(500) Days of Summer

2009

Director: Marc Webb

Distributor: Fox Searchlight Pictures

Key Elements: Message – Music - Visual

Review:

Tom is a naive romantic.  Summer is a wounded skeptic.  Tom wants to be in a meaningful, committed relationship.  Summer wants a friend with benefits.

Tom falls for Summer.  You have probably already guessed that Tom gets hurt. After all, "This is not a love story."

This un-rom-com is about learning from antithesis. Sometimes we know love better by knowing what it isn't. And love is not how Tom feels about Summer.

Tom says, "I love how she makes me feel."  That's key. Tom doesn't see it, but Summer is just a means to fulfilling his romantic hopes. He doesn't really love HER.

Were it love, he wouldn't be so self-focused in his pursuit of Summer.  And he wouldn't become impatient with Summer and short with his friends when things don't go as he expects.

But, the movie ends with a new season and the hope that Tom has learned from the experience.

The cool thing is that the movie delivers this sobering message with whim. The story is told in non-chronological order with visual metaphor and hyperbole, expectation/reality splices and one of the best song selections ever played in a movie.

But why did it take so long for Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Gordon-Levitt to do a movie together?  They're such an obvious pair-up!

BTW - I think it's hilarious how this movie made The Smiths suddenly reappear on everyone's playlists after years of obscurity. Awesome.

Trailer:

Promotional Video (Song by Zooey Deschanel's She and Him):

Quotes:

• The following is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to persons living or dead is purely coincidental. Especially you Jenny Beckman. Bitch.
• This is a story of boy meets girl. But you should know upfront, this is not a love story.
• It's love; it's not Santa Claus.
• What always happens: Life.
• Just because she likes the same bizzaro crap you do doesn't mean she's your soul mate.
• Tom, don't go! You're still my best friend!
• It's these cards and the movies and the pop songs, they're to blame for all lies and the heartache, everything.
• Look, I know you think she was the one, but I don't. Now, I think you're just remembering the good stuff. Next time you look back, I, uh, I really think you should look again.
•  You weren't wrong, Tom. You were just wrong about me.
• Nice to meet you. I'm Autumn.

Stills:

Slumdog Millionaire

2008

Director: Danny Boyle

Composer: A. R. Rahman

Distributor: Fox Searchlight Pictures / Warner Brothers

Key Elements: Story – Visuals – Message – Concept – Music

My Review:

This movie recently won Golden Globes for Best Screenplay, Best Original Score, Best Director and Best Motion Picture – Drama. I watched this at an art-house theater and can definitely say it deserved them all. I continue to be completely amazed by Danny Boyle's brilliant film-making.

Based on the book, Q and A, by Vikas Awarup, the story tells of how a boy’s life experiences have equipped him with the answers to a trivia game show. As the movie explains these answers, we get to see his life unfold. Brilliant visuals and moving music make for a stunning film, but it’s the story that really blows you away. I was pleasantly surprised when, in the end, it turned out to be a love story.

I’ve had some exposure to Bollywood and thoroughly enjoyed the similarities. From the random switching between English and Hindi, to the head-wagging yeses, to the inexplicable dance sequence, this movie pays tribute to it’s influences.

But I also loved that there was no sex scene in it. The makers of this movie opted to instead show some class and creativity and just allow a good story to be told. Way to go guys.

Trailer:

Quotes:

• You think I don’t wake up every morning wishing I didn’t know the answer to that question?
• Steel balls is what it takes, my friend, steel balls
• Your destiny in on your hands, bhai

Stills:

Juno

2007

Director: Jason Reitman

Writer: Diablo Cody

Music: The Moldy Peaches

Distributor: Fox Searchlight

My Review:

It has to be said that the most enjoyable thing about this movie is its writing. It’s screenplay, written by stripper/journalist Diablo Cody, won the Academy Award. The quick and clever lines she gave the characters make the movie’s dialogue colorful, engaging and fun.

Beyond that, I was AMAZED that such a cool, popular movie would have a PRO-life message. Juno actually goes to an abortion clinic but leaves when a friend’s comment sticks in her brain like a splinter and convinces her to let her baby live. Beautiful.

There’s also an interesting statement made about this importance of authentic friendship being a part of any romance.

Trailer:



Quotes:

