The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

Just one year after the release of the first "Hunger Games" film, Jennifer Lawrence and company are back in "Catching Fire."  This second installment is a much more polished and sure-handed film than the original, with improved story-telling, cinematography and special effects.  Lawrence is terrific again in the lead role and continues to cement her place among the elite actresses in the industry.  The movie ends with a maddening cliff-hanger but keeps you enthralled until the final frame.  Despite falling just short of greatness, this second "Hunger Games" film manages to live up to the hype just the same.

Bryce ***
Chase ***1/2
Landon ***
Logan ***

BANGERANG SCORE: ***

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

The second installment of Peter Jackson's "Hobbit" trilogy has hit theaters and it's something of a mixed bag.  It has become apparent just how Jackson intends to extend the story from a relatively short adventure tale to a three film epic.  The second movie introduces even more offshoot plot threads than the first entry which sometime add to the overall story but are often just a distraction.  It's still very well made and moves at a much more brisk pace than its predecessor.  Smaug himself is brought to life with tremendous visual effects and voice work and his one-on-one scene with Bilbo is the highlight of the film.  Unlike the previous film, "The Desolation of Smaug" has a very unsatisfying cliff-hanger conclusion to go along with its typical case of middle-chapteritis.  There's a lot to like here, but one can't help but wonder if the originally planned two-part story would have been better.

Bryce **1/2

Chase ***

Landon ***

Logan **1/2

BANGERANG SCORE: **1/2