10 Stars For 10 Years

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If you follow me on Facebook or on Twitter or on Tumblr (I am quite literally everywhere now, there can be no escape) then you already know that I attended a screening of the movie 10 Years this weekend that was followed by a Q&A with (deep breath) Channing Tatum and his wife Jenna Dewan-Tatum, Max Minghella, Kate Mara, Oscar Isaac, Anthony Mackie, Brian "Gratuitous" Geraghty, Scott Porter, writer-director Jamie Linden and Ari Graynor all in attendance. (Wowza, y'all.) That there above is a video I took of each and every one of them getting called out onto stage - I was going to record the entire Q&A from start to finish but as you can tell the lighting in the theater was not my friend so I just took some pictures.

L-R: Jenna Dewan-Tatum, Channing Tatum, Kate Mara, Max Minghella

L-R: Oscar Isaac, Anthomy Mackie, Scott Porter, 

Brian Geraghty, writer-director Jamie Linden, and Ari Graynor.

What made this one of the most surreal of these sorts of things that I've ever been to was there were maybe just forty or fifty people at the screening total. The crowd on stage rivaled the crowd in the audience. I don't think the word was put out that far in advance about them all being there - I only found out 24 hours beforehand, and in a completely random spot. The film itself also hasn't, from what I've gathered, got much of a PR budget. I mean I only knew it was coming out when I read about this here Q&A.

But it was obvious they were all there because they are proud of the movie and they all like each other - they had a great easy camaraderie, and even though they were maybe a little skittish about the lack of attendees they stayed entirely positive about the experience of making the film as well as the finished product.

And they should be proud, by the way. It's a totally charming little film filled to the seams with good character work and genuine emotional undercurrents that come to the fore as the film saunters along, while also being very funny. It's one of those movies that you find yourself smiling along with, that you're effortlessly sucked into - you don't really see enough movies like this anymore, honestly. It's very mainstream stuff, but from a mainstream we don't ever get to visit anymore. Jamie Linden the director said they had Diner on their mind, and it shows. It knows how to keep things bittersweet, and it doesn't shy away from turning some of our preconceived notions on their head - mainly it's a film that really likes its characters and wants to spend time with them, and its infectious. I wanted to too.