The entire book is about things happening without her knowledge, and us (the readers) only finding out about really important things when she does. That really can't happen in a movie, let alone a two-parter. Because that will be very annoying.

Possible spoiler alert: I will be talking about things that happen in Mockingjay, which happen as a result of things that happen in Catching Fire, so if you don't want to be spoiled, you might not want to come any further. Instead, for something else to do, here are The Hunger Gifs.

The final book in Suzanne Collins' series is pretty wild, with Katniss convinced into acting as the symbolic leader of the rebellion against the Capitol that instituted the Hunger Games and then seeing that the rebellion's leadership was not much better than the Capitol after all. It's a dark, violent, and graphic story that started out disturbing enough, and for several people, it was a little less easy to read. When I read the first two books, I breezed through them. This is significant because while I think books are great, I am just not a reader; it takes me forever to read books. Mockingjay reminded me that no, I had not suddenly become one of those groovy people who devour books. It took me considerably longer to muddle through that one, and I wasn't alone.

Because while we muddled, so did Katniss. Mockingjay, while a good book, might as well have been called Mockingjay: In the Dark, because that's pretty much where our hero was for the bulk of the book. While all this warfare and rebellion and planning was going on, we were inside the head of the girl who wasn't supposed to know about any of it. Surprises and plot twists are one thing, but how are they going to make two movies out of that?

But it's not as if Lionsgate and the producers of The Hunger Games haven't run into this problem before because, obviously, the first book was also told from Katniss' perspective. And they did a pretty decent job of dividing the focus between what Katniss saw and what was happening outside of her (extremely) limited view of things. But they will have to amp that up big time for all three sequels, especially Mockingjay.

Oh, you probably wanted to know when those two movies are coming out: Mockingjay Part 1 will hit theaters November 21, 2014, Mockingjay Part 2 on November 20, 2015; Catching Fire is coming November 22, 2013. (via io9)

For all three of you who are unfamiliar with The Hunger Games, Plutarch is first introduced as a stooge of the Capitol, the government of Panem that instituted the annual Hunger Games that makes teenagers kill each other for the sake of entertainment—and to remind the plebs of their place.

We're not supposed to like Plutarch; he's in charge of these games. When we first meet him, we're supposed to have a good laugh at that time Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) shot an arrow directly into an apple residing in the mouth of a pig on a spit and Mr. Heavensbee fell not-very-gracefully into a punch bowl.

But then, as we find out in Catching Fire, Plutarch is not really all he seems to be. Rightfully deemed untrustworthy by Katniss when they first officially meet, she notices that he's sporting a Mockingjay pin, a symbol of the rebellion that the second book is all about. Yup, Plutarch is a rebel, baby. He's playing for the other team.

Not unlike Scotty J. in Boogie Nights! Scotty, the boom mic operator for the delightful porn movies of Jack Horner (Burt Reynolds), is secretly harboring a same-sex crush on Dirk Diggler (Mark Wahlberg) from the second he sees him. Get it? "Playing for the other team"? See? The perfect preparation for Hoffman's new role.

I'm kidding, of course, because that's where my case ends. Plutarch, unlike Scotty, is in control of things. Scotty's a wreck of a guy, poor thing -- too insecure to fully express his feelings until he gets some liquid courage in his system. And then he'll make out with exactly everything he finds pretty, such as Dirk (who looks like that guy in the Calvin Klein ads that Future Scotty saw on his second-ever coke trip).

Plutarch, on the other hand, can also hide his intentions in front of very highfalutin' people, but he actually has a plan to overthrow them all. Scotty isn't going to overthrow anyone. Plutarch is like a highly evolved Scotty, in another time and dimension. And an equally colorful dresser.

At the same time, Plutarch is intent on protecting Katniss from being killed; in Mockingjay, he forbids her from fighting when they touch down in a war zone to shoot a propaganda film, though probably not out of concern more than out of the fact that she's the new symbol of the rebellion and losing her would make his cause implode. (Even though she'd have made a heck of a martyr.) But Katniss doesn't really like to be controlled. In Boogie Nights, on the eve of a major drug deal that involves Alfred Molina's torso, large guns, and frighteningly-timed firecrackers, Scotty is very concerned for the safety of Dirk, who also doesn't like to be controlled, especially when he's high on cocaine and in need of more money for more cocaine. And, much like in the case of Plutarch and Katniss, Scotty's concern for Dirk is related mostly to his own self-interest (read: his penis).

It's obvious that these two characters are spot-on exactly alike. So yes, playing Scotty J. in Boogie Nights was the best preparation for Philip Seymour Hoffman's new role as Plutarch Heavensbee in Catching Fire.