(500) Days of Summer (2009)

4.9/5

Marc Webb's (500) Days of Summer has an infuriating title. It's annoying typing all those parentheses while organizing an outing to see the movie; or while adding, deleting, and re-adding it to Google Calendar when plans change; or while talking about how good it is with friends. And I would bet money on the fact that the parentheses don't even mean anything. They're just flourishes to make the movie seem indie-cool. Luckily, that's the worst part about the movie. Everything else is perfect.

Starring two of the leading indie actors working today (Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel), you can tell this is going to be an indie film. And it is. From the hipster outfits to the eclectic soundtrack, from the quirky habits to the unique sensibilities, this is indie to a T. But not the original independent of the 70's, the now-mainstream, now-conventional independent of contemporary cinema. Being what it is, it's not always original. In fact, most of the filmmaking techniques are repackagings of those found in Annie Hall (which is incidentally my favorite romantic comedy of all time). But what it copies, it copies well. It is polished and pristine. And most importantly, it works. I've seen characters break into song and dance before, I've seen unorthodox or broken timelines before, and I've seen brilliant use of split-screen before, but it all comes together here to create a compelling, fulfilling, emotional whole.

The story is a typical boy-meets-girl tale, but the narrator warns us that it is not a love story. And he's right. To a romantic, every girl you fall for is the love of your life. And since the movie is told from the guy's point of view, it seems like she really is "the one." And in that tender moment where he finally realizes that she isn't right for him, where he accurately pinpoints her role in his life, the movie peaks. You get that warm, fuzzy feeling in the film's bittersweet finale that every romance aspires to. You cherish the film, realizing that all the special effect gimmicks, all the "experimental" styles, all the editing, the cinematography, the acting, the writing--all that was there for the sole purpose of sending your heart aflutter. And like I said, it works. If you liked Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind or Garden State, don't hesitate to watch this movie. You will fall in love with it.

IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1022603/

The Happening (2008)

3/5

M. Night Shyamalan's The Happening starts with a stunning intro credit sequence. An elegant and evocative precursor to the movie, the tranquil movement of clouds as they pass by subtly turns menacing. An airborne toxin is blocking people's "survival" neurotransmitters and causing them to commit suicide. This is a terrifying concept, but perhaps more terrifying is not what this toxin does to those affected, but what it does to those unaffected and afraid, those still human enough to make their own decisions and suffer the consequences. The visuals are eerie and memorable, the music effective, and the pacing perfect. I'm actually very impressed with Shyamalan's progress as a technical director. Unfortunately, that's where the positives end.

There are a wide number of odd situations, side stories, and actions. Not odd in a thought-provoking way, but odd in an inexplicable and unrelated way that makes you wonder why it's in the movie at all. It often made the acting seem hollow and unnatural and made other aspects of the movie confusing as well. While Shyamalan's message against urbanization and deforestation was fine at first, it was pounded into the audience's head in an awfully heavy-handed way by the time the movie ended. Mark Wahlberg was perhaps not the best choice as the main character, mostly due to the way he talked and because I associated him with the recent SNL skit and was waiting for him to ask me to say hello to my mother for him. All in all, I really enjoyed watching the movie. It lived up to my expectations and I recommend it to anyone who was excited about it when they saw the trailers for it.

IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0949731/