Movie Review: The Fault of The Fault in our Stars

My eyes were puffy swollen from crying, my heart felt like it was being crushed and I was nearly drowned in my own pool of tears. Oh, gosh I almost died. The fault of The Fault in our stars!

Did I just blame the movie? Well, I don't really mean to. I watched it on Father's day so I was extra emotional that day. I mean it's Father's day and it's a special day for my Dad, who died of lung cancer in 2001. Probably, one of the reasons why I love the book and the movie is because of my Dad. I lost him to cancer so I can relate to it. And the reason I think, why a lot of people love it is because it plays the common denominator of everybody that been through this phase of life. It' s not just another cancer love story after all, it's actually about losing someone we love and what's life after losing them.  If the movie makes us cry, then maybe we have dearly loved someone and lose them. And watching the movie brought us back to the days we were shattered. Gus and Hazel wanted to get more numbers that they can likely get so they can make more beautiful and infinite moments with each other and with the people they love. The same way I wish my Dad had more numbers than he got so we could do the same. We are all like Gus and Hazel in a way. We all have our own battles to fight. No matter how different we may be from one another we have one thing in common. We are afraid of losing what we have.

And what can be more horrifying and worst than  losing someone we love?  It's not easy to let go of someone we want to keep for life. It was like hell. If only there's something we could do to make them stay longer but sadly there's none. A sad thing in life. We can only try and hang on but no matter what we do in the end it's still His will.  It's something beyond our control.

The movie was right. 'We can go on to an extent trying to live life in control, but really eventually fate is going to step in and we'll see that the fault is not always in ourselves.' I think that's the reason why it's called THE FAULT IN OUR STARS. The movie wants to show us that fate is fate and we can't do anything about it.  If life hands us something that we can't control no matter how hard we try, it's not our fault. It's destiny.

Quite long for an introduction huh?

Oh well, going back to the main purpose of this post (which is for me to share my thoughts about the movie along with my favorite scenes and lines) let me first tell you what happened prior to that. The boyfriend is not a book worm nor a sucker for  love story movies. I had to convince him or else I will watch the movie alone. Glad he agreed to join me. We planned to watch it as soon as it hits theaters nationwide. Why not?  It has been the talk of the town since the book version was published and the film adaptation was announced a couple of years ago. I read the book but I'm not done yet. I stopped reading when I heard the news about the movie coming out soon cause I opted to see the rest of their love story on the big screen and plainly just to avoid expectations and disappointments. Can you just imagine how long I've waited? I 'd been waiting for the movie to come out like forever and I  can't hold my excitement any longer. I even followed their facebook page and joined the count down. Oh yes, I was that excited. And finally June came. I was like so giddy. Unfortunately we didn't have time (conflicting schedules sucks) so I kinda  prolonged my agony for a few days more.  It's a good thing though cause  I still got some time to emotionally prepare myself for a potential heartache. For I know too well, that the movie was set out to massacre my poor heart or even worse. So then, just to make the story short, we finally got to see the movie last Sunday. We watched it in the afternoon and almost missed~thank goodness we got there just in the nick of time. It's as if the stars conspired so I can finally watch it. Oh yeah!

The Fault in our Stars is a  romantic comedy-drama film based on the novel of the same name by John Green. The title is inspired from an act of  Shakespeare's play Julius Caesar, in which Cassius says to Brutus:

"The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars,  But in ourselves, that we are underlings."

Not that the book nor the movie tried to oppose it but I guess both phrases works the other way around.

“But it is the nature of stars to cross, and never was Shakespeare more wrong.-John Green

Both Green and Shakespeare are right to an extent. Like what I've said above, if life hands us something that we can't control then it's not our fault. It's in the stars. It's fate. It's destiny. On the other hand, if we are given something that can be changed for the better and we chose not to, then the fault is in ourselves. Get it?

Okay then, let's go back with the story. It is an epic love story of two terminally ill teenagers, Hazel Grace Lancaster (Shailene Woodley) and Augustus Waters (Ansel Elgort ). They met, eventually got closer,  fell in love and fought for their dear lives to somehow make their little infinity bigger. Sadly, that's all they've got. Depressing. But can I just say that their kind of love is forever. It may be short but it's infinite. Did I just drop hints about the ending? (sorry) At least I didn't tell yet who the grenade was.

I love movies with happy endings. My favorites are those that have tragic love story though. Like, Titanic, A Walk to Remember, If Only, PS. I Love You and One Day to name a few. I don't know but I am so drawn to love stories with sad ending, those kind that will crush my heart. Maybe because the best romances don’t end happily, and the greatest love stories are tragedies above all. I find sad love stories  more effective as they give me pain and the pleasure of that pain makes me want to watch them all over again.

I'm a sucker for tragic love stories so I thought after watching tons of tragic romantic tales,  I already steeled myself from the tidal wave of emotions The Fault in our Stars will give me but no, I was wrong. I was literally bawling my eyes out and laughing (like crazy) all through out the movie. I was too overwrought. It's just that, the movie was so funny, heartbreaking and tear-jerking~I couldn't help it. My tears keep falling down, as steady as the rain. I was sobbing and all those tear-soaked tissues, my tear-stained cheeks and my swollen eyes can attest to that. Hazel and Gus' love story was too heartrending, I can feel them. Call me hyper-empathetic but Gus was right,That's the thing about Pain, it demands to be felt. Oh, how I love that line.

Well then, let me give you further details (rather spoilers) and show you some of  the scenes and the lines (almost all) I love most in the movie. As much as I want to keep the details under wraps until everybody got to watch it, I just can't. Lols!  I just feel the need to share it  (it's my blog anyway). It's going to be a major spoiler so if you haven't seen the movie yet stop reading. But if you don't mind, keep scrolling and get ready to cry with me. Ooops, don't forget to get your tissue boxes ready!

Hazel lying in the grass staring up at the stars, narrating the story. While scenes of her and Gus' little infinities are flashing.

"I believe we have a choice in this world about how to tell sad stories. On the one hand, you can sugarcoat it. When nothing is too messed up that can’t be fixed by a Peter Gabriel song. I like that version as much as the next girl does, it’s just not the truth. This is the truth” -Hazel

The support group. Gus stares at Hazel and smiles, gosh, his smile is to die for~I so love it. He's so handsome. Patrick asks Augustus how he's feeling and he said:

"I’m on a roller coaster that only goes up, my friend."-Gus

“There will come a time when all of us are dead. All of us. There will come a time when there are no human beings remaining to remember that anyone ever existed or that our species ever did anything. There will be no one left to remember Aristotle or Cleopatra, let alone you. Everything that we did and built and wrote and thought and discovered will be forgotten and all of this will have been for naught. Maybe that time is coming soon and maybe it is millions of years away, but even if we survive the collapse of our sun, we will not survive forever. There was time before organisms experienced consciousness, and there will be time after. And if the inevitability of human oblivion worries you, I encourage you to ignore it. God knows that’s what everyone else does.” -Hazel

After the meeting, Hazel waits for her mom, and Gus comes out to chat with her. They see Isaac and Monica making out and groping each other, then repeating "Always" to one another. Gus explains to Hazel that this is their way of saying they'll always love each other. He asks Hazel her name and tells her she's beautiful. He then puts a cigarette in his mouth, which upsets Hazel because it has ruined her impression of him. Gus explains that he never smokes the cigarettes he puts between his teeth so as to not give the killing item any power.

“It's a metaphor, see: You put the killing thing right between your teeth, but you don't give it the power to do its killing.” -Gus

They stay talking until 1:00 AM. Hazel decides it's time to hang up. "Okay," Gus responds. "Okay," Hazel says back. Gus decides that "Okay" can be their "Always".

'Maybe 'okay' will be our 'always'-Gus

Gus tells her that he spoke to the Genies and convinced them to grant him the wish of taking Hazel to Amsterdam. Isn't Gus the sweetest? Oh my.

She calls Gus and expresses her sadness. He comes over and they sit on the swings. He tells her that her keeping her distance from him does not lessen his affection toward her. She compares herself to a grenade and that she will blow up and destroy everything in her wake. But Gus said he wouldn't mind to be hurt by her. Still, not wanting to hurt Gus, Hazel decides they ought to remain friends.

"I'm a grenade. And one day I'm going to blow up, and obliterate everything in my wake. And I don't want to hurt you."-Hazel

“Oh, I wouldn't mind, Hazel Grace. It would be a privilege to have my heart broken by you.”  -Gus

They go to a Dutch restaurant, Oranjee. Gus proudly declares his love to Hazel, which puts a big smile on her face.

"I'm in love with you, and I'm not in the business of denying myself the simple pleasure of saying true things. I'm in love with you, and I know that love is just a shout into the void, and that oblivion is inevitable, and that we're all doomed and that there will come a day when all our labor has been returned to dust, and I know the sun will swallow the only earth we'll ever have, and I am in love with you.” -Gus

They get up to the floor with a vocal recording of Anne Frank's diary. As the voice talks about capturing beauty, Hazel and Gus share their first kiss. That kind of kiss! Heartfelt.

They go back to Gus's room and make love for the first time. Hazel leaves him with a drawing of the large virgin circle, and the circle of 18-year-old boys with one leg outside that big circle. Breaking free in Amsterdam!

