Public Enemies - What Did You Think?
A Must Watch Video Clip From 500 Days of Summer: Expectation vs. Reality
Posted on Wednesday, June 10th, 2009 by Peter Sciretta
One of the many reasons I loved 500 Days of Summer is the clever screenwriting. And by clever writing I don’t mean overwritten dialogue ala Diablo Cody, but fantastic story beats that take full advantage of the film medium. Fox Searchlight has released a new clip which perfectly illustrates what I’m talking about. As you might already know, the film stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Tom, a hapless greeting card copywriter and hopeless romantic, who is blindsided after his girlfriend Summer (Zooey Deschanel) dumps him (this is how the movie begins), he shifts back and forth through various periods of their 500 days “together” (hence the title) to try to figure out where things went wrong.
The video clip after the jump takes place after Tom and Summer reconnect after the breakup, and Tom is invited to a party at his ex-girlfriend’s house. Tom, of course, thinks this is an opportunity to rekindle their relationship, but as you might expect, expectations and reality diverge. Screenwriters Scott Neustadter and Michael Weber have expertly crafted a scene that I believe is so brilliant, that it makes you wonder why no one had come up with this concept prior. Everyone has encountered this situation at one point in their life, and everyone knows how it feels - yet I’ve never seen a movie portray the feeling so accurately, visually, without employing a ton of exposition before hand. The scene in the movie goes on a bit longer, and has more of a dramatic effect on the story (as you might expect, reality gets worse). The sequence works better in the context of the film, but you’ll get the point. Watch the clip embedded after the jump.
Orange UK has released an international trailer for 500 Days of Summer, which presents the movie as a much more traditional romantic comedy about a couple falling in love. And I’m not saying that the film isn’t a love story, it is, but if anything it isn’t traditional.
The movie is told in flashbacks and flash forwards, the film begins with Summer and Tom’s break up, and the story is also largely about Tom trying to figure out what went wrong, trying to reestablish a connection, trying to get over the break-up…etc. And that story seems to be completely absent from this new trailer. That said, its not a bad trailer, its just a bit misleading. Fox Searchlight is releasing the film in the US starting on July 17th, I highly recommend it! Watch the trailer after the jump.
Fox Searchlight will be holding a bunch of advance word of mouth promo screenings for (500) Days of Summer. This is the film I really fell in love with this year at Sundance. The film stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Tom, a hapless greeting card copywriter and hopeless romantic, who is blindsided after his girlfriend Summer (Zooey Deschanel) dumps him, he shifts back and forth through various periods of their 500 days “together” to try to figure out where things went wrong.
Searchlight is holding screenings in New Orleans, Memphis, Denver, Houston, Austin, Kansas City, Cleveland, Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, Albany, Seattle, San Antonio, Minneapolis and Chicago. Head on over to FoxSearchlight.com to RSVP. And remember, an RSVP is not as good as a normal ticket. You need to show up early to ensure you get in.
Fox Searchlight has released a new clip from 500 Days of Summer. This is the film I really fell in love with this year at Sundance. The film stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Tom, a hapless greeting card copywriter and hopeless romantic, who is blindsided after his girlfriend Summer (Zooey Deschanel) dumps him, he shifts back and forth through various periods of their 500 days “together” to try to figure out where things went wrong. This clip is from a sequence early on in their relationship as they visit an IKEA furniture store. Watch the clip after the jump.
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Video Blog: Summer Movie Preview Part 3 - July 2009
Posted on Saturday, March 28th, 2009 by Peter Sciretta
Steve from Collider is a good friend of mine. At least a few times a week we talk about upcoming movies, TV shows, what gossip each of us have heard, and anything else we might find exciting. Since a number of our conversations cover things you also might find interesting, we’ve decided to start recording certain conversations as video blogs. Past video blogs have included The Future of the Batman Film Franchise, The Box Office Prospects of Watchmen and thoughts on the first 46 Minutes of Pixar’s Up.
We were recently talking about some of the movies coming out this summer and realized we should do some video blogs about the 2009 Summer Movie season. We were a little too ambitious, and thought we could squeeze two months worth of films into one blog, but as usually happens, we ran out of time. So the first two parts of our Summer movie preview were posted last week (you can watch part one here and part two here). In part 3, we take a look at the movies of July 2009: Public Enemies, Bruno, I Love You Beth Cooper, Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, Funny People, 500 Days of Summer. Please leave your thoughts on the movies of July 2009 in the comments below.
