This trailer is one minute and thirty-eight seconds of pure ecstasy. Even after three years since I first saw this trailer for 500 Days of Summer I’m still in love with it. I’ve noticed that a worthy and engaging trailer like this is hard to come by. Unlike most crap Hollywood trailers that vie for spoiling the movie by telling you exactly what the movie is about by showing all the best scenes, this trailer works on evoking the feeling of the film instead. Once you watch it you are already in the character’s head, you feel that rush of excitement as with the beginning of every summer romance when your head is in the clouds. This trailer is one the best I have ever seen, it always manages to make me feel alive.

You Make My Dreams - Hall & Oates

I don’t know exactly why, but today I woke up and I felt amazing. I walked outside, with sun shining, temperature nice and warm, and puffy white cloud sparsely scattered in the sky, and I felt like I was Joseph Gordon-Levitt in the dance scene in (500) Days of Summer. I was skipping along the streets of New York with a goofy smile plastered on my face, grooving to the music that was blasting on my headphones, smiling at all the random pedestrians and even giving a high-five to a stranger on the street. I don’t know what came over me, but all I know that it’s an awesome state of mind to be in. I need to start feeling this lively everyday!

“What I want, you’ve got.”

Quequ’un M’a Dit - Carla Bruni

You don’t need to know French in order to get something out of this. That is what is fantastic about this song, regardless whether you know the language or not the emotion in the music is still delivered. Carla Bruni’s angelic voice is breath of fresh air. I hear both the sadness and the hopefulness in her tender voice. When I listen to this song I am reminded how life tends to feel like it’s all happening in an instant. When I look back to the things I did, the women I’ve loved, and the places I’ve been it all seems like a blur. Not a blur in the sense that it is fading from my memories, but in the sense that everything seems to happen too fast. Life flashes by at a mile a minute before I can truly savor every second. I have noticed that most of us are always in a state of dissatisfaction. We either regret the past or dread the future, and by living that way everything in the present seems to be always out of our grasp. Recently I learned, or more so come in grips with, that the past is the past and the future is the future. Live life right now, savor every second at this very instant.

“On me dit que nos vies ne valent pas grand chose. Elles passent en un instant comme fanent les roses.”

There Is a Light That Never Goes Out - The Smiths

Run into my arms. Embrace me. Hold me tight. Tell me that I’m your everything, your light and soul.  Be a part of my life forever, a sweet lover of mine. Be the fury in my bed, the ghost in the back of my head. I want to feel your warmth. I want to finally feel what it’s like to have my breath taken away, to feel like I’m the most important person in someone’s life. I long for you, whoever you might be.

“To die by your side is such a heavenly way to die.”

(500) Days of Sweet Disposition - The Temper Trap (Mixed by Ariel Viera)

There are only a few songs that have the ability to lighten your mood every single time, no matter how many times you’ve heard it. For me, one of those songs is The Temper Trap’s Sweet Disposition. I remember first time I heard it was in the amazing (500) Days of Summer trailer and it instantly blew my mind. Ever since then I’ve been addicted to this beautiful song, collecting every single cover and remix that has been released, listening to the song over two hundred times, and knowing all the lyrics by heart. This is officially my favorite song of all-time. Nothing pales in comparison on how this song makes me feel. I’ve associated it with so many wonderful memories and it has been my go-to song when things get rough since it always immediately makes me feel euphoric in its awe-inspiring rhythms. Well, without further ado, I present you my half-hour mixtape of the greatest song ever made. Enjoy!

“A moment, a love, a dream aloud, a kiss, a cry.”

A Story Of Boy Meets Girl - Mychael Danna & Rob Simonsen

From one of the best movies of this year, 500 Days of Summer! This one of the best opening introductions I’ve seen on film, it makes the entire tale sound mystical.

Warning this reflection of the film contains spoilers.

