In this week’s “For Your Renting Pleasure” I went with one film that follows those that uphold the law with End of Watch, and one film about those who break it with Hit & Run. Criminals were right, they have more fun. [Read more...]
For Your Renting Pleasure
03/20/2013 by Leave a Comment
Looking Ahead to 2012: Quarter 2 (April – June)
04/01/2012 by Leave a Comment
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 really excited to see a movie about male strippers. [Read more...]
Film Review: Big Miracle
02/05/2012 by Leave a Comment
Big Miracle is a surprisingly honest and political tale of community that has a bunch of good performances in a compelling story of survival. [Read more...]
Now Playing Review – Scream 4
04/15/2011 by Leave a Comment
When the original Scream was released back in 1996 I was at the impressionable age of 8 (or 8 and 3 quarters if we are going based on how I would have said it then); definitely not the correct time to be showing a young girl horror films. Let’s just say that I was scared out of my mind, even considering that I watched it during the day. Yet somewhere within the terror the spark was lit within, starting my love of the genre. So when I heard that a fourth film was being released in the series almost 15 years following the original I was a little nervous about whether or not it would live up to how great I remembered the original trilogy considering the special place in my heart they reside in (ok, and ridiculously excited considering the pitch of the girly scream I emitted). Luckily enough for me Scream 4 doesn’t disappoint. [Read more...]
Rental Review – When In Rome
06/26/2010 by 2 Comments
A fountain of love is something I would definitely be happy to come across. But as hopeful as a girl can be about finding one my expectations aren’t that high, so I will settle for watching a good romantic comedy about a fountain of this nature instead. Unfortunately after watching When In Rome I have been made aware that neither exists.
They say, “When in Rome, do as the Romans do.” Unfortunately for Beth she doesn’t really know what that entails. While visiting for her sisters impromptu wedding she fails to break the ceremonial vase, her speech is hindered by her total lack of Italian language skills, and worst of all, she doesn’t know the myth about a certain fountain. Legend tells that if a person removes a coin from the fountain, the person who threw it in will fall madly in love with the thief. And seeing as this is a romantic comedy, this legend just happens to be true. Now Beth must deal with four random strangers chasing her around thanks to her drunken mistake, as well as the possibility that the one guy she actually likes may be suffering from the spell as well. [Read more...]
Rental Review – Couples Retreat
02/26/2010 by Leave a Comment
No matter who you go with, when it comes to vacations some fighting and mishaps are bound to happen, but usually there are enough good moments to balance out, if not overpower, the bad. Couples Retreat tries to show these moments of both ups and downs (well, mainly downs), but in the end the trip is far too painful to enjoy.
Of the four couples, Jason and Cynthia are the most willing to admit their relationship has problems. After many years and unsuccessful attempts to get pregnant the stress of the situation has finally reached its peak, and they are contemplating divorce. Feeling that this is their last hope, Jason and Cynthia ask their fellow couples, Dave and Ronnie, Joey and Lucy, and Shane and Trudy to go with them to Eden West, a couples resort on a beautiful, tropical island. When they arrive they are forced to partake in couples counseling, and those couples that assumed they would be spending a vacation having fun in the sun are finding that maybe they have more issues than they thought bubbling under the surface. [Read more...]
Review: When in Rome
01/29/2010 by Leave a Comment
It didn’t take long to get a huge stink bomb of a movie this year in 010 and that movie is When in Rome. The movie is so poorly written, is almost devoid of humor, is absolutely absurd, and gets nothing out of a decent slate of talent that made the unfortunate decision of taking on a role in this piece of… well you get the point.
I was groaning and restless from the get go as we quickly jump into absurdity and cliché that inhabits every romantic comedy that feels like it has to follow the formula. Beth,Kristen Bell, a successful curator who has a big event coming up that could make or break her career, gets a drop in visit from her younger sister who has just met a guy and is getting married after two weeks of knowing him. Within seemingly a matter of days, Beth and all of her family and friends of the family are in Rome where an elaborate and expensive wedding is being held; how it was planned and so well attended in a mere matter of days is just dumbfounding. Logistics aside, Beth meets the handsome and charming Nick, Josh Duhamel, who sweeps her off her feet. Of course Beth is ready to go for it but [Read more...]
Review: Couples Retreat
10/09/2009 by Leave a Comment
Peter Billingsly’s feature debut with screenwriting stars and duo Vince Vaughn and Jon Favreau have created a relationship comedy that has a number of interesting points on couples, but really lacks a lot of good humor and drags at a miserable pace for the last forty five minutes or so.
Dave, Jason, Shane, and Joey are a group of four friends and their respective significant others Ronnie, Cynthia, Trudy, Lucy are all going through varying stages of their relationships. Lucy and Joey are on the verge of divorce once their daughter heads off to school, Trudy and Shane are a young couple (two weeks) and Shane still isn’t over his divorce, Dave and Ronnie are fairly content in their lives, and Jason and Cynthia are having problems conceiving. Jason and Cynthia are also contemplating divorce as the stress of the lack of baby making is wearing thin and as a last ditch effort they decide to go on a couples getaway and want their friends to go with them as it gets them a discount rate. After a bit of convincing they are all off to Eden West, and before they know it they are unsuspectingly thrown into couple’s therapy activities under the tutelage of an expert on repairing relationship, Marcel. From here, everyone’s relationships get a bit turned all around, stretched thin, and problems arise as they go through zany exercises and sessions to supposedly help their relationships. [Read more...]
Rental Review – Reefer Madness: The Movie Musical
09/04/2009 by Leave a Comment
Reefer Madness: The Movie Musical is a hilarious “examination” of the effects marijuana has on the youth of America in the 1930s, in musical form.
Prepare to have your minds blown, because here comes some exposition of epic proportions (preempted by a little reaction of my own): After watching Reefer Madness I was a little confused about the accuracy of the story. Okay, so I knew there weren’t kids going crazy, humping chairs and killing people because of marijuana; obviously, it’s majorly exaggerated, but I wanted to know if there was any hint of truth to the fear behind the plot. [Read more...]
Review: Forgetting Sarah Marshall
04/28/2008 by Leave a Comment
Jason Segel and Nicholas Stoller have set an early benchmark for comedies this year with the winner that is Forgetting Sarah Marshall!
Peter just got dumped by “sexpot” TV star Sarah Marshall and decides, after a few weeks of promiscuity and wallowing in the remains of his relationship, that he should go to Hawaii to get away from it all. Little does he know that his ex-Sarah Marshall is there as well and she isn’t alone. Marshall’s fling is British pop star Aldous Snow who sings about being “inside of you” and asks his fans to sodomize intolerance. Peter finds a romantic interest [Read more...]
