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500 Days of Summer Music Video by Marc Webb

Mali Elfman — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 18:45:57 +0000

For all of you who loved 500 Days of Summer and to encourage those of you who haven’t seen it to get out there and enjoy the film, here comes a lovely little companion piece to the movie. Marc Webb, the director of the film started his career by making music videos and after his first successful film he has decided to play around with his actors Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Gordon Levitt, and make a music video for Deschanel’s song “Why Do You Let Me Stay Here?” by her band She & Him. Much like the Sid and Nancy skit by the trio, the video adds to the film, without spoiling it or having direct references to it. The video also confirms something that Deschanel told us, which is that Levitt really can do back flips.

Check out the video below…

What do you think?

500 Days of Summer Winners

Laura Aguirre — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 01:36:34 +0000

To celebrate the release of Marc Webb‘s 500 Days of Summer we decided to give away four posters along with the film’s soundtrack. We asked you to participate in our 500 Days of Summer caption contest and many of you did, let’s see if you made the cut….

And the winners of our competition are…

Maxx Meren – “Tom’s listening to the screams of the rest of the third rock from the sun’s cast careers crash and burn into orbit.”
Aaron – “He is listening to The Smiths: There is a light that never goes out
As far as a creative answer he is listening to the Garden State soundtrack because he heard the Shins will change his life.”
Karen – “Besides The Smiths, nothing gets a girl’s attention in an elevator more than Death Cab for Cutie.”
Denelle – “He is listening to The Smiths “Please, Please, Please, Let me get what I want.”

All four winners will receive a poster and an album of the film’s soundtrack (it is filled with amazing music). Thank you very much to everyone who played! If yu are a winner an e-mail will be sent to you shortly so please respond ASAP so we can send you your freebies.

Remember to always check up, we are always giving away great stuff.

If you’re a fan or curious to see what the movie is about check out our 500 Days of Summer review and one on one exclusive interviews with Marc Webb and Joesph-Gordon Levitt.

500 Days of Summer: Movie Review

Mali Elfman — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 23:49:22 +0000

Marc Webb‘s (read interview) new romantic-offbeat-original-dra-medy, 500 Days of Summer starring Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Godron-Levitt (read interview) finally hit theaters July 17th. Man, woman, whatever you may be, this is a romantic film for everyone. It is the most honest and yet beautifully over the top film that I have seen all year and should absolutely not be missed.

Check out the good, the bad, and the plot below…

The Plot:

A simple as it gets. Boy falls in love, girl doesn’t. A young man (Tom) falls in love with a pretty girl (Summer) who works in his office. He tries to seduce her and it works for a moment, but then she moves on. From the very beginning they announce “This is not a love story, its a story about love” and that is exactly what the film is.

The Good:

The Story: Although they play with some pop cliches, they do so in a innovative way. The problem with love stories is that often we can’t relate to them or they seem too obvious. There is nothing new about love, and yet when you feel it, there’s nothing else quite like it. This movie captures exactly that, there is nothing else quite like it.
Cheese-Factor: This is the first romantic comedy in a long time that didn’t make me roll my eyes. In fact instead of trying to underplay the qualities of love, they over-did it in a way that anyone who has ever been in or out of love can fully relate to and laugh with. Yes you are that stupid when you’re a victim to love, and it’s funny! Go with it!
Joseph Gordon-Levitt: Both actors do an amazing job, but because his character goes through more turmoil, his performance stood out for me more than Zooey’s (although she was great as well). He went from the highest of highs to the lowest of lows all within the change of a frame and is charming to watch no matter what he’s doing.
Effects: Not Bay effects, but effects that make reminiscent of the good old days. Instead of just bedazzling the eye, helps to further emphasis the story.
The Music: The film has an absolutely amazing soundtrack (which you can win currently in our 500 Days of Summer competition), which brings the movie to life in a whole new way. I didn’t mention this to promote the giveaway, in fact it was quite the opposite. I contacted Fox for a copy of it myself and then thought some of you might want it to.

