Discussing Film, Music, TV, Books, Video Games and More
Zac: The Dark Knight Rises supposedly brings us to the end of Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy, and the reactions to it have been fairly positive for the most part (Zac’s Review). Still, the latest Batman film leaves a lot to be discussed and Lauren and I have decided to get into spoilers to see what really worked, and what didn’t, for the film.
Lauren: That’s right; feel free to read this in your Batman voice. [Read more...]
Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises concludes his Batman series with a wonderful finale as Christian Bales delivers his best performance of the trilogy.
For those of you not keeping track we are about to enter the second half of the year, full of just as many exciting things as the first half. So far some entries have disappointed, some have surprised, and some have lived up to and surpassed expectations so far, so lets keep our fingers crossed that there will be more of the latter options in the months to come. So what are you excited for? Let’s give you some options to consider with this list of what the writers of HST can’t wait for. [Read more...]
Last but not least, here is HST’s list of favorite video games from the past year. And what a year it was, with huge titles coming out and an epic fall season to cap off the year. Plenty of sequels and a few new IPs to boot, so there are plenty of games to mention even without the honorable title and seat on high as the crowned favorite. [Read more...]
With giant food babies resting nicely in your stomach following Thanksgiving, renting some movies to help the lounging around become a little more entertaining sounds like a pretty good idea, right? Well, here are some ideas on what to get. (Batman: Year One; Crazy, Stupid, Love; and [Rec]2 for those too impatient to wait until after the break) [Read more...]
As I had to do when I wrote up Batman: Arkham Asylum, I must start this by apologizing to Superman. As much as I like to believe that I am a Man of Steel kind of girl, I just can’t stay away from The Bat when he makes video games like this. [Read more...]
Batman Arkham City is finally here and to say the least, it is a far cry from disappointment. Batman Arkham City is the perfect sequel to Batman Arkham Asylum. Rocksteady studios has done something truly remarkable with this franchise. They went from being a company no one had ever heard of to a huge name in the gaming industry all because of their Batman games. These two games are all Rocksteady has every done with their franchise and so far both of these games have been executed perfectly. While Batman games have been coming out for almost as long as video games have existed, Rocksteady is the first studio that has been able to do what the others have only tried to accomplish. When playing Arkham Asylum or Arkham City you feel like you are Batman. [Read more...]
In this weeks roundup of comics (still lagging in my write-ups due to waiting to receive my comics in the mail before I move to a digital format), I read a bunch of the DC 52 comics, including Batman #1, Catwoman #1, I, Vampire #1, Nightwing #1, Supergirl #1, and Wonder Woman #1, in this penultimate week of the relaunch, as well as the second issue of IDW’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Some work well to bring in new readers, some go more the route of Green Lantern #1 by refusing to baby the reader (which I received in the issues I didn’t really need this, while felt a little lost in those I might have needed a little more help with). You will probably be able to guess which comic goes in what category based on how much I write about each. Let the fun begin! [Read more...]
Alas! The moment I have finally been waiting for. After two weeks of staring out windows each day to see what the mailman had brought me, I finally get my comics that everyone else has been reading for the past two weeks. Apparently they don’t understand how little I like to wait for these things… I was born two weeks early after all. Oh well, what’s important is that they have finally arrived, so time to dive in!
This weeks round-up includes Action Comics #1, Detective Comics #1, Batgirl #1, and Green Arrow #1. [Read more...]
[Deep breath] Oh comic smell, how I have missed thee. Yes, A while back I said something about reading more comics, and well, as the piles of unread comics on my dresser goes to show I am a big, stupid liar face. My excuse? I decided to take a rowboat trip across the ocean and back because dumbbells are for losers and couldn’t possibly risk getting my issues wet in the salty ocean spray. So clearly there is no argument that my procrastination is not my fault. [Read more...]
Christopher Nolan returns with his follow up to Batman Begins and has crafted one of the finest comic book adaptations in film history.
Batman’s (Christian Bale) presence in Gotham is driving down crime, driving the Mob mad, and inspiring people like Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart) to make a tangible difference in the city. Enter The Joker (Heath Ledger), a psychotic madman, who gets off on anarchy, social distortion, and pure mayhem. He convinces the Mob to entrust him with the task of taking down the Batman and returning the status quo of criminal activity in Gotham to its once great order.
In the meantime, Bruce Wayne, Batman’s real life persona, is using his Wayne Enterprises to investigate a Chinese accountant who handles the mob’s money in an attempt to help bring down the Mob threat in Gotham with the assistance of Lieutenant Gordon (Gary Oldman) and his Charmin of the Board Locus Fox (Morgan Freeman). If his life was complicated enough, Wayne’s dream girl, Rachel Dawes (Maggie Gyllenhaal) is dating Dent as Wayne struggles with his desire to support Dent and his cause while longing the fact that he longs for Rachel, with his alter ego of Batman getting in the way of them being together. [Read more...]
I've always been in a love-hate relationship with Bloc Party. When they debuted in 2005 with Silent Alarm, I found vocalist Kele Okereke singing style … (more...)
Kon-Tiki is a pretty straight forward biopic in its construction, but it tells an incredible story that allows some gorgeous imagery. … (more)
J.J. Abrams is back for another trek into Star Trek and fans of his first entry will have little to complain about with Into Darkness. … (more)
Baz Luhrmann brings The Great Gatsby to the big screen with a style and visual wonder that is irresistible, even when the story doesn't connect as … (more)
Upstream Color is now available to everyone, so I thought it's about time to break it down to the best of my abilities to help fuel the conversation. … (more)
Iron Man 3 isn't really an Iron Man movie for much of its run time, but that doesn't stop it from being an entertaining and hilarious ride from nearly … (more)
Love them or hate them, Vampire Weekend’s latest album Modern Vampires of the City is a must listen of 2013. … (more)
Allison Weiss latest effort Say What You Mean brings a punky charm to a rather plastic singer/songwriter scene. … (more)
Iron and Wine continues his road down the glossy, highly produced road with Ghost on Ghost. This time around, however, he knocks this album out of … (more)
Kid Cudi third rap album Indicud reminds us just how unique and fun the former G.O.O.D. Music artist is, as he rides in and out of the most unique … (more)
Fall Out Boy comes out of hiding to release Save Rock and Roll, their highly anticipated fifth full length that doesn’t fall flat when it comes to … (more)
Daenerys army continues to grow, Samwell Tarly displays his brave side, Ser Davos becomes literate and Sansa's last name is Lannister in this … (more)
As I wipe the tears from my eyes, I think it is safe to say that Arrow knows how to end a season. … (more)
Right before our eyes, Jaime Lannister has gone from being one of the most hated, to one of the most respectable characters in the Game of Thrones … (more)
The new HBO show from Christopher Guest and his gang gets off to a great start that shows a lot of promise for the future. … (more)
Yes, this might possibly be (i.e., definitely is) yet another World War II book review that you by now have probably come to expect from me; but … (more)
I am really struggling to come up with an introduction that does this book justice, because to me, Me Before You was perfection. … (more)
You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, and you’ll be thankful no one ever called you raghead because they think your ginger hair is reminiscent of a … (more)
What do you do when the fate of humanity rests on the shoulders of one small boy? Choose it for book club and discuss it, of course! … (more)
Ken Levine deserves some kind of medal. First, he introduced us to the world of Rapture, where we would kindly roam the halls of a forgotten city … (more)
Plagued by delays and shortcomings, 2012 was an up-and-down year for video games. We saw triumphant returns to form, fantastic new IP's, and some … (more)
For future reference: when skydiving, be sure that your projected landing zone doesn’t happen to be an island full of evil pirates that are more … (more)