Catching Fire Premiere & #CFFanCamp

I will be at #CFFanCamp and the Premiere on Monday - stay tuned to my twitter and here for updates =)

Neil Burger talks to MTV about new #Divergent Trailer

MTV had a great sit down with Divergent director Neil Burger to look at the new trailer:

Still reeling from this week's "Divergent" trailer reveal? Yeah, so are we.

Luckily for us (and you), director Neil Burger stopped by MTV News to talk all things "Divergent," walking us through the trailer frame by heart-pumping frame.

Setting the Scene
" 'Divergent' takes place 100 years in the future after some kind of war or catastrophe happened, and society's been reformed into five factions," Burger says, setting the scene of the film. The cast and crew filmed in Chicago, using real, dilapidated buildings for the exterior shots and only utilizing CGI to turn Lake Michigan into a dried-up marsh.

The Aptitude Test That Changes Everything
As heroine Tris Prior, Shailene Woodley undergoes an aptitude test to determine which faction she belongs in. Burger describes the test as a "controlled nightmare," pitting the teen against her darkest fears. Until, that is, she discovers the ability to mentally overcome the test.

"What she learns, as they say, is that her results are inconclusive. She doesn't fit in anywhere and she's what's known as Divergent," Burger says. "She doesn't understand at this point, she just knows that it's dangerous."

Becoming Dauntless
Despite her inconclusive test results, Tris decides to leave the safety of her home faction and attempt to complete a brutal initiation into the Dauntless faction. Her first task?

"The only way they'll allow you to go into Dauntless is, you have to jump off the ledge of this building through this ragged hole," Burger says — and that's after she's forced to leap on and off of a moving train. Talk about hazing.

The Romance/Bootcamp Begins
Enter: Theo James.

Once Tris finds herself inside the Dauntless compound, she comes face-to-face with her instructor, Four, who will lead the young initiates through a grueling boot camp. Burger likens the experience to "being in the Marines, times 10. They shoot, they fight, they throw knives."

In one classic scene from the book, Four throws knives at Tris' head until one finally grazes her ear. "She stands up for a friend, and she's basically punished by having to stand in front of a target and have Four throw these knives at he," Burger explains. "And he can't play it safe, or else he's gonna give himself away. So he actually ends up cutting her with the knife."

Cue the romance (and a shirtless scene!). "He takes his shirt off and he shows this intense tattoo that he has, which in a way represents all five personalities and more," Burger says.

Societal Breakdown

"By the end of the movie everything goes to hell," Burger says, point blank. As the society attempts to eradicate Divergents, Tris and Four team up to fight "as best they can." But, Burger says, "it's almost an impossible situation."

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#Divergent trailer - amazing!

You can see all the screen grabs over at TrisandFour.com

Hunger Games Catching Fire Cast's favourite YA novels

EW readers are in the midst of a bitter battle to crown the greatest YA book of all time. So who better to influence your opinions than the cast of one of the most popular young adult series of the moment — The Hunger Games.

Jennifer Lawrence (Katniss): “Harry Potter. I was so crazy about Harry Potter I read it twice. All of them twice. I didn’t have a favorite, I thought they were all amazing.”At the London premiere for the upcoming The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (in theaters Nov. 22), Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, and more opened up about their favorite YA series.

Josh Hutcherson (Peeta): ”I kind of, unfortunately, stuck to what the school made me read. I didn’t get to step out of that zone. I had the opportunity but I just didn’t take advantage of it. But my favorite book growing up was probably Catcher in the Rye. I loved that; it’s a great book.”

Elizabeth Banks (Effie): ”It depends on my age. I guess for the same age as these guys, I was a big fan of the Flowers in the Attic series. I was not really allowed to read those, but I snuck them anyway. I love those books.”

Sam Claflin (Finnick): “Mate, I don’t read. That’s why I got into acting, so I wouldn’t have to read books. I basically played a lot of football growing up — or soccer, whatever you want to call it. Basically, any class at high school that I didn’t have to read or write [in], I got involved. So no, absolutely not, no favorite book or book series…My wife will tell you that I do not read. I literally read Lord of the Flies about a year ago, I’m not kidding. I think this is the third project that I’ve been involved that’s based on a book and, until this franchise, I hadn’t read a single one. But then I did read all three of these in five days.”

