It was announced recently that the sequel to The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, will not retain the same creative team behind the first movie. Director Gary Ross has been replaced by I Am Legend director Francis Lawrence, and the script is being rewritten by Little Miss Sunshine and Toy Story 3 scribe Michael Arndt. Whether or not the change is for the better is arguable, but as Lex pointed out in his favorable review, the first movie owes more to Suzanne Collins' source and scripting—and I would add Jennifer Lawrence's stellar portrayal of Katniss Everdeen—than any of Ross' contributions.

The Hunger Games movie does an all right job portraying the events of the book, but little else, resulting in a dull and mediocre movie that enacts rather than adapts. All of the film's problems can actually be traced back to one common denominator, an important component in the book that the film was forced to exclude due to the constraints of cinematic language: Katniss’ narration.

Your move, AFI.

The Korean Film Archive has started the Korean Classic Film Theater, a YouTube channel where in the past two weeks they've uploaded seventy classic Korean films from 1940 on that you can watch for free. Before you ask, yes, they have English subtitles on them!

The slaughtering of whales is a huge issue for Whale Wars activist and animal protector Paul Watson. He is a Sea Shepherd who takes his job very seriously and wants nothing more than to stop the unnecessary killing of pilot whales in the Faroe Islands of the North Atlantic. The new season of Whale Wars: Viking Shores is now airing on Animal Planet and a special after-show debate has aired as well.

The debate was a very interesting and eye-opening one as it featured Watson and a Faroese native, musician Heri Joensen. The two men squared off as they each defended their beliefs and feelings regarding the pilot whales. Watson, a staunch supporter of protecting the lives and preservation of whales and Joensen, a man who feels that whale meat should be enjoyed and that they are simply animals to be utilized for their natural resources.

So much has been made in internet-land of NBC, its Thursday night line-up, and the threat that we might lose it all that it's hard to keep perspective. As of this writing, 30 Rock is coming back for one more season, Community's been renewed for an abbreviated run, and nearly every horrible thing on CBS will almost certainly be returning. But the fate of Parks and Recreation is still up in the air, and it'd almost be anticlimactic at this point if they didn't cancel it. Behind all the bluster of fan forums and network execs, there's really no telling how big a loss this would be, as the show provides American audiences with the one thing that they desperately need most: an honest, intelligent, and genuinely affectionate portrait of themselves. So why haven't more people picked up on it?

For anyone who eagerly anticipated Community's return to TV after its prolonged post-holiday hiatus, it was quite clear NBC's views on the series didn't mirror that of its devoted fanbase. More accurately, they appear to be of the exact opposite opinion of what most people who watch NBC would say about their current slate of comedy: it has three bright spots in the form of Community, Parks and Recreation, and 30 Rock. Although, admittedly, there's been murmurs among the fan base of 30 Rock that the show has long since passed its prime - even so, that still makes it monumentally funnier than the decaying corpse of The Office or the never funny Whitney.

Well, say goodbye to those aforementioned bright spots, because, according to OpposingViews and New York Daily News, NBC has declared all three to be on death row with shortened seasons after the current seasons expire that will lead into their confirmed demises thereafter. [UPDATE 5/10/12 @ 8:20 ET: Additional sources have confirmed 30 Rock has definitely gone this route, and now further confirmation from Variety and The Hollywood Reporter tell us that Community has been renewed for a short, 13-episode 4th season - no word though on whether or not it's a final season as earlier suspected and whether or not Parks has been renewed as well.]

Nothing says summer in New York more than watching Rooftop Films' summer line-up. Well, okay, there are probably plenty of other things in New York that says summer for you—I'm partial to Mister Softee Ice Cream trucks—but the Rooftop Films Summer Series is certainly one of the best summer activities here, combining a love of independent movies with the desire to be partying in warm weather by screening their films in outdoor spaces.

Ah Lifetime, the network for women that creates features about women being abused, beaten, murdered, cheated on, or doing their best in a single parent situation. You have to start wondering if someone at Lifetime fails to understand exactly how one empowers women. Is the strategy to produce a number of true cautionary tales that will hopefully help women recognize the bad situations they're in? I have to believe there's an easier way to do that than two films, starring Anne Heche or Jennifer Grey, where a girl receives a beating broadcast online or a bunch of teens robbing celebrities much to a single mother's chagrin. Seriously Lifetime, what's going on over there?