The Bad:

It Has an Expiration: I’m not sure how long this film will last. Although the film is amazing, and talks about greater issues, it’s quite relevant to 2009 audiences. From the backdrop, to the music, it seems to resonate strongly with audiences today, but I’m not sure if it will stand the test of time. It will have some legs, but if you want to see it right, watch it now, don’t wait for the DVD. (That being said, I would love to watch this film in 10 years and be proved wrong).

Overall:

If this film taught me anything it’s that we all have our own points of view and no two people ever see the same thing in the same way. So don’t listen to me, get out there and see the movie and decide for yourself what you think of it!

Rating: 8.5

Movie Releases: Harry Potter, 500 Days of Summer, Death in Love

Anet Hovhanesian — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 16:09:39 +0000

You already know all you need to know about Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, but that being said, there are a lot of othergood films coming out this weekend. Two movies that are eye-catch-y are Marc Webb’s (500) Days of Summer with Joseph Godon-Levitt and Boaz Yakin’s film Death in Love featuring Josh Lucas. The first of which is quite possibly the most fun and romantic film you’ll see all year, the other, it’s probably the most graphic. So hey, whatever you’re into!

Movies Coming Out July 16th:

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince | Reviews | Screencrave Review | Showtimes and Tickets
(500) Days of Summer | Reviews | Interviews: Marc Webb, Joseph Gordon-Levit | Showtimes and Tickets
Death in Love | Reviews | Screencrave Review | Showtimes and Tickets
Somers Town | Reviews | Showtimes and Tickets
Way We Get By | Reviews | Showtimes and Tickets
Woman in Berlin | Reviews | Showtimes and Tickets

Watch the Trailers:

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

(500) Days of Summer

Death in Love

Somers Town

Way We Get By

Woman in Berlin (movie with sub-titles)

Other than the obvious Harry Potter pick, what movie are you planning on going to see this week?

Exclusive Marc Webb Interview for 500 Days of Summer

Mali Elfman — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 22:41:51 +0000

Marc Webb‘s first feature 500 Days of Summer is that soon to be buzzed about film that you’ll be proud to say “oh yeah, I’ve seen that one.” Well now you can one up everyone else by not only saying you saw it first, but that you know how Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Gordon-Levitt got cast, how long it took them to shoot the film, how he kept the troublesome script in order, and a whole lot more.

We were lucky enough to talk to Webb over the phone (after having many phone troubles) about his upcoming, must see film. Webb is the the perfect mixture of both humble and confident, he was proud to promote his film, yet not too cawky and definitely not afraid of being honest.

Check out interview with him below (if you do, you’ll find out how I convinced him to let me film him eating a bug).

Finally, after many failed attempts we get to talk! It seems like everybody wants a piece of you right now…

Marc Webb: It’s sort of a new thing for me I guess, like interviews and all this hoopla. But it’s kind of fun, I have to admit.

Have you noticed anything weird coming up with everyone researching you?

MW: You know it’s funny, I wrote a bio, like five or six years ago that was on my website that searched like polls to put on to like the press and there was this thing on drinking games on it and people started asking me about drinking games. I was trying to be funny and stupid in my bio ‘cause bio’s are lame all the time. And like, people thought I should be an authority on drinking games. So I said I really have to brush up on my drinking game memories, of which I have very few.

‘Cause you were drinking.

MW: Right, I was drunk when they happened so the retention was bad. I mean there are all sorts of weird things. Someone asked me if I was misogynist in Seattle and I was like “you think I’m misogynist because I say the word ‘bitc’h is used in (500) Day of Summer?” I was like if you think this movie is misogynistic then you need to get the fuck out of Seattle and get your ass into the real world.

Welcome to Hollywood.

MW: Yeah, bitch.

I recently watched the Sid and Nancy skit that you directed with Joseph and Zooey. How did that come up?

MW: Kashy from meanmagazine had this idea and it seemed so appropriate for the film and then we were like, “I think it will only work if Zooey plays Sid and Joe plays Nancy.” It just seemed like a cool idea. It was really more about, “how do you not do this idea?” after it’s been put out into the ether. It was just one of those things that just sort of worked out. And Joe and Zooey were like “I don’t know. Okay!” They were total sports. We just ended up doing it one morning and it was just sort of fun and goofy and some way to mess around. I don’t know we just had fun with it.

