500 Days of Summer

I haven't posted in so long, me dispiace :(
I have done lots of things since Harry Potter (including watching that movie two more times in theatre), but I have been to distracted to post. Today might be a day of catching up on posting.
To begin, I will tell you that 500 Days of Summer is my favorite movie of the summer. This statement could build it up prematurely for those who haven't seen it, so let me give my three reasons for loving it.
1) I think Joseph Gordon Levitt is just adorable to look at. Ever since Angels in the Outfield I've had a crush. That smile with those dimples just melts my heart. I know this is a shallow reason to like a movie, that is why I will provide additional reasoning.
2) I think the movies soundtrack is great. Until recently I didn't pay much attention to the music in movies, but I've come to the conclusion that music is essentially the backbone to a movie. The music sets the tone, it tells the viewer how to feel, it expresses the emotions of the characters, and it tells so much about the story. A good soundtrack is like an audio book of the movie, so you can take it with you anywhere. If I don't like the music, i won't like the movie.
3) It's not a love story. The narrator tells the audience that in the very beginning and I laughed when I heard it. I thought "this movie is about a boy and a girl, so clearly it is a love story," but after seeing the movie I describe it more as a movie of discovery and understanding oneself. It does tell a story of love, but it's not in the cliche boy meets girl, boy falls in love with girl, boy and girl live happily ever after format that Nicholas Sparks writes about. I actually heard a KTLA newscaster describe it as "a love story of Los Angeles." I wouldn't call it a love story of any type, it's a story of a person, Tom Hansen, and his journey in rediscovering who he is.

The movie left me somewhat dizzy as it started at day 488, jumps to day 1, and suddenly you are in day 200 and something before you see day 8, but I actually really appreciate that the movie jumps around. I think it helps tell the story better. You see the sad juxtaposed with the happy, so the movie escapes following some prescribed graph of smooth progression until a plateau when it suddenly drops.

To conclude, I will mention that I came to the movie with no expectations. I had heard good things about the movie, but knew very little about the actual storyline. I really just wanted to see Joseph Gordon Levitt, but I left loving the movie and the story, his presence was just icing on the cake.