“I fell in love with him the way you fall asleep, slowly and then all at once,” -Hazel

They sit on a bench and Gus tells her that when she was in the ICU, he felt a pain in his hip and got a PET scan. Hazel already knows what he's going to tell her. Gus says the scan "lit up like a Christmas tree", and the cancer returned and spread through his body. Hazel puts her head on his shoulder and cries. Gus tries to lighten the mood by suggesting they make out.

“The world is not a wish-granting factory.” -Gus

Hazel and Gus hang out with Isaac, who is now completely blind and tells them that Monica hasn't spoken to him since the break-up. To cheer him up, Hazel and Gus buy eggs, and they go to Monica's home and pelt her car with eggs.

Gus calls Hazel in the middle of the night to ask her to come to the gas station to help him. She drives over there to find him sitting in his car, covered in his own mucus and vomit, with an infection in his abdomen from the G-tube. Hazel starts to call for an ambulance, despite Gus's pleas. The ambulance arrives and takes Gus away. This scene makes me cry even harder. Poor Gus!

Hazel takes him to Funky Bones for a picnic. He expresses his desires to have left an impact on the world before he dies and his need to live an extraordinary life. Hazel takes offense to it and tells him that he doesn't need to do all that because she and his parents love him and that it should be enough. He says he's sorry and they drink champagne. This scene, while crying I told the boyfriend how tragic their love story is and he agreed. I feel sorry for them. *sigh*

“You say you’re not special because the world doesn’t know about you, but that’s an insult to me. I know about you.”-Hazel

The Mom and daughter hug is the sweetest. A tender moment between Hazel and her mom. Nothing beats a mother love.

“NO!” “I’m not eating dinner, and I can’t stay healthy, because I’m not healthy. I am dying, Mom. I am going to die and leave you here alone and you won’t have a me to hover around and you won’t be a mother anymore, and I’m sorry, but I can’t do anything about it, okay?!”-Hazel

“Even when you die, I will still be your mom, Hazel. I won’t stop being your mom.”-Mrs. Lancaster

Hazel joins Gus and Isaac at the church for what is a "pre-funeral" for Gus, since he wants to attend his own funeral. Isaac starts off a eulogy with a touch of humor, but says that if he ever is given "robot eyes", he would deny them because he doesn't want to see a world without Gus. Hazel goes up and starts to talk about her love story with Gus before saying that there are infinite numbers between 1 and 0, and that there are countless infinities, and that she is thankful for their infinity. They both say "I love you" to each other one last time. Literally sobbing at this part. So that's how it feels like to attend you funeral huh. More tissue please!

"When the scientists of the future show up at my house with robot eyes and they tell me to try them on, I will tell the scientists to screw off, because I do not want to see a world without him.”-Isaac

"Augustus Waters was the great star-crossed love of my life. Ours was an epic love story, and I won't be able to get more than a sentence into without disappearing into a puddle of tears. Gus knew, Gus knows. I will not tell you our love story because like real love stories~it will die with us at it should. I'd hope that he'd be eulogizing me, because there's no one I'd rather have. I can't talk about our love story so I will talk about Math. I am not a mathematician but I know this; There are infinite numbers between 0 and 1. There's .1 and .12 and .112 and an infinite set of numbers between 0 and 2 or between 0 and a million. Some infinities are bigger than other infinities. A writer we used to like taught us that. There are days, many of them, when I resent the size of my unbounded set. I want more numbers for Augustus Waters than he got. But Gus, my love, I can not tell you how thankful I am for our little infinity. I wouldn't trade it for the world. You gave me a forever within the numbered days, and I am grateful." -Hazel

Gus dies eight days later. The Lancasters receive a phone call in the middle of the night to hear the news. Hazel's parents walk into her room, and without a word, she knows what it is and she begins to cry. She recalls a time when undergoing treatment and the nurse asked her to rate her pain on a scale from 1 to 10. Hazel said 9, and the nurse said she was a fighter for calling a 10 a 9. She says that she was saving her 10 for this sort of occasion. Well, Hazel is right.“It was unbearable, the whole thing, every second worst than the last,”. I'm bawling like I'm Hazel, like I feel the pain she's feeling. And yes, I feel her. I am very low on tissues. Come on!

"I called it a nine because I was saving my ten. And here it was, the great and terrible ten."-Hazel

That Daddy and daughter heartfelt talk made me miss my Dad even more. *Sob violently*

“I believe the universe wants to be noticed. I think the universe is inprobably biased toward the consciousness, that it rewards intelligence in part because the universe enjoys its elegance being observed. And who am I, living in the middle of history, to tell the universe that it-or my observation of it-is temporary?”- Mr. Lancaster

Gus's voice reading her letter/eulogy, saying that he saw Hazel in the ICU while she slept, and how he thought about them together. He expresses his admiration for her beauty and personality, and adds that people can choose who hurts them. Gus liked his choice, and he hoped Hazel liked hers. He closes it with "Okay, Hazel Grace?"

The film ends with Hazel still looking up at the stars, replying, "Okay."

“Van Houten,

I’m a good person but a shitty writer. You’re a shitty person but a good writer. We’d make a good team. I don’t want to ask you any favors, but if you have time – and from what I saw, you have plenty – I was wondering if you could write a eulogy for Hazel. I’ve got notes and everything, but if you could just make it into a coherent whole or whatever? Or even just tell me what I should say differently.

Here’s the thing about Hazel: Almost everyone is obsessed with leaving a mark upon the world. Bequeathing a legacy. Outlasting death. We all want to be remembered. I do, too. That’s what bothers me most, is being another unremembered casualty in the ancient and inglorious war against disease.

I want to leave a mark.But Van Houten: The marks humans leave are too often scars. You build a hideous minimall or start a coup or try to become a rock star and you think, “They’ll remember me now,” but they don’t remember you, and all you leave behind are more scars. Your coup becomes a dictatorship. Your minimall becomes a lesion.(Okay, maybe I’m not such a shitty writer. But I can’t pull my ideas together, Van Houten. My thoughts are stars I can’t fathom into constellations.)

We are like a bunch of dogs squirting on fire hydrants. We poison the groundwater with our toxic piss, marking everything mine in a ridiculous attempt to survive our deaths. I can’t stop pissing on fire hydrants. I know it’s silly and useless – epically useless in my current state – but I am an animal like any other.

Hazel is different. She walks lightly, old man. She walks lightly upon the earth. Hazel knows the truth: We’re as likely to hurt the universe as we are to help it, and we’re not likely to do either.
People will say it’s sad that she leaves a lesser scar, that fewer remember her, that she was loved deeply but not widely. But it’s not sad, Van Houten. It’s triumphant. It’s heroic. Isn’t that the real heroism? Like the doctors say: First, do no harm.

The real heroes anyway aren’t the people doing things; the real heroes are the people noticing things, paying attention. The guy who invented the smallpox vaccine didn’t actually invented anything. He just noticed that people with cowpox didn’t get smallpox.

After my PET scan lit up, I snuck into the ICU and saw her while she was unconscious. I just walked in behind a nurse with a badge and I got to sit next to her for like ten minutes before I got caught. I really thought she was going to die, too. It was brutal: the incessant mechanized haranguing of intensive care. She had this dark cancer water dripping out of her chest. Eyes closed. Intubated. But her hand was still her hand, still warm and the nails painted this almost black dark blue and I just held her hand and tried to imagine the world without us and for about one second I was a good enough person to hope she died so she would never know that I was going, too. But then I wanted more time so we could fall in love. I got my wish, I suppose. I left my scar.

A nurse guy came in and told me I had to leave, that visitors weren’t allowed, and I asked if she was doing okay, and the guy said, “She’s still taking on water.” A desert blessing, an ocean curse.
What else? 

She is so beautiful. You don’t get tired of looking at her. You never worry if she is smarter than you: You know she is. She is funny without ever being mean. I love her. I am so lucky to love her, Van Houten. You don’t get to choose if you get hurt in this world, old man, but you do have some say in who hurts you. I like my choices. I hope she likes hers."Okay, Hazel Grace?"-Gus

Did I just recapitulate the movie? When I said I'll share my favorite scenes, didn't I say I'll share most everything? Oh gosh, I should really stop remembering the scenes that made me burst  into tears  now before I suffocate myself into my own puddle of tears once more. Cause quite frankly, I can barely even recap all the scenes without tearing up. Watching most of the scenes in the movie were like a punch to the heart by Manny Pacquiao and to go through them again definitely means torture. Oh well, enough with the scenes and the lines. Let's talk about the lessons learned.

Overall, the movie was  over-the-top flamboyant. It's the most poignant of all. It inspires me and taught me multiple moral lessons. It's an eye-opener that helps me appreciate the people I love even more.  It makes me realize that nothing in this world is certain, nothing is forever but love. And most of all it gives me a deeper sense of gratitude and appreciation for life and all the little things.

Yes, life can be so mean at times, it can gives us a cookie and takes it away but still we have to be thankful of  what it gave us and of what we have.  As what Peter Van Houten taught Gus and Hazel, some infinities are bigger than other infinities. Theirs wasn't big at all but they are happy and thankful with their little infinity. Life is transitory it doesn't last forever, but with the time that is given to us, we can find some sort of purpose. Know it and accept it. After all, life is all about acceptance.

