Peeta declares his love for Katniss in Hunger Games clip: lame or cant wait?

The Hunger Games is almost here! If you couldn’t tell, I’m a little bit excited for next Friday’s event and have already secured tickets just so I don’t have to wait in line with the unwashed masses. (That’s as close to Goop as I’ll ever get, people.) My 11-year-old daughter is also looking forward to the movie as well because it was part of my latest nefarious literacy deal with her — in order to read Twilight, she had to read The Hunger Games first. This was a necessary demand because I wanted her to reap the benefits of an authentic heroine instead of falling into the trap of adoring the whiny, codependent Bella Swan who lives for her men. In contrast, Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) couldn’t give a damn if she ends up with Peeta (Josh Hutcherson), Gale (Liam Hemsworth), or nobody in the long term. Nope, Katniss has goals, objectives, and ideals that have nothing to do with the approval of a man.

At the same time, I will concede that taking sides between Peeta and Gale is part of the fun here, and I am fully team Peeta. (My daughter calls him “Pita” and insists that Katniss’ name should’ve been “Hummus” instead. In her defense, we have been eating a lot of Greek food lately.) Luckily, there are some new clips that have surfaced, and the latest one features Peeta confessing his crush on Katniss right before (SPOILER ALERT) she whoops ass on him while thinking it’s all a publicity stunt:

Here’s the clip where Katniss meets Cinna (Lenny Kravitz) for the first time. From what I can tell, Lenny is playing this character in a slightly less flamboyant manner than anticipated:

And here’s a clip where Katniss is showing the gamemakers what she’s got, only they aren’t watching. I love the way she gets their attention:

So who else is excited out there? I am fangirling all over this movie not only because the books are great but also because this is such an intelligent alternative to the Twilight madness that has dominated for the past couple of years.

Photos courtesy of AllMoviePhoto

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