Jeffrey Wright (Beetee): ”I was a big fan of The Hardy Boys when I was in elementary school, primary school. So they were probably my favorite series…it’s really pretty cool that we’re part of this franchise that encourages kids to read, much like the Harry Potter series. It also encourages them to take into consideration some of the challenges that we face, contemporarily in society, issues of classism and war and all of those things that as the world gets more and more kind of daft in its interests, you know, that we can encourage younger audiences and younger minds through a popcorn movie to focus on and ask questions about these things. I think it’s a really healthy thing.”

Willow Shields (Prim): “I like any book by John Green. He’s my favorite author ever. He’s amazing. I love him. But right now, I’m reading the last Divergent book [by Veronica Roth], which is really exciting. I’m kind of nervous. I love those books, too.”

Francis Lawrence, director: “I’m not sure about book series. I remember loving — although I guess it might have been when I was a little younger — all the Roald Dahl books. Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, The Fantastic Mr. Fox. I remember those were the big books for me when I was a kid.”

Jon Kilik, producer: “The things that I think kids like about this are what I liked about Brave New World and Lord of the Flies and 1984. Those were the books I grew up with and that’s what I immediately connected with when I read [The Hunger Games]. I thought this could be that for kids today.”

Nina Jacobson, producer: “I was a huge fan of the Narnia series. I loved them and had the good fortune to get to make those when I was at Disney. I couldn’t get enough of those books when I was a kid.”

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New Divergent Poster

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Catching Fire reviews are in.... and I am excited!

I am so excited to attend the premiere in L.A. next week, and these reviews make me even MORE excited...

Yahoo Writes:

Maybe we were distracted by Effie Trinket's special walk (or maybe it was Caesar Flickerman's cotton-candy hair), but we didn't see this coming: The first reviews of "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire" are in, and they're pretty much awesome across the board (with 14 reviews in so far, the film is currently registering a 93 percent approval rating on the aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes). In fact, many of them assert that not only is the franchise's second installment a solid film on its own, but also that it's leaps-and-bounds better than its predecessor.

What exactly makes it better?

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#Divergent poster reveal tomorrow from yahoo and my trailer thoughts...

Yahoo Movies will be debuting the official Divergent Poster tomorrow!

I CAN NOT WAIT! What's even better? The trailer... I saw it. It is amazing. 

I chatted with my fellow bloggy gals and we shared out thoughts at http://trisandfour.com

Here is an excerpt April wrote:

We have been asked by Summit Entertainment to share some of our reactions… without giving away too much of course! So… Our conversation went something like this:

April: Okay girls. So you just watched the Trailer… Give me your first reaction’s in 3 words?

Jen: 1.WOW 2. YES. 3. MOOOOOORE! 

Mandy: 1. Intense 2. PERFECT 3. SQUEEEEE! (Is Squee a word) 

April: I’ll Allow it.

Now my 3 words: 1. HUGE Goofy Grin that I’m sure they could see on the conference call (ok so that’s not a word) 2. OH EM GEE! (again, maybe not a word, but I’ll allow it) 3. HOLY Four’s Voice

Jen: Speaking of Theo’s voice… He practically sold me a car with his voice…. 

Mandy: That voice could sell cars!

(Curious? Click HERE) 

Read the rest of our thoughts at TrisandFour.com

Overall, I think Shailene and Theo capture the characters perfectly, their chemistry is almost tangible and I can NOT wait or March... I want more!!

Divergent Trailer Premiere and livestream with director Neil Burger

Exactly the kind of email I want to see in my inbox...

Greetings,

We're excited to announce the Worldwide Trailer Premiere Live Stream Event for the highly anticipated film DIVERGENT with director Neil Burger.  The trailer will be unveiled for the first time, followed by a live chat with Neil Burger and various YouTube talent and fans.

The live event will take place at 8:30 AM PT on Wednesday, November 13 viaYouTube.com/SummitScreeningRoom.

Official Site/Tumblr --http://DivergentTheMovie.com/
Facebook --https://www.facebook.com/Divergent
Twitter -- https://twitter.com/Divergent
Instagram -- http://instagram.com/Divergent
Pinterest --http://www.pinterest.com/Divergent/
Google+ -- https://google.com/+Divergent

DIVERGENT Synopsis
In a future world where people are divided into distinct factions based on their personalities, Tris Prior is warned she is Divergent and will never fit into any one group.  When she discovers a conspiracy to destroy all Divergents, she must find out what makes being Divergent so dangerous before it’s too late.

In theaters & IMAX nationwide March 21, 2014.