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I just got back from an advanced screening of this film (it comes out in about a month or so) and it was really good.

This is the indie rom-dram-com (I just made up that term) starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/500_Days_of_Summer

You guys probably haven't seen it yet, but I'm just making this thread for when you do AND to let you know that it's worth watching, but go ahead and feel free to discuss what your thoughts are, whether or not you're looking forward to it, etc.

I've been looking forwards to it for a while, anything with Joseph Gordon-Levitt is a must see for me.

Looks like some desperate attempt to be like Garden State.

Most of my female friends want to watch this.

It looks pretty cheesy. Like Jaden mentioned, what sets this apart from say....Garden State? Despite its proclamations of not being your typical rom-com, it looks like it.

This movie is nothing like Garden State (this coming from a big fan of Garden State). The only similarities between these two are that they both feature two awkward/flawed characters and they both have great soundtracks.

Other than that, they are very different, tonally, stylistically, the plot, the "theme," etc.

It certainly looks better than anything Michael Cera is in (I.E. Paper Heart).

And I do enjoy both leads. I will have to check this out eventually.

I was just watched the trailer again, did I see an 'Enchanted' dance section moment in the film?

Originally posted by SnakeEyes
This movie is nothing like Garden State (this coming from a big fan of Garden State). The only similarities between these two are that they both feature two awkward/flawed characters and they both have great soundtracks.



Which is what I was getting at.

It's clearly aimed at the same audience.

Nothing wrong with that if it turns out to be a good film.

Never said there was. Although I think the aim to emulate Garden State's popularity is deliberate.

Yeah but I think that's more of a marketing thing. I see your point though, the same demographic will like this movie, even though the films themselves are different.

Originally posted by SnakeEyes
Yeah but I think that's more of a marketing thing. I see your point though, the same demographic will like this movie, even though the films themselves are different.

I think it's more than that. I think this film was written and made to mimic Garden State's success by targetting the same people who liked it (Which includes me...It's actually one of my favourite films)

I disagree, then.

Just for the sake of comparison though, I'll go ahead and post their respective trailers.

500 Days of Summer - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PsD0NpFSADM&feature=fvw

Garden State - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u82n0e1mgmQ

I did laugh at the fact that the opening scene of the trailer is a headphones scene. Could it be lifted any more out of Garden State?

Oh no, a headphones scene!

300 had a swordfight or two, they must've copied Gladiator.

Originally posted by SnakeEyes
Oh no, a headphones scene!

300 had a swordfight or two, they must've copied Gladiator.

Best not try and be a f*ckin' prick about it...Doesn't really suit you.

It seems we're having our own rom-com with Jaden and SnakeEyes.

And Regina Spektor? No way. One of my favorite musicians.

Yes way! I've only heard a few of her songs, not a fan of her vocals.

Originally posted by jaden101
Best not try and be a f*ckin' prick about it...Doesn't really suit you.

I was being facetious. I hope this doesn't mean the end for our relationship.

All I'm trying to do is assure you that this movie isn't Garden State-lite; it's different. Not as good as Garden State imo, but it's not trying to be the same movie and it succeeds as it's own film. If I'm forced to, I'll contrast the differences in detail, but I think you'll probably just wait and see.

To be honest, this movie's closer to Eternal Sunshine (but also not as good) than it is to Garden State.

Originally posted by MildPossession
The headphone scene was better in Garden State, I mean The Shins or The Smiths, humm. I'm not a Smiths fan./B]

Ssshhh...don't say that around the Morrisey fans...They'll kill you, you know.



Wouldn't really call "Sid and Nancy" a rom-com...I'll let you decide which of us is Sid and which is Nancy.





Na...When it ends, you'll know cause it'll be a murder suicide Chris Benoit style.

http://www.demotivateus.com/posters/chris-benoit-wrestling-murder-family-demotivational-poster.jpg

Who?



His voice just annoys me. Horrible. *hides*.

I will not surprise if it going to be a good movie,but hope it will good,is it released ?

Just saw this tonight. It was well made and well acted but had a Closer like quality in that it felt like my life was unfolding on screen and it just kind of makes you want to die.

Originally posted by jaden101
I did laugh at the fact that the opening scene of the trailer is a headphones scene. Could it be lifted any more out of Garden State?

Yeah, it could.

I saw no similarity other than the fact that there were headphones and an obscure band.

But but I have been wearing headphones and listening to 'obscure' bands and telling people they should listen to this song and giving them my headphones way before Garden State came about. FACT.

No one felt at least mild discomfort or depression after watching this movie?

I just wanna see this one cause JOseph Gordon Levitt is in it.

Originally posted by MildPossession
But but I have been wearing headphones and listening to 'obscure' bands and telling people they should listen to this song and giving them my headphones way before Garden State came about. FACT.

Yeah but you're not as hot as Natalie Portman so noone cares.