Life is pain but it doesn't have to be always a bad thing because some lessons in life are best learned through pain. We are all vulnerable and we all know that pain is inevitable but we must know that suffering is optional. Whether or not we suffer is our choice.

Life doesn't always give us good things, but we can still feel good when we live it in a way we want. So let us choose the life we really want and live it to the fullest. For we only live once, but once is enough if we live it right.

There’s so much more I want to share but I think my post is now too long and can already make a massive tome. Lols. I'm sorry for the word vomit. It's just that the movie excites me that much. It left me with too many emotions (you can probably tell I haven't recovered yet from last week's bawling, weeping, sobbing and all) all at once that I couldn't even put into words. Random thoughts keeps popping up in my head but my fingers can't keep up with them anymore. Perhaps, I need Peter Van Houten's help to make my post quite writerly. You think?

Did my (super long) post broke your heart, stole all your tears and got you dehydrated? Well, you'll get more if you watch it.  I hope my post get you psyched to see it. Go watch it, don't you dare miss the greatest love story ever told. Don't be left out. And oh, again keep a box of tissue handy. I mean boxes. Okay? Okay.

The 85th Academy Awards : The Nominees

The 85th Academy Awards  also known as The Oscars is happening this February 24th ( the day after my birthday-yay) and yes I am excited as you guys are, not because of the winners but actually because of the red carpet-lol! Still, I wonder who will bring home the awards though. I have seen Les Miserables and Silver Linings Playbook and I can say that they're really great and deserving to win but I'm trying not to be bias here ok, I'm planning to watch the rest of the movies nominated this year to see it for myself. And speaking of the nominees, I got them all here guys! So if you wanna know check this out!

Best Picture

Lincoln

Silver Linings Playbook

Life of Pi

DJango Unchained

Les Miserables

Argo

Amour

Zero Dark Thirty

Best Actor

 Hugh Jackman 

Les Misérables

 Bradley Cooper 

   Silver Linings Playbook

 Denzel Washington 

Flight

Joaquin Phoenix 

The Master

Daniel Day-Lewis 

Lincoln

Best Actress 

 Quvenzhané Wallis 

Beasts of the Southern Wild

Emmanuelle Riva

 Amour

 Jennifer Lawrence 

 Silver Linings Playbook

Naomi Watts 

The Impossible

Jessica Chastain 

Zero Dark Thirty

Best Supporting Actress

Amy Adams-The Master

Sally Field-Lincoln

Anne Hathaway-Les Misérables

Helen Hunt-The Sessions

Jacki Weaver-Silver Linings Playbook

Best Supporting Actor

Alan Arkin-Argo

Robert De Niro-Silver Linings Playbook

Philip Seymour Hoffman-The Master

Tommy Lee Jones-Lincoln

Christoph Waltz-Django Unchained

For the rest of the nominees kindly check  THE OSCARS SITE.  

There you have it guys! You can now choose your pick and just in case you haven't seen any of the movies above, well, I suggest you better do. Bet the stars are now religiously praying while keeping their fingers crossed. The Oscars is one of the most prominent award ceremonies in the world so who wouldn't want to bring home one anyway? Having an Oscars mean $$$$$$$$ for the stars, films and studios but of course nothing beats the recognition, the honor and the taste of glory they can have, that's priceless right?! So who ever wins big this year hats off in advance! Goodluck!

credits: photos from google/wikipedia/the Oscar

Mai-Top 14 Romantic Movies: Must watch for Valentines day!

You guys all know that I'm a flick fancier and I could just sit and watch movies all day long and be ok with it. In fact, a lot of my drama comes from watching movies more times than I can begin to count-lol! I just love how movies can carry me away from reality, it's just amazing how they can let me be into another world and into someone shoes even just for a while. Not to mention how they can twirl my emotions, they make me laugh, cry and fall in love in an instant, haha! Ok, enough! 

And since I promised to spread  love on my birthday month and Valentines day, yes Valentines day is quickly approaching I guess this post is perfect and timely. Here, I'd like to show you guys 14 (since Valentines day is on Feb. 14) of my all time favorite/personal list of romantic movies that will surely touch your heart and make your eyes water. I should know, I already watched these  for how many times, I can hardly remember and cried bucket of tears to death. I swear these are the best of best so just in case you haven't seen these and you're looking for movies to watch, this is for you--here you go!

P.S I Love You

(Hilary Swank  and Gerard Butler)

'I know what I want, because I have it in my hands right now. You.' ~Gerry

Plot:

Holly and Gerry are a married couple who live on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. They are deeply in love, but they fight occasionally. Gerry dies suddenly of a brain tumor and Holly realizes how much he means to her as well as how insignificant their arguments were.

Deeply distraught, Holly withdraws from her family and friends until they descend upon her on her 30th birthday. They are determined to force the young widow to face the future and decide what her next career move should be. As they rally around Holly and help organize her apartment, a cake is delivered, and with it is a message from Gerry. It proves to be the first of several meaningful messages — all ending with "P.S. I Love You" — which he had arranged to have delivered to her after his death. As the seasons pass, each new message fills her with encouragement and sends her on a new adventure. Holly's mother believes that Gerry's letters are keeping Holly tied to the past. But they are, in fact, pushing her into the future. With Gerry's words as her guide, Holly slowly embarks on a journey of rediscovery.

Gerry arranged for Holly and her friends Denise and Sharon to travel to his homeland of Ireland. While there, they meet William, a singer who strongly reminds Holly of her deceased husband. He then dedicates a song to her but on hearing it she leaves the place because it was Gerry's song for her. During the vacation, while on a fishing trip they get stuck in the middle of a lake without any oars to steer their boat with. At that moment Denise announces she's engaged and Sharon reveals that she is pregnant. This news causes Holly to relapse emotionally and again withdraw into herself. They are eventually rescued by William and he decides to spend the night with them. That night William and Holly get involved physically and Holly tells him about Gerry's family when William reveals he is actually Gerry's childhood friend. This causes Holly to freak out but William calms her down and starts to tell stories about his and Gerry's childhood. Next day Holly visits Gerry's parents and while there she also receives a letter from Gerry reminding her of their first meeting.

Holly eventually enrolls in a fashion course and discovers that she has a flair for designing women's shoes. A new found self-confidence allows her to emerge from her solitude and embrace her friends' happiness. While on a walk with her mother, she learns that her mother was the one whom Gerry asked to deliver his letters after his death. She takes her mother on a trip to Ireland and, as the film ends, it appears that Holly has opened herself up to the journey that the rest of her life will be, and wherever it takes her; she finally abandons her fear of falling in love again.

A Walk To Remember

(Shane West and Mandy Moore)

 'Love is always patient and kind. It is never jealous. Love is never boastful or conceited. It is never rude or selfish. It does not take offense and is not resentful.' ~Landon

Plot:
When a prank on fellow high-school student Clay Gephardt goes wrong, popular but rebellious Landon Carter (Shane West) is threatened with expulsion. His punishment is mandatory participation in various after-school activities, such as the drama club, where he is forced to interact with quiet, kind and bookish Jamie Sullivan (Mandy Moore), a girl he has known for many years but to whom he has rarely ever spoken. Their differing social statures leave them worlds apart, despite their close physical proximity.

When Landon has trouble learning his lines he asks Jamie for help. They begin practicing together at her house after school. At first Landon is only using Jamie for her help with the play, and treats her coldly when his other friends are around. But as he spends more and more time with her, he is surprised to find that she is far from the person he thought she was, and begins to question who he really wants to impress.

During the play, Jamie astounds Landon and the entire audience with her beauty and voice, and Landon kisses her on the stage. Afterwards, he tries to get closer to her, but she repeatedly rejects him. Soon thereafter, however, Landon's friends publicly humiliate Jamie by altering a photograph of her and placing her head on the body of a scantily clad woman. Landon angrily confronts his former friend, punching him and publicly siding with Jamie. Afterwards, Landon and Jamie begin a relationship in which Landon dedicates most of his time to her. He discovers that she has a wish list, and sets out to make all her ambitions come true, such as taking her to a state border so that she can stand on either side of the line and, thus, be in two places at once.

In the final stretch of the movie, Jamie confesses to Landon that she is afflicted by terminal leukemia and has stopped responding to treatments. Landon gets upset at first, and Jamie tells him the reason she did not tell him is that she was moving on with her life and using the time she had left but then Landon happened and she fell in love with him.

Jamie's cancer gets worse, her father rushes her to the hospital where he meets Landon. Landon doesn't leave Jamie's side until her father practically has to pry him away. Jamie's father sits with Jamie and tells her that "If I've kept you too close, it's because I want to keep you longer."

Soon, word gets out about Jamie's illness. Eric, Landon's best friend, comes and tells him how sorry he is and that he did not understand. Other friends come and apologize too.

Later, Jamie gives Landon a book that was her mother's filled with quotes. Landon reads 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 along with her. Jamie then tells Landon that she believes that God sent him to her to help her through her illness and that he is her angel. He later learns that his estranged father is going to pay for private home care for Jamie. Landon shows up at his father's door and thanks him before breaking down in tears as his father hugs him.

