The Hunger Games movie has a release date!

3/23/12.

Casting to come soon.

My pick for Katniss, Hattie Steinfeld, is up for a Best Supporting Actress Oscar. May the odds be her in her favor! Now the director has more reason to hire her – she’s hot (meaning of the moment) instead of being just hot.

Why is it important to me for this movie to avoid becoming another Twilight series with its Razzie-worthy acting and production value? Because by the last book, and hopefully the last movie, the themes and morals about war and the treatment of children are just too important to be lost in the monotone of whatever heart-throb is hot at casting time or drowned out by pop music that will make the movie (the source that may last longer than the book or enter into the lexicon as the eventual go-to version of the story) dated.