Hunger Games

The golden image of a bird that graces the book cover of The Hunger Games - and now is captured in the movie - is as elegant, haunting, and psychologically nuanced as the book itself. The ternlike creature is a mockingjay, in Hunger Games parlance. Surrounded by a gold circle, its wings are spread and held back taut, the tips just touching the circle, its neck curved down, its head turned back, a sharp arrow in its beak. For its creator, artist Tim O'Brien, a professor of illustration at University of the Arts, it was an image that stood apart from the oil portraits of political and pop-culture figures he more commonly makes.

LOS ANGELES - As anticipation reaches a fever pitch for the big-screen adaptation of "The Hunger Games," opening Friday, a central element is absent from every trailer, television ad and online video: the Hunger Games themselves, in which teenagers fight to the death while their futuristic society watches on TV. In an unusual and risky strategy, studio Lionsgate has crafted a $45 million marketing campaign that shows none of the titular combat....

The Ballad of Genesis and Lady Jaye Documentary on artist Genesis Breyer P-Orridge and his wife and collaborator, Lady Jaye, with an emphasis on the transformations they put themselves through for one of their projects. Delicacy See Steven Rea's preview on H2. Hunger Games See Steven Rea's preview on H2. Jiro Dreams of Sushi See Steven Rea's preview on H2. Reviewed by critics Carrie Rickey (C.R.), Steven Rea (S.R.), and Dan DeLuca (D.D.)

Harry Potter. . . . Bella Swan. . . . Katniss Everdeen? If the bespectacled boy wizard of the Harry Potter books and films and the sulky high schooler-turned-vampire-wife of the Twilight Saga have long been imprinted in the collective consciousness, is it now time for the teenage heroine of The Hunger Games to join them? With the Suzanne Collins book perched atop the children's and young-adult best-seller lists pretty much since its publication in late 2008, and with advance ticket sales for the $100 million Lionsgate film adaptation - opening at Friday - outpacing the inaugural Harry Potter, there are strong indications that Ms. Everdeen is indeed heading for that rarefied realm of pop iconography.

IF YOU'RE A tween girl, this is a merger of the two most awesomest things in the whole world. The Hollywood Reporter says Taylor Swift tweeted a link last week to her new song, "Safe and Sound. " And it's from the upcoming movie version of "The Hunger Games. " O! M! G! "Something I've been VERY excited about for a VERY long time is going to be happening VERY soon (and I'm not referring to Christmas)," she wrote, later adding: "And this is it, the big surprise . . . Go get it!"

NOW THAT "Harry Potter" is nearing his finale on screen, the next big teen/tween movie franchise may be "The Hunger Games," based on Suzanne Collins ' best-seller. With competition for the lead role of heroine Katniss Everdeen drawing the finest young actresses in Hollywood, director Gary Ross has chosen Jennifer Lawrence (the Oscar-nominated star of "Winter's Bone" and the Oscar red carpet bright-red scoop-neck dress) to star. "Jennifer's just an incredible actress.