Was Joe excited that he got to keep his beard even though he had to wear a blond wig.

MW: Well we wanted him to shave but he couldn’t because he was doing Hesher and it was right before. We wanted to do it the more sort of straight drag, but it just didn’t work out. In a way, it works better with him.

I think it added to it. How did you decide to cast Zooey and Joe?

MW: Zooey. When you cast a movie like this, you can’t cast them individually, you have to cast the chemistry, you have to cast like a dynamic. And they’re people with whom Joe would work well with and there are people who Zooey would work well with, but you know, you have to sort of maximize that sort of chemistry. They had been in a movie called Manic, and I knew that they knew each other and I had met them individually first and it just felt like—okay let me talk about Joe first: Joe is, I haven’t seen “3rd Rock from the Sun” yet, but he had done, very drool indie movies that are sort of oppressively intellectual, but fantastic, like Brick, The Lookout, Mysterious Skin, I mean, he’s mind some pretty dark territory, but if you look at Mysterious Skin, he’s smiling a lot, which he hasn’t done in the last five or six years, and he has this sort of whimsical side to that character which I think is really compelling, and in a way that is as close to Tom as any role he’s done ever.

You got Tom out of Mysterious Skins?

MW: No, I justified it. You look at that movie and you look at this performance and he is a child looking at world with child’s eyes. With a youthful, sort of enthusiasm, and that is what is the same, and that’s what I saw was interesting.

And Zooey?

MW: Zooey, is like, I think we all know Zooey from her work in movie, but also from, she’s not a fungible beauty, she has her own unique identity and there a lot of women who are female actress that sort of the hot thing on the cover of Maxim and that says a certain thing and that could be used in a certain way, but Zooey has just carved out her own path, which I think is really important to have in a movie like this where she’s playing this sort of fantasy in a way. Her presence exists even when she’s not on the screen, and she’s one of the only actress who can really pull that off in any sort of legitimate way.

I heard you never actually auditioned them together, what if you got them in front of the camera and it doesn’t work, you’re fucked?

MW: Well they were in Manic, but I’ll tell you why the other reason why I knew it would work because when I met Joe for the first time, we were talking about who could play Summer, there was a list of maybe, there was a short lists of maybes. When I was talking to Joe, we were saying “there’s this person, and this person” and then he’s like, “but the real person to play this is Zooey,” and he had this look in his eyes and it was like, there it is, I remember I got goose bumps, I am not kidding, I knew, you know and he got really depressed after he said that, he’s like Zooey’s the right person and then he’s like, [sigh] and just sort of deflated, and I’m like, “what’s is the problem,” and he said “well no one will ever make a movie with us.” That’s the credit to Searchlight for letting us have that. We cast Summer, we talked and they had a familiarity with each other, I mean it was completely clear, unless they were lying to me, in which case my problems are much bigger.

So what do you call this movie? A rom-com? Comedy? Coming of age story?

MW: That’s a tough one. I think, I was looking at it as a coming of age story masqueraded as a romantic comedy, right? We do use the rom-com set pieces, like there’s a wedding, there’s a wise little sister, there’s a karaoke scene, those are sort of more modern rom-com genre pieces, I mean, we wanted to use those, but arrive at a sort of different conclusion. I think, the first sort of 20-30 minutes of the movie were trying to play pretty strict pop movie politics, you know were trying to use that, that’s where the sister comes in, that’s where the karaoke stuff is in there and then we try to sort of gradually evolve into something a little more sophisticated. And that was sort of my objective when it came, you know, I didn’t know, obviously we’re playing with the rom-com genre, but it’s a movie that was written by guys, that was directed by a guy, and told by the perspective of a guy so, which is antithetical to most romantic comedies.

And women are loving it still, as much as the guys.

MW: Yeah, well, you know, I just wrote like a blog entry about this, you have to test films. It tested better with guys, I mean it tested really well with women, but with the guys—the guy testing numbers were unbelievable, it was like action numbers, which was shocking to everybody, but then you look at the back of it, and it’s just whole from the guys point of view, it’s almost as if, it really throws people for loop to have a romantic movie that’s funny, so hopefully that appeals to guys, there’s no real genre for it.

