10 Years: a story that warms the heart...

... of those who look back at their memory of past...

the Trailer:



the Plot:
Jake (Channing Tatum) along with his girlfriend Jess (Jenna Dewan-Tatum) arrives at his high school friend's house owned by married couple, Cully (Chris Pratt) and Sam (Ari Graynor).






There, some of Jake's friends start to arrive including: best buddies Marty (Justin Long) and AJ (Max Minghella), musician Reeves (Oscar Isaac) and Scott (Scott Porter) together with his Japanese wife, Suki (Eiko Nijo).

The boyfriends then start driving to their high school reunion venue. Other friends from their high school arrive including: Garrity (Brian Geraghty) along with his wife Olivia (Aubrey Plaza) and Garrity's best friend Andre (Anthony Mackie).

Meanwhile, a reclusive woman Elise (Kate Mara) arrives at the reunion alone. She tries to greet the party planner, Julie (Kelly Noonan) but is cut off when Anna (Lynn Collins) arrives to the delight of the others.

Though, the now highly successful rock star Reeves notices her and appears to be the only person who remembers every detail of Elise during high school amongst the clique. it seems all night that amidst other people's clamoring for pictures with him, Reeves tries to get Elise into a conversation.



long before, Elise used to have a boyfriend who moved to Austin. and because of that Reeves never gets the chance to date her. and meeting again, this time she has a boyfriend in Chicago.

All night, Cully, the former school bully is trying to make amends with all his victims, to no avail as he, after excessive alcoholic binge, reverts to his old self, much to the consternation of his long suffering wife.

luckily Jess is a sport who keeps her company in her own misery of watching Jake unfolds when Mary (Rosario Dawson), his high school sweetheart arrives with her husband, Paul (Ron Livingston).



Marty just breezes in from New York City, but his Wall Street lifestyle may not be all that he claims. AJ reprises his not-so-friendly competition with Marty for the attention of Anna. They fawn over her and looking at the old pictures, AJ even commends that Anna always has the glow about her.

As the night goes on, the gang proceeds to Pretzels for some karaoke and more booze. Anna declines though, much to the disappointment of AJ and Marty as Anna is always known to be the party girl. She graciously exits and the two best friends decide to follow her home and do some toilet-paper-bombing just for the fun of it.



Anna freaks out as she catches the two in action. to their surprise, Anna is actually a single mom with 2 kids.



her vivacious appearance at the reunion is her dismal attempt at reliving the glow and now that the guys find out how screw-up she is, the facade is ruined. in aghast, Marty confesses that his life in NY is not that dandy either. and AJ confides that his doctor wife is leaving him. they settled down for a late night supper with Anna's kids. looking at her dealing with her kids, Marty whispers to the teary Anna that she looks more glowing than ever.


And Garrity (Brian Geraghty) has changed in a manner that surprises his best friend, Andre who thought that he has lost his nigga attitude and married a white woman for real. Olivia is stumped likewise to realise that Garrity has a different persona growing up and that perhaps she doesn't know him much at all.



Jess notices the tactful way Jake is reacting around Mary and decides that she'd rather go back to the motel to give Jake the space he obviously needs to settle the matter with Mary. Jake offers to go back with her but Jess insists that he stay.

it is later revealed that because of Mary's father being hospitalised on Prom Night, both Prom King and Prom Queen were not in attendance to receive their dues. and as the others left for college, Jake has tried to stay and keep Mary company during her father's illness but later he just got to leave for college and be a man.

Paul is upset when he finds out about how close Jake was once to Mary and she confesses that thinking of Jake always reminds her of her deceased father. and she is not comfortable about mentioning Jake because of that. Paul then leaves for home and Mary is left alone.

during a karaoke session, Cully made a fool out of himself. and then he invites Reeves to sing his hit: "Never Had". Elise who never hears it before is stumped to know that the song is of her. and feeling much out of depth, she feels that she has to go, only that Reeves manages to coax her to be with him now. at the parking lot 10 years ago, Elise had left him alone. and this time, Reeves finally fulfills his desire of being with Elise, at the car park, steaming the windows together.

as the night went on and the last couple is leaving, Jake and Mary resolves what was left unsaid before. and Jake is relieved to find out that Mary is happy with Paul, and she's expecting. knowing Jake, Mary softly encourages him to propose to Jess, something that Jake has postponed to do for the last 8 months.