• You better pay for that pee-stick when you're done with it. Don't think it's yours just because you marked it with your urine!
• So what's the prognosis, Fertile Myrtle? Minus or plus?
  - I don't know. It's not seasoned yet. …I'll take some of these. Nope... There it is. The little pink plus sign is so unholy.
  - That ain't no Etch-A-Sketch. This is one doodle that can't be un-did, Homeskillet.
• Oh, and she inexplicably mails me a cactus every Valentine's Day. And I'm like, "Thanks a heap coyote ugly. This cactus-gram stings even worse than your abandonment."
• So guess what.
  - What?... I don't know...
  I'm pregnant.
• I'm just gonna go ahead an nip this thing in the bud. Cuz you know, they say pregnancy often leads to, you know... infants.
• All babies want to get borned! All babies want to get borned!
• ...and the receptianist tried to get me to take these condoms that looked like grape suckers and was just babbling away about her freaking boyfiends pie balls! Oh an Su-Chin was there and she was like, "Hi babies have fingernails." Fingernails!
• Did you see that coming?
  - Yeah... but I was hoping she was expelled, or into hard drugs.
  That was my first instinct too. Or a DWI... anything but this!
• I thought you were the kind of girl who knew when to say when.
  - I don't know what kind of girl I am.
• So how far along are you?
  - I'm a junior.
• Excuse me. I am a sacred vessel, alright? All you've got in your stomach is Taco Bell.
• Your parents are probably wondering where you are.
  - Nah... I mean, I'm already pregnant, so what other kind of shenanigans could I get into?
• I just need to know if it's possible for two people to stay happy together forever, or at least for a few years.
  - It's not easy, that's for sure. Now, I may not have the best track record in the world, but I have been with your stepmother for 10 years now and I'm proud to say that we're very happy. …In my opinion, the best thing you can do is find a person who loves you for exactly what you are. Good mood, bad mood, ugly, pretty, handsome, what have you, the right person will still think the sun shines out your ass. That's the kind of person that's worth sticking with.
  I sort of already have.
• I think I'm in love with you.
  - You mean as friends?
  No... I mean for real. 'Cause you're, like, the coolest person I've ever met, and you don't even have to try, you know...
  - I try really hard, actually.
• Dad?
  - What?
  Either I just peed my pants or um...
  -*Or*...?
  THUNDERCATS ARE GO!
• As far as boyfriends go, Paulie Bleeker is totally boss. He is the cheese to my macaroni. And, I know that people are supposed to fall in love before they reproduce, but... I guess normalcy isn't really our style.

Stills:

Sunshine

2007

Director: Danny Boyle

Distributor: Fox Searchlight Pictures

Key Elements: Concept – Visuals – Symbolism

My Review:

This movie stands alone in my mind as one of the most artistic and moving I’ve seen. The sun is burning out, so a team of astronauts must fly a bomb into the sun to reignite it – of course, things don’t go as planned.

The first thing I loved about the movie was its atmosphere. It created its own world. Inside the spaceship, everything was clean and sterile, hummingly electric and stoically purposeful. A prime example of this is the futuristic, green oxygen garden.

The world beyond the spaceship’s heavy duty shield is a stark contrast to this controlled environment. It’s an insane, dreadful force of heat blasting away anything that escapes the protection of the shields.

It’s the power of the sun that is the most lasting impression the movie leaves. It captivates one astronaut, and drives another crazy. The awesome solar intensity could be interpreted as a metaphor for the power of God. Those who are captivated by it live for Him. Others are driven mad with a desire to have the power for themselves.

But one things is for certain, after watching this movie, I never consider a sunbeam in the same way – nor anything else God has created.

Trailer:



Quotes:

• Our sun is dying. Mankind faces extinction. Seven years ago the Icarus project sent a mission to restart the sun but that mission was lost before it reached the star. Sixteen months ago, I, Robert Capa, and a crew of seven left earth frozen in a solar winter. Our payload a stellar bomb with a mass equivalent to Manhattan Island. Our purpose to create a star within a star. Eight astronauts strapped to the back of a bomb. My bomb. Welcome to the Icarus Two.
• It’s like taking a shower in light. You loose yourself in it.
• The point about darkness is you float in it. You and the darkness are distinct from each other because darkness is an absence of something. It’s a vacuum. But total light envelopes you – it becomes you. It’s very strange. I recommend it.
• It was… beautiful.
• Ladies and Gentlemen… Mercury.
• Only dream I ever have... is the surface of the sun... everytime I shut my eyes... it's always the same.
• When a Stellar Bomb is triggered, very little will happen at first -and then a spark, will pop into existance, and it will hang for an instant, hovering in space and then, it will split into two, and those will split again, and again, and again... detonation beyond all imaging - the big bang on a small scale. - a new star born out of a dying one... I think it will be beautiful... No, i'm not scared
• Warning. You are dying. All crew are dying
• So if you wake up one morning and it's a particularly beautiful day, you'll know we made it.

Stills:

Nochnoy dozor (Night Watch)

2004

Director: Timur Bekmambetov

Distributor: Fox Searchlight Pictures

Key Elements: Visuals

My Review:

My biggest problem with this movie is its premise. The idea is that good and evil have struck a truce and now must keep each other in balance. But the Christian knows that Good is uncompromising and ultimately triumphs over evil.

But, ignore the story and watch the movie, because the special effects are some of the most amazing I’ve ever seen. Visually incredible.

Trailer:



Quotes:

• Night Watch! Everyone step out of the Twilight!
• Ah, the Light mage with a Dark past has come... just the one I'm looking for...
• I want to live.
  - So live. Live. Who's stopping you?
  I want to be human again.
  - You want to be human? Then act like a human.
  

Stills:

Little Miss Sunshine

2006

Director: Jonathan Dayton / Valerie Faris

Distributor: Fox Searchlight

Key Elements: Characters – Lines – Story

My Review:

Zany characters go on a zany mission and reveal authentic family tenderness.

