#MiddleburyCT #Movies
“The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” (PG-13) – In 2020, author Suzanne Collins released a prequel to her megahit series, “The Hunger Games,” and it was quickly adapted to the big screen to join the other four films in the franchise. Starring Tom Blyth in his breakout role as a young Coriolanus Snow and Rachel Zegler (“West Side Story”) as Lucy Gray Baird, the prequel is set 64 years before the events of “The Hunger Games.” It focuses on Coriolanus’ beginnings as an Academy student and how he was chosen to be Lucy Gray’s mentor for the 10th Hunger Games. Clever and dangerously ambitious, Coriolanus knows that he can seize this opportunity to gain great power, but first, he needs to ensure that his songbird District 12 mentee gets out of the arena alive. Out now to rent. (Amazon Prime Video)
“ted” (TV-MA) – Based on the feature films created by Seth MacFarlane (“Family Guy”), this prequel series takes viewers back to Massachusetts in 1993 to tell the origin story of the foul-mouthed teddy bear that everyone came to know and love in the first two films. In his early life, Ted lives with the family of his 16-year-old best friend, John (Max Burkholder), previously portrayed by Mark Wahlberg. After being pressured by the family to get an education along with John, Ted enters the terrifying realm of high school and attempts to find hilarity in all the awkward teenage milestones that come with it. The full series, consisting of eight episodes, premieres Jan. 11. (Peacock)
Jake Johnson, left, and Anna Kendrick star in “Self Reliance.” (Hulu)
“Self Reliance” (R) – In his directorial debut, Jake Johnson (“New Girl”) plays Tommy, a single network manager, who gets approached by Andy Samberg to star in a dark-web reality show with a prize of $1 million. The premise of the show is simple: For 30 days, Tommy must avoid a group of hunters who will try to kill him. His only saving grace is that the hunters can only attack when he’s alone. So, to survive, this lone wolf must find someone to shadow him. After a handful of people find excuses not to shadow him, Tommy finally encounters another player in the reality show, named Maddy (Anna Kendrick), and the two strangers team up to effectively avoid getting murdered. This comedy thriller releases Jan. 12 (Hulu)
“Lift” (PG-13) – A heist group consisting of six key players faces a choice between getting charged for identity fraud, money laundering and more or taking a deal offered by a government agent. This score would be their biggest yet – half a billion in gold – but the catch is that the gold is locked away in a safe on a plane. The only chance to stop the gold from reaching the terrorist who’s desperate to get his hands on it is to steal it mid-flight. Kevin Hart leads this action-packed film, which also stars Gugu Mbatha-Raw (“Loki”), Jean Reno (“Leon: The Professional”), Sam Worthington (“Avatar”) and more. Don’t miss out on its premiere on Jan. 12. (Netflix)
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