“This is not a love story…it’s a story about love.”

That’s the tagline for 500 Days of Summer, a new film starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel, which hit theaters this past weekend.  We happened to catch the Gen Art screening here in NYC a few weeks back, where one of the writers, Michael Weber, was on hand to introduce his film and answer questions following the screening.

All we can say is wow!  This is by far one of the best films we’ve seen in a while.

500 Days of Summer tells the story of “Boy meets girl…Boy falls in love…Girl doesn’t…in Momento,” as Weber put it.  The film jumps back and forth over the course of the 500 days the two main characters are together.  Following the film, someone in the audience asked if it was written this way, or if the “Momento-effect” was added during production.  Weber explained that it was written intentionally, to depict how one remembers a relationship.  You never remember things exactly as they happened or linearly.  Rather, memories are the result of how you choose to remember a situation.  Effects were added throughout the film to augment this, including an “Expectation vs. Reality” split screen, and a kick ass, hilarious “dream sequence” set to Hall & Oates’ “You Make My Dreams.”

We also asked a question, about the soundtrack, which is phenomenal.  Regina Spektor’s unique, sweet and haunting voice opens the film, and one of our favorite tracks is Wolfmother’s “Vagabond.”  Here’s the full track listing:

1. A Story of Boy Meets Girl – Mychael Danna and Rob Simonsen
2. Us – Regina Spektor
3. There Is A Light That Never Goes Out – The Smiths
4. Bad Kids – Black Lips
5. Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want – The Smiths
6. There Goes The Fear – Doves
7. You Make My Dreams – Hall & Oates
8. Sweet Disposition – The Temper Trap
9. Quelqu’un M’a Dit – Carla Bruni
10. Mushaboom – Feist
11. Hero – Regina Spektor
12. Bookends – Simon & Garfunkel
13. Vagabond – Wolfmother
14. She’s Got You High – Mumm-Ra
15. Here Comes Your Man – Meaghan Smith
16. Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want – She & Him

You’ll definitely want to pick this up, especially for the unreleased cover of The Smiths by She & Him, Zooey Deschanel’s band with M. Ward.  It’s the last track on here, but it’s not featured in the film.

xx kc

Each month, S.L. creates a monthly mixtape for our friends over at Et Musique Pour Tous.  The July mix is up now – listen here: Le Miel du Mois

The June mix is also there, and you can download both *for free* by clicking on “telecharger” – just right click, save to your desktop and “open” to play in your iTunes.

1. Feist – My Moon My Man (Boyz Noize Remix)
2. We Have Band – Hear It In the Cans (DIY Version)
3. Sleigh Bells – Ring Ring
4. Holy Ghost – Hold On
5. James Yuill – No Surprise
6. Paul and the Patients – Blogspot (Nick Seely Remix)
7. The Big Pink – Velvet
8. Zambri – Easier
9. Jack Peñate – Tonight’s Today
10. Camera Obscura – My Maudlin Career
11. Breakbot – Summer Party
12. Bat for Lashes – Trophy
13. La Roux – Bulletproof (Live at Glastonbury)
14. Three Leaves and A Head – Radiohead Reckoner