Landon continues to fulfill various wishes on Jamie's list, such as building her a telescope so she can see a comet. Through this process, Landon and Jamie learn more about the nature of love. Landon is finally able to grant Jamie's top wish by marrying her in the same chapel her parents got married in. Landon narrates that they had a perfect summer together with more love than anybody could possibly know and that she died soon after. Landon himself becomes a better person through Jamie's memory, achieving the goals that he set out to do, like she did.

Four years later, Landon visits Jamie's father and shows that he is still a better person because of Jamie by informing her father that he has been accepted into medical school; prior to falling in love with Jamie, he had no plans for his future after high school. Jamie's father tells him that both he and his mother are proud of him and that Jamie would be too. Landon tells him that he is sorry he never granted Jamie's wish to witness a miracle. Jamie's father tells him that she did in fact witness one: it was him. Carrying that thought, Landon goes for a walk on the docks where he narrates saying that Jamie changed him forever and that while he misses her, he believes their love is like the wind: he can't see it, but will always feel it. The movie ends with Landon, looking at the sunset, smiling.

If Only

Jennifer Love Hewitt and Paul Nicholls

  'If not for you I would never have known love at all. So thank you for being the person who taught me to love and to be love.' ~Ian

Plot: 

Ian Wyndham (Nicholls) is an English businessman who lives with his musician girlfriend, Samantha Andrews (Hewitt) in London. Taking us through a day in Ian and Sam's life, the film opens by showing different events such as Sam getting burnt on a kettle, Ian's watch breaking, Sam getting Coca-Cola spilt on her and Ian being interrupted by Sam during an important meeting at work. (She had mistakenly thought that Ian had forgotten his presentation folder at home, when in fact it was just another similar but less important folder.)

As the day progresses we see Ian in a taxi. He tells the driver (Tom Wilkinson) about how he and Sam are going through difficulties. The driver recommends he should just love her. After Sam's concert that night, Ian tries to dismiss Sam's favorite student. At dinner Sam confronts Ian where her frustration boils over. She gets angry at Ian for his attitude toward her and tells him that she just wants him to love her. Sam storms out of the restaurant in tears, Ian following close behind and asking for her forgiveness. Sam gets in a passing taxi and as Ian tries to get in beside her he notices that the driver is the same man who he traveled with earlier that day. The man gives Ian an ominous smile and as the clock hits 11 PM, Sam closes the door, leaving Ian standing there. As he watches the taxi drive away, Ian makes one last attempt to reconcile with Sam and runs after the taxi as it stops at a traffic light. Before he gets there, the lights change and the taxi begins driving again. As it speeds up, the taxi is struck violently by another car and comes to a stop on the middle of the street. Ian halts and falls on his knees in shock.

At a nearby hospital, Sam is being taken into the ER and Ian is running through the hospital looking for her. He arrives outside the room where Sam was and through a windows sees her wounded and surrounded by medical personnel. Sam looks over to the window towards Ian, a blank expression on her face. Ian begins to cry and before the doctors can help her, Sam succumbs to her injuries and dies. Ian falls to the floor in the hospital in disbelief. We see Sam's friend Lottie (Lucy Davenport) enter a hospital room, where Ian is sitting in a chair. They both begin to cry. Ian goes back to his apartment, finds Sam's notebook and opens it, finding a song she was working on. He falls asleep clutching the notebook close to him. As the next day begins, Ian wakes up with the notebook still held tight. He is shocked to hear a voice behind him tell him not to read a word. He jumps up and screams, only to see Sam standing in his apartment. After the initial confusion, Ian comes to the conclusion that the previous day must have been a dream and continues the morning, happy to have Sam by his side

As the morning progresses however, Sam gets burnt by her hair straighteners in the same place she had been burnt by the kettle in his supposed dream. Able to shake this off as a sheer coincidence, Ian takes no further notice of it. Other events similar to those he already experienced begin happening too, although at different times and in different ways, as Sam gets Coca-Cola spilt on her. This time Ian mentions his dream to her, and she convinces him that it was just a dream, and if his watch remains in working order then it can't possibly be the same day as his dream. Nonetheless, Ian is still cautious, and while in a meeting at work he holds his folder in his hands. Sam sees this from outside the glass doors and his meeting is left uninterrupted. Later in the day, Ian gets into a taxi. After talking to the taxi driver he realizes that the driver is the man from the previous day. He questions the man about this and the driver says he does not remember, although he once again gives Ian an ominous smile, implying he may in fact know about Sam's accident and all the previous events. This convinces Ian once and for all, and he runs to Sam, who's helping her friend Lottie set up for an art gallery.

After convincing her to come with him, he brings her to a train station. After much questioning Sam reveals they are traveling to Ian's rural home town. A delighted Sam makes sure that she'll be back in time for her concert, which Ian ensures they will be. Ian brings Sam up a mountain, to a spot he used to visit as a child. The two find a little abandoned cottage on the mountainside to use as shelter during a rain storm. Upon setting up a fire while Sam sits down, Ian notices that his watch is cracked and isn't working. He turns to look at Sam, who's lighting candles on a table. Sam smiles and when Ian asks what she would do if she didn't have a lot of time left, she replies that she'd do what she's doing right now; spending time with him, just being together. Ian and Sam begin kissing, before making love. Afterwards, they make their way back down the mountain, disappointed that they never made it to Ian's spot. In the town below, the two have drinks and Ian tells Sam about his father, who lost his beloved job in 1993 before becoming an alcoholic and dying sometime later. Ian reveals that he wishes he could have helped his father more, but Sam says he was only a child at the time and wherever his father is now, he's proud of him.

The two travel back to London and Ian takes Sam on the London Eye as another surprise. They then travel back to their apartment and while Sam is distracted, Ian takes a page from her notebook and brings it to a nearby photocopying shop while Sam travels to her concert with her violin. Before the show begins Ian sends a bouquet of flowers up to Sam and gives the photocopied pages to an organizer. A puzzled Sam looks out to Ian in the crowd when her bouquet arrives. His plan is soon revealed however when Ian comes onto center-stage with a microphone. He calls a reluctant Sam to his side, who gets nervous. Ian goes and talks to Sam at her seat and tells her she doesn't want to disappoint her future fans. Sam proceeds onto the stage as the orchestra begins to play the song printed on Ian's photocopied sheets. She sings the song she wrote for Ian in her notebook and the crowd burst into applause at her performance. While walking to a restaurant of Sam's choice, she describes her feelings to Ian.

In an intimate surrounding, Sam and Ian discuss the day in a sheer contrast to Ian's experience the previous night. Ian gives Samantha a charm bracelet with different charms and symbols: a musical note, a violin, a flower (which he describes as exquisite, much like Sam herself), the train they took that day, the Eiffel Tower, which Sam had always wanted to see, a frying pan (Sam's the only person who can do the flipping thing), and finally a heart (his heart, which is Sam's now). The two sit in silence as Sam's tears well up and she smiles across at Ian. As they leave the restaurant in a downpour, Sam tries to get a taxi to take them home. Ian realizes they are in the same spot as the previous night when the accident took place and tells her to look at him and listen. In the rain, Sam listens as Ian professes his love for her and tells her that if it weren't for her or today, he would never have known true love at all. Ian thanks her for being the person who taught him to love. Sam begins crying and says she doesn't know what to say, to which he replies that she doesn't need to say anything.

A taxi pulls up and Sam gets in, beckoning Ian to get in too. He gets in next to her. As the taxi approaches the traffic lights, Ian and Sam kiss. He looks forward and sees the clock strike 11 PM and the same ominous smile he has seen so many times already. Sam smiles at him as the taxi pulls away and images of Sam's accident flash through his mind. He sees a car light through his window and grabs Sam tight for the last time. Sam's scream can be heard. At the hospital, we see Sam's friend Lottie run through the halls. She turns a corner and enters a hospital room, where Sam is sitting in a bed. Sam tells Lottie about Ian's premonition and how she didn't believe him. She and Lottie begin to cry. In the end it was Ian who was the victim of the accident.

Six months later, Sam is sitting in the apartment, with Ian's watch in her hands. Everything is packed into boxes and Sam takes a last look at the room. We see her singing on stage in a restaurant, with Lottie sitting at the closest table to her. She travels to the cottage on the mountain which she and Ian visited and continues climbing until she reaches Ian's spot at the peak of the mountain. She stands at the top, staring out into a valley, not knowing what lies ahead.

The Notebook

(Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams)

'So it's not gonna be easy. It's going to be really hard; we're gonna have to work at this everyday, but I want to do that because I want you. I want all of you, forever, everyday. You and me... everyday' ~Noah

Plot:
At a modern-day nursing home, an elderly man, whom people call "Duke" (James Garner), begins to read a romantic love story from his notebook to an elderly woman, fellow patient (Gena Rowlands).

