This Means War

Chris Pine? What's not to like? Oh yeah, and that other guy (Tom Hardy, the credits told me) with Reese Witherspoon. So This Means War was one of those romantic comedies with lots of action. It was good, especially the Josh Holloway surprise that I had nooo idea about. He just, ah, I like him quite so. But back to the actual movie, it's pretty much just how the trailer shows it: two CIA agents fighting over the same girl. It was hilarious and entertaining though, even if I pretty much knew the entire plot before hand (except Josh Holloway, jeesh) and it ended how I wanted! That just makes it better. Though since they're CIA agents, it makes you really want to watch what you do when you're "alone," because people could be watching! Car chases, fights, romance, hilarity, it had pretty much everything. Just about completely unbelievable, but hey, that's Hollywood. It was a little predictable, but enjoyable nonetheless.



Who doesn't like a guy in a suit?



Welcoming the New Year with the Best Look -and Feel- Naturally

Ah, a new year is once again upon us. And what better way to welcome the new year then with a few skincare/beauty remedies? No makeup/outfit works quite as well if your skin, hair, or body isn't looking its best naturally. Maybe if you follow these tips, your natural beauty will come through that much more.

For me, my skin is usually pretty balanced. But, like everyone, that can differ depending on what I've been eating, where I've been going, what I've been doing, and apparently what my body feels like gifting me with or torturing me through. Through all these ups and downs, I've found a few things that help - usually. Nevertheless, something that is both good for your body and skin, is simply drinking water. If I drink my eight full glasses a day, I can definitely see an improvement in my skin's appearance. But be warned, getting in eight glasses sounds fine and dandy, though it's practically a full-time job. I'm constantly wondering what number of glasses I'm on, and running to the bathroom. Although if you drink the eight full glasses, not only do you do your skin a favor, your cleansing the inside if the body and it can help you lose weight (because your body has to work to warm up the water). It's a win-win situation for pretty much everything in/attached to your body. Along with water, ice is good for lightening acne scars. If you hold ice on the scars for about fifteen minutes, they will lightening slightly. You may feel like your rubbing your mind out with a brain freeze, but after a few times, it will be worth it.

Another face remedy that I've found amongst my research would be honey. Yes, honey. I'll smear it all over my face, leave it on for thirty minutes, and then rinse it off with warm water. It takes a while to get off and it gets a honey taste in your mouth, but it exfoliates, softens your skin, and also helps with acne scars.

Just as a side note, I read that tomatoes actually help with acne scars as well. Don't try it. After I put tomato slices on my face, I rinsed it off and my face was orange. Orange. And it didn't help anything so it wasn't even worth looking like an oompa loompa. So, I'll be looking for skin remedies that don't involve tomatoes.

A few things that I've read about but never have tried include the following: cucumbers for bags under the eyes, lemon juice for acne scars (but it may dry out the skin), a coffee bean paste (the caffeine is supposed to rev up your skin's ability to do something, I'm not sure), and a bath in milk is supposed to calm the skin.

Like any long haired girl, I have every intention of keeping it as healthy and split-end-free as possible. One way to keep the hair from breaking would be sleeping with it either in a braid or bun, or in a satin hairnet. It keeps the hair from rubbing and dragging across your pillow as you toss and turn during sleep, which keeps the hair from breaking. Another tip for you hair, don't wash it every single day. It strips the hair of it's natural oils, which makes it dry and that much more damaged. Also, any heat styling breaks the hair and makes it dry, crunchy, and sometimes burnt. Hair products my conceal the problem, but it just clogs up your hair and causes build up. Some occasional styling probably won't hurt it permanently, but the less you do with it on a daily bases is doing your hair a favor. When you have to detangle the hair, use a wide tooth comb and a boar-hair brush, because it causes less breakage and spreads the oils throughout the hair which makes it stronger and shinier. Something else to keep your hair shiny is when you do wash it, preferably every other day, after you condition it and rinse, do a final rinse in as cold of water that you can stand. It's worth the chattering teeth, trust me.

As for your body, natural food is the best way to go. You may love your daily burrito, but what is that really doing for your body? In one day, the average calorie need is about between 15,000 and 20,000. Make them count! Fruits, veggies, water, whole grain. Think healthy, you'll feel better. And after this Christmas with all it's cookies, cheese cakes (and in my case, lots of pizza for some reason) and eggnog, the country needs a detox. Berries are a good replacement for sweets, and actually have positive side affects, not the weight gain and sluggishness of cupcakes. Although, small amounts, in moderation, of dark chocolate can actually be good for your body. But who wants to eat chocolate in moderation? So maybe stay away until you get your willpower back.

