Contraband - Review

Title: Contraband

Release Date: January 13, 2012

Rating: R

Running Time: 109 minutes

Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Kate Beckinsale, Caleb Landry Jones, Ben Foster, J.K. Simmons & Giovanni Ribisi

Plot: Chris Farraday (Wahlberg) is an ex-smuggler who has turned his life around and now has a wife (Beckinsale) and kids. After his brother-in-law Andy (Jones), botches a drug deal for his ruthless boss Tim Briggs (Ribisi), Chris is forced back into smuggling to settle the debt. Chris must go to Panama to smuggle millions in counterfeit bills while his best friend Sebastian (Foster) stays to watch over his wife and kids. With little time to spare things begin to fall apart.




My Review (May contain spoilers):

First off, I'd like to start by saying I am a girl who loves watching action movies and thrillers. So please don't judge and throw off my review before even reading it. I know what to expect from a good movie.

I had absolutely no interest in seeing this movie. My boyfriend had been talking about it for a while and I finally agreed, only because he was paying. I actually hadn't even taken the time to watch the preview.

We went to see it today (release date) at 11:30 a.m. The local theater has a deal that the first showing of a movie is $6. The movie actually began at 11:47 and ran 1:44 from start till the beginning of the ending credits.

The movie started off slow in my opinion. It provides a little bit of background information but not a lot. Once the movie started getting into the main plot it did get more interesting but it also was very predictable. For instance, you could tell which characters are actually dirty and that the stolen "tarp" was actually a multi-million dollar painting.

When there is a lot of talk about the past, I expect to see some sort of flashback or extensive story. There is nothing given regarding Farraday's past as one of the "best" smugglers and a few other pasts instances that are brought up.

The few parts that actually had built intensity quickly drowned away and immediately puts the audience back into a slow and boring scene. There aren't that many action scenes but the ones that you see are somewhat intense.  There are also a lot of point-of-views where the camera appears to be "hand-held" and I personally HATE this in movies. It is 2012, there are ways to show that something extreme is happening without it appearing that the camera is running right behind you, shaking and moving every three inches.

There was a lot of cussing throughout the movie, which, in my opinion, almost takes away from the respect you have built up for certain characters (mainly Wahlberg and Beckinsale's characters). Also, the chemistry between them was nonexistent. They were not believable as a couple what-so-ever. Other characters such as Foster and Ribisi did have good chemistry.

Overall, the movie was ALRIGHT. I wouldn't see it again, or even rent it from Redbox. If someone were to ask me about it, I'd say "If you really want to see it, rent it on Redbox." Kazem (my boyfriend) left the movie saying "It wasn't that good."

I will admit this review was botchy and not very detailed. To be honest, I didn't even think it was worth writing about. But since I made myself a promise to review every movie I see, I did.

Rating: 2 out of 5.


Happy Weekend! :)

Movies of 2012

One goal I've given myself is to blog about every movie I see in 2012. I've made a list of every movie set to be released this year and their dates, as of now. While I may not watch every single one in theaters, I WILL at least rent them once they are on DVD. Luckily, a lot of local theaters are offering different deals now. The first showing is $6.00 and Thursday's are GMU college night and prices are $6.50. Also, stores like Costco, Sam's Club and BJ offer discounted movie tickets. I will definitely be making a stronger attempt to make sure I pay less for movies this year!

I know this may be a long list for you all to read but I know there are a few highly anticipated movies that will catch your eye.

