Little, Brown: Title, Pub Date, Synopsis of New JKR Novel

by John 12 April 2012

Share Read all about The Casual Vacancy here — hat tip, RevGeorge! Little, Brown Book Group announces that the new novel for adults by J.K. Rowling is entitled The Casual Vacancy.  The book will be published worldwide in the English language in hardback, ebook, unabridged audio download and on CD on Thursday 27th September 2012. [...]

24 comments Read the full article →

Are the Culture Warriors in Line for The Hunger Games Film?

by John 11 April 2012

Share So where are the Harry Haters and Twilight bashers in the Hunger Games madness that has overtaken the Public Square? This is an opportunity at least as great as previous manias to make some Culture War points to those captive to an Us-Other narrative in religion and politics. Where are the objections to Katniss [...]

13 comments Read the full article →

Gary Ross In-Out at LionsGate? Where is Suzanne Collins?

by John 10 April 2012

Share A dear friend wrote to me after seeing the Katniss Barbie doll, the one modeled on Miss Everdeen of the Esquire photo shoot, not Pippi of Panem of the novels, to express his alarm: So, the question is: did Collins agent let her get hoodwinked and sell rights for things she’d never approve of? [...]

7 comments Read the full article →

Oh, Yeah, It’s Here! The Katniss Everdeen-Barbie Doll!

by John 9 April 2012

Share For those of you with Gail Thongs and Peeta ‘Hot Buns’ underwear, the best in Panem collectibles are now available via the BarbieCollector.com New Release Page: May the Odds Be Ever in Your Favor: Every year in the ruins of what was once North America, the evil Capitol of the nation of Panem forces [...]

10 comments Read the full article →

Guest Post: A Passover Reading of Catching Fire’s Quell

by John 9 April 2012

Share In honor of Passover this week, here is a guest post from Hanna on the traditional symbolism of the Plagues in Egypt that appear in the Quarter Quell of Suzanne Collins’ Catching Fire. I think you’ll agree with me that this layering of supernatural and historical referents on top of the alchemical sequencing of [...]

4 comments Read the full article →

Atomic Parody: ‘The Hungry Games,’ A Fast Food Nightmare

by John 8 April 2012

Share As seen on Mockingjay.net! See the SNL skit there, as well.

0 comments Read the full article →

Shared Text: Hunger Games Enters American Political Sphere

by John 7 April 2012

Share A Shared Text moment occurs when a book or film has become so much a commonplace among members of an extended family or community that references can be made to it in other contexts to make points of meaning without fear that those in the conversation will not understand the points because they have [...]

0 comments Read the full article →

Good Friday Mailbag: A Trip to King’s Cross with Harry

by John 6 April 2012

Share In observance of Catholic and Reformed Christian ‘Good Friday,’ I thought a trip to King’s Cross was in order. I know I speak for the HogwartsProfessor staff in wishing those believers observing the Christian holidays in their various denominations an edifying experience of the Lord’s sacrifice and a joyous celebration of His Resurrection. This [...]

7 comments Read the full article →

District 12 For Sale: 72 Acres in Carolina for US$1.4 Million

by John 6 April 2012

Share I kid you not. You can buy a piece of cinematic history! Think you can move into Tara or Forest Gump’s plantation mansion for only a million dollars and change? I think not. Read Buy District 12 from Hunger Games for $1.4 million: 83-year-old owner, Wade Shepherd, lives across the empty village, and originally [...]

0 comments Read the full article →

Katniss vs. Anti-Culture: ‘Why the Hunger Games Resonates’

by John 5 April 2012

Share I’m a newcomer to ‘Brant’s Blog’ but if his Katniss and Her Friends: Why ‘The Hunger Games’ Resonates is any sign of the quality of the thinking there, I’ll be back. The heart of it goes something like this: Katniss finds a boy/man who is flawed, but self-sacrificing, protective, warm, and committed to not [...]

1 comment Read the full article →