Honestly, did you ever get lost in the days when it’s going back and forth between the numbers?

MW: No, I had a scroll, I had a key. I wrote out a big linear, scroll, its like 25 feet long and it had all the days laid out in front of me. What I did was I went with the production designer and the costume designer and we planned out every single detail, where the scenes where, what the color palettes were for that, how it was going to evolve, when characters were going to wear t-shirts, when they were going to wear blazers, when there was more like brighter colors, when there was more muted colors. That was a way for me to sort of keep track of everything. I’ve been living with the script for a year, a little longer actually by the time we started making the movie so I do, it was sort of in my blood, it was burned into my brain. So it didn’t really confuse, there was, the only tricky thing was, there was a puma joke in the pita scene which original was, the date was before she told the puma story so we had to switch the date of that. Which was, that was sort of one thing that we got a little mixed up on, that we ended up fixing in the final product.

You shot this film in less than a month which seems absolutely insane, looking back, is there anything you wish you could have done given more time?

MW: Well, I would have liked to have spend more time, there was this scene that we put out, which was the “The Worst Morning Ever” and it’s the “Best Morning Ever” sequence with a Hall and Oates parade, we had a sort of alternate version of that where the cartoon bird takes a cartoon shit on Joe’s shoulder. (laughter) But we just spent so much time, dealing with the opening, I wanted to get that “Best Morning Ever” perfect and we ate into the second half of the day where we were supposed to do the other part. So that would have been nice to spend some more time on. And there were some other sequence that we ended up cutting out that we shot near the end of the movie but we didn’t need them, ultimately.

You just wanted them…

MW: I think that…yeah. Listen, it was, our movie was a small movie, and we had to play by certain rules and when you’re backed into a corner that’s where, I think, good ideas come from a lot of the time. I do not feel that we were undermined by our schedule, it was a tricky schedule. The AD may feel we were undermined a little bit. He did a fantastic job at putting that sort of house of cards together.

How did you work on the timing of the split screen, expectation reaction scenes?

MW: We did a lot of anima tics and, and we sort of cut it before we shot it. There’s a of credit that goes out to Joe and Zooey for being able to, okay you have four seconds to be happy, you have four seconds to shake hands, in two different ways expressing a sort of subtle difference. So it was a brutal regimen in terms of timing to make that work while having some sort of natural quality to it. The thing that I’m sort of most proud of, we were talking about think before, it’s not an exaggerated difference it’s a gradual subtle difference between two screens that eventually gets, I think more pronounced.

You say this is a small movie but whenever I see most first time writers and directors out of the gate, the go for something very safe. Did you ever think, “oh, I need to play it safe” or did you just say “If I’m going to make a movie, I’m going to make the best fucking movie that I can make.”

MW: It wasn’t quite strategic in that way. I was just looking for a script that I found interesting. This was the first one that I was like, it was just a cut thing, it was an intuitive thing. I read it and I was like, I get it. It’s also in a way, it was, the tone I was familiar with, there was a lot of things that happened there that I had done in music videos, or at least experimented with in music videos, so I was like I could do this, I knew this world a little bit. I also had some experiences in my own life, which I think we all have, probably, which I could get behind.

The funny thing, I’m sort of surprised that people’s reaction is that it’s so “off-beat.” I find this to be a total pop movie. I think it is, Scott and Michael, the writers and I all had this idea that we were going to do something accessible and fun and have something, a beat you can dance to sort of speak. We weren’t trying to re-invent anything, we just wanted to have a good time and make a movie that people would enjoy watching, and that was it. A lot of times romantic comedies in particular are obligated to a certain formula and in this genuine desire to talk about love they’re sort of undercut by this formula they are to adhere to and we just try to make it a little more real.

It’s funny because, I was saying, because it’s kind of so over the top, it actually isn’t cheesy. And that’s what I think makes it different from most romantic comedies that I find cheesy and unrealistic, is the fact you do break out into song and dance that I actually find to be, in a way, more real because that’s the way that you feel inside.