back at the motel, Jess is actually waiting up for Jake to come back. and much to Jake's profound happiness, that the woman he's marrying really understands that he just got to see Mary settled down happy before he can continue with his life. they then leave for some breakfast at the nearby cafe. luckily Scott, Suki, Julie and other friends are there too. looking at Jess, Jake wills his courage and gathers the ring he kept in the car, finally deciding to propose.


the Review:

there are a lot of familiar faces in this movie. chemistry is there and i love the laidback way the story unfolds. it was quite hard to follow their conversation word to word because i have not the subtitle. nonetheless i manage to enjoy the story. it is bittersweet, touching the inner chord of us lamenting our past.



it touches me so when CT looks to his wife. JD was more adept at concealing her true feelings that the chemistry they had seems lukewarm or so. but i like her attitude. she's not like other jealousy gf so insecure of the guy she loves.


the bittersweet attachment between Mary and Jake is also apparent. seems that first love really last long, especially if the guy was decent enough a fellow.



i really like Scott's character. he's cool and charming. and when he confides about staying in Japan for good, it was real nice. his reasoning is really fine and reflects his mature sense of self.

as for Anna, it is a pity that she stumbled in life. but it took real heart and guts to show up vivaciously confident. i for one would not have that in me. last 2 days in fact, i showed up in an event that some old friends showed up too and i stayed for measly 10 mins before bailing out.

Cully is really a douche. and Sam is really a patient wife though she does cracked up at the end. the slight she received from Peter as she tried to apologise on behalf of her husband is more than she deserves for finding something nice and sweet about Cully. if left to me, i would dump his ass quicker than he can dunk the tequila shot himself.




some reviewers say the story of Reeves-Elise deserves more than window-steaming ending. but to me, it is a start. and it is sweet that someone remembers you so fondly after all the years and makes a song about you that ends up a big hit that launches his career. aww.. so shweeetttt! enjoy the soundtrack. i kept hitting replay everytime it ends :)

the Soundtrack:


PS:
i'm sorry i reneged on my promise for Safe Haven and the Bourne Legacy. i'll try soon, ok.

Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter: too much CinemaSins!

the Poster:


the Trailer:


the Plot:
In 1818, Abraham "Abe" Lincoln (Benjamin Walker) lives with his parents, Nancy (Robin McLeavy) and Thomas (Joseph Mawle), who work at a plantation owned by Jack Barts (Marton Csokas). There, Lincoln befriends a young African American boy, William Johnson (later to be played by Anthony Mackie), and intervenes when he sees Johnson being beaten by an overseer. Because of his son's actions, Thomas is fired and his employer demands the debt he owed to be paid fully. That night, Lincoln sees Barts break into his house and attack Nancy. She dies shortly afterwards. Thomas tells Lincoln that Barts poisoned Nancy.

Nine years later, feeling vengeful, Lincoln almost drinks himself into a stupor to build up his courage to pursue Barts and put a bullet into him. A stranger casually comments on his drinking motives but Lincoln simply ignores him and walks away to fulfill his purpose.

Lincoln attacks Barts at the docks, but Barts, who is actually a vampire, overpowers him. However, before Barts can kill him, Lincoln is rescued by Henry Sturges (Dominic Cooper), the stranger he met at the bar.

the next day as Lincoln awakens, Sturges explains that vampires exist, and offers to teach Lincoln to be a vampire hunter. Lincoln accepts and spends the summer with Henry sharpening his senses. During his training, Sturges tells Lincoln that the vampires in America descend from Adam (Rufus Sewell), a vampire who owns a plantation in New Orleans with his sister, Vadoma (Erin Wasson). Sturges also tells Lincoln of the vampires' weakness, silver, and presents him with a silver pocket watch. Henry nurses Lincoln back to health and explains some of the nature of vampirism, emphasizing that some vampires are good and others are evil.

After a certain period of his training, Lincoln travels to Springfield, Illinois to start hunting the vampires. There he gets a job from Joshua Speed (Jimmi Simpson) as a shopkeeper while he studies Law. Henry sends Lincoln the names and addresses of evil vampires; Abraham dutifully tracks them down and kills them. in the process, he meets Mary Todd (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) whom he would later marry.

Eventually, Lincoln successfully finds and defeats Barts. Before dying, Barts reveals that Sturges is also a vampire. Lincoln confronts Sturges, who reveals that, several years ago, he was attacked and bitten by Adam. Because Sturges' soul was impure, he became a vampire, and that prevented him from harming Adam or any other vampire since "Only the living can kill the dead". Sturges has since been training vampire hunters, hoping to destroy Adam. Disappointed, Lincoln decides to abandon furthering his mission.