Come on, people, it's time to get on the exercise wagon! Cardio can be your new best friend, and weights can be your next door neighbor: sometimes annoying, but can actually contribute to your quality of life. I'm not sure if neighbors contribute to the quality of your life, but I hate just to call them annoying and leave it at that. But flip flopping which days you do cardio and weights will give you leaner muscles and burn more fat. As hard as it may be, running is one of the best things you can do for yourself. Just invest in a good pair of running shoes, and maybe stick to treadmills because pavement can be hard on your knees.

Start the new year fresh, beautiful and healthy, people!

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows and Mission: Impossible: Ghost Protocal

So over Christmas break, I get to see the two movies that I was most excited about seeing: the next installments of Sherlock Holmes and Mission: Impossible. I really loved both of them! They were great. Mission: Impossible you probably weren't required to have seen the others, but during Sherlock Holmes, I was glad to have very recently seen the first film. But, ok, this made me SO MAD in Mission: Impossible *spoilersspoilersspoilers*: ok, so Josh Holloway is in it, right? Well, I was very very excited to see him in something other then "Lost," but you know what happened? He. Dies. In the very first freaking scene! Why would they do that? You can't just kill of Josh Holloway's character! Well, apparently you can. He wasn't hardly on there long enough for me to catch his character's name, which was Trevor Hanaway, wikipedia later tells me. 

But other then the Josh Holloway thing, it was amazing. Seriously. Tom Cruise doing all his own stunts was also cool too, not many actors do that I'm sure. Latest tech, cool cars, and lots of action was all packed in, which made it the best impossible mission yet. 

And this more recent movie trip, Sherlock Holmes and Watson took over the big screen. Considering how much I enjoyed the first Sherlock Holmes I'd have been disappointed if I hadn't liked this one just as much. But alas, I was not disappointed: I loved it. They used lots of interesting effects and camera angles, which was nice not to see the same things all over again. And the soundtrack is, in a word, epic. I can't stop Youtubing it. I'd give a brief summary of the film but I'm afraid if I do, I might accidentally give something away, which could ruin it. Maybe not ruin, but rain on the parade and who wants that? Just go and see it. Robert Downey Jr., Jude Law, and the rest of the cast seemed to be able to play off of each other well, which added to the story. It has some hilarious parts and some really intense parts as well, that was nice for a good exercize for the emotions. Something movies should do to us, right?



Watson gets married, which isn't a spoiler because he was engaged in the first film. haha, Sherlock



Is it just me or does the gypsy girl look like Troian Bellisario from Pretty Little Liars?

But anyway, she wore this really pretty hair piece, necklace, and dress in a certain scene. All the costumes were well-placed to me, and suited the characters perfectly. Over all, the combination of talent, special effects, music, and storyline, created a very entertaining film that is sure to please.

New Year's Eve

New Year's Eve is definatly one of my new favorites. Not only did it have good music and a great storyline, but an all-star cast of movie stars. Let's see, there was Sarah Jessica Parker, Bon Jovi, Ashton Kutcher, Halle Berry, Zac Efron, and several others. The film follows the stories of all of the individual characters on the day of New Year's Eve, but most of the characters turn out to be connected in some way. I really enjoyed the whole thing, and I would love to go and see it again.








And, to make it even better, I really liked Abigail Breslin's hair. I mean, has it always been red? Redish. And that coat is really cute.

I also LOVED Lea Michele's red dress/leather jacket combo she's got going on here....with Bon Jovi, which is pretty cool. Not the best angle in this picture, but it was the only one I could find. Also, Bon Jovi was playing the same brand of acoustic guitar I have in one of his scenes, which was completely great.

Not only did the character's and their looks really polished up the movie, but the setting, New York City, just made it perfect. Being a devoted New Yorker wannabe as myself, it was exhilarating, and enviable, to see it spread out on the big screen. 6 years and I will be right there with them. I mean, I've never even see the ball drop. Is there a specific channel that that comes on on? This year I think I'll try to catch it.

In Time Movie

photo from onlinemoviehut.com

Going in to see this movie I'll admit I didn't know a lot about it. I knew basically that time was the currency, and that Justin Timberlake and Matt Bomar were in it. I was pleasantly surprised to see several of my favorite Hollywood people in it: Olivia Wilde, Amanda Seyfried, and Alex Pettyfer. How could I possibly not know all this? That is not important, but what is important is how good this movie was which, in fact, was great. I can honestly say that I enjoyed every minute of it. It was certainly not a waste of time. Haha...