MW: You’re exactly right. I mean it was, our whole thing about the, these (quite the fancy) was that it has to be organic, it has to coming from a emotional reality. What we’re trying to sell this entire time it not the objective truth of the situation, we’re trying to get inside somebody’s head and see how it feels and that’s where everything comes from. That’s where the narrator thing, I mean he’s looking back on his experience, his life, he thinks of it in a storybook fashion, like he’s trying to impose a certain meaning on it. That’s what Scott was doing when he was trying to write this movie. He was like, it was his way to process a relationship that he had had and find some meaning in it. And that’s how he did it. He put it in to a movie, and gave it sort of book ends and he told, Michael Weber, and he put a narrator on it, ‘cause we would all love for our life story to have a narrator who’s got this voice of authority and is omniscient supposedly. And it allowed us to play around without cutting or sacrificing that emotional truth.

This was their first screenplay, this is your first feature length movie, was it hard to get this off the ground?

MW: You know it’s tricky you know, in terms of casting and in terms of convincing the studio. But I had done a lot of music videos, I had done like 95 music videos. I knew what it was to be on set. I also,knew some of the pitfalls of music videos early, stereotypes that music video directors are assigned and I tried to avoid those. I did a really elaborate presentation for the studio – this is how it’s going to look, this is where you are going to be feeling this, this is the motivation of the character — I mean I went through every possible conceivable detail. I wanted them to feel like it would be dumb for them not to make this movie. You know, I just tried to talk to actors, like when I met Joe for the first time, I wanted to talk about character rather than look, or visuals or aesthetics, try to like empathize with all the different people that were coming together to make this film. I think Scott and Michael just generated a script that people believed in or at least Searchlight did because no one else wanted me.

What would you do if this movie got nominated for an Oscar?

MW: I would eat a bug.

Can I film it?

MW: Ok. As long as I get to eat the bug, choose the bug.

Deal! You give a very different prospective LA than what we’re used to seeing. More of the history and architecture than the weather. Was that something that you set out, was that something that excited you about it, that you got to show this whole other side of LA?

MW: Absolutely. I’m not from LA but I’ve lived here for quite some time. I think LA, I mean there are great, 72 degrees, LA story is a great version of LA but that is not what we’re talking about it. Part of the Tom’s character was, he finds meaning and the beauty of the past. I mean that’s what he’s doing when he’s looking over his relationship, that’s what he’s doing with pop songs, and that’s what he’s doing with the architecture in Downtown. He’s sort of this nostalgic guy. And Downtown LA is the perfect place for that. When they were building Downtown LA it the beginning of the 20th Century, early 1900’s late 1800’s, you know, people had a lot of hope. You look at these buildings and they’re really incredible. The Palace of Fine Arts or The Alexandria, the Cranberry Building is a great example, built in 1893-1894 somewhere around there, its, they’re extraordinary. Listen, there’s a lot of affection in this movie, and the affection for Los Angeles is part of that.

Did you know what happened in-between the days that you didn’t show in the movie?

MW: We had sort of idea to what Summer was experiencing, which we never got access to through the film, Zooey had ideas about that. Very specific sort of projectory of her life that Tom wasn’t preview to so she could have some sort of architecture, some sort of basis, some sort of, something to hang her, her performance on.

Is there anything you hope that people walk out of the theaters feeling or thinking or anything like that. Is there any inspiration or anything you hope they walk away feeling?

MW: Scott Neustadter said this and I don’t know if it will work out of context, but the other day which I thought was really wise, “just when you think there’s no such thing as fate, or love… you realize there’s no such thing as no such thing. I like that.

500 Days of Summer Giveaway

Laura Aguirre — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 15:20:18 +0000

This week is free stuff week apparently. Yes, we’re giving away yet another package of great stuff and this time it’s for the upcoming rom-com by Marc Webb , 500 Days of Summer, starring Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Gordon-Levitt.

Four lucky winners will get one 500 Days of Summer poster along with the film’s soundtrack album. The film features music from artists’ such as Regina Spektor, The Smiths, and Black Lips.

Here is how to play in our 500 Days of Summer Caption Contest:

In order to win one poster and one soundtrack album, simply leave a comment below guessing what Tom (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is listening to before next Monday (July 20th) at noon. Remember there will be four lucky winners, so be creative!