So I went to see (500) Days of Summer again because I recommended it to a friend who had a recent bad break-up, and he was dying to see it so I went with him to watch this amazing film again. I will tell you now, for a second viewing of the film I was amazed again! I still felt the magic of the film as I felt it the first time I watched it, and the film to a certain degree got even better. Watching it for a second time I was able to appreciate other things that I didn’t noticed the first time around. In this second viewing I really felt sympathetic for Summer. In the first viewing I thought Summer was rather cold-hearted, but in the second time I realized Summer is human being too with feelings and emotions. Even though Summer was much more closed than Tom was, she was in a relationship too, and she also felt heartbreak. It wasn’t easy for Summer to break it off with Tom, but, unlike Tom, she followed her intuition and was honest to herself about the way she felt about Tom. Summer at 300th or so day started to feel that she truly didn’t love Tom, the feeling between her and Tom was dwindling. Tom’s break-up was so hard because he was resting on a fantasy, but more so he was constantly thinking about lack. He thought about the lack of love Summer was showing, he thought about the lack of consistency in the relationship, he thought of the lack of women out there besides Summer that he could connect with. Tom constantly had negative thoughts running through his mind. As the narrator said, Tom’s mode of thinking was similar to sad 80’s British pop music, he lived in world where there was heartbreak, where love is a rare thing, and that one really has to fight for it to win it. This way of thinking really hurt Tom and really hurt his relationship with Summer. Summer during the relationship was having fun, taking it casual and slow, meanwhile Tom was panicking that he was going to lose Summer. Tom felt as though he had to be in an official relationship with her, in order to guarantee no heartbreak. At one point in the film Tom says “I just want consistency” and Summer replies “You know I can’t give you that, only you can”. Summer was completely correct, Tom was looking for the love of Summer in order to feel true happiness but that isn’t the way. One has to be happy, and you have to love yourself in order to give love to others. Of course nonetheless, Summer and Tom weren’t meant to be with each other, but they were meant to have a short-lived relationship. Both Tom and Summer learned so much from that relationship they had together. Summer found someone who she truly loved by first learning about Tom’s philosophy on love. Tom ended up pursing architecture and also finding someone else all due to Summer.

It’s not a love story, but it is a story about love. We all go through these moments in our lives that we rest all our happiness on one person, but that only leads to feeling empty and unsatisfied, no one can give you the happiness that you truly want, you have to be happy on your own in order to live happy. You have to love yourself in order to love others. Tom at the end start appreciating and loving himself because he pursued architecture and that’s how he was able to meet Autumn. (500) Days of Summer is a therapeutic film teaching about love, the destructive power of negative thoughts, and a very important lesson that love is always out there and there is an abundance of love to be given and received, one just has to be patient and let it come to you naturally.

Warning this review might contain some spoilers.

I finally went to see (500) Days of Summer, the film I have been anticipating and hyping since February. It’s a long time to wait for a film and within that time the hype grew and grew. Then on a Saturday night I entered the theater finally after 6 months of anticipation with my expectations running so high. The film started with soft classical music slowly gaining momentum, reminiscent of fantasy films, then a narrator with a very deep and authoritative voice starts talking. His first line “This is a story of boy meets girl.” An introduction is given about the two main characters Tom, the boy who falls in love, and Summer, the girl who doesn’t. At that instance, two minutes into the film, I knew this wasn’t your ordinary cliché-ridden romantic comedy, I realized this film is going to unique and unlike any other. In a time where romantic comedies seem to be empty, superficial, and lacking any real heart comes (500) Days of Summer which comes like a refreshing breeze in the sea of dry romance films. This film blew my mind, it was witty, funny, new, and engaging.

First let me start with the two stars of the film, Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, two actors I have complete love for. Zooey Deschanel a beautiful woman who always plays the strong female lead extremely well. She has a talent for playing the corky, weird, and slightly off-beat female. Then there is Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who is one of my favorite actors right now. Star of one my other favorite romantic comedies, 10 Things I Hate About You, and star of many other wonderful films such as Brick and The Lookout. Gordon-Levitt has the talent and is an amazing actor of the top most quality and I see him going great places in his art. Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Gordon-Levitt blended very well in this film. In most romantic comedies you need to feel the chemistry between the two leads but in this film it was different. The film is about the full course of a relationship, the beginning, the middle, and the end. And throughout the film you see the development of the chemistry between the two leads but then you also see the slow deterioration of the chemistry between them. The film expertly explores the development of innocent and naïve love. Many people might find the fact that this romantic comedy is not quite the love story as all the others, many people might find it depressing because of that fact. But on the contrary this film shows the ups and downs of relationships and being in love while the other person is not is a hard thing to go through. This is where the film is at its strongest. Even though it shows a relationship that doesn’t quite work out, it’s still a beautiful thing. So many memorable experiences and joyful experiences are created that will pristinely forever live in happiness. We tend to look at relationships and only think about the outcome, when really it isn’t only about the outcome, what is most important is what one goes through that relationship. Even though a relationship doesn’t work out in the end, there are so many things that happened during the relationship that made you happy, those moments should be cherished. Marc Webb, the director the film, did an excellent job at capturing these small moments that live pristinely in happiness and joy for the rest of our lives. The lingering shots of Summer’s face, of Tom and Summer holding hands, of the smile on their faces, all are shots that make this film truly wonderful. In real life the small moments of seeing the one you love smile, laughing, and glancing at you are the images that keep playing over and over in our heads. Marc Webb of course knows this and he expertly incorporate those lingering images into his film.