His story begins in 1940. In Seabrook Island, South Carolina, local country boy Noah Calhoun (Ryan Gosling) is smitten with a seventeen-year-old heiress named Allie Hamilton (Rachel McAdams) after seeing her at a carnival, and they share an idyllic summer romantic love affair. Noah takes Allie to an abandoned house, which he explains he intends to buy for them. Later that evening, she asks him to make love to her, but they are interrupted by Noah's friend Fin (Kevin Connolly) with the news that Allie's parents have the police out looking for her. When Allie and Noah return to her parents' mansion, they ban her from seeing Noah, whom they say is "trash, trash, trash not for you!" The two break up, and the next morning, Allie's mother announces that the family is returning home to Charleston.

Noah writes a letter each day to Allie for one year, but Allie's mother intercepts them all and keeps them hidden from Allie. As each sweetheart/lover sees there is no contact from the other, Noah and Allie have no choice but to move on with their lives; Noah and Fin enlist to fight in World War II and Fin is killed in battle. Allie becomes a volunteer in a hospital for wounded soldiers, where she meets an officer named Lon Hammond, Jr. (James Marsden), a young lawyer who is handsome, sophisticated, and charming, and comes from old Southern money. The two eventually become engaged, to the delight of Allie's parents, but Allie pictures Noah's face when Lon asks her to marry him.

When Noah returns home from the war, he discovers his father has sold their home so that Noah can buy the abandoned house, fulfilling his lifelong dream to buy it for the departed Allie, whom by now he has not seen for several years. While visiting Charleston, Noah witnesses Allie and Lon playing cards at a restaurant; he convinces himself that if he fixes up the house, Allie will come back to him. Later, Allie is startled to read in the newspaper that Noah has completed the house, and she visits him in Seabrook.

In the present, it is made clear that the elderly woman is in fact Allie, who is suffering from Alzheimer's disease and cannot remember any of the events of the film so far. Duke, the man who is reading to her is, in fact, her husband, Noah, but Allie cannot recognize him.

Back in the 1940s, the day after Allie arrives in Seabrook, she and Noah renew their strong romantic relationship and make love. In the morning, Allie's mother appears on Noah's doorstep, telling Allie that Lon has come to Seabrook to take her home. She takes Allie out for a drive and reveals that, twenty-five years earlier, she also loved a common man, of whom her parents also disapproved. She leaves Allie with a bundle of letters—all of Noah's letters (implying she had intercepted them as an attempt to protect her from getting her heart broken) and hopes that Allie will make the right choice. Allie confesses to Lon that she has been spending time with Noah. He is angry, but says that he still deeply loves her. Allie tells him she knows she should be with him, but she remains indecisive.

In the present, Duke asks Allie whom she chose. Becoming lucid, she remembers that the story Duke was reading is the story of how they first met. Young Allie appears at Noah's doorstep, having left Lon at the hotel and chosen Noah. Elderly Allie suddenly remembers her past; after finding out about her illness, she herself wrote their story in the notebook with instructions for Noah to "read this to me, and I'll come back to you." But minutes later Allie relapses, losing her memories of Noah again. She panics, not understanding who he is, and has to be sedated.

The elderly Noah has a heart attack, and Allie is alone for a time. However, as soon as he is sufficiently recovered, Noah ("Duke") goes to Allie's room one evening to find her lucid again. Allie questions Noah about what will happen to them when she will not be able to remember anything anymore, and he reassures her that he will never ever leave her. She asks him if he thinks their strong and mutual romantic love for each other is strong enough to "take them away together"; he replies that he thinks their strong romance could do anything. After telling each other they love one another, Noah adds "I'll be seeing you". The next morning, a nurse comes into Allie's room, only to find Allie and Noah dead in each others arms. As the camera pans out, we see they died holding hands.

Titanic

(Leonardo DiCarpio and Kate Winslet)

'I’ll never let go, Jack. I promise.' ~Rose

Plot:
In 1996, treasure hunter Brock Lovett and his team explore the wreck of RMS Titanic, searching for a valuable diamond necklace called the Heart of the Ocean. They recover Caledon "Cal" Hockley's safe, believing the necklace to be inside, but instead find a sketch of a nude woman wearing it, dated April 14, 1912, the night the Titanic hit the iceberg. Hearing about the drawing, an elderly woman named Rose Dawson Calvert calls Lovett and claims that she is the woman depicted in the drawing. She and her granddaughter, Lizzy Calvert, visit him and his team on his salvage ship. When asked if she knows the whereabouts of the necklace, Rose recalls her time aboard the Titanic, revealing that she is Rose DeWitt Bukater, a passenger believed to have died in the sinking. She then begins her story as follows:

In 1912, 17-year-old first class passenger Rose boards "Titanic" in Southampton with her fiancé Cal and her mother Ruth DeWitt Bukater. Ruth stresses the importance of Rose's engagement, as the marriage would solve the DeWitt Bukaters' secret financial problems. Distraught by her engagement, Rose considers suicide by jumping off the ship's stern; a drifter and artist named Jack Dawson stops her. Discovered with Jack on the stern, Rose tells Cal that she was looking over the ship's edge in curiosity and that Jack saved her from falling. Pressed, Jack confirms her account. Cal is at first aloof to Jack, but when Rose indicates that recognition is due, he offers him a small amount of money. After Rose mocks Cal for this, asking if saving her life means so little, he invites Jack to a first-class dinner the following night. Jack and Rose develop a tentative friendship, even though Cal and Ruth are wary of the young third-class man. Following the dinner that night, Rose secretly joins Jack at a party in the ship's third-class quarter.

Because Cal and Ruth forbid her to see Jack, Rose attempts to rebuff Jack's continuing advances. She soon realizes, though, that she prefers him over Cal, and meets him at the bow of the ship during what turns out to be the Titanic's final moments of daylight. They then go to Rose's stateroom, where she asks Jack to sketch her nude while wearing the Heart of the Ocean, Cal's engagement present to her. Afterward, the two evade Cal's bodyguard and make love inside a car in the ship's cargo hold. Going afterwards to the ship's forward well deck, they witness the ship's collision with an iceberg and overhear the ship's officers and designer outline its seriousness. Rose tells Jack that they should warn her mother and Cal.

Cal discovers Jack's drawing and a mocking note from Rose in his safe along with the necklace. Furious, he has his bodyguard slip the necklace into Jack's coat pocket. Accused of stealing it, Jack is arrested, taken down to the Master-at-arms's office and handcuffed to a pipe. Cal puts the necklace in his coat. Rose runs away from Cal and her mother (who has boarded a lifeboat) and releases Jack. The ship then starts to launch flares in order to attract any nearby ships.

Once Jack and Rose reach the deck, Cal and Jack persuade her to board another lifeboat, Cal claiming that he has arranged for himself and Jack to get off safely. After she boards, Cal tells Jack that the arrangement is only for himself. As Rose's boat lowers, she realizes that she cannot leave Jack, and jumps back on board the Titanic to reunite with him. Infuriated, Cal takes a pistol and chases them into the flooding first-class dining saloon. After exhausting his ammunition, Cal realizes to his chagrin that he gave his coat with the diamond to Rose. With the situation now dire, he returns to the boat deck and boards a lifeboat by pretending to look after a lost child.

Jack and Rose return to the top deck. All lifeboats have departed and passengers are falling to their deaths as the stern rises out of the water. The ship breaks in half, and the stern side rises 90-degrees into the air. As it sinks, Jack and Rose ride the stern into the ocean. Jack helps Rose onto a wall panel only able to support one person's weight. Holding the panel's edge, he assures her she will die an old woman, warm in her bed. Meanwhile, Fifth Officer Harold Lowe has commandeered a lifeboat to search for survivors. Jack soon dies of hypothermia and Rose draws the attention of Lowe's boat, and is ultimately saved.

Rose and the other survivors are taken by the RMS Carpathia to New York, where Rose gives her name as Rose Dawson. She hides from Cal on Carpathia's deck as he searches for her. She learns later that he committed suicide after losing his fortune in the Wall Street Crash of 1929.

Her story complete, Rose goes alone to the stern of Lovett's ship. There she takes out the Heart of the Ocean, which has been in her possession all along, and drops it into the ocean. While seemingly asleep in her bed, the photos on her dresser are a visual chronicle that she lived a free life inspired by Jack. The young Rose is then seen reuniting with Jack at the Grand Staircase of the RMS Titanic, applauded and congratulated by those who perished on the ship.

Serendipity

(John Cusack and Kate Beckinsale)

 'You don't have to understand. You just have to have faith.'

Plot:
During the Christmas shopping season in New York City, Jonathan Trager (John Cusack) meets Sara Thomas (Kate Beckinsale) as they both try to buy the same pair of black cashmere gloves at Bloomingdale's. They feel a mutual attraction, and despite the fact that each is involved in other relationships, they end up eating ice cream at Serendipity 3 together, and soon exchange goodbyes. However, both realize that they have left something at the ice cream bar, and return only to find each other again.

