500 Days of Summer

There are a lot of great movies coming out this year (Terminator Salvation, The Limits of Control, Star Trek, Mancora, The Brothers Bloom, Transformers, Where The Wild Things Are, Public Enemies, Inglorious Basterds, 2012 and the list goes on). But one of the movies I am most looking forward to is ‘500 Days of Summer’. Boy meets girl. Boy falls in love. Girl doesn’t. Hey, what can I say? I like romantic comedies/dramas. And also because I really like Zooey Deschanel (though Olivia Thirlby is taking over the spot for my favorite indie actress) and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and because from the trailer the movie is definitely going to have music as a central point.  Thus far there are some good references…por ejemplo:

1. When they first meet in the elevator, Levitt’s character is listening to The Smiths on his headphones, where upon Deschanel’s character tells him she loves The Smiths (from that band and Morrisey’s words, heartbreak has already begun). She then proceeds to sing the song, which is ‘There Is A Light That Never Goes Out’, awesome, since that is by far my favorite Smiths song. What I like best is how after she leaves the elevator he is stunned that she likes The Smiths saying ‘Holy Shit’. Us guys all know how great it is when a girl likes the same music as you.

2. They’re both lying down on a bed and Levitt’s character has a t-shirt on, of which the print is the album cover to Joy Division’s first album ‘Unknown Pleasures’. I actually bought that t-shirt once, though it never came in the mail.

3. Upon ending the relationship, Deschanel’s character compares their relationship to Sid & Nancy (Sid Vicious of the Sex Pistols and the couple’s fame as Nancy was possibly murdered by Sid (no one knows) in the Chelsea Hotel). She amusingly dubs herself as Sid and Levitt as Nancy.

The teaser and the trailer feature some great music in their own right, which I have posted below. One standout is ‘Sweet Disposition’ by The Temper Trap. It’s a really soft, yet power driven heartfelt track that builds quite nicely. It’s a pretty beautiful song. Another favorite in the trailer is Hall & Oates’ 80s  pop classic ‘You Make My Dreams’.

Worth noting is that the teaser was inspired by the French New Wave flick, ‘Le Mepris’ (’Contempt’) by none other than the great Jean-Luc Godard starring the sultry Brigitte Bardot. Links to everything below.

The Temper Trap - Sweet Disposition

Hall & Oates - You Make My Dreams

The Smiths - There Is A Light That Never Goes Out

Regina Spektor - Us

Beck - Black Tambourine

Wolfmother - Vagabond

The Teaser

Full Length Trailer

Trailer for Le Mepris

Below is the entire soundtrack for the movie and here is a link to the director’s explanation for using the songs he did. I’m pretty interested to see how they use Simon & Garfunkel’s ‘Bookends’, that is one haunting, melancholy and nostalgic song.

Regina Spektor - “Us”
The Smiths - “There Is A Light That Never Goes Out”
Belle & Sebastian - “The Boy With The Arab Strap”
Black Lips - “Bad Kids”
The Smiths - “Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want.”
Patrick Swayze - “She’s Like The Wind.”
Jack Penate - “Have I Been a Fool? ”
The Doves - “There Goes the Fear”
Hall & Oates - “You Make My Dreams”
Knight Rider Theme
Temper Trap - “Sweet Disposition”
Carla Bruni - “Quelqu’un M’a Dit”
Black Lips - “Veni, Vidi, Vici”
Paper Route - “The Music”
Feist - “Mushaboom”
Regina Spektor - “Hero”
Spoon - “Infinite Pet”
Simon & Garfunkel - “Bookends”
Wolfmother - “Vagabond”
Mumm-Rah - “She’s Got You High”

Karaoke Selections:
Poison “Every Rose Has Its Thorn”
Nancy Sinatra/Lee Hazlewood as performed by Zooey Deschanel “Sugar Town”
The Pixies “Here Comes Your Man”