Ted (2012)

This story is about a Christmas wish that comes true.

It all began at Christmas, 1985, in a small town outside of Boston. John Bennet (Mark Wahlberg) was a lonely 8 yr. old little boy with no friends, he had no siblings and no matter how hard he tried he just couldn’t fit-in with other kids, not even the neighborhood sissy. But then came Christmas morning and John opened the BEST gift ever: a great big fluffy stuffed bear! His eyes lit up as he hugged the bear and it spoke to him, “I LOVE YOU!”, he was overwhelmed with joy and named the bear, Teddy. Suddenly, John had his very own friend and he spent the rest of the day playing and sharing secrets with Teddy. Later that night, right before falling to sleep, John made a very special Christmas wish to his new friend.

“Ya know, I wish you could REALLY talk to me! Because then, we could be best friends for ever and ever!”

The next morning John woke alone in his bed and began searching for the lost bear. All of the sudden, standing on his own two feet with both arms stretched out, “HUG ME!... You’re my best friend John!” It was Teddy and he just shocked the shyt out of little John! “Did you – Did you just talk?” John asked. In a cute little kid voice, Teddy replied “Don’t look so surprised, you’re the one who wished for it, aren’t you?” There he was having his first real conversation with a stuffed Teddy-Bear… Well as you can imagine, this made John the happiest little kid in the whole world and he couldn’t wait to spread the news. He ran down to tell his mom and dad and they both totally freaked out, but Teddy quickly won them over; soon everyone knew about Teddy the talking bear. He was in the newspapers and all over the TV and even had a sit-down with Ed McMahon on the Jonny Carson Show. Yup, Teddy was an instant sensation but above all else, he was John’s Best Friend!

That was 27 years ago… And although John is all grown up now with a job and a live-in girlfriend, Lori Collins (Mila Kunis), he still prefers to spend most of his time hanging out with Ted, but then again, who wouldn’t? I mean, he’s a party animal, what could be more fun than kicking back getting drunk or hitting the bong with your childhood Teddy Bear? HA! None the less, John and Lori have been together for 4 years, and although it’s been great, she thinks it could be a whole lot better if Ted moves out. Well, considering their situation and the fact that even after 4 years, John still isn’t ready for marriage; it seems like a fair compromise to keep her happy. So John helps Ted get a job and his own apartment, from there Ted finds his own girlfriend, Tami-Lynn (Jessica Barth), she’s really into that fluffy bear thing. (hehe) At any rate, although he and John continued to hang tight every day, everything else seemed to be going much better. Until, that is, the guys decided to get the girls together for a nice dinner. Lori, in a pinch, explained that “… Ted’s very handsome, so I’m always interested in meeting the lady that can snatch him up.” Oh man, Tami took offense and being the beautiful dumb blonde that she is, immediately replied “Did you just call me a whore?... You just worry about your own snatch! How bout that, honey!...” Now as you can imagine, that didn’t go over very well and Lori’s fed-up because she needs a real man! So while Ted quickly escorted Tami away, John was left promising to get his shyt together; “You’re right… I been bumming around with Ted too much, I know that… You give me one more chance, I promise I can fix it.” Well, he got his chance, and while at a big corporate party at Lori’s boss’s house, John blew it by ditching her there to join a party over at Ted’s house. John lost track of time while partying with Ted and their childhood hero, Flash Gordon (Sam J Jones). Big mistake! Now Lori’s done and gone and ready to move on.

But in the end, this forever friendship withstands the test of time as Ted promises to back off and leave John alone; he convinces Lori to give John one more last chance. And then as fate would have it, Ted found himself in a whole lot of trouble with a spoiled rotten brat that had sights set on having his own talking Teddy-Bear and a crazy father that promised to give him the only one around.

Contraband (2012)

A life of crime can be like a never ending high stakes card game with many ways to play and many ways to pay; but once started very few are ever able to cash out or fold and just walk away.

Chris Farraday (Mark Wahlberg) played the game and became a successful smuggler who not only cashed out but was also able to walk away as a legend and vowed to never return.  But he is forced to break his vow when his ‘not so successful’ young broth-in-law, Andy (Caleb Landry Jones) gets caught up in a bad drug run. Andy’s boss, Tim Briggs (Giovanni Ribisi) expects full compensation and he doesn’t care who foots the bill. Briggs makes that clear to Chris when he explained that “family inherits the debt” and he aims to collect even if he has to seek it all the way down line to Chris’s lovely wife, Kate (Kate Beckinsale).  Now Chris has just two weeks to pay Andy’s debt and save his wife and kids, but that kind of money doesn’t come easy, and he’s against the risks of playing with drugs. So he hooks up with some of his old team mates and plans a run out of Panama for counterfeit money.

Unbeknownst to Chris, Andy’s real boss is being pressured for debts of his own and decides to turn up the heat by ordering a threatening house-call for Chris’s family. But Chris is stuck on a Cargo ship at sea with Andy, so he sends Kate into the lion’s den when he tells her to call his best friend, Sebastian (Ben Foster), who arrives like a knight in shining armor to protect her and the boys. Now Chris can concentrate on the job at hand, and it’s a good thing too because Chris knows his shyt, and with a clear mind he realizes that his ordered load of ‘Funny Money’ is just a little too funny. Tough luck, and the clock is ticking but now the plans have changed and he has to go to the Top Dog to get the good stuff before his ship leaves port. Wouldn’t ya know it, Andy runs off with the buy money and leaves Chris hanging for a compromise, yup, Chris can have the funny money for free, but he has to help the Top Dog with a dangerous side-job first!