Considering this to be a stroke of fate, Jonathan and Sara decide to go out on the town together, and ice skate on the Wollman Rink at Central Park. Jonathan teaches Sara about Cassiopeia, saying that the freckles on Sara's arm match the pattern of the Cassiopeia constellation. At the end of the night, the smitten Jonathan suggests an exchange of phone numbers. Sara writes hers down, but it flies away with the wind. Wanting fate to work things out, Sara asks Jonathan to write his name and phone number on a $5 bill, while she writes her name and number on the inside cover of a copy of Love in the Time of Cholera. If they are meant to be together, he will find the book and she will find the $5 bill, and they will find their way back to each other. Jonathan is not satisfied with this so they go into a hotel with 28 floors and enter into different elevators to see if they both choose the same floor. They each take a single glove from the pair they purchased. They both press floor 23, but a child gets on the elevator with Jonathan and presses all the buttons, so it is too late by the time he reaches floor 23. The two believe they've lost each other forever.

Several years later, Jonathan is at an engagement party with his fiancé Halley Buchanan (Bridget Moynahan). On the same day, in San Francisco, Sara comes home to find Lars Hammond (John Corbett), a famous musician, proposing to her. As their wedding dates approach, each find themselves with a case of cold feet, and decide to return to New York in an attempt to find each other again.

Jonathan returns to Bloomingdale's in an attempt to find Sara. He meets a salesman (Eugene Levy) and eventually with the help of the salesman and Jonathan's best friend Dean Kansky (Jeremy Piven) Jonathan ends up with only an address. After additional research, Jonathan and Dean meet an artist who recalls that Sara lived with him for a short time after being referred by a placement company, which he identifies as being located in a shop next to Serendipity 3. Jonathan and Dean follow the lead to find that the agency has moved and its former location is now a bridal shop. Jonathan takes this as a sign that he is supposed to stop looking for Sara, and get married to Halley.

Sara takes her best friend Eve (Molly Shannon) with her to New York, where she visits the locations of her date, hoping that fate will bring back Jonathan. Celebrating Eve's birthday, Sara and Eve console themselves with a visit to Serendipity. Eve is handed the $5 bill as change. At the Waldorf Astoria, Eve bumps into an old friend--Halley--who is there to get married the next day. Halley invites Eve and Sara to the wedding without anyone realizing the groom is Jonathan. Sara returns to her hotel room, where she finds Lars, who followed her to New York. While with Lars, she sees Cassiopeia in the sky, and breaks her engagement with him.

The night before their wedding, Halley hands Jonathan a copy of Love in the Time of Cholera as a gift, having noticed him picking up the book every time they're in a bookstore. It is the copy that Sara had written in, and he immediately sets off to find her. He sees people in her house being intimate, when it's actually Sara's sister and her boyfriend. Jonathan then comes back home for the wedding.

Sara decides not to attend the wedding, and starts to return home. On the plane, Sara finds that her wallet got exchanged with Eve’s. She realizes she has the same $5 bill which Jonathan wrote on several years earlier, and gets off the plane to search for him. His neighbors tell her he’s getting married the same day. She rushes to the hotel, only to see a man, apparently cleaning up at the end of the ceremony. She is in tears until the man says the wedding was called off. Sara later remembers she left her jacket in the park.

Jonathan is wandering around Central Park. He finds Sara's jacket and uses it as a pillow to lie down. As the first snowflake drops, he sees Sara. They introduce themselves to each other formally for the first time. The film concludes with Sara and Jonathan at Bloomingdale's, enjoying champagne on their anniversary at the same spot where they first met.

50 First Dates

(Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore)

 'Being with you is the only way I could have a full and happy life. You’re the girl of my dreams… and apparently, I’m the man of yours.' ~Henry

Plot:
Henry Roth is a veterinarian at Sea Life Park on the island of Oahu who has a reputation of womanizing female tourists. He shows no interest in committing to a serious relationship and his closest friends are Ula, a marijuana-smoking Islander; his assistant Alexa, whose sexuality and gender is unclear; and Willy, his pet African penguin.

One day Henry’s boat The Sea Serpent, breaks down while he is sailing around Oahu. He goes to the Hukilau Café to wait for the coastguard. There, he sees a pretty young woman named Lucy Whitmore, who makes architectural art with her waffles. Henry assumes she is a local, which prevents him from introducing himself, but the next day he comes back. Lucy and he hit if off instantly and she asks him to meet her again tomorrow morning.

However, when Henry goes back to the café, Lucy shows no recollection of ever meeting him. The restaurant owner Sue (Amy Hill) explains to Henry that a year ago, Lucy and her father Marlin went up to the North Shore to pick a pineapple for his birthday. On the way back, they got into a serious car accident that left Lucy with Goldfield Syndrome, a type of anterograde amnesia. She wakes up every morning thinking it is Sunday, October 13 of the last year. To save her the heartbreak of reliving the accident everyday, Marlin and Doug, Lucy’s lisping steroid-addicted brother, relive Marlin's birthday by doing numerous tasks, including putting out October 13th's newspaper, watching the same Vikings game, and refilling Lucy’s shampoo bottles.

Despite Sue’s warning, Henry decided to try and get Lucy to have breakfast with him. Eventually he does, but it ends poorly when Henry accidentally hurts Lucy’s feelings. He follows her home to apologize where Marlin and Doug instruct Henry to leave Lucy alone. Henry begins concocting ways to run into Lucy through the following days such as pretending to have car trouble, creating a fake road block and by having Ula beat him up. Eventually, Marlin and Doug figure this out due to Lucy singing The Beach Boys "Wouldn't It Be Nice" on the days when she meets Henry.

One day, as Henry is about to sit with Lucy at breakfast, she notices a police officer writing her a ticket for her expired plates. Lucy attempts to argue that they are not yet expired, and takes a newspaper to prove herself, but sees that the date on all the newspapers is not October as she thought, and Marlin and Doug are forced to admit their ruse when she confronts them.

Henry comes up with an idea to make a video explaining to Lucy her accident and their relationship and play it every morning for her. She watched the tape and is hurt, but eventually comes to her senses and she is able to spend the day by picking up where the tape says she left off. She spends more time with Henry and goes to see some of her old friends. Lucy decides to erase Henry completely from her life after learning of his decision to not take a sailing trip to Bristol Bay to study walruses, something that has been in planning mode for the past 10 years. He feels he cannot leave Lucy for the year it will take him. Henry reluctantly helps her destroy her journal entries of their relationship.

A few weeks later, Henry is preparing to leave for his sailing trip. Before he goes, Marlin tells him that Lucy is now living at the brain institute and teaching an art class. He also tells him that she sings. Then, he gives Henry a Beach Boys CD. Listening to the CD, Henry becomes emotional and curses Marlin for giving him the CD and making him feel so emotional. He then remembers that Marlin once told him that Lucy always sings after she meets him. He then realizes that Lucy remembers him and turns around to go home. She says she does not remember, but that she dreams about him every night and paints pictures of him. They reconcile.

Some time later, Lucy wakes up and plays the tape marked “Good Morning Lucy”. It again reminds her of her accident, but ends with her and Henry’s wedding. From the tape, Henry says to put a jacket on and come have breakfast when she is ready. Lucy then sees that she is on Henry’s boat, which finally made it to Alaska. She goes up on deck and meets Marlin, Henry and their young daughter, Nicole.

Sweet Home Alabama

 (Reese Witherspoon and Josh Lucas)

     'The truth is I gave my heart away a long time ago, my whole heart, and I never really got it back.' ~Melanie

Plot:

 The film opens on an Alabama beach with two children, Melanie Smooter and Jake Perry, chasing each other. The two discuss their future together. They kiss, and Jake says they will be married one day. The scene then moves to the present day. Melanie (Reese Witherspoon) has changed her last name to Carmichael to hide her Southern roots. She now is a successful fashion designer in New York City. After becoming engaged to the mayor's son, Andrew (Patrick Dempsey), Melanie announces that she has to go back home alone to Alabama to tell her parents. She has not told Andrew that she is still married to Jake (Josh Lucas).

Upon arrival in Alabama, Melanie demands a divorce and an explanation as to why, for the last seven years, Jake has returned the divorce papers unsigned. Jake, once again, refuses to sign the papers, first demanding that Melanie visit her parents to say hello. Melanie retaliates by emptying out their joint checking account. After following Jake to a local bar, Melanie gets drunk and embarrasses herself in front of her friends, confessing that she had previously been pregnant with Jake's baby, which ended in a miscarriage. She also reveals that a mutual friend, Bobby Ray, is gay. Jake becomes angry with her and takes her home. When Melanie wakes up the next morning, the divorce papers are lying on her bed and finally signed by Jake.

Soon after, Melanie visits the Carmichael Plantation and tries to apologize to Bobby Ray. Though Bobby Ray accepts the apology, he explicitly tells Melanie that Jake is not the only person she left behind. He expresses the sadness that all her friends have felt after she fled to New York City years ago. Just as Melanie is leaving the plantation, she finds herself cornered by a pushy reporter who claims to be from the New York Post (though in reality, he is the assistant of Andrew's mother) and asks for a tour of the beautiful plantation where Melanie supposedly grew up. Desperately, Melanie tries to sneak back into the mansion. Bobby Ray realizes what is happening, so he pretends to be Melanie's cousin and saves her from embarrassment by giving the reporter a tour of the plantation. That afternoon, Melanie realizes that her friends are kind, caring individuals who never stopped loving her.

