Another great John Hughes montage. I am still reeling from the news of his death. I watched this both smiling at all the memories, and with my eyes tearing up, too.
Thursday, August 6, 2009
500 Days of Summer - Mini-review
500 Days of Summer got lots of buzz from its Sundance premiere, and for good reason. This is a delightful film, and the best film I have seen this entire summer. Yes, it's really that good, and I'll tell you upfront that I give this film 4 stars. I can't recommend it highly enough.
Right from the beginning, you get the idea that this is not ordinary film. We have a text disclaimer saying that no character is based on anyone living or dead. Flash to new screen "Except you Jenny Beckman." Flash again. "Bitch".
The film structure is unique. We start the film knowing that it is about a relationship that has broken up. It's 500 days of Summer, because Summer is the girl -- that's the girl, played by Zooey Deschanel. We bounce back and forth from the end, somewhere around day 480, to day 1, with a helpful counter to tell us where we are bouncing to next, as Tom remembers and examines his romance with Summer.
This is the tag line for the film:
Boy meets girl. Boy falls in love. Girl doesn't.Summer is upfront with Tom that she is just looking for fun, and not love. She doesn't believe in love, and is surprised that Tom does. "It's love, it's not Santa Claus," he replies.
This is not a love story. This is a story about love.
The film uses animation and a fantastic soundtrack to show Tom's love for Summer, including a Hall and Oates song complete with Tom dancing in a crowded park with a bluebird like something from Disney's Enchanted. There are many sly movie references in this movie like an exact frame from The Graduate as Tom sees Summer naked on the bed just like Dustin Hoffman sees Mrs. Robinson.
Marc Webb has done a fantastic job with this film. You can tell he's had a history of directing music videos, and it's just wonderfully used in many moments. This is a movie that you're going to hear about at Oscar time. I think the writing is exceptional. We've seen romances so many times that are formula, and yes, I like those, too, but this was something new, and that's really hard when you're telling a love story.
I have never loved Zooey Deschanel like I did in this movie. She is luminous and the camera worships her showing her through the lens of Tom's adoration. But we don't truly get to know her, in the same way that Tom thinks he knows her, but doesn't really. Joseph Gordon-Levitt was a revelation to me. He's all grown up from his days as a child actor on TV, and I wasn't thinking about that at all -- for the first time. I hope he has a wonderful career, and will look forward to his future work. Interestingly, he is in this week's G. I. Joe as one of the villains, and I almost want to see it just to see that! (Plus Dr. Who's Christopher Eccleston.)
Special mention also goes to the little girl that plays Tom's younger sister. She has a couple of lines that had me literally bent over with laughter. I won't spoil the funniest one, but she sums it all up with this line that a girl who likes The Smiths isn't necessarily the one:
Just because she's likes the same bizzaro crap you do doesn't mean she's your soul mate.With the release of this music video with music from the film, there was this interesting bit:
Deschanel and Gordon-Levitt say they hope to team up repeatedly and have aspirations of being a regular screen couple, like Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers or Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn.Count me in as one who would love to see these two work again. They were just magic in this great film. Go and see it! 4 big stars. And don't miss the Cinemash Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel did from Sid & Nancy as a spin off from a line in the trailer below.
They’re not a real couple, but they’re good at faking it.
“I think it’s great to have continuous collaborators,” Deschanel says. “It’s a shortcut that makes it so much more fun. The job is much easier when you can go to set and be like, ‘Ah, Joe!’”
RIP Director John Hughes
John Hughes died today at age 59 of a heart attack. John Hughes movies and the 1980's - these were my teenage years, and like millions, I thought John Hughes was speaking just to me. I lived in the Chicago suburbs, and that's mostly where he filmed. He was just a huge influence on me then. I felt like going to his movies, that I was invited to party with the cool kids.
And the list of actors who started in John Hughes is incredible: Molly Ringwald, Matthew Broderick, Judd Nelson, James Spader, Andrew McCarthy, and both John AND Joan Cusack, and the entire Brat Pack including Emilio Estevez.
My favorite John Hughes movie was the classic Pretty in Pink from 1986. Interestingly, John Hughes had to refilm the ending, because the original had Duckie winning the girl in the end. Test audiences rejected that, wanting the Cinderella ending with Blaine.
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
500 Days of Summer Music Video
I downloaded the soundtrack for 500 Days of Summer, mostly for the song She's Got You High by Mumm-Ra, and Us by Regina Spektor and have been listening to those songs on near constant repeat in my car. Marc Webb, director of the film, has made a charming music video with the stars of the film, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel, to the song Why Do You Let Me Stay Here? by She & Him, Deschanel's retro-rock duo with musician M. Ward.
The music video is not directly related to the plot of 500 Days of Summer:
Gordon-Levitt plays a stoic man in a neat blue suit, turning to crime in a moment of absolute desperation. Deschanel is the gorgeous, wide-eyed teller, disarming the dangerous man (metaphorically speaking) in a playful, twirling, fox-trotting dance through the stuffy, starkly lit marble lobby. The other dour denizens go about their business unaware.
This video just makes me smile, and smile very big. My review for this amazing film coming tomorrow.
Hugh Jackman will be PT Barnum in a new musical
Remember Anne Hathaway's duet with Hugh Jackman in the Oscar's Opening number? Well, Hugh Jackman has signed on to film a brand new musical starring as PT Barnum, 'The Greatest Showman on Earth', and rumors abound that Anne Hathaway will be his Jenny Lind. Mika may even write the music, and Jenny Bicks, writer of 'Sex in the City' is helming the script.
The film will be produced by Laurence Mark ("Dreamgirls"), Jackman and his Seed partner John Palermo. It is an outgrowth of their work together on the 81st Academy Awards, on which Jackman was host, Mark was exec producer, and Bicks was part of the Emmy-nominated writing team.Hugh Jackman also wants to remake Carousel. Hugh Jackman singing and dancing -- don't care who he plays, you can count me there! I saw him live in Boy From Oz, and it is a night I will never forget. Believe me, Hugh really is the Greatest Showman on Earth.
Jackman will play the showman with a penchant for hoaxing a gullible public as he creates the three-ring circus that made him famous. The musical also focuses on his infatuation with singer Jenny Lind -- the so-called Swedish Nightingale.
Bollywood Hero Flash Mob in Times Square
The flashmob of traditional dancers took over Time Square to promote IFC's new mini-series Bollywood Hero, starring Chris Kattan, Neha Dhupia, and Pooja Kumar.
Chris Kattan is in among the onlookers with a green shirt.
Twilight Star Kellan Lutz Does Pushups
The only way this could be better is if he was shirtless.
What a trooper with his fans!
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Dirty Dancing Cinemash!
Channing Tatum (GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra) and Charlyne Yi (Paper Heart) play “an appealingly off-beat couple wax romantic and can’t stop moving to the music as they mix intimacy and hilarity in a scene from the megahit movie” Dirty Dancing.. The short is written by Paper Heart writer/director Nicholas Jasenovec and Kashy Khaledi and written by Jasenovec and Yi.
Those wigs!! LOL!! Channing Tatum leaping on the bed -- OMG.
My opinion of Channing Tatum just went up several notches. I also can't wait to see Paper Heart with Charlyne Yi and Michael Cera.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