However, when a casket of Barts arrived to his mansion, together with the silver watch, Adam is furious and kidnaps Johnson to lure Lincoln into coming to his ball at his plantation. in order to save Johnson, Lincoln recruits Speed in the mission. however, it is a trap as Adam captures Lincoln and tries to recruit him, revealing his plans to turn the United States into a nation of the undead. Speed rescues his friends, and they barely escape to Ohio with the help of the slaves.

Lincoln decides to enter politics in order to free the Southern slaves from the vampires who are feeding on them, much to the chagrin of Henry Sturges. Henry argues that allowing the southern vampires to have slaves as a food source is the only thing keeping the vampires from attacking everyone else. Lincoln counters that allowing this is immoral and that everyone deserves freedom. Henry and Lincoln's relationship seemingly ends after the disagreement. Lincoln puts aside his axe and is determined to end the scourge of vampires and slavery through political means.

Lincoln's 1860 presidential election triggers the secession of the southern states and the start of the American Civil War which has been a disaster for the Union. Lincoln issues the Emancipation Proclamation to not only free the slaves but eliminate the vampires main food source. However, the war takes a personal toll on Lincoln. Vadoma sneaks into the White House disguised as a maid and kills Lincoln's son, Willy. Henry appears at the White House and offers to turn Willy into a vampire so that he will "live" again, but Lincoln is unwilling to allow it, causing a drift between him and Mary Todd, who finally learn about the vampire-hunting secrets that Lincoln kept away from her.

On the Union-Confederate battlefields, Adam deploys his vampires, and this causes the massacre of the Union army on the first day at Gettysburg.

Being so frustrated at so many loss of the Union soldiers, it drives Lincoln into realising only the silver can kill the vampires so that the Union soldiers have a standing chance. He orders the confiscation of all the silverware to produce silver weapons. Speed, believing that Lincoln is tearing the nation apart, informs Adam that Lincoln will transport the silver by train to Gettysburg.

On the train, Adam and Vadoma, who have set fire to the upcoming trestle, attack Lincoln, Sturges, and Johnson. During the fight Adam learns that the train holds only rocks. Speed reveals that his betrayal was a ruse to lure Adam into a trap. Enraged, Adam bites Speed and kills him. The carriages begin to break loose off the train and the group have to jump carriages to escape. Adam corners them but Lincoln gets out his silver pocket watch and punches Adam in the chest, killing him, and Lincoln escapes the exploding train alongside his allies.

Meanwhile, Mary and the ex-slaves have transported the silver to Gettysburg through the Underground Railroad - it is here that Vadoma is killed by Mary using her son's necklace. The now leaderless Confederate vampires stage a final, massive assault and are met head-on by the Union. Armed with their silver weapons, the Union soldiers destroy the vampires and eventually win the battle.

Nearly two years later, on April 14, 1865, Sturges tells Lincoln that the remaining vampires have fled the country. Sturges tries to convince Lincoln to allow him to turn Lincoln into a vampire, so that he can become immortal and continue to fight vampires, but Lincoln declines and leaves for the theater with his wife.

In modern times, Sturges approaches a man at a bar in Washington, D.C. as he once approached Lincoln.


the Riviu:
it was a rather flimsy plot with loopholes that elephants can dance around so cosily, in herds! there are so many chances for Abe to finish off Barts but he didn't do it, sticking instead to Henry's postal orders. why? even during the rescue of Johnson, he should have finished Adam off but he didn't, waiting instead for everyone in the south to suffer. plus, why did he have to abandon the mission of ridding vampires should his instructor was also a vampire? this is not about henry for g-sake!

and i tend to notice that this film is so crowd-pleasing. Johnson had been bitten but that doesn't turn him into vampire. the fiery train, how in the world that they escaped that? and how did Abe recover so quickly from his nightly wounds? grrr..

sincerely, this movie has too many holes in the story that i'm tired of enumerating them. too much. even Abe's prosthetic face seems too fake!

as for Henry, given that he can fight off Adam (as shown in the final fighting scene) and whatnots, he should stick to that. be a protector instead boleh? instead of making excuses for himself and preying upon vengeful desperate souls..

entahlah. it's a boring pointless film. the special effects are ok though.