Whatever the case may be, we're giving away the Lifetime movies Girl Fight and The Bling Ring on DVD, and if you want to find out how to win them just keep reading.

Each month, the Criterion Collection releases a selected number of titles onto DVD and Blu-ray. For the most part, these are films that have seen sort of home video release previously, but would never reach the shelves of your local Best Buy or Barnes and Noble without the extra push that the Criterion Collection gives it. Aside from cleaning up the picture and sound (frequently working from the original negative), providing some nifty packaging and artwork, and making your DVD collection look that much more cultured and refined, Criterion provides the valuable service of rescuing films that otherwise would never see the light of day, so not only can you proudly show off your sets, you can tell people that you’re performing a public service. Here’s what’s coming out this month:

Eastwood's western masterstroke Unforgiven boasts one of the actor turned director's best forays pulling double duty, and it has the added prestige of winning 4 Academy Awards and featuring great performances by Gene Hackman (who won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar) and Morgan Freeman. It's enough to make you wonder if he'll ever revisit that territory or if the days of Eastwood westerns are over in favor of more contemporary outings like Gran Torino and Million Dollar Baby. If they are, it's a true shame, but his recent output has plenty of merit too, so it's not a total loss. Are you a fan of Eastwood's western oeuvre? If so, you're in luck: we're giving away a copy of the recently released Blu-ray 20th Anniversary Book edition of Unforgiven.

If you want to know how you can win, just keep reading.

It's time to put on make up. It's time to dress up right. It's time to raise the curtain on The Muppet Show tonight. Sadly, those days are long past (unless you own the show on DVD, then it's always), but Jim Henson's beloved troupe got a serious revival last year thanks to Jason Segel and Nicholas Stoller and their film The Muppets. There was no better way to wash away the decade-long drought of good Muppet entertainment, that reached its lowest low with Muppets in Space, than a new take that reminds us why we fell in love with the felted frog and friends all those years ago. If it's not already clear, we love The Muppets, and we'd like to share said love with our readers by giving away two copies of The Muppets in the Wocka Wocka Blu-ray, DVD, Digital Copy combo pack.

To find out how you can win, just keep reading.

A new clip from Joss Whedon's The Avengers debuted on Yahoo this afternoon and it's an elongated cut of the big Iron Man versus Thor showdown. Now, if you're looking to avoid spoilers, this particular clip has the added advantage that it has Joss Whedon's Director commentary overlapping the audio, so if you really want to avoid that sneak peek, just play the clip and scroll down from the video so you don't see anything. The critical and overseas fan reports so far say The Avengers is the second coming of Superhero Movie Jesus (who died to stop Galactus, or something). So without further ado, here's Chris Hemsworth and Robert Downey Jr. slugging it out as Thor and Iron Man to the dulcet tones of Joss Whedon.

I have to assume that, in anticipation of Friday's much hyped release of The Avengers, copies of the five Marvel Studios movies that lead up to it are flying off the shelves of video rental depots (should they still stand wherever you are) as ticket-holders attempt to marathon them in order to get fully briefed before the big shebang. Even AMC theaters is trying to accommodate them by having an all-day Marvel movie bonanza on Thursday that segues into a midnight screening of The Avengers, all for $40, which is a pretty good deal.

There's just one catch: the order of the movies' releases was never the order of the events portrayed in them. This has prompted fans to chart a timeline just to get a sense of what happens when. So what if you want to see these movies in chronological order? Do they still work? Well, I ventured to find out, with the assist of a certain fan edit that resulted in a 9-hour-long movie, and I'm pleased to say that this cut actually improves some of the movies.

Paul F. Tompkins is one of those comedians whose name few in the average movie-going, TV-watching public would immediately recognize, and even he’ll admit that’s normal. Though his role in There Will Be Blood was reduced from a talking part to a scene where we just see the back of his head (an editor is the speaking extra’s worst enemy), he’s had plenty of small bits in films like Anchorman or sporadic appearances in shows like Pushing Daisies, Mr. Show, and Bob’s Burgers. He’s a man who has worn many hats in his career, and he’s also sold a few too, a point which he covers with plenty of nostalgic frustration in his Comedy Central stand-up routine Laboring Under Delusions, which covers his many odd jobs both in the entertainment industry and out.

