of the hit book series and much anticipated film series “The Hunger Games” were treated to a full look inside the world of Panem this morning when Lionsgate debuted a full trailer for the new film. After a short teaser trailer premiered this past summer showing the main character, Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence), running through a forest during battle, the new trailer gives a full look at the modern/futuristic world.

CHICAGO – Two of the funniest movies ever made hit Blu-ray next week in the John Belushi flicks “The Blues Brothers” and “National Lampoon’s Animal House.” Both are rich with special features but they’re of material that has been available before. The fact is that these two films have been released and re-released a hundred times and most people probably own them by now. If you don’t, get to it.

CHICAGO – We have seen dozens of movies about hit men caught in dangerous situations. There is something that fascinates us about men who take the assignment to kill someone and just pack up and wait for the next job. Inevitably, the movies tell us that these men will pay the price, whether it be a job gone horribly wrong or an attempt to leave a profession that doesn’t come with a pension plan. The latest entry in the subgenre is the Jason Statham vehicle “The Mechanic,” a film that works reasonably well as a rental but falls a bit flat with a disappointing final act.

CHICAGO – In ancient times, history was at the end of a sword point and edge of the world. “The Eagle” tells of a Roman Empire battle in those times, and Channing Tatum plays a general bent on restoring his family name.

CHICAGO – It wouldn’t be a Jason Statham film if in it he was just fixing cars. In “The Mechanic,” his profession is fixing people. And by fixing, like “The Transporter” he’s again cracking skulls.

CHICAGO – Ken Follett’s “The Pillars of the Earth” is in the great tradition of old-fashioned adventure serials. The line between good and evil is clearly drawn and there is little doubt which side of the line each character belongs. This story is a battle between heart and hierarchy, nobility and debauchery, light and darkness. It’s fraught with clichés, melodramatic in the extreme, and entertaining as hell.