Review: Sound of My Voice
Sound of My Voice is phase two of Brit Marling’s rise as the new indie film it girl and if this film is any signal she is destined for far more than that. The basic premise of the film is a journalist and his girlfriend has dedicated themselves to infiltrating this cult with the hope that they can uncover the truth →
HST Reviews Battleship
Lauren: I have to admit something right now, as a child I got really competitive when it came to Battleship. Each time I would swear I came up with the best distribution for my ships to trick my opponent, and would gleefully laugh in my mind when I would get to put a white peg of fail in the waters →
Review: The Avengers
The Avengers have finally assembled for Marvel and it was more than worth the wait as Joss Whedon has delivered one of the best comic book films to date. We all have been watching these Marvel films, starting with Iron Man back in 2008, and waiting for the chance to see the Avengers together on the screen ever since Nick Fury →
Now Playing Review: The Avengers
Over the past few years Marvel has been wracking up a slew of great films based on their universe’s superheroes. Starting with Iron Man, Marvel moved though the Hulk (The Incredible Hulk, just so there's no confusion), Captain America, and Thor, each with quite a bit of deserved success. In addition to Hawkeye and Black Widow, these characters make up →
Now Playing Review: The Raven
“It’s a mystery what happened in the few days prior to Poe being found near death on a park bench.” Oh really, movie!? I’m pretty sure had Edgar Allan Poe been a part of a pretty notorious crime spree there would be record of that. PREMISE BLOWN! Phew, got that out of my system. Let’s just say that if you want →
HST Reviews The Five-Year Engagement
Lauren: Having the tagline “from the producer of Bridesmaids” splashed all over the TV spots and poster is quite the stamp on a project. Well, maybe not the producer part, but definitely the word Bridesmaids. But don’t let the name-drop fool you; The Five-Year Engagement is quite a different beast from that non-stop laugh fest of comedic poo jokes and →
Review: The Cabin in the Woods
Stop! If you have not seen The Cabin in the Woods and you are about to read this review; don’t. Go see the movie, immediately if possible, and come back here so we can go over the film both knowingly aware of the greatness that this film is. I am someone who isn’t particularly fond of horror films, my knowledge of →
Now Playing Review: The Cabin in the Woods
The Cabin in the Woods has had a while of waiting to get through before finally coming to the big screen. Trust me, I know. As an avid Joss Whedon fan (he co-wrote this one), I have been waiting for what seems like forever. We’re talking The Sandlot’s reading of the world “FOR-EH-VER.” And now, the wait is finally over. Most →
Bully: A Perspective
Before I get into Lee Hirsch's documentary Bully, I would like to state my own stance on the topic of "bullying." When I was younger, I was the one being picked on because I was different, whether it was because of what I looked like or how I spoke. I've gone to the brink and back with my →
HST Discusses: The Raid: Redemption
So soon after the dust has settled on the battlefield between Lauren’s positive and Zac’s dissenting opinions of The Hunger Games, the line must once again be drawn for The Raid: Redemption, an Indonesian martial arts spectacular getting quite a lot of attention lately. So whose side will you join, Lauren or Zac? Lauren: I don’t mean to brag, but the →
Review of No Room for Rockstars – The Vans Warped Tour
If you don't know what Warped Tour is, let me explain. The summer-long tour is a showcase of the alternative music scene, including acts that make you mosh, and others that can mellow you out. That's why I love it so much. In the day when the 200 band tour come to my hometown, I get to →
Looking Ahead to 2012: Quarter 2 (April – June)
Hello internet perusers! We are back with round 2 of the four part year break down of things to come. Between April and June, the writers on HST have plenty that we are looking forward to in movies, music, and games,, and we want to share them with you. No, none of these are April Fool's jokes. Zac is actually →
Review: Mirror, Mirror
Tarsem is back with an update of the Snow White fairy tale and the results are a cute and fresh story that blazes an original and interesting path out of the classic story. The big pieces of Snow White are here in Mirror, Mirror; Evil Queen, Seven Dwarves, charming Prince, but the similarities don’t carry on much beyond there. Tarsem’s visuals →
Now Playing Review – Wrath of the Titans
2010’s Clash of the Titans may not be the best film by far, but for a blockbuster with quite the action and visual effects filled center, it is a movie I honestly don’t get sick of watching when I just want to get lost in something. With this base and quite the exciting trailer, Wrath of the Titans was looking →
Review: The Hunger Games
The Hunger Games is among the year’s most anticipated films, but I have to say I thought it was mostly awful from start to finish. The Hunger Games is a yearly competition held in an undisclosed time and place that calls upon two teenage participants from each of the 12 Districts in the world, one male/one female, to compete in a →
Now Playing Review: The Hunger Games
A child crawls out of the forest, looking for help that will never come. Instead he is skewered and beaten to death. Because he didn’t have the conch. Yep, that’s how Lord of the Flies worked. Ok, so maybe not, but this was still a rather gruesome thing to read even as a high schooler. The Hunger Games had a →
HST Discusses: John Carter
Lauren: Before Pandora became more than the name of a box thanks to a little film called Avatar, before Star Wars became a space opera deserving of more than just cultish, nerd admiration (I’ll include Episodes 1-3 for Zac), there was a man named John Carter who found himself fighting for the inhabitants of Mars. Yep, Mars; just because we’re →
Now Playing Review: Act of Valor
Act of Valor starts with a brief video intro from the directors explaining that in order to create something so authentic to an actual military experience, both in and out of combat, real Navy Seals were brought in to play the main characters. An interesting choice for sure, ends up quickly polarizing the action and the drama with the pros →
The Best Films of 2011: A Year in Film
I thought 2011 was a quite a good year for film as there were a ton of great movies to see these past few months. From the art house to the big budget fare you could find a lot of options no matter what your interests as the line between the two seems to be blurring. Some would argue that →
The Academy Awards 2012: If I Had A Ballot
The Oscars are kind of silly but I love the all the same. As I run through a bunch of the categories, giving my predictions on who the winner will be I will be more using this space to list out who I would have put in these coveted slots and I think you will find that I disagreed quite →
HST Discusses: This Means War
Zac: This Means War is the latest film from director McG, whose previous efforts I have had a lot of fun with. The Charlie’s Angels film and Terminator Salvation are at their worst fun action films and that is what I hoped for here. Sadly, I was ultimately disappointed with the end product, even with all the actors doing a →
Review of 21 Jump Street
If you don't know what 21 Jump Street is before seeing this movie, then welcome to my club. I knew that it was a show back in the 80's, but I was too young to know what it was. Luckily for me (and for the three of you who are with me), they decided to re-imagine the show →
Review: Big Miracle
Big Miracle is a surprisingly honest and political tale of community that has a bunch of good performances in a compelling story of survival. I was only four years old when this true story about freeing three grey whales trapped under the ice unfolded in Point Barrow, Alaska so the story was new to me from start to finish. Being dressed →
Now Playing Review – The Woman In Black
“Here comes the Woman in Black / Murderous Offender / Here comes the Woman in Black / She’s hard not to remember.” Yes, those are the catchy lyrics to Will Smith’s “Men in Black” with a few alterations of my own, but it is hard not to manipulate the lyrics of the chorus to fit this film even though they →