Melanie learns from a friend that Jake had once gone to New York City to try and find her because he was still in love. That night, Melanie goes to the cemetery to tell her old dog good-bye. Jake shows up, and they talk about why their marriage did not work which is hinted to be due to the combination of Jake's irresponsibility and her miscarriage. Jake wishes Melanie a good life with Andrew, but Melanie says she cannot do it and kisses him. However, Jake pushes her away and tells her to go home.

Andrew arrives in town, looking for Melanie at the Carmichael Plantation, her "supposed" home. Jake meets him and takes him to the field of a Civil War reenactment, where Melanie is with her father. Jake tells Andrew about his ex-wife, Melanie Smooter. When Andrew sees Melanie at the battlefield, her father introduces himself to Andrew as Earl Smooter. Realizing Jake's ex-wife is the same woman he proposed to, Andrew rebuffs Melanie and leaves.

Melanie returns to her parents' house, where her father walks in with Andrew. Andrew tells her that he does not care about the past and still wants to marry her. They decide to have the wedding in Alabama, and Andrew's mother comes down from New York. Once Melanie's friends from New York arrive, they discover that Jake has become a very successful glassblower with his own company. Melanie is surprised to see what Jake has made out of himself, and it is suddenly clear that he did it all to win her back.

On her wedding day, as she is walking down the aisle, her lawyer interrupts the ceremony and explains that the divorce is still not final because Melanie forgot to sign the divorce papers. Melanie explains to Andrew that she cannot marry him because she still loves Jake and hopes Andrew will find a good woman. Andrew graciously accepts this and wishes her well with Jake. However, Andrew's mother explodes, attacking Andrew for sullying his image for a promising political career, then verbally attacking Melanie and the town. When she insults Melanie's mother, Melanie punches her.

Melanie finds Jake on the same beach, as it was in the film's opening. Melanie tells him that the two are still married, and she wants to be with him. As Jake and Melanie kiss, the town sheriff, Wade, interrupts them explaining that Melanie is wanted because she ran out on a perfectly good cake. Wade takes the pair back to the bar owned by Jake's mother, where all of their friends and family are waiting. Throughout the end credits then into a post-credits scene, it is shown that Melanie got pregnant again, only this time she successfully carried the baby to term, and the couple is living happily with a daughter.

Love & Other Drugs

(Anne Hathaway and Jake Gyllenhaal)

'Sometimes the things you want the most don't happen and what you least expect happens. I don't know - you meet thousands of people and none of them really touch you. And then you meet one person and your life is changed forever.' ~Jamie

Plot:
In 1996, Jamie Randall (Jake Gyllenhaal) is fired from a Midwest town's electronics store for having sex with his manager's girlfriend. His wealthy brother Josh (Josh Gad) announces at the dinner table at their parents' (George Segal and Jill Clayburgh) house that he has found Jamie a job as a pharmaceutical sales representative. After attending a Pfizer training program where he has sex with the instructor (Kate Jennings Grant), Jamie goes to work for the company and tries to get doctors to prescribe Zoloft and Zithromax. He is rebuffed, much to the dismay of his regional manager, Bruce (Oliver Platt), who sees Jamie as his ticket to the "big leagues" of Chicago. Bruce says if Jamie can get Dr. Knight (Hank Azaria) to prescribe Zoloft instead of Prozac, other doctors will follow his lead. Jamie tries to get access to Dr. Knight by hitting on his female employees until, exasperated, Dr. Knight unethically permits him to observe a disrobing patient, Maggie Murdock (Anne Hathaway), who suffers from early onset Parkinson's disease.

Jamie angles a date with Maggie, who has sex with him. Jamie is later beaten up by top-selling Prozac rep Trey (Gabriel Macht), one of Maggie's ex-lovers, who warns him to stay away from her and the doctors. That night, Jamie is unable to get an erection. Maggie teasingly says he should use the new erectile dysfunction drug that his company has developed. Bruce confirms that such a drug, to be called Viagra, is about to be marketed. Jamie soon starts selling Viagra, an instant success. Jamie wants a committed relationship, but Maggie refuses. Jamie confronts her while she helps senior citizens onto a bus bound for Canada to get cheap prescription drugs, and they get into an argument.

Two days later, after he waits the night before at the bus stop in his car, he greets her back. Maggie is touched that he waited, and they resume their relationship. Jamie spends nights at Maggie's apartment. One night, he tells Maggie that he loves her—the first time he has ever said that to anyone—and has a panic attack. Maggie calms him by saying she "said 'I love you' to a cat once". Jamie catches his brother masturbating to a sex tape that he and Maggie had filmed. Jamie asks her to go to a Chicago medical conference with him. She ends up at a Parkinson's discussion group across the street, and is moved by the people and their stories. Jamie meets a man whose wife is in the final stages of the disease, and asks for advice about Maggie. The man tells him to run.

After the convention, Maggie tells him how much she loves him. Jamie starts researching Parkinson's, and takes Maggie to different specialists around the country to have tests done. Jamie becomes angry and upset when he arrives at an appointment, to find out it has been rescheduled after they had flown in to see the doctor. Maggie sees that Jamie can only love her if there's a hope that one day there will be a cure, and decides to break up with him.

Some time later, Jamie goes to a restaurant and runs into Maggie, who is on a date. Bruce shows up and reveals Jamie has been promoted to the Chicago office. While packing to move to Chicago, Jamie finds the videotape recorder where he taped himself and Maggie talking about life. Jamie realizes he wants to be with Maggie, but her boss tells him she has left for Canada to obtain drugs. Jamie flags down her bus and tells her that she makes him a better person, and that he loves and needs her. She starts to cry and says she will need him more. Jamie decides not to take the job in Chicago, but instead he attends medical school and stays with Maggie.

No Strings Attched

(Natalie Portman and Asston Kutcher)

'I'm warning you, if you take one step closer, I'm never letting you go.' ~Adam

Plot:
After first meeting at a summer camp as teenagers, Emma (Natalie Portman) and Adam (Ashton Kutcher) run into each other over the next few years but never managed to stay in regular contact. Emma is now a resident at a Los Angeles hospital and Adam is a production assistant for a musical TV show. Adam's father (Kevin Kline), a former TV star, has begun a relationship with Adam's ex-girlfriend, Vanessa (Ophelia Lovibond), which leads Adam to get drunk and call every woman in his phone seeking a hookup. The next day, he wakes to find that he text-messaged Emma and had come to the house she shares with some other residents, including her best friend Patrice (Greta Gerwig). Emma leads Adam to her bedroom to retrieve his pants, where the two of them wind up having sex.

Because of both her belief that no two people were meant to be together forever and the pressures of her job, Emma proposes they have casual sex with each other before setting some ground rules to prevent their relationship from becoming too serious. At first things go well, but then Adam starts becoming jealous of the possibility of Emma being with another doctor, Sam (Ben Lawson). Although denying he is jealous, Adam starts presenting her with gifts, which she rebuffs.

Adam becomes more distraught when his father invites him to dinner with Vanessa on Adam's birthday, where they announce they’re planning to have a baby together. Emma, who accompanied Adam to the dinner, berates the couple while defending Adam. Adam eventually convinces her to go out with him on a date on Valentine’s Day. Things come to a head when Emma starts becoming too uncomfortable about being on a date with Adam. Adam tells Emma he loves her, but she grows angry, telling him he should go out with another woman who 'isn't going to hurt you'. Adam drops Emma off at her hospital and drives off.

Six weeks later, a script Adam had written for his is being filmed, and Adam gets a regular writing job on the show thanks to the help of Lucy (Lake Bell), the top assistant to the show's creator who makes it clear she's attracted to him. Emma, meanwhile, has become distraught at not being with Adam, which is compounded by her younger sister Katie's (Olivia Thirlby) wedding the next day and her widowed mother (Talia Balsam) arriving with a new boyfriend.

Emma tries calling Adam, but Adam rebuffs her on the phone. Emma realizes she wants to be with him, and drives down to his home. Adam, however, arrives home with Lucy, whom Emma takes to be Adam's new girlfriend. Emma tearfully starts driving back to the wedding. Before Adam and Lucy can have sex, Vanessa calls Adam—his father is in the hospital, having overdosed on Purple Drank. Arriving at the hospital, Vanessa confesses that she doesn't want to be with an older man and that she's scared of old people. She dumps her dog off on Adam and leaves for a party. Adam talks to his father and chastises him, but tells him he'll call the next day.

On the way out, Adam calls Emma back. Adam angrily tells Emma she needs to have the conversation she wants in person – which she does; Emma’s friend and resident Shira (Mindy Kaling) noticed Adam's father arriving and called Emma. Adam and Emma reconcile, and after a morning of eating breakfast, they go together to Emma’s sister’s wedding. Emma asks, "So, what happens now?" and Adam silently holds her hand.

The Vow

(Rachel McAdams and Channing Tatum)

'I vow to fiercely love you in all your forms, now and forever. I promise to never forget that this is a once in a lifetime love.' ~Leo

Plot:
Paige Collins (Rachel McAdams) and her husband Leo (Channing Tatum) come out of a movie theater. On their way home, at a stop sign, Paige unbuckles her seatbelt to lean over and kiss Leo. At that very moment, a truck rams their car from behind and Paige crashes through the windshield. Both of them are rushed to the emergency room, and as Leo, in a voice-over talks about how "moments of impact help in finding who we are" the movie cuts to how Paige and Leo first met. The scenes of how they courted, proposed and married at the Art Institute of Chicago are interwoven with the present.