If there’s anything to take away from this movie it’s that, even though we are all ridiculously imperfect, we can be there for each other. This family, though dysfunctional on the surface supports, encourages, and comforts each other.

When Dwayn realizes he’s colorblind and can’t go to the Air Force Academy, Olive comforts him.

When no one likes Olive’s performance, her family stands up for her and claps along.

When Olive worries she’s not pretty, her grandfather reassures her.

And Dwayne and Frank find consolation in each other as they face failure.

There are, of course, more examples.

Zany enough to be entertaining, and touching enough to be meaningful, the characters, lines and heart of this movie make it a fun one.

Trailer:



Quotes:

• There's two kinds of people in this world, there's winners and there's loosers. Okay, you know what the difference is? Winners don't give up.
• Who is that? Nietzsche? So you stopped talking because of Friedrich Nietzsche? Far out.
• No one gets left behind! No one gets left behind!
• Grandpa, am I pretty?
  - You are the most beautiful girl in the world.
  You're just saying that.
  - No! I'm madly in love with you and it's not because of your brains or your personality.
• Losers are people who are so afraid of not winning, they don't even try.
• Go Hug Mom
• You know what? Fuck beauty contests. Life is one fucking beauty contest after another.
  School, then college, then work... Fuck that. And fuck the Air Force Academy. If I want to fly, I'll find a way to fly. You do what you love, and fuck the rest
• I wish I could just sleep until I was eighteen and skip all this crap - high school and everything - just skip it.
  - You know Marcel Proust?
  He's the guy you teach.
  - Yeah. French writer. Total loser. Never had a real job. Unrequited love affairs. Gay. Spent 20 years writing a book almost no one reads. But he's also probably the greatest writer since Shakespeare. Anyway, he uh... he gets down to the end of his life, and he looks back and decides that all those years he suffered, Those were the best years of his life, 'cause they made him who he was. All those years he was happy? You know, total waste. Didn't learn a thing. So, if you sleep until you're 18... Ah, think of the suffering you're gonna miss. I mean high school? High school-those are your prime suffering years. You don't get better suffering than that
• She's kickin' ass... that's what she's doing.

Stills:

The Darjeeling Limited

2007

Director: Wes Anderson

Distributors: Fox Searchlight Pictures

Key Elements: Characters – Lines – Message

My Review:

Wes Anderson’s movies always carry a poetically eccentric tone, making Anderson one of the directors I most enjoy. This particular movie is my favorite from him.

The story follows three brothers who come to terms with their father’s death and each other as they seek their mother in India.

My favorite scene is when the three are standing in front of a mirror, watching Francis (Owen Wilson) remove his bandages. “I guess I’ve still got a lot of healing to do,” says Francis. “Getting there, though,” observes Jack (Adrian Brody). “Anyway, it’s definitely going to add a lot of character to you,” offers Peter (Jason Schwartzman).

This exchange is weighty with meaning as it gives both the resolution of the movie, and a perspective on dealing with life’s difficulties.

Keep your eyes open for a cameo from Bill Murray. And if you get the DVD you can watch a short prequel which informs Peter’s short story.

Trailer:



Quotes:

• You don't love me!
  - Yes I do!
  - I love you too, but I'm gonna mace you in the face!
• I wonder if the three of us would've been friends in real life. Not as brothers, but as people.
• What's wrong with you?
  - Let me think about that. I'll tell you the next time I see you.
• I think he's still in mourning.
  - Well I probably still am too.
• Stop including me!
• I guess I've still got a lot of healing to do.
  - Gettin' there, though.
  - Anyway, it's definitely going to add a lot of character to you
  

Stills:

28 Days Later

2002

Director: Danny Boyle

Distributor: Fox Searchlight Pictures

Key Elements: Concept, Message

My Review:

Boyle introduces us to a new terror: FAST zombies.

The beauty of this film is in its surreal tone. Beautiful musical musings scatter the background in contrast the bleak and bloody imagery. From the moment Jim wakes up in an empty London, we are shown a vision of a post-apocalyptic world.

What really terrifies us about zombie movies is the way they play upon our fear of each other because somewhere in our psyches, we all believe the rest of humanity to be mindlessly hostile.

Ironically, this movie also reminds us of how much we need each other. At first, Selena believes that survival is as good as it gets. But when she sees how Hannah and her father are there for each other she starts to question. In the end, she repeals her claim as she grows to love and be loved by Jim.

Love is more important than just surviving.

Trailer:



Quotes:

• REPENT THE END IS EXTREMELY FUCKING NIGH
• OK, Jim. I've got some bad news…
• All the death. All the shit. It doesn't really mean anything to Frank and Hannah because... Well, she's got a Dad and he's got his daughter. So, I was wrong when I said that staying alive is as good as it gets.
• This is what I've seen in the four weeks since infection. People killing people. Which is much what I saw in the four weeks before infection, and the four weeks before that, and before that, and as far back as I care to remember. People killing people - Which to my mind puts us in a state of normality right now.
• I don't want to eat. I want to bury my dad. He's one of the people you're talking about.

Stills: