Jon Bon Jovi

NOTE: Sequel to John Carpenter's Vampires (1998). Los Muertos picks up after the vampires went south into Mexico and Father Guiteau stashed the Bersier cross in a monastery. Vampire hunter Derek Bliss [Jon Bon Jovi] has been commissioned to seek and destroy some vampires in northern Mexico before they can move north to San Diego and other places in the U.S. The only problem is that the unnamed client wants to hire a team, not someone working solo. Getting together a team is a bit difficult for Derek because everyone on Chief Brody's recommended list keeps turning up dead. Father Guiteau, who was a member of the original team lead by Jack Crow, died last month. All the priests at the monastery where he moved the Bersier cross were killed by vampires only a day or two after Derek came looking for Guiteau. Eventually, Derek manages to put together a team, unlikely as it is. It consists of Zoey [Natasha Wagner] (a woman he met in a diner who was bitten by a vampire but who has been able to keep the turning in remission by taking some anti-HIV pills she got in Mexico City), Father Rodrigo[Cristian de la Fuente] (the only priest who escaped the massacre at the monastery), Sancho [Diego Luna] (a 15-year old boy who accompanied Derek on a vampire hunt and who found that he had a penchant for it), and Ray Collins [Darius McCrary] (a tall, muscular, black, ex-military, "tough as nails" guy recruited in Memphis by Brody). To help with the hunt, Rodrigo offers Derek the use of Guiteau's vampire-hunting bus, which is outfitted with all the winches and gizmos that are needed to hunt vampires (or "suckers," as the team calls them). The attack on the monastery, Rodrigo explains, was led by the new female master Una [Arly Jover] in order to get back the Bersier cross. It looks like she intends to again perform the ritual which the suckers believe will allow them to walk during the day. After meeting up with Collins in Nogales, they cross over into Mexico. Zoey, due to her blood connection with the vampires, has a vision of Una performing the ceremony, but it doesn't seem to have worked. The sun still hurts her. Given a map of Mexico, Zoey is able to pinpoint where she thinks the bloodsuckers are hiding...someplace called Salina, near some old Toltec ruins. They stop for the night to sleep, but Collins is getting claustrophobic in the little bus and chooses to sleep outside. During the night, he is, unknown to anyone, bitten by Una. The next day is spent driving further into Mexico. They know that they are getting close when they stop for gas and cold drinks and find that everyone in the diner has been slaughtered. The next morning, they near Salina. Rather than going directly to the ruins, they stop in Salina where the residents are celebrating the Day of the Dead ("Los muertos" means "the dead"). When Zoey goes to take her meds, she finds them missing and says that she must go immediately to Mexico City. Actually, Una has them, and she's downed every last one. This gives Una the ability, albeit it temporary, to move about during daylight, and she uses that opportunity to find and kidnap Zoey. Rodrigo puts 2+2 together and concludes that Una took Zoey's meds. But the only ones who had access to them were the rest of the team, so Derek holds them all at gunpoint, trying to find the culprit. Turns out that it was Collins, who is shot by an old man they just met that morning in Salina. With his dying breath, Collins reveals that the client who hired them is none other than Una. Although they now know that this entire vampire hunt is a set-up, the remaining team members plus the old man, filling in for Collins, go to the ruins to rescue Zoey. Zoey has fallen into a deep shaft and needs to be lifted out. Derek tosses her a rope, telling the old man to stay far enough behind him to watch his back while still keeping his eye on Rodrigo and Sancho, who are closer to the exit. While they are so separated, Una attacks Derek. Just as she's about to bite his neck, Fr Rodrigo offers Una a deal. Let his friends go, and he'll offer himself, as a priest, to perform the ceremony. In addition, he points out, he is also a hunter--two of the necessary elements of the ritual. Una agrees. Rodrigo stays with Una while the others go to a clinic where Zoey is transfused with blood while her infected blood is removed in hopes that this will slow her turning. Then Derek gets