01/13 -
Beauty & the Beast 3D
Contraband

01/20 -
Haywire
Redtails

01/27 -
The Grey
One for the Money
Man on a Ledge

02/10 -
Safe House
The Vow

02/17 -
This Means War

02/24 -
Gone
Wanderlust

03/02 -
Jeff, Who Lives at Home

03/09 -
Playing the Field
The Raven
Think Like a Man

03/16 -
21 Jump St

03/23 -
The Hunger Games

03/30 -
Wrath of the Titans

04/06 -
American Reunion
Titanic 3D

04/13 -
Three Stooges
Movie 43
Bullet to the Head
The Cabin in the Woods

04/20 -
The Lucky One
Scary Movie 5
Seeking a Friend for the End of the World

05/04 -
The Avengers

05/11 -
The Dictator
Dark Shadows
What to Expect When You're Expecting

05/18 -
Battleship

05/25 -
Men in Black III

06/01 -
Rock of Ages
Snow White and the Huntsman

06/15 -
I Hate You, Dad

06/29 -
GI Joe: Retaliation
Magic Mike

07/03 -
The Amazing Spider-Man

07/13 -
Ted

07/20 -
Dark Knight Rises

07/27 -
Neighborhood Watch

08/10 -
Dog Fight

09/21 -
Hotel Transylvania

09/28 -
Looper
Savages

10/05 -
Taken 2

10/19 -
The Big Wedding
Gangster Squad

11/16 -
Breaking Dawn Pt 2

11/21 -
Gravity
Rise of the Guardians
Silver Lining Playbook

12/07 -
Les Misérables

12/25 -
The Great Gatsby


That's my list so far. I'm sure over time once previews come out movies may be either taken off my list or added. I'll be seeing Contraband and Beauty & the Beast 3D this upcoming weekend. Blogs to come!

Pressed on Pinterest

About a month or so ago I joined Pinterest, which has now become a huge craze!

It's a digital board where you can "pin" photos. The photos lead back to the website they came from. You can label your own boards to hold whatever you'd like. A few of mine are Future Has It, which I pin wedding/baby things to, Fashionista, which I put different types of clothing and shoes, and Sweet Treats & Salty Recipes, which is quite self explanatory and has different types of recipes.

The website has become a huge hit over the past few months. Now, in order to be on the site, you must either request an invitation or ask a current member to invite you. I had a friend invite me but I heard requesting from the website itself can take up to a month to receive. While you can use your email as a login it now provides the option to connect through your Facebook or Twitter.

Now I have to warn you, the website is extremely addicting. I love love love Pinterest! I can spend hours on there at a time. Since becoming a member about a month ago, I have pinned 500+ things. I truly cannot get enough.

I recently tried a couple recipes that I found and pinned, and they were a hit! I just hope I can actually find more time to try more of the recipes I found. I also want to try some of the DIY crafts on the site. They're very creative and cute.

If you join or are already a member, follow me: TinaTal. And I hope you don't lose allllll your time to the site.

MIA but Back in the New Year

I know I've been MIA the past seven months but I'm back and ready to go. I just hope this semester doesn't start and then I get behind again.

Since June so much has happened. And I have definitely learned a lot, educationally and otherwise. In a quick gist of things, my boyfriend and I broke up for three months then got back together, I had my first semester at GMU and I've gained a sense of some sort of accomplishment.

Overall, I loved 2011. I started a great relationship with a man I truly love and things are just getting better! Also, I did really well during my first semester at Mason and it's made me excited for the future.

During my first semester at Mason I learned a lot about communications and public relations and it help me come up with a more solid understanding and goal of what I'd like to do in life. Even though I always knew it, this past semester has just reassured me that blogging truly helps me with different aspects of my major and goals.

So since I'm back in the new year, I've come up with a few goals I'd like to accomplish. And yes some of them are the "usual" and will probably bring an eye roll.

1) Pay off my Victoria's Secret credit card (and never use it again) and my credit card.
2) Start putting aside $50 per paycheck into a savings account.
3) Lose 15 pounds. Yes, everyone wants to do this but I am truly unhappy with my body at the moment. It's not exactly my weight, it's my proportions. I have skinny arms and legs but then all my weight sits in my midsection. Due to the fact that my family has a background of back problems, heart problems, and diabetes, I do not want to keep the weight on that part of my body.
4) Maintain at least a 3.2 GPA and keep focused on school.
5) Find an internship for something involving communications, preferably public relations. I've had a few friends within my major graduate and are now working part time jobs in retail, food, and salons. I don't want to graduate and not find a job and internships are truly important in that process.
6) Keep up with blogging! I aim to blog at least two-three times a week. I'd also like to increase my numbers of followers.

For now these are the only goals I really have but they are kind of difficult and/or time consuming. I hope that 2012 is the year that I am able to stick to my goals and you are alb to stick to yours!

Wish me luck. :)