The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013)

Katniss Everdeen goes “Godfather III” in “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire”: “Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in.” That’s the story here: One year after the Appalachian teen (Jennifer Lawrence) and her maybe platonic pal Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) survived an Orwellian government’s “Most Dangerous Game” for Youth, she’s sucked back into the blood sport for Round 2, up against fellow veterans that include Hutcherson back as the Cub Scout kid, and Sam Claflin (that awful fourth “Pirates’ film”) as a swashbuckler stud with a secret. Donald Sutherland as the dictator of this FUBAR USA still sparkles evil winks, knowing he’s the Actor King on set. Even Philip Seymour Hoffman as a new Game Master bows to his greatness. This sequel -– like its own source –- digs darker as Katniss finds herself a hero/pawn in a far-too-real game that has soldiers executing old men in public. Lawrence owns this film. Post “Silver Linings Playbook” Oscar win, she could phone it in. She seems the real deal. Truly. Director Francis Lawrence (“I am Legend”) may not have the heart-breaker moments that scored the first installment, but the final shot pumps the blood for more Games. A-

6 Souls (2013)

You cannot go wrong with Julianne Moore. Even in lesser films -- “Lost World: Jurassic Park” -- she gives her all. So goes “6 Souls,” a possession horror film once titled “Shelter” with a belated release behind it. Moore is Cara, a psychiatrist reeling from the mugging death of her husband who sees herself as a doctor of science and woman of God, conflicted between pure logical analysis and God’s will. After Cara dismisses multiple personality disorders, it comes to no shock that she meets a patient (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) who is many sided -- a gruff Yankee, a paraplegic Appalachian, and so on. The trick: All of his personalities stem from dead people. Interesting so far. But hold on. Cara’s psychiatrist father (Jeffrey Dunn) is so keen on a one-upper, he pushes daughter into dire situations, a move that almost stops the film cold. Is he nuts? More questions abound, such as –- avoiding a spoiler -– really, only six souls? And, how come white people get to just walk around anywhere, in strange homes? And not get shot? The climax is a letdown with a foot chase through woods, an idea not scary since, well, the Jurassic age. B-

Mama (2013)

Even good-enough horror output from Guillermo del Toro is better than 95 percent of the junk that fills cinemas, and so it is with “Mama.” Here, del Toro is producer, leaving the directing to newcomer Andrés Muschietti, who with sister Barabara on screenplay duties, takes on a Hollywood staple: Children held under the sway of a dark power. The plot follows two girls  (Megan Charpentier and Isabelle Nélisse) left abandoned in the Virginia woods by their mass-murderer father who at the moment he is about to slay his daughters is himself killed by a floating dark form. That’s Mama. Flash forward five years as the girls -– living like animals -– are found and placed into the care of their uncle (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau on double duty) and his girlfriend (Jessica Chastain), who has no interest in family, or responsibility. Creepy, well-played and earned scares ensue. When Nelisse crawls on stairs and becomes dangerously unhinged, it’s no exaggeration to bring up “Exorcist.” Too bad this relies on sketchy coincidences, dodgy CGI for the Mama, and illogical crutches such as men searching dark woods alone at night. (Don’t these people watch movies?) Short of great, it’s worth a watch, with your (?) mother. B

The Hunger Games (2012) and Battle Royale (2000)

Suzanne Collins’ “The Hunger Games” trilogy stirs up the ultimate taboo as its selling points: Children, forced by an Orwel government, hunt and kill each other in a techno-possible “Most Dangerous Game” scenario. Until only one remains. Crazy scary.

The first book adaptation is solid, for the most part. The story: In the ruins of what was once America, now Panem, Appalachian-bred teen Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) illegally hunts to feed her coal-miner family alive, with dad dead and no brother around. When her tween sister is drafted to participate in the nation’s Hunger Games –- the Richard Connell challenge -–Katniss volunteers to take the suicide mission, partnered with a local baker’s son (Josh Hutcherson). At the Capital City -– think the most vile capitalist dreamscape, with bad hair color –- the public awaits its entertainment, with Donald Sutherland as ruler and Wes Bentley (“American Beauty”) as game master. 

Director Gary Ross and his writers nail the horrors of the children murdering children, without going overboard. A split decision, as maybe going overboard is needed? The film exceeds its PG-13. Why not go mall the way? Further limits: The screenplay skimps on some emotions and deeper threads found in the book, mostly on dead dad, which damages dampens the drama in a major way. But, tech geek “Wired”-wise,  Ross smartly takes us behind the scenes of the games, to show the techno-marvel perversion of these Apple on crack fascists, with no small nod to America’s past use of The Draft to send teenagers out to die for God, country, mom, apple pie, and a stronger stock market. 

Sutherland grins hungry with Cheney-esque malice and sleaze, but this is Lawrence’s film. The “Winter’s Bone” star kills here, starved and scared, yet strong, and she refuses to be identified by any label other than “sister,” and it’s a joy to watch -– especially in light of “Twilight,” which shot on young women as slaves to the men in their lives. Fuck that.

Amazing imagery abounds: None better than a young black girl, mortally wounded, lying in Katniss’ arms, bleeding out as Primrose -– that baby sister –- would have. The scene hurts as much as it did off the page. A rare trick that. That moment, one knows the Oscar nom Lawrence received for “Bone” is no fluke. B+

If you’re in the mood for a grisly double feature about children killing other children, again for sport, then you must see the infamous, “Battle Royale.” But it’s a dare. The gore.violence in this Japanese flick remains so intense, it was banned for a decade in many countries, and only now just received a DVD release stateside. It is a must watch, but not for anyone young or sensitive: The bloodletting of youth here may never be surpassed.

We’re in Japan, a future (now our past) where the world economy has collapsed, jobs are vapor, and a twin devil of anarchy and uncertainty reigns. Sound familiar? To reel in the run-amok youth, the government takes one class of students each year, kidnaps them, puts them on an island, and ticks off with ESPN clarity the bloody carnage and body count. 

“Royale” also was based on a controversial book, and many believe it actually inspired Collins’ books, with her as a copycat. The game master (Takeshi Kitano) here is a former principal with an ax to grind, and he viciously slays two students before the “games” even begin. The urvivors are then given a weapon, survival gear, and orders -– kill or be killed. 

If the youth refuse their homicidal orders, an explosive collar around their neck detonates. Sick. Right? Further sickness: The children here, though, all hail from the same class, and harbor friendships, crushes, parental friends, and festered hates. Actors Tatsuya Fujiwara and Aki Maeda are the lovebirds, while Chiaki Kuriyama -– she later played a psychopath in “Kill Bill” -– is the girl who sees the kill island as new inspiration. 

This is twisted stuff and director Kinji Fukasaku pulls no punches with violence that borders on unwatchable, and kills loved characters with no mercy. This film cannot be interrupted as celebrating violence, each death is more heinous than the last, and as the film draws on, the flashbacks and dreamy asides flesh out the characters onscreen, even if some scenes cross far too fantastical or too sentimental. (Note: I watched an extended director’s cut, the original may not have some of these scenes.)  

“Royale” has its own faults: The teens coo having never heard of this TV run-a-mok, even though the opening scene shows the games are required viewing of all citizens. Amnesia? Denial? Hell, no ... despite denials ... maybe the Collins took her ideas from here after all… A-