I also have to praise the cleaver use of an omniscient narrator, who had no relation to any of the characters in the story. The narrator had a deep voice and was very well articulated, reminiscent of nature documentaries or other films like Little Children. To me the film sounded more like an anthropological study on the workings of love, a dive into the inner-workings of human nature. The narrator added an authoritative and serious tone to this romantic comedy. It made the film feel important to me, hearing the narrator made me feel like I had to listen to this film, take the opportunity to learn something new from this two-hour exposition of falling in love.

As for the soundtrack, it was completely amazing! An enchanting and such an engaging soundtrack filled with many memorable songs ranging from indie artist such as Regina Spektor, Feist, She & Him, Doves, Wolfmother, and the Temper Trap, and it also had a couple of classics from the 80’s such as The Smiths, Hall & Oates and Simon & Garfunkel. A big influence of this film I think comes from songs of The Smiths, anyone who holds The Smiths close to their hearts knows that their lyrics are about the pursuit and search for love. Tom is desperate for love and as they say in The Smiths song, There Is A Light The Never Goes Out, “And if a double-decker bus crashes into us, To die by your side is such a heavenly way to die” Tom is desperate to find love and he feels that he would only feel happy once he does, no matter how dire the circumstances. No wonder Tom falls head over heels with Summer, once he finds out she likes the Smiths. Also with the other songs such as Sweet Disposition by the Temper Traps and Us by Regina Spektor are perfect love songs, expressing the small moments of love we all experience in our lives.

(500) Days of Summer follows a non-liner story sequence, a definitely interesting choice for this type of film. But I think the fact that it was structured this way allows the audience to feel more empathetic for Tom. As the audience we are put into Tom’s shoes. We experience his overwhelming sense of love then his despair of that love not being reciprocated back to him. Tom represents the every-day person. Every person goes through an up and down through their relationships. We sometimes love someone who doesn’t love us back. Tom’s experience is a growing experience, a story of growth and learning about love. The way he learns might seem harsh, but in reality it’s a beautiful thing, because he learns about love and he learns that love is always out there. There is someone out there for everyone. The fact that Summer ended up finding someone else but in the most seemingly random circumstances in the same exact way Tom has always expressed he wanted to find true love, shows that Tom’s view of love is correct even though his relationship with Summer didn’t work, as the narrator stated “This is not a love story. It’s a story of love.” Tom learned about love and was able to later find love. At the end when Tom seemingly coincidentally met with someone else that seem to have created a love spark, shows that his view of love was always correct he just had to find the right one. The film shows another very important thing, it’s always good to give someone a chance. True love might be found in the most unexpected of places or even in the most obvious of places. We simply don’t know where true love lies, we have to go out there and find it. We have to love someone in order to find someone to love us. Tom’s relationship with Summer wasn’t a lost cause. It was a wonderful chance to learn something new and spend some precious time with an amazing person. Sure it didn’t work out, but Tom loved and could always love again. There is no limit to how much we can love, so we all have to take advantage of those moments of sweet disposition we experience when we fall in love. (500) Days of Summer was a wonderful film that I have fell in love in with. There are rare times in movies where I have a glowing smile from beginning to end. The actors were amazing, the cinematography was simply memorable, the story was enchanting, and the ending was awe-inspiring. I love (500) Days of Summer.

“a moment, a love
a dream, a laugh
a kiss, a cry
our rights, our wrongs (won’t stop til it’s over)”
These lyrics are simply BEAUTIFUL.