a brainstorm. He asks the nurse to transfuse Zoey's tainted blood into him so that he can slow his heartbeat and infiltrate the vampires without being noticed. As the sun sets, the team goes back to the ruins where the ritual is taking place. Una has slit Rodrigo's leg and drunk a cup of his blood when Rodrigo mentions that the ritual won't work because he was merely a hired hand at the monastery, not a priest at all. Ha ha, fooled you! Derek, whose plan to lurk is working, shoots several suckers, saves Rodrigo from being burned alive, and fires an arrow through Una. Unfortunately, the winch is on the fritz, and they can't pull her out into the sun.So, they fix the winch and go back into the ruins. Sancho ropes Una, Una grabs Derek, Zoey pulls both Una and Derek out into the sun, Derek shoots off Una's head, and Una burns up. [I wonder whether they'll get paid now that they've killed their client?] Epilogue: Rodrigo stays in Salina, Sancho is sent home to his mother, and Derek and Zoey drive off together into the sunset, headed for Mexico City, as they are both in need of those meds. [Original synopsis by bj_kuehl]

The film begins with a summary on how the Allies are struggling to stop U-boats from sinking their freighters. The scene transfers to U-571, which torpedoes and sinks a freighter. The crew is happy with the kill but seconds later the sonar man reports to have detected high speed screws. The Captain turns the periscope to sight a destroyer moving in, forcing U-571 to dive. The destroyer drops depth charges; unfortunately for the submarine, the depth charging snaps a fuel line which ignites while the engineers attempt to patch it, setting them all on fire. Due to the amount of damage sustained, the Captain orders U-571 to resurface. The Captain learns from his Chief who extinguished the fire in the engine room that their batteries are practically flat, both diesel engines are inoperable and all of their engineering crew are dead. After passing word to conserve electricity, he has his radioman send an Enigma-encoded SOS to Berlin for aid. Meanwhile, the crew of the United States Navy submarine S-33 are celebrating the wedding of Crewman Larson and leave for 48 hours. During the party, Lt. Andrew Tyler enters looking solemn, having been denied his own command. After complaining to Lt. Commander Dahlgren, he is rebuffed and upset to learn that Dahlgren voted against him receiving the promotion. While talking to Chief Henry Klough, Military Police suddenly arrive to announce the end of their shore leave for a secret mission. All the men arrive at the base to find their boat, the S-33, being modified to resemble a German U-boat. The crewmen are given German uniforms to wear as well. Hirsch, a Naval Intelligence officer who is fluent in German, orders Tyler to locate Radioman Wentz, who is fluent in German due to his immigrant parents. At the same time, a Marine named Coonan arrives in a convoy loaded with high explosives. After the S-33 sails, Hirsch explains that the Allies intercepted the disabled U-571's SOS. They are going to masquerade as the resupply ship U-571 called for, board the ship, capture her Enigma coding device and then scuttle the U-571. Tyler is skeptical about the scheme working but goes along. Wentz privately asks Tyler to not tell the rest of the crew that his parents are German. Back on U-571, attempted repairs fail and the Captain is alerted that survivors from the merchant ship he sank have been spotted on a lifeboat asking for asylum. He orders his men to shoot them, as their orders are not to spare any survivors. His men reluctantly do so. During a storm, the S-33 comes across U-571 and sends the boarding party over, led by Coonan. Hirsch temporarily freezes and Wentz is forced to speak German in front of his friends in order for the group to retain their cover until their rafts are tied up. At first, the Germans openly welcome the S-33, but when a midshipman looks through his binoculars, he immediately identifies the weapons as American. He alerts the rest of the Germans and they exchange fire with the S-33 crewmen. The Americans are able to take the boat by force, capture the Enigma and begin rounding up the prisoners, including the Captain. As the prisoners are transferred between ships and the scuttling charges are laid, Dahlgren, standing on the upper deck of the S-33, notices the sound of a detonation. He turns