Aftrer viewing this film, I can now report a summary. In the future, humans stop aging after 25 and to stay alive, they must get more time, which is constently counting down on the clocks in their arms, and if you run out of time, you "clock out," a. k. a., you die. Time is either bought, worked for, or borrowed so consequently, the rich have a lot more time, and, in result, live longer. So after certain events, Will Salas (Timberlake) meets this girl,  Sylvia Weis (Seyfried) who is the daughter of a very wealthy man. And through following events, they begin stealing time and giving it to the poor time zones. Sort of like time-taking Robin Hoods. This is a very rough definition, but I can't spoil the movie, now can I?

Throughout eluding Minute Men and Time Keepers, there are hints of any "boy meets girl" story. And why not? They are quite a cute couple.

And amid all of this running, shooting, driving, and romance, I was of course on the look out for any fashion anything. I was not disappointed! I fell in love with this dress:

photo from wordpress.com

Paired with high platform heels and evening gloves, it portrayed "rich heiress" perfectly. And good job to Amanda for making it look effortless to sprint in sky high heels, which is anything but, as those of you (like me) who has done so would know. Believe me, not effortless. Along with her outfits, I love her hair. It's so chic and edgy! Since Amanda Seyfried has that long blonde hair, this was a cool change to see her with something completely different. If this is what we look like in the future, we're soooo gonna be stylin'. Even her makeup was gorgeous, but I mean, with those huge eyes what wouldn't look good? Totally jealous... but really, usually with futuristic movies, the clothes just look stupid. But not in this movie, which was strongly appreciated.

So from me, this movie gets an A plus. It was thrilling, action-packed, thoroughly enjoyable, and I will be looking for the soudtrack.

Abduction

     As far as movies I was looking forward to seeing go, this one lived steadily up to my high expectations. Starring Taylor Lautner (Twilight...duh) and Lily Collins (upcoming City of Bones and Snow White), this film follows Taylor's character Nathan and Lily's character Karen as Nathan uncovers secrets about his family. That summary sounds mildly uninteresting, and would be, but with all the fast paced chases and fight scenes it kept my attention. Even though it opens like any teen flick (party scene..) it's ending was satisfying to the rest of the movie.

(Photo from wikispace.com)

 And surprisingly, only a few of the characters died. That just caught my attention because in pretty much every action movie, about half of the cast gets killed off. At least I'm pretty sure not many died. Taylor Lautner was in it! How much attention do you actually expect me to pay to the storyline??

   So over all, it was enjoyable. I probably would not go see it again in theaters, but I might get the soundtrack (which is saying something, because I only have soundtracks to the movies that I have thoroughly liked). If action and a little romance interests you (not to mention if your a Taylor fan), I would suggest you go see it.

Apollo 18 Review (Spoilers contained)

If you're looking for a thrilling, scary movie, Apollo 18 would not be the way to go. My friend and I, in the mood for a frightening film, decided to see Apollo 18 yesterday. I jumped maybe once. I was expecting something more along the lines of big, scary alien fight scenes with good effects and a dramatic soundtrack in the background. Not rocks. Yes, you heard me. Rocks. Don't get me wrong, the dramatic moments leading up to the rocks were quite attention-getting (things being mysteriously destroyed, shredded, turned over, etc), but really, rocks exploding into flying spider/crab space bugs is...a total let down. Also, the fact that during the entire movie the picture kept flickering, going black, and was full of noise, was very distracting. I know they said "this movie was edited from footage of Apollo missions" or whatever, but I don't believe this story was cut from any real footage. Even if it were, how would the footage get back to Earth since everyone on  the mission died? Yes, everyone. Personally, I hate when characters get killed off. It only shows a lack of creativity as to how that character's story should end. Speaking of characters, I was positive that I recognized one of the actors, so I did what any American would do: I Googled it. Turns out, I was right: John Grey was played by Ryan Robbins (SyFy's Sanctuary), who I was excited to see. And another character, Benjamin Anderson, I was sure was portrayed by Josh Holloway (which would've made my entire week). As it would be, a Warren Christie played the part. But seriously, him and Josh Holloway could be twins. See below.

Josh is on the left, and Warren is on the right. They look so much a like! The resemblance is striking. Which is absolutly fine with me and a large amount of the female population. And I, being a devoted Lostee, went through the entire movie thinking it was Josh. Imagine my dismay when I Googled it and learned that it wasn't him. Sigh. But Mr. Warren was a pretty nice substitute. If you are wanting more of Warren here, you can see him on SyFy's Alphas. Which I have never seen before, but you might find it appealing.

    But getting back to the main point, Apollo 18 left some to be desired. It wasn't a complete dud, but waiting a few weeks for the fall's upcoming films might be a wiser investment for moviegoers.