The winners will be announced next Monday, July 20th and e-mails will be sent.

Check out the 500 Days of Summer trailer below…

500 Days of Summer hits theaters this Friday in selected theaters, so be sure to go watch it.

Remember that in order to play you must:

Have a shipping address in the United States
You must leave an e-mail address that we can reach you at (we promise not to spam you)
If you win, you will have one week to respond to an e-mail that we will send to you. If you do not respond within one week your prize will be given to another contestant.

Good luck!

Joseph Gordon-Levitt: Exclusive Interview for 500 Days of Summer

Mali Elfman — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 23:40:24 +0000

This week Marc Webb’s uncategorizable film, 500 Days of Summer will be hitting theaters this week and we were lucky enough to sit down to a one on one with one of the two stars of the film Joseph Gordon-Levitt. The man is sweet, charming, and quite possibly one of the most under rated actors of our time — although not for long.

There is no doubt that the indie film 500 Days of Summer is about to become one of the buzzed about, must see films of the year. But that’s not where Levitt stops, he also plays the villain in the summer blockbuster G.I. Joe, is shooting Hesher across Natalie Portman, and was cast in Christopher Nolan‘s super secret project Inception. Needless to say, we’re about to be seeing a lot of this guy, but before then let him carry you away with his amazing performance in 500 Days of Summer.

Check out what he had to say below…

500 Days of Summer is about a guy named Tom (Levitt) who falls in love with a girl named Summer (Zooey Deschanel) who doesn’t fall back in love with him. The story is as over the top and original as they come and so are the actors in it.

I’ve noticed that this is a love story that for some reason men more than woman can relate to. Why do you think that is?

Joseph Gordon-Levitt: Yeah, well it’s true the cliche is that any love story is like for girls, but I think this movie defies a lot of cliches and I certainly identify with it and I did when I was reading the script; you know it’s a movie that’s basically made by dudes — other than Zooey, whose enough femininity to counterbalance all the dudes present — but you know the writers are both guys, the director is Mark Webb, and then there’s me. I hesitate to say that it’s from a guy’s point of view because it is from one individual character’s point of view and he is a guy, but I think that, you know it’s interesting, a lot of people say that Tom is more the girl and that Summer is like the guy — I don’t quite agree with. I just think they’re sort of individuals and the gender; all the gender sort of boundaries are getting blended and subverted, but what am I saying, nah, I guess I’m not shocked that guys really like it, it makes sense.

A lot of comedies or romantic-comedies claim to be “quirky” everyone always says, “Oh it’s so out there!” But they never really go out there. This film took everything as far as it could but nothing felt unattainable. When you read it, did you think “Wow, this is absolutely crazy. How are they going to pull this off?” Or if you were, “Finally somebody actually it where it needs to be.”

JGL: Yeah it’s more the latter, you know I think that cinema is perfect for that, it’s just what you said. The movie’s about someone’s point of view, it’s about how it feels, not how some like objective third-person logical depiction of what happened and cinema is perfect for that because cinema is subjective. We forget that a lot because one of the founding rules of the Hollywood style of filmmaking is to make it look objective and try to make the audience forget that they’re watching a movie; you try to convince them that they’re just watching the truth and you know that’s the convention in Hollywood movies as well as American media in general and I love that about 500 Days of Summer that it explicitly reminds you, “Remember, you’re watching a movie now.” I love that it reminds us of that because that’s how life is, as much as it seems like we see what’s going on, we really only see it from our point of view and someone else might see it really differently and that is so important to remember. And, I’m really proud of it for reminding us of that.

You’ve done a lot of serious roles, Manic comes to mind, although you’re very well known for comedy probably from “3rd Rock from the Sun.” What type of actor do you consider yourself?