In a time where environmentalists and animal rights activists fight to save the Earth and its creatures from harm and potential annihilation, great results come arise from their heroic efforts. Of course, another benefit that stems from it is that it makes for great TV. Animal Planet’s hit series Whale Wars has seen many a challenge when it comes to protecting whales of the world from old-fashioned, sometimes heartless fishermen. In an attempt to further educate viewers about the cruelty of killing whales, the cable channel will broadcast Whale Wars: Viking Shores, a five-part series which starts tonight, April 27th, continuing the adventures of Paul Watson, his Sea Shepherd Conservation Society and their mission to stop whaling and promote the cause of animal conservation, this time in the Norwegian Sea’s Faroe Islands.

The horror genre has gone through an interesting evolution over the decades. There have been watered down PG-13 horror movies, satires, parodies and found footage, but a truly unique form of horror storytelling appears every so often and it is a fusion of horror and musical (like Repo! The Genetic Opera). The newest incarnation of such a monster is The Devil’s Carnival, a horror concert event currently on a cross country tour in true Rocky Horror fashion, tickets are on sale now.

It's the age old question that until 2012 no one could answer: who would win in a bowl-off between men who play advertising execs on television and nerds? It's kept many a scientist, philosopher, and unemployed person awake at night wondering, but thanks to the guys at Nerdist, now we know. Pitting Mad Men's Don Draper (Jon Hamm), Pete Campbell (Vincent Kartheiser), Harry Crane (Rich Sommer) and series creator Matthew Weiner against "Weird Al" Yankovic, Nerdist founder Chris Hardwick and Nerdist Podcaster Jonah Ray, and Pete Holmes of the "You Made It Weird" Podcast, the bowling match tests just how perfect of a human being Jon Hamm really is and whether that extends to bowling.

The entire bowling match between Mad Men and a nerdly men is online, and you can watch it in all its glory below.

It's the kind of announcement you'd expect either in the final quarter of 2011 or in January of 2012, but instead Disney announced today that they'd finally begin the process of converting many of their past films from DVD to Blu-ray. They've been doing this for many of their big animation classics like The Lion King, Beauty and the Beast, Snow White, Pinocchio, and so forth, but their rather large stable of live-action films have so far sat relatively untouched. They released a list of 30 films that would be getting Blu-ray releases for 2012, like Newsies (Christian Bale), High Fidelity (John Cusack), Arachnophobia (Jeff Daniels), Dick Tracy, The Color of Money (Paul Newman, Tom Cruise), Father of the Bride (Steve Martin), and more. For the full list as well as Blu-ray art on some of them, read on.

After its fourth weekend topping the box office, it is safe to say that The Hunger Games is a hit. The film had its struggles on the way to the top including unfair Battle Royale comparisons, outrageously racist criticisms of the actress playing Rue, and critics who couldn't get over a female protagonist in an action movie. Despite it all, however, The Hunger Games emerged as a massively successful film, so like other franchises that came before it (Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter), The Hunger Games is becoming a brand.

Almost a year ago, moviegoers were anxiously awaiting the release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2, the final film in the Harry Potter series. Fan excitement seemed to be at an all-time high, and there was much debate about the lasting power of the film and book series. 10 years from now, would Harry Potter still be a giant in pop culture? One year later, Harry Potter isn't going anywhere. Despite not having any new books or movies, there are plans to expand Universal Studios' Wizarding World of Harry Potter theme park in Florida and build a new Wizarding World park in California. Wands and wizard robes are still selling, and amongst the vast Harry Potter merchandising is The Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook:From Cauldron Cakes to Knickerbocker Glory – More Than 150 Magical Recipes for Muggles and Wizards. Does the cookbook capture the magic of the series, or is it nothing more than a cash-in on the popular franchise?

Sometimes people need a change of scenery, and then sometimes people take that idea and get a bit carried way, perhaps taking on a teensy bit more than they bargained for. Such is the case in We Bought a Zoo, the true story of Benjamin Mee who, while struggling with the recent loss of his wife, uprooted his two kids and moved them to a new house...the backyard of which just happened to be a private zoo. It sounds like the kind of zany idea out of a children's book, but it's all true, and so Director Cameron Crowe took the story and made it into a heartwarming film starring Matt Damon, Scarlett Johansson, and Thomas Haden Church. To celebrate its recent release, we're giving away two prize packs which include both the original book and the film on DVD.

To find out how you can win, just keep reading.