Stoker is a creepy and sexy coming of age film at it’s heart, and for it’s star Mia Wasikowska, while Park Chan-wook proves he can excel in any language. [Read more...]
For You Renting Pleasure
01/09/2013 by Leave a Comment
“For Your Renting Pleasure” is back, compiling the movies that I’ve waited till now to see. Looking for something to rent this upcoming weekend? Here are a few selections to either consider or avoid: 10 Years, Lawless, or Ruby Sparks. [Read more...]
Looking Ahead to 2013: 1st Quarter (January – March)
01/04/2013 by Leave a Comment
Now that we’re done looking behind us here at HST, it’s time to ring in the new year by filling our calendars with the upcoming releases (movies, music, TV, and video games) we’re looking forward to most. Big names, big sequels, big comebacks, big excitement. [Read more...]
Review: Jane Eyre
03/26/2011 by Leave a Comment
Cary Fukunaga’s Jane Eyre is a beautifully crafted and well executed film whose subject matter will resonate wonderfully with fans of the genre and even entertain many that don’t sit so well with classic English romances.
The film follows the title character from her privileged but torturous beginnings in a wealthy relatives care before moving on to a violent boarding school and finally ending up in the home of Mr. Rochester. Jane is set up in Rochester’s home, which he rarely visits, to be the governess for Rochester’s young French ward Adele. When Rochester finally arrives to the story he and Jane begin to form an unlikely friendship and Jane’s feelings are sent spinning as she tries to figure out how to handle her growing attraction for a rich man who is actively courting another woman. Added to all of this, strange instances have always surrounded Jane Eyre and while in the Rochester home a number of odd events arise.
Review: The Kids Are All Right
08/02/2010 by Leave a Comment
The Kids Are All Right is a unique and funny dramedy that is driven by its excellent acting on all fronts.
Following a pair of siblings born from the same sperm donor but were each birthed by their separate moms, we pick up just after the oldest, Joni, has turned 18 and can legally request to meet her donor. Joni is hesitant but agrees at the insistence of her brother, Laser, who wishes to meet his father as he has missed out on that relationship his whole life. Enter Paul, Nic and Jules’ (Joni and Laser’s moms, respective) sperm donor. Paul owns a restaurant, is all about being “local”, and has a very laid back feeling on the world. Paul quickly becomes anxious to be a part of his kids’ lives and Joni and Laser’s feelings are mutual before Joni heads off to college. Tensions arise though as Nic has a hard time letting Paul into her family’s life, while Jules and Paul fall a bit easier into step.
Now Playing Review – Alice in Wonderland
03/15/2010 by Leave a Comment
The 1951 animated version of Alice’s story is far from the top of my list of favorite Disney films from my childhood, but that does not keep me from being overly disappointed in the additional trip down the rabbit hole in this year’s Alice in Wonderland.
13 years following young Alice’s nightmare riddled nights of a mysterious world with crazy talking creatures, Alice finds herself all grown up and in the midst of an engagement party celebrating the proposal that has yet to occur. When the question is finally popped Alice decides to avoid responding and exercise her affinity for chasing clothed rabbits down really deep holes. When she eventually makes it into Wonderland a welcoming party of a few familiar faces greets her and we learn that the run in with the rabbit in the real world was a planned occurrence on his part. Apparently since the last time Alice was there things have taken a turn for the worse and the inhabitants have been searching for the right Alice to fulfill the prophesy of bringing an end to the Red Queen’s reign of terror. Unfortunately for them Alice is less that enthusiastic about filling those big shoes. [Read more...]
Review: Alice in Wonderland – 2010
03/05/2010 by 1 Comment
Tim Burton’s latest collaboration with Johnny Depp is a gigantic, uninspired, and boring mess of an adaptation of the Alice in Wonderland mythology.
The story is a sequel to Disney’s previous animated version of Alice in Wonderland and picks up some years later with Alice, now nineteen, about to be married off to the son of an old family friend that is very well to do but Alice is still haunted? By reoccurring “dreams” of her trip to Wonderland as a child. When the young man proposes to her in front of a giant crowd at a prearranged engagement party, Alice gets cold feat and runs off into the garden, chasing the white rabbit, and down into a rabbit hole and back into the world of Wonderland. The look of the place has changed significantly and we discover from a few familiar faces that there is a long standing search for Alice and they aren’t quite sure if this Alice is the real one. The prophecy is that Alice will return to Wonderland to rid it of the tyrant Red Queen and restore peace to the once jovial nation.