JGL: I was busy doing that TV show for a long time. The funny thing is that when I did that TV show it was new for me, I’ve been acting since I was young, and if you ask like my mom or my acting teacher form back when I was young they would all probably say, “Yeah, yeah, he’s serious. Joey is into, you know.” I didn’t use to know how to do comedy, I kind of learned how to do that on 3rd Rock and then when 3rd Rock was done, I got to do some more serious stuff, but for me I like them both and I think you kind of have to draw from both and every good drama is funny at points and I think the best comedies are serious at points. Casablanca for example is hilarious movie and 500 Days of Summer, not to compare it to Casablanca because that’s a little lofty, but just for the sake of this point, 500 Days of Summer, which is a comedy and really funny, we wanted it to have be emotionally honest as honest as a drama and I think that’s a lot of what people really like about it is that is doesn’t feel like they’re being lied to. Love is a big deal and feels like a big deal when you’re going through it and it’s, I guess a lot of romantic comedies, if they’re really funny they kind of, they make a lie of it, if a guy’s brokenhearted, it’ll just be kicking and screaming on the floor or something, you know what I mean and it doesn’t feel like it really feels–

One of my favorite moments was the dance number and more importantly the strut leading up to it.

JGL: Well, even when we weren’t dancing, Marc still put on the “Hall of Oates” song for when we were shooting those strutting moments, and that helped.

Or a montage perhaps?

JGL: Yeah, right, yeah. And I think that that’s– it makes the funny parts even funnier, it makes the parts that feel good feel even better– to go through and be honest about the pain that can be involved falling in love.

Was it fun to be able to break the forth wall and look directly into the camera?

JGL: I love doing stuff like that. You don’t often get to break the fourth wall. Movies are so good for that, there’s a camera right there, why wouldn’t you look at it. For thousands of years of theater tradition, the fourth wall never was there, that’s pretty new actually, the idea that you ignore the audience is a new thing, it’s become entirely prevalent but it’s pretty new. I love kind of poking holes in that convention.

Normally, in a movie like this, you would work a lot with Zooey, on preparing your relationship and everything like that, but it seems like this, you two almost had two separate relationships throughout the entire movie, so did you get to just get to prepare for it on your own for the most part, or did you guys have to work together a lot?

JGL: That’s an interesting way to put it, yeah they do kind of have their own things going and, at the same time. We did rehearse, not tons because we wanted it to kind of be organic when we were doing it and when we were shooting it, but we did rehearse, and what really helped was the fact that Zooey and I knew each other and we’ve been friends for so long and so we already trusted each other and kind of understood each others sensibilities and so to do such an intimate relationship in a movie made it so much easier to have a friend.

You’ve done so many great films that are loved but seen by everyone and you’re about to have G.I. Joe come out and be in a position wheres kids have dolls of you. What id that like?

JGL: Yeah, you know, I don’t think about that stuff very much, I really like making movies and it’ll be cool if these movies were successful, if they are then– there’s no wood here. Then I’ll get to make more movies, and that’s nice, but as far as, you know, I don’t know how to– I like people to see this stuff especially if it means something to them, that’s nice.

What’s it like swapping from something like 500 Days of Summer to G.I. Joe? How do you change your acting?

JGL: That movie has nothing to do with reality. That movie is really just about being an archetype.

So you’re a soldier, a killer?

JGL: Oh no, I’m just a future ruler of the world. (laughter)

Check out 500 Days of Summer in theaters this Friday July 17th.

New UK Poster for 500 Days of Summer

Mali Elfman — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 17:05:03 +0000

Marc Webb’s upcoming comedy-drama-romance-art piece, 500 Days of Summer starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel finally comes out this Friday! A new UK poster for the film has just been releases and it’s rather charming. In a number of scenes with the two characters and the colors are reminiscent of summer time in LA

Check out the new UK posters below…

Levitt’s sweet face really goes a long way in promoting the film. This is a very sweet, simple poster for how amazingly over the time the film is.

Although the tagline “Boy meets girl. Boy falls in love. Girl doesn’t” is great, it does give a bit too much away.

Go into the movie and just let it wash over you. Try not to let any of the rom-com cliches or your sense of reality get in the way of you enjoying this amazing film.

Keep an eye out on ScreenCrave for upcoming interviews with the director and the cast!

Joseph Gordon-Levitt Shares Musical Inspiration on KCRW

Laura Aguirre — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 15:27:23 +0000

Joseph Gordon-Levitt got to play DJ on KCRW’s Guest DJ Project, which allows different cultural trendsetters and icons to share five songs that have inspired them throughout life on a weekly basis.