around in horror to see a streak coming towards the S-33 underwater. The ship is torpedoed and sunk by the real German resupply sub. CO Dahlgren, wounded in the water, orders his men on the captured U-boat to submerge and save themselves. (This scene was based on an actual incident in World War II) Coonan, Larson and many others are lost, forcing Tyler to take command and dive the captured U-boat. There is a desperate scramble to disarm the charges they placed. With only Hirsch and Wentz able to read German, after struggling with interpreting the controls they fire a salvo of torpedoes, destroying the enemy U-Boat, draining the last of the sub's batteries and spending all but the last torpedo, loaded in the malfunctioning aft torpedo tube. Surfacing, Tyler and his men search for survivors and find two: Eddie the cook from the S-33 and a German sailor claiming to be an electrician, but who is actually the Captain of U-571. After repairing one of the diesel engines, thus restoring power and propulsion, Tyler decides to take the disabled submarine to England. Some of the men disagree with Tyler's decision and Tyler replies with "I don't know" to their questions. Chief Klough privately rebukes Tyler, saying "A Captain always knows what to do, whether he does or not." He also rebukes Mazzola in front of others for openly disagreeing with Tyler. They spot an aircraft and Mazzola tries to convince Rabbit to fire on the plane with the deck gun against Tyler's orders, which appears to be coming in for an attack, but is only scouting for a German destroyer named the Anschluss. Tyler punches Mazzola for ignoring the Chain of Command and his stupidity. The captured German Captain breaks free, attacks Tank and kills Mazzola before being subdued. Unaware that the U-571 has been commandeered by Americans, the Anschluss sends over a small contingent to meet and greet with their German comrades. Right before boarders arrive, Tyler has Rabbit fire a shot from the deck gun right into the ship's radio tower, preventing the destroyer from reporting that the enigma code has been compromised and dives underneath her. The destroyer begins to drop depth charges to try to sink U-571. Tyler plans to trick the destroyer into stopping by ejecting debris and Mazzola's corpse out of an empty torpedo tube, faking their own destruction. The younger men balk at using their crewman's body this way, but Tyler states that Mazzola is saving their lives. U-571 will then surface and hit the ship with their last torpedo. The German destroyer continues dropping depth charges. U-571, hiding at great depth of below 200 meters, is damaged by the high-water pressure. In preventing the submarine from sinking, control of the main ballast tank is lost, and the ship ascends uncontrollably. Tyler orders Trigger to submerse himself in the bilge underwater to re-pressurize the torpedo tubes. During the ascent the German prisoner tries to warn the destroyer in Morse Code that they're not dead yet. Wentz translates the message in German, "I am U-571. Destroy me!" Enraged, Hirsch grabs a large wrench and kills the prisoner. Trigger manages to close the air valve for the tubes, but a second leak and valve is unexpectedly revealed, both behind a wall of pipes; Trigger's arm can't reach, and his air hose is too short. When Tank reports this, Tyler rushes to the engine room himself. Tyler tells him that they need him to do this and orders him to get the job done. U-571 surfaces without a torpedo to fire. The destroyer fires on the ship, which runs using its diesel engine, but takes heavy damage from the destroyer's deck guns and starts to flood. Trigger leaves behind the air hose and closes the second valve, but the damage causes pipes to collapse, trapping his leg and he drowns. The second the pressure is available, Tyler orders Tank to fire the final torpedo. The German ship is destroyed; in front of everyone, Chief Klough tells Tyler that if he ever needs a Chief, he will gladly go to sea with him anytime. Tank reports Trigger's death while carrying out his order, but U-571 has taken severe damage and will not stay afloat for long. The crew abandons ship with the Enigma in tow and watches it sink, seemingly mourning both for their lost crew-mates and also for the German sub which ironically saved their lives. Floating aboard an inflatable lifeboat, they are eventually spotted by a US Navy seaplane.