When Paige regains consciousness, she thinks Leo is her doctor, having lost all memories of the past few years. When her parents, Bill and Rita Thornton, learn about this and visit her, it is the first time that Leo meets them. Paige does not understand why she left law school, broke her engagement with her previous fiancé, Jeremy, and why she has not been in touch with her family and friends. Her parents insist on taking her home with them and Paige agrees, assuming she might have married Leo for some mutual benefit and seeks evidence for the marriage. Just as she's about to leave, Leo comes running to play her a voice message in which she sounds very happy and romantic. Paige decides to go back with Leo, hoping it will help her regain her lost memory. Paige is welcomed home with a surprise party by her friends, but as she is not able to remember any of them, she finds it overwhelming and bursts out in anger.

The next day Paige ventures out to her regular cafe but does not remember having been there and loses her way back. She calls her mother because she does not know or remember Leo's number. That evening Leo and Paige are invited for dinner by her parents. At the dinner and in the bar later, Leo does not fit in with her family and friends. He persists in his attempts to help her regain her memory, but Paige is more driven to learning why she left law school and broke her engagement to Jeremy. During the course of one encounter with Jeremy, she kisses him. Her doctor advises her to fill the holes in her memory rather than be afraid of her past. With her sister Gwen's wedding approaching, Paige decides to stay with her parents until the wedding. Though Leo asks her out on a date and spends a night with her, the relationship is further strained when Paige's dad tries to persuade Leo to divorce his daughter, and by Leo punching Jeremy for talking about chances to bed his wife.

Paige rejoins law school and Leo signs divorce papers. At a store, she meets an old friend who, unaware of her amnesia, apologizes for having had a relationship with Paige's dad, thus alerting Paige as to why she had left her family. When she confronts her mother about this, Rita tells her that she decided to stay with Bill for all the things he had done right instead of leaving him for one wrong act. Paige then asks Leo why he never told her, and he replies he wanted to earn her love instead of driving her away from her parents. Paige, while in class, starts sketching; thus depicting how she first left law school. She continues her interest in art, eventually returning to sculpting and drawing. Though Jeremy confesses he broke up with his present girlfriend, hoping to be back with her, she turns him down stating she needs to know what life would be like without him.

As seasons change, Leo discusses his philosophy about "Moments of impact". "A moment of impact whose potential for change has ripple effects far beyond what we can predict. Sending some particles crashing together, making them closer than before. While sending others, spinning off into great ventures, landing where you never thought you’d find them..." Back in her room, Paige finds the menu card on which she had written her wedding vows and is deeply moved. The movie ends with Paige finding Leo at their regular Cafe Mnemonic and going with him to try a new place instead of their regular alternative.

First Love/A Crazy Little Thing Called Love

(Mario Maurer and Pimchanok Luevisadpaibul)

Plot:
Nam is a girl who is secretly attracted to p'shone (many people pronounced it as Shone), her senior at school. However, she feels that Shone is too good-looking for her. Nam and her three friends instead turn to the help from the book '9 recipes of love', believed to have a magical power to win affection from the boy of choice. Nam's father works in the States to support his family and promises to Nam and her younger sister that he will send a flight ticket to US to whichever one of them earn the first place in school. Nam misses her father and is determined to study hard to raise her grade.

Nam and her friends were denied by the Thai dance club after picking a fight with Faye, a pretty girl at school. They instead joined the English Drama club headed by Teacher Inn, where Nam is chosen to play Snow White in the school drama, Snow White, during the school fair. Shone was also helping the Drama club as a stage painter. After the drama, Nam becomes popular among the boys at school. Nam also tries to change her appearances by wearing contact lens, braces, and whitening her skin. Her look improves dramatically. She is also chosen as a drum major of the school parade, while Shone joined the soccer team as a striker.

During the second year of the story, Shone's childhood friend Top joins the school. He immediately likes Nam and some days later he confesses his love to Nam. She is shocked and does not answer to avoid the risk of hurting Shone's best friend, Top. Top takes that as an acceptance. Next morning, Top asks Nam to go to the football match to see Shone play. After the match, Shone told Nam that he is wishing he has a girlfriend, much to Nam's shock. They are interrupted by Top before Nam can say anything back. At the birthday night party of Ake, one of their friends, Top and Shone share their story and say that they promise never to fall in love with the same girl. During a dance Top kisses Nam's cheek. That night, Nam breaks up with him. Top made Shone promise never to pursue Nam.

Three years has passed by since the beginning of her story. Nam secures the first position in her exam, which means she will get to stay with her father in the States. Nam and her friend finally realized that the book did not do much help and decides to use the 10th recipe: Direct confession. On the closing of the school year, Nam finally confesses to Shone only to find out that she is too late. Shone's already going out with Pin, his classmate. That night, Shone came home to find out that he is accepted into a trainee program in a professional soccer team, and has to leave for the camp the following morning. He went into his room and take out a diary. That diary contained all of Nam's photos. He always loved her but never got a courage to tell her. Shone leaves his diary in front of Nam's house.

Nine years later, Nam is a successful fashion designer who recently came back from the States and is asked to appear in a variety show. Shone is now a professional photographer. In that variety show, Nam and Shone reunite.

One More Chance

(John Lloyd Cruz and Bea Alonzo)

'Sometimes, it's better that people break up - so they can grow up. It takes grown-ups to make relationships work.' ~Trisha

Plot:
Their love story began when they first met as students at the University of Santo Tomas: Popoy (John Lloyd Cruz) was majoring in Engineering while Basha (Bea Alonzo) was a freshman in Architecture. They were inseparable and did everything together — eating, studying and attending parties. Both their families loved them, they shared mutual friends and eventually ended up working for the same firm. Every single component of their lives revolved around each other. So, naturally, everyone assumed that they would inevitably get married someday, with Architect Basha designing and planning their dream house while Engineer Popoy building it. Everything could not be more perfect.

At least, that was what Popoy thought. What he did not know was that Basha was not as sure about their future as Popoy seemed to be.

All Popoy's nagging and excessive planning took a toll on Basha. Not only was she tired of trying to carve out her own mark in the hierarchy of the firm, but she also grew weary of Popoy always stepping in to fix things for her. One day, Basha told Popoy that she wanted to resign and move to a smaller firm where she could be given better opportunities to design independently, completely blindsiding her bewildered beau. She revealed the issue that had been brewing inside her for the past year: the real reason why she wanted to leave the company was that she was tired of Popoy and their relationship. She felt hindered by Popoy's constant attention and thought that she had never been given the chance to decide and plan for herself because he always did everything. Popoy was speechless and devastated. That same night, Basha broke up with him, reasoning that she needed the space to grow on her own.

Not knowing how to pick himself up after the love of his life left him, Popoy struggled to live his new life alone. Meanwhile, Basha followed through with her plans to resign from the firm. For a while, she drifted jobless, customizing T-shirts with unusual patterns and designs, until she was offered to work for a smaller firm. Accepting the offer, she began to feel the professional freedom she had been longing for. Popoy and Basha tried to live without each other but the ties that bound them made it difficult for either of them to completely move on, especially when their families and friends were constant reminders of the promises and dreams they had made during their happier days.

Slowly, Popoy moved on and discovered that there was life after Basha; on the other hand, Basha began to find her solitary journey to be harder than she had imagined, especially when Popoy began dating another girl. Although a part of her wanted to get him back, she reminded herself that the decision to terminate the relationship was hers alone.

Opportunity knocked on their door when Popoy's aunt commissioned them to build her house together. After initially feeling awkward, Popoy and Basha eventually warmed up towards each other, especially after memories of the five years they spent together resurfaced. Slowly and unconsciously, they fell into their old routines and found themselves enjoying each other's company once again. Both realized how much they had missed each other, at the same time acknowledging how much they each had changed.

But Popoy knew that giving in would mean that they would go back to how they were before, that she will just go on her way again and ignore him when she grew tired again of their relationship and he will be left alone again and hurt. So he had no choice but to love alone.

My Amnesia Girl

(John Lloyd Cruz and Toni Gonzaga)

Plot:
When Apollo (John Lloyd Cruz) finds himself surrounded by friends who are beginning to settle down, he is faced with the possibility of finding his true love. It all boils down to one name: Irene. It must be fate then, when he once again sees Irene (Toni Gonzaga), his ex-girlfriend from three years ago with whom he had the best memories with. Apollo and Irene were a perfect couple, and were engaged to be married. It all ended at the altar when Apollo had a bout of cold feet and left Irene alone in the aisle.

Now, Irene has no recollection of Apollo, having acquired “amnesia” shortly after their separation. Apollo sees this as the perfect opportunity to pursue Irene again, and be able to undo all the mistakes he made in the past, by offering Irene the best memories she could ever have.

True love is difficult to resist, they learn. Just when they find themselves ready to commit to each other, the pains from the past catch up with them, challenging them to finally own up to the mistakes made and lies said, and eventually realize what it is to forgive and forget.

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There you go! See for yourself, fall in love once again and enjoy!