500 Days of Summer

Finally, FINALLY managed to watch this in the few hours snatched between hectic Sunday lunch shift and couple-y Sunday night shift. Local Spar doesn't really "do" artsy unrequited love stories (yet manages to fill every other shelf with inane Jim Carrey/Adam Sandler/freaky horror flicks for the apparently massive local fan population of the undead) so obtaining this prized copy probably was a highlight of a Sunday filled with taking food in and out of a kitchen.

Story? Boy meets girl. Boy falls head over heels. Girl...doesn't. Starring the edible Joseph Gordon Levitt, he of bashful 10 Things I Hate About You and 3rd Rock From the Sun fame and Zooey Deschanel, surefire candidate for Katy Perry twinship and all round rosy-cheeked, twinkly eyed cupcake, the script is played out through numbers flicking from 1-500, tracing the days Summer (Deschanel) has been in Tom's (Gordon Levitt) life. Not to mention muted bluesy greens colours dappling the cinematography, seriously covetable clothing and of course, a soundtrack to die for.

It's all about the music: Tom and Summer bond over the Smiths' "There is a Light that never goes out" booming out of his headphones, get drunk and sing raucous karaoke (Tom, a deliciously raw Pixies attempt, Summer, Nancy Sinatra's Sugar Town) and all the while, through the ecstatic highs and deep lows thrown up by their relationship, a haunting soundtrack keeps an emotive pace. As the film is the debut feature effort from music video director Marc Webb, music plays just as important a part as any of the actors.

Even though the Smiths would realistically take home the Oscar for Best Actor for their centrality to the whole shebang, the soundtrack is stuffed with gems. Not content with just bawling to backing tracks in dingy LA bars, Zooey Deschanel is a real life, genuine pop star as part of folky duo She&Him, consisting of she and country artist M.Ward, him. Their USP focuses on jangly, breathy, vintage pop, and their album Volume 1 isn't a million miles away from the Carpenters. They've managed to snag a spot on the soundtrack with an ebbing, plaintive cover of (who else), the Smiths' Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want.



If you fancy something a bit more upbeat, but just as endearing, try recent single In The Sun.



Doesn't she just look a doll in this? No wonder Death Cab for Cutie's Ben Gibbard snapped her up. Personally, am inclined to think he may be batting above his average here...

The album plays host to really sneaky songs, of the type that creep up on you and bear you away with their epic-ness. Exhibit#1: Mumm-Ra's She's Got You High



Back in the murky mists of time during my first term at uni, I can vaguely recall bopping about to these lads at the NME tour when it graced the biggest venue uni had to offer. Of course, now I wish my memory was better. Bloody wine.

Exhibit #2 Sarko's laydee friend/wife/hot piece of patisserie. LOOK! Her face MOVES! WOW! Never did I think I would be featuring the Gallic first lady on these virtual pages but she more than deserves buckets of praise for this dreamy piece. Vachement bien.
(is that sarko's love rival at the window?)



Exhibit #3 Temper Trap's Sweet Disposition. I know, I thought it had fallen victim to serious over exposure via radio waves but hearing it juxtaposed to the sweetest loves scenes and joyous pin pricks of Tom and Summer's relationship made me want to put it on constant replay. It's pretty hard to get tired of perfection.



I can't really put the whole album on here but I can tell you to check the rest of it out. We're talking regina spektor, Simon and garfunkel, Fiest and Wolfmother. Spotify it here

For now, I'm going to play you out on what is possibly predictably my all time favourite scene in the film. There's dancing, fountains spurting and tweeting birds alighting on shoulders. Could it get any better? It's only bloody set to You Make My Dreams Come True.




© Miranda Thompson 2010
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