How do you know? so bla.

It's technically known as "stalking". I won't bore you with the details.

Zooey is hot

Originally posted by Mairuzu
Zooey is hot


I tried, but she ignored. I'll never know....because I'm not stalker grade like Jaden.

Originally posted by dadudemon
I tried, but she ignored. I'll never know....because I'm not stalker grade like Jaden.

You ain't fooling anyone.

Really? You are not very good at it.

Which is what he wants you to think

Originally posted by MildPossession
Really? You are not very good at it.

Well you haven't noticed so far so i'd say i'm very good at it.

Originally posted by jaden101
You ain't fooling anyone.

It's my damn squeaky shoes and shoddy proxy server. (Yes, I'm referring to both the physical and virtual stalking fronts, here.)

I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. Yes, it was a bit of a downer, but the ending was meant to be uplifiting, showing you that you don't die and life isn't over after one person shuts you down.

Meh, I guess some things just hit too close to home regardless of quality and make for an unpleasant experience.
The fact that it gets that kind of reaction does say it's a well made movie. Good art is something that provokes thought and elicits a genuine emotional response, even if it isn't necessarily a pleasant one.

I agree with your last two setences. However, I think films that hit close to home are the most cathartic, but that's just me.

Catharsis is in the eyes of the beholder

The screenwriter's inspiration for the film: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1209556/500-Days-Summer-Revenge-writing-film-girl-dumped-you.html?ITO=1490

^ This is proof btw that this film isn't a studio-fabricated ingenuine film trying to make money off of the success of Gardent State, etc. *cough, jaden, cough*

But you don't need to read the interview above to know that, you just have to see the movie.

The fact that nearly every article on the web about 500 days of summer mentions Garden State is proof that they are similar enough to get the comparison in the 1st place...Just because they went with the "bad" ending doesn't mean it isn't almost exactly the same the whole way through.

Have you seen the movie? If you have, then you should know that you're wrong.

Also, I've read ZERO articles that mention Garden State in comparison to this movie.

Plot of Garden State: Medicated actor returns home for the first time in years because his mother passed away. While there, he meets a woman that changes his life, etc.

Plot of 500 Days of Summer: Greeting card writer gets dumped by his girlfriend, so he retraces key moments of their relationship in order to figure things how/where things went wrong.

You can't even say that the plots are similar, because they aren't. None of the dialogue is similar. Literally the ONLY thing that is similar is the headphones scene, and even that is different. The style and tone of the films is COMPLETELY different. 500 Days is breezy (yet still emotionally resonant) and much more stylized, including a dance number, animation, a split-screen segment, a broken-up/fragmented chronology. Garden State isn't anything like that.

By now I suppose I should've realized that this argument is futile, but I just find it utterly ridiculous that you actually think that 500 Days actually ripped off Garden State or that the movies are even that similar, especially when you usually seem like an intelligent guy. I actually wish this thread would have more discussion about the movie it's about, instead of mentioning Garden State, because I don't think the comparison is apt. But of course I'm to blame for this just as much as anyone, because I'm furthering the talk about it.

But like I said, it's just because I passionately disagree to the point where I'd say your objectively wrong.

http://blog.limewire.com/posts/18727-garden-state-2-er-500-days-of-summer-coming-out-in-july/

http://chicago.timeout.com/articles/film/76439/joseph-gordon-levitt-on-500-days-of-summer

http://boxoffice.com/reviews/2009/07/500-days-of-summer.php

Regardless of whether they say the films are the same, the fact that they are being compared proves my initial point. That 500 days of summer is blatently targetting the same audience as Garden State. As well as using the exact same emotional connections with the audience to do it. If they didn't want the comparisons to be made in the 1st place then they'd never have cut the trailer to have the mirroring headphone scene smack you right in the face. So at the very least, they are guilty of exploiting that scene's similarity to Garden State to get people through the door. Which is arguabley even worse.

Not really difficult to find the comparisons is it?

Yes, I've seen it. Yes, I liked it. Yes I preferred Garden State.

The fact they you're targetting specific plot points rather than my initial assertion that the film itself is targetted at the same people that Garden State was shows that you're missing my point.

It takes you on pretty much the exact same journey. The protagonist is effectively interchangable between the two films. He has exactly the same character flaws.

The only difference is the opposite reaction to his feelings for the female lead.

Originally posted by jaden101
http://blog.limewire.com/posts/18727-garden-state-2-er-500-days-of-summer-coming-out-in-july/

http://chicago.timeout.com/articles/film/76439/joseph-gordon-levitt-on-500-days-of-summer

http://boxoffice.com/reviews/2009/07/500-days-of-summer.php

Regardless of whether they say the films are the same, the fact that they are being compared proves my initial point. That 500 days of summer is blatently targetting the same audience as Garden State. As well as using the exact same emotional connections with the audience to do it. If they didn't want the comparisons to be made in the 1st place then they'd never have cut the trailer to have the mirroring headphone scene smack you right in the face. So at the very least, they are guilty of exploiting that scene's similarity to Garden State to get people through the door. Which is arguabley even worse.

