With so much of my (Lauren’s) personality constructed by Television, from PBS shows of my childhood to everything Joss Whedon that influenced my sense of humor and sarcasm, it’s no surprise that every year I get pretty excited for the pilots making their attempt to gain viewers. Not only that, but sometimes I go crazy fanatic for those shows I have come to love for seasons and seasons. Chuck is only a half season!? Community is getting shelved!? NNNOOO!!!! Good thing there are some great new shows that helped these irritated wounds sting a little less. [Read more...]
HST’s Best of 2011: Television
01/04/2012 by Leave a Comment
Review: Hall Pass
02/25/2011 by Leave a Comment
The latest from the Farrelly Brothers has a bit of an identity crisis, it doesn’t know if it wants to be crude (which rarely works here) or sweet (which does kind of work) and it never finds the right balance.
A Hall Pass is a week off from marriage with no consequences for any and all infidelities. Rick and Fred each earns their respective passes for different dalliances in passive sexual aggression and plan a week off from their wives as they send them off to the family beach house. Back at home, the boys dive into their week of freedom while their friends attempt to live through them vicariously to rather mixed results.
The way the situation unfolds seems quite natural and believable and the way the guys start off their week seems just about perfect. As the week roles on and their situation plays out, the boys find that their week of freedom might not be what they at all expected. The women on the other hand find the freedom to be far more advantageous for them as they uncover some unexpected fun on their end of things.
Review: Going the Distance
09/03/2010 by Leave a Comment
Going the Distance is dirty R-rated romantic comedy that has a grounded and believable couple surrounded by a top notch supporting cast equals a funny and entertaining flick.
The film follows Erin and Garrett a new couple that meets over a game of Centipede and when they fall harder than expected they decided to keep the relationship going when Erin has to move back across the country. What follows is a realistic struggle as they cope with the distance, try to keep things alive, and deal with burdens of being 3000+ miles apart. Friends and family give advice as each end of the couple struggles with the sexual frustrations, loneliness, and communication problems of being three time zones a part. The struggle feels hard and is done very real and I can’t comment enough on how authentic they made the film feel.
Now Playing Review – Going the Distance
09/03/2010 by 1 Comment
Following the recent release of The Switch, it seems as if we have made yet another step in the right direction of the realistic romantic comedy with Going the Distance. Maybe not quite to the same extent as the former, but way better than that heightened, cookie cutter, romanticized nonsense, none-the-less.
When it comes to long distance relationships everyone always thinks that their love is stronger than the lack of proximity to their significant other, and Erin and Garrett are no exception. From the first day they knew that things couldn’t last because Erin would be moving back to California in six weeks, but quickly things escalate from “keeping it light.” Now they are stuck on opposite ends of the country with only texting, phone calls, and hope to keep them warm at night, wishing that eventually they will finally be able to live in the same city within the next year.
While together Drew Barrymore and Justin Long provide a great matching for this couple, working well off of each other (insert gossip about their on-again-off-again off-screen relationship here). Yet obviously relationships like this and the plans people have for them don’t always go according to plan. [Read more...]