Well, no problem; I mean after all Chris is considered a legend. Right? So, with cars flipping and bullets flying, he gets back to the ship just in time, and even manages to make it all look as smooth as belting butter. But while back on board, there seems to be major kinks in his finish. Andy made it back too, but he has a forbidden stash of drugs. Captain Camp (J.K. Simmons) has been brought into the game and he knows Chris is making a run on his ship; he threatens to turn Chris over to C.B.P (customs) if he doesn’t surrender the goods. Meanwhile back at home, Kate is in shambles battling Sebastian’s drunken advances.

I must admit, I do enjoy seeing Giovanni Ribisi. But for me, it was just too funny watching him as a Kingpin bully thug.

And although I did really like the way Chris gets back at Captain Camp, I was still in tears over Kate being rolled in that plastic tarp, and then overwhelmed with anger as they began to pour the concrete. All I can say is, God bless cell phones! Ha!! 

The Happening (2008)

New York City, New York 8:33 a.m.: It’s a normal bright and sunny morning in Central Park, but in an instant things begins to change as you hear distant screams and watch active people just stop and stand still as if they are frozen in time. Three blocks away 8:59 a.m.: It’s still a normal morning at a construction site, until crews on the ground helplessly watch in horror as bodies suddenly begin to fall from the sky. Their co-workers high above are literally walking off the job!

 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 9:45 a.m.: High school Science teacher Elliot Moore (Mark Wahlberg) has engaged his class to discuss the strange disappearance of the Honey Bees and the laws of Nature when his class is interrupted, and he is lead to a nearby staff meeting. The principal informs them of an "event" and explains that Central Park has just been hit by a terrorist attack. He gives a short briefing about the release of an airborne chemical toxin, and tells them all students are to be dismissed. As school readies to close, Elliot’s best friend, Julian (John Leguizamo) pops in with a plan to get his family out of town and invites Elliot and his wife Alma (Zooey Deschanel) to join them. They agree to meet at the train station where Julian is already waiting with his young daughter Jess (Ashley Sanchez), his wife is to board a different train and meet them all later at his mother’s house.

News travels through the train as they learn that Philadelphia has just been attacked. Julian calls his wife and she tells him that she made it out in time by catching a bus heading to Princeton, N.J. Alma tells Elliot she just heard that Boston has been hit too, and they realize the train is beginning to slow down. One of the conductors informs Elliot that the train service has just been discontinued as they seem to have lost contact with everyone including rail control, so Filbert Pennsylvania will be the last stop for all passengers. Little Jess becomes frightened as tensions sore, but Elliot is able to calm her after they manage to get a table in the small town’s diner. That sense of calm is short lived as media news reveals that, based on localized reports, authorities no longer believe the event is being caused by terrorists because the incidents seem to be limited to the U.S. Northeast where smaller towns are now being attacked. All calm is then lost in a free-for-all when the power goes out and the crowd disbands in a panicked search for safety. One car pulls up and the driver offers Elliot and his friends a ride, Julian also secures a ride and they are headed to Princeton but, they only have room for one more passenger. With little time for debate Alma and Elliot agree to keep Jess with them while Julian goes on alone to find his wife.

While on one short stop with Elliot’s ride, the driver shares his thoughts on the cause of this strange event, he explains that plants can release chemicals and that they respond to human stimulus. Okay, so yeah, that does sound weird, but it is true!

During the same time but with Julian’s ride, they have reached Princeton. The road ahead takes them through a grim scene with dead bodies hanging from the trees and no other signs of life, it’s obvious Princeton has also been attacked and Julian knows they are in danger as it becomes harder to think and you can hear the wind whipping through the slit in the jeep’s canvas cover.

Back again with Elliot’s ride, they are nearing another small town, the driver stops when they realize dead bodies laying across the road up ahead. They decide to backtrack, but are cut off by other survivors who describe equally horrible sights from their direction. This crowd agrees to break up into smaller groups and head out on foot to seek safety in a less populated area.

It’s really neat and yet still kind of scary to watch this event roll across the land as if it has a mind of it’s own and knows exactly where it’s going.

Suddenly, a few distant screams cease from the group in the rear and we hear several single gun shots slowly ring out, one by one. The event has found them, and Elliot’s group panics and breaks again into even smaller groups as they all run away with nowhere to hide.

My heart sank with anger and sorrow when Josh and Jared needlessly became the first murdered victims. And I nearly fell out of my chair when Mrs. Jones scared the shyt out of me as she popped up from behind the door yelling at Elliot to get out of her house!

Soon it’s down to just Elliot, Alma and Jess outside an old farmhouse where they are somehow able to withstand the brunt of the event.

But, elsewhere in France, it’s HAPPENING again.

This is another very good fictional drama mystery that keeps you guessing as it goes, but there are a few graphic scenes that definitely are not well suited for young children.