And like I said before, that's marketing. Nearly every movie does this. Inglourious Basterds' trailer made it look like a Brad Pitt action movie to get people in the door, when it was anything but. So yes, I don't disagree that whoever was marketing the film wanted to target people who liked Garden State so that their film would be seen, but why is that so bad? Like MP said earlier, if the movie ends up being good, what's the problem?

Originally posted by jaden101
Not really difficult to find the comparisons is it?

Yes, I've seen it. Yes, I liked it. Yes I preferred Garden State.

The fact they you're targetting specific plot points rather than my initial assertion that the film itself is targetted at the same people that Garden State was shows that you're missing my point.

It takes you on pretty much the exact same journey. The protagonist is effectively interchangable between the two films. He has exactly the same character flaws.

The only difference is the opposite reaction to his feelings for the female lead.

Well, it's just that you're talking about two separate things. The former being the target audience/marketing and the latter being the movies themselves "taking you on the exact same journey." I'm disagreeing with the latter, which is more what my last post was about.

Judging by the fact that I had much different emotional reactions to these films, I can't help but disagree with your argument that it "takes you on the same journey."

And I don't think the protagonists are interchangeable, but if you're willing I'd like to hear you expand on your point that they have the same flaws.

When it comes down to it, this is the statement that I really disagree with:

"I think it's more than that. I think this film was written and made to mimic Garden State's success by targetting the same people who liked it."

If you read the article above where the writer talks about why he wrote the movie, it should be crystal clear that there was no attempt to copy or emulate or mimic Garden State's success. He wrote it because of his real-life relationship/experiences.

And as for being "made to mimic Garden State by targetting the same people who liked it" I think that's ridiculous as well. The director didn't spend two years of his life, putting passion and genuine work into the film for the sole purpose of mimicing Garden State because there'd be a similar target audience for the film when the finished product was ready to go.

I just think it's dumb to say that either the writer or director had Garden State in mind when they created this film. Especially the writer.

For me, only at the way the relationship ended up.



You're showing a lot of naivity about what film makers say in interviews as influences on their work.

And even if his writing of it was genuine, the people who funded the film no doubt saw the comparisons and exploited it.

I don't really have to justify it anymore given that i've already shown that their are tons of articles comparing the two. Whether you disagree that they are similar or not doesn't negate that fact.




I don't.

I just got around to seeing it and really enjoyed it. Loved how it flipped the conventions of the romance around, showing it from a guys point of view. And how you, as the objective viewer, see a rift in their relationship and chemistry from the start, despite his claims that they're soul mate. Some very poignant stuff in the movie. One of the better movies of 09 I think.

Both leads were great as well.

Also, as far as this weird conversation about 500 days and Garden State, can't say I see the similarity, before reading this conversation I never even thought to compare one to the other as they're very different, other than they're both kinda indie takes on the romance genre. I do think 500 Days is much better and infinitely more original and poignant than Garden State, which very much flowed like a typical romance with a little quirckiness thrown in for the **** of it.

I have not seen the movie yet, but i have a mind to watch. I have not enough time for theater so i have decided to bye DVD which is available( i came to know from internet ) in the market. And oh thanks for the trailer . It's cool.

top 5 of the year... 09

Film is brilliant.

It's true what the tagline says: "It's not a love story, it's a story about love.".

It doesn't feel mushy, stupid or forced at all, and Joseph Gordon Levitt cemented his place as a legitimately promising actor.

-AC

He has been an excellent actor for some time now. Off topic a bit, I believe Levitt is one who could take over the Joker role from Ledger if they bring the character back in future Batman films. Also the director of 500 Days of Summer is making the new Spiderman films, wonder if they change a lot, good choice?

Definitely nothing like Garden State, agree with that Backfire. 500 Days of Summer is indeed a wonderful film.

quite good, laughed my ass of

I hated it.

It was so try hard it was ridiculous. "oh christ, she likes the Smiths" **** off.

Great insight.

It was just a bit hard to keep watching, as the writing was really trying to ply the indie stuff down your throat at every available opportunity.

This is a story that most people can probably relate to, unless you are one of those lucky people never to have been on the losing end of the game of love.

I purchased this on dvd about a week ago,I cant wait too see it,I gave it too my ex,so she could watch it first,as I have no shortage of movies to watch at the moment,I will post back when I get around to seeing it

I liked it better when it was called Annie Hall.

Doesn't matter if it is similar to Annie Hall, still both brilliant films.

Finnally seen this,it was great,very fitting for me too,as I just broke up with my girlfriend.....for good this time