Help Choose The Poster for 500 Days of Summer
Posted on Wednesday, March 4th, 2009 by Peter Sciretta
Our friends at Fox Searchlight are trying to figure out what the poster for (500) Days of Summer should look like. They have asked us to poll /Film readers to find out which poster you guys like better. So please head on over to FoxSearchlight.com to get a better look at the four choices and to place your vote. Personally, I like the one of the top right the best, but that’s just me.
Fox Searchlight has finally released a full length movie trailer for Marc Webb’s indie post-modern romantic comedy (500) Days of Summer. The Sundance Film Festival sensation tells the story of a love story, in a way you’ve never seen it before. When a greeting card copywriter named Tom (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is dumped by the love of his life, a magical girl named Summer (Zooey Deschanel), he takes a look back at their 500 days “together” to try to figure out where things went wrong. I gushed all over this movie at Sundance (read my review here).
The trailer begins much like the movie begins, with fairy tale like narration. You’ll get brief glimpse at some of the more non-traditional visual storytelling techniques that Webb employs (dream sequences, split screens, and even a dance number) and also gives you a brief listen to the film’s incredibly hip soundtrack (track listing here). The trailer comes off as a little cliche (which is strange since the film is the opposite of generic) and I still don’t think it plays up the aspect of the film that makes it so unique - the fact that the movie jumps between the past and the future to help explain how the couple fell in love and what, if anything, went wrong. Watch the trailer after the jump and leave your thoughts in the comments below.
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During the credits of the 81st Academy Awards, video clips were shown for many of the films that will hit theaters in 2009. You might have turned off the television after Slumdog Millionaire won Best Picture and missed everything. Or maybe you just want to see the awesome Terminator Salvation footage or the first look at Public Enemiess again. If so, don’t worry, we have the whole 3-minute clip embedded after the jump.
The good news is that you’re going to be able to see the Sundance Film Festival sensation 500 Days of Summer one week earlier. The bad news is that Fox Searchlight has decided to release the film on Friday, July 17th 2009, the same day that Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince hits theaters. But don’t worry, chances are the initial release will be limited, possibly only Los Angeles and New York, expanding slowly nationwide in the weeks that follow.
Also, according to Box Office Mojo, Richard Kelly’s Twilight Zone-ish scifi thriller The Box has been moved back from November 6th to November 25th. Probably a good move considering it was originally set to go up against Universal’s The Wolf Man, the Wes Anderson animated adaptation of Fantastic Mr. Fox and Robert Zemeckis’ A Christmas Carol. The film is now set to go head to head with Nine and Old Dogs, but its worth mentioning that the Twilight sequel New Moon is scheduled to hit theaters five days earlier.
At Sundance every year, there are at least a few films released with killer soundtracks. 500 Days of Summer is one of this year’s musically talked about films. I have done the detective work and have the complete track listing for you after the jump.
500 Days of Summer Director/Writers Developing The Spectacular Now
Posted on Tuesday, January 20th, 2009 by Peter Sciretta
500 Days of Summer seems to be the big buzz film of the 2009 Sundance Film Festival. Yesterday I got a chance to sit down with director Marc Webb (full interview will be posted later in the week), who slipped a bit of news regarding his possible follow-up. Marc revealed that his is developing a big screen adaptation of Tim Tharp’s The Spectacular Now, which is being written by 500 Days of Summer scribes Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber:
“Neustadter and Weber are adapting a book called The Spectacular Now for Fox Searchlight,” Webb told /Film. “It’s a really fantastic novel about a 17 year old charm monger who drinks too much. And its about how he’s negotiating the world of growing up. It’s a very realistic portrayl of what it’s like to be a kid. And it has a very frank depiction of sex, alcohol and that sort of thing.”
Webb was clear to mention that it’s currently being written, and there is nothing “locked and loaded” for his next project, despite the Hollywood trade papers announcement that he will be making a film called Age of Rage, which was described as “Children of Men meets Lord of the Flies”.
Last week we posted two video clips from Mark Webb’s 500 Days of Summer, which premieres later tonight at the Sundance Film Festival (check back for our take). Fox Searchlight has now released an official teaser trailer, which you can watch after the jump.