A 12-year-old schoolboy in Las Vegas, Nevada named Trevor McKinney (Haley Joel Osment) is given a class project to complete by his social studies teacher Eugene Simonet (Kevin Spacey), a man with terrible burn scars on his face and neck. His task is to come up with a plan that will change the world through direct action. On his way home from school later that day, Trevor notices a homeless man, Jerry (James Caviezel) and decides to make a difference in Jerry's life. Trevor then comes up with the plan to "pay it forward" by doing a good deed for three people who must in turn each do good deeds for three other people, creating a charitable pyramid scheme. Trevor's plan is to help Jerry by feeding and housing him so he can "get on his feet." The next morning, Trevor's mother, Arlene McKinney (Helen Hunt), a single mother recovering from alcoholism, becomes angry with Trevor after finding Jerry in their house. She then accuses and confronts Eugene at the school about the reason Trevor has allowed Jerry into their home. Eugene is also intrigued by Trevor's response to the social studies project. Later that night back at their home, Trevor confronts his mother about her alcoholism, and in a fit of anger she slaps him across the face. Trevor runs away from home, and Arlene asks Eugene to help her find him. They find Trevor at a bus station, about to be molested. Trevor and Arlene embrace in relief after Arlene apologizes profusely. Meanwhile, Chris (Jay Mohr), a journalist, is trying to find out why a total stranger gave him a brand new Jaguar S-Type car after Chris' old 1965 Ford Mustang was damaged in a car accident. The stranger's only explanation is that he is simply "paying it forward". When Chris asks him for more information, the man explains that, when he recently visited a hospital while his daughter was suffering an asthma attack, a gang member suffering from a stab wound actually took up a gun to force the doctors to look at the man's daughter before she collapsed, prompting Chris to begin his search again. After Trevor's apparently unsuccessful attempt to help Jerry, he decides to help Eugene by setting him up with Arlene, Trevor's own mother. Their relationship grows in strength until Arlene's ex-husband, Ricky (Jon Bon Jovi), who claims he has "changed" and has quit drinking, shows up unannounced and Arlene decides to give him another chance. When Arlene later tries to explain her choice to Eugene, the audience learns how Eugene's burns were the result of terrible child abuse by his father. Eugene is concerned not just about the abusive and violent nature of Trevor's father, but that the simple absence of a loving father is detrimental to Trevor's well-being. He explains that his father was always abusive of him and his mother always took him back. At thirteen, Eugene ran away from home and returned home when he was 16, asking his mother to come with him but his father knocked him out and proceeded to burn him, resulting in a number of scars on his chest. Arlene feels that she must nevertheless give her ex-husband another chance, but shortly thereafter he becomes angry and violent and it appears that he has not in fact stopped drinking alcohol. Arlene realizes what a terrible mistake she has made. She feels that Eugene will never take her back, and Eugene for his part is not prepared to rekindle the relationship. At around this point, Jerry, who has moved on to another city, discovers a woman about to commit suicide by jumping off a bridge; even when she throws her purse at him and yells at him to get away, Jerry simply talks gently to her, encouraging her to come down and talk to him about her problems. Meanwhile, Chris discovers the gang member who helped the man's daughter, who reveals that he was brought into the 'pay it forward' movement when he was rescued from the police by a homeless woman in a car. Having located the woman (played by Angie Dickinson), she tells Chris that she herself was given the idea by her daughter--who turns out to be Arlene. Arlene seeks out her mother, Grace, whom she has not seen in three years. She says she wishes to say something to her and gives her mother the gift that enables Grace to have faith that she can become sober for a few days, long enough to visit the family and see her grandson: Arlene tells her mother that she forgives her for everything. Chris finally identifies Trevor as the originator of "pay it forward," and conducts a recorded interview at the school. Trevor explains his hopes for the concept, but voices his concerns that people may be too afraid to change their own lives in order to make the whole world a better place. Eugene and Arlene are both present during the interview. When Eugene hears Trevor's words, he realizes that he and Arlene should be together. As Eugene and Arlene reconcile with a passionate embrace, they hear shouts and scuffling outside. Trevor has come to the defense of a friend who is being attacked by bullies, and is trying to fight them off, although they are older and bigger. As Eugene and Arlene run down to stop the fight, the main bully who is a gangster-like boy impulsively pulls out a knife. Trevor is pushed onto the boy with the knife and is thus inadvertently stabbed in the abdomen. Trevor is rushed to hospital, where he dies from the stabbing. Terribly distraught, Arlene and Eugene are later watching a television news report about "pay it forward" and Trevor's death, and learn that the movement has grown nationwide. Venturing outside, they see hundreds of people gathering in a vigil to pay their respects to Trevor, with yet more people arriving in a stream of vehicles visible in the distance as the movie ends. (Source: WikiPedia. Bangs_McCoy)