Like so many screaming tweenagers (and intelligent adults), I cannot wait for the Hunger Games.

Having read all three book in Suzanne Collins really pretty violent series, the wait for the movie has been all but unbearable. I must have watched the first teaser trailer five times the day it came out, getting choked up the moment Katniss shouts out “I volunteer!” and downright teary-eyed when the teaser ends on the four note whistle. Those of us who’ve read the books know all too well what those four notes signify and the emotional roller coaster in store with Rue.

Of course once the full length trailer came out, I’ve watched that several times a week.  And my, here it is again:

It’s interesting that they have managed to release several trailers without really showing too much of the Games themselves, making us wait till we’re in the theaters before we see kids killing each other.

One of the things I’ve always really liked about the books is the time before the Reaping. When Katniss and Gale are just sort of…hanging. Without that sense of what her life is before the Games, you might not feel the same sense of loss as you do when Katniss boards that train.  The latest TV spot for the Hunger Games, with just a handful of images, helps to flesh out those early days, before the Reaping, before the Girl on Fire…

The image of the mother helping her young son button up his too-big-for-him shirt, just really got me.

March 23 cannot come fast enough…