Tag Archives: The Hunger Games

This cult classic courted controversy when it was first released for its ‘vulgar violence’. It was rated R in its home country of Japan and was either banned or found only limited releases in other countries. Watching it now, I ...

Publishing industry insiders are predicting that 2017 will find readers turning to happier tales of escapism and hope. As a result, genre publishers are talking about the This is a big shift from the pessimistic dystopias that have dominated bestseller lists ...

Female-led films make money. Fact. Not only do they make money, they help to recognize that 50% of the world’s population is actually made up of women. So, they’re good for your soul as well as your pockets – you ...

I can’t be the only one despairing at the lack of imagination in the countless numbers of YA dystopian novels. They have become so generic and formulaic a computer could easily write one. While I have enjoyed my fair share ...

Whatever you might say about Suzanne Collins’ terribly average prose, the story and badass heroine she created makes for a cracking good tale. The first film of the series was good, Catching Fire was brilliant, then Hollywood continued its milking ...

I was pulled into the hype surrounding The Fire Sermon by its clever marketing campaign – well, clever and prolific. It sounded like a fun (can we call dark dystopias ‘fun’?) premise and I was excited to read a novel ...

I’m one of those irritating people that had not only never heard of the books before the film, and didn’t read the books until after I’d seen the first of the films. Since then, I’ve been an avid fan. I’m ...

One of 2013’s highest grossing films was the animated feature, Frozen. Once people drew breath from singing ‘Let It Go’ at the top of their lungs, they started to talk about why this accolade was important. Frozen’s two main characters ...

I have always loved film and TV soundtracks. Often they introduce me to artists I haven’t heard of before and provide an interesting variety of songs and artists with a common mood or theme. Soundtracks have become more important in ...

Using role reversals to shed light on gender issues in our society is not new. It has been going on for a long time, particularly in science fiction. Gender issues are in the spotlight at the moment, particularly with the ...