With the advent—and popularization—of auto-tune, anyone can have a successful music career, at least for a while.

As seen in in the confidence she exudes on screen in roles like Katniss Everdeen from the “The Hunger Games” trilogy and Tiffany in “Silver Linings Playbook,” Jennifer Lawrence has a bold side that she is not afraid to let show. While she has already found supporters through her forthright honesty and relatability as well as performance skill, Lawrence’s new stance on Hollywood’s gender wage gap has brought her additional fame, putting her in the socioeconomic spotlight.

From the opening scene of the rubble previously known as District 12, to the characteristically cliff-hanger end only two hours later, “Mockingjay—Part 1” grips its audience in intrigued suspense for its entire duration, relenting not for a bathroom run or even a two-second glance at a watch.

Lupita Nyong’o Screen Actors Guild Awards If it were possible to showcase all of her award looks in one picture, Lupita Nyong’o would be the only focus of this column. […]

[rating stars=4] Even if you wandered into “American Hustle” two hours late and only caught the closing credits, you’d know that it’s going to be a major awards show contender this season. Directed by David O.

It’s hard to critique a movie adaptation of a beloved book objectively. Naturally, we fans want to nitpick over every tiny change and lament how such-and-such character doesn’t look the same way we imagined. In the best-case scenario, though, having read the book will bias our opinion of the movie positively since the film tells the same story that we know and love.

Holidays used to be a chance to relax and enjoy time with family. Now, it means going to see the newest movie releases. Not that we are complaining, though, because it’s also the time of year when all the awards contenders leave their fancy festivals and the rest of us get to see what critics have been raving about for months.