Levitt chose to include songs that have helped him prep for character roles in films, two of which are hitting theaters this summer– 500 Days of Summer and G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra. To prep for his role as Tom in Marc Webb‘s upcoming rom-com, Levitt decided to fall in love with his actual love in the film– Zooey Deschanel.

Levitt mentions that he would play Deschanel’s collaboration with M.Ward as She & Him to prep as her suitor, and that his track of choice was Sweet Darlin‘:

“In the movie, the character I play is suppose to be just desperately in love with [Zooey Deschanel's character], smitten, and so in the morning I would listen to her album. It was perfect because I would have these beautiful melodies running through my head with her voice and how could you not have a crush on this girl after listening to this song?”

He’s right, I fell in love with her too; her voice is angelic.

But Levitt’s DJ track list wasn’t all indie, the actor included some rap as well. In order to prepare for his “bad guy” role as the villainous Cobra Commander in G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, Levitt turned to one of the ultimate rappers of all-time, Jay-Z.

Levitt prepped his evil persona with Jay-Z’s song Say Hello from the rapper’s 10th album American Gangster:

“Jay-Z has the perfect grandeur and bravado for this character. Jay-Z literally calls himself “J Hova” after God . . . And the character that I play in G.I. Joe certainly fancies himself a kind of God.”

Although Levitt has been acting since he was six years old, the actor says that playing the villain is new for him, being as he is accustomed to playing characters in the gray area, not so much entirely good or completely bad. But we’ll have to wait and see what sort of villain he makes (the one we love to hate, perhaps?). So far, the young actor has proven himself a serious actor with great skills, and I’m sure he’ll blow our minds as a villain as well.

To view Levitt’s entire track list, or to listen to the entire show, follow the link: kcrw.com.

500 Days of Summer Giveaway

Mali Elfman — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 21:05:39 +0000

Go and win some free stuff courtesy of 500 Days of Summer and Fox Searchlight! If you live New York, Boston, Philadelphia, DC, San Francisco or Los Angeles this Sunday, June 21st starting at noon, the first 500 people to arrive at the stores below will be given free goodies!

Check out the list below…

GIVE-AWAYS IN LOS ANGELES (Sorry I’m biased towards my town):

SPRINKLES CUPCAKES (via their new SPRINKLES MOBILE)
COOL HAUS ICE CREAM
KOGI TACO TRUCK
JUICE IT UP
COFFEE BEAN & TEA LEAF
PINK’S HOT DOGS
FIJI WATER
RED BULL

To find other giveaways in other cities, follow @foxsearchlight on Twitter or go to Foxsearchlight.com/500daysofsummer

Synopsis: Tom (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) still believes, even in this cynical modern world, in the notion of a transforming, cosmically destined, lightning-strikes-once kind of love. Summer (Zooey Deschanel) doesn’t. Not at all. But that doesn’t stop Tom from going after her, again and again, like a modern Don Quixote, with all his might and courage. Suddenly, Tom is in love not just with a lovely, witty, intelligent woman – not that he minds any of that — but with the very idea of Summer, the very idea of a love that still has the power to shock the heart and stop the world.

500 Days of Summer will be a limited platform release starting on July 17, 2009.

500 Days of Summer Featurette

Mali Elfman — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 22:20:01 +0000

I don’t know if you’re aware, but the filmmakers 500 Days of Summer, like to mention the number “500″ a lot. I would be REALLY surprised if I there was actually “500 days of directing,” “500 days of acting,” “500 days of production.” But then again, 500 Days of Summer would destroy the world, so I guess they’re asking us to use our imaginations or something. You and you creative types.

The featurette is pretty fun, you get to see a lot of cool behind the scenes footage of all the different places (500 perhaps?) they shot the film and even a bit of the stars of the film Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Gordon-Levitt goofing off.

Check out some of the behind the scenes action below…

What do you think?

Thanks to TrailerAddict.com for the HD video

500 Days of Summer Trailer

Mali Elfman — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 07:27:36 +0000

Now this is a trailer. The original 500 Days of Summer trailer was beautiful, but it completely lost me due to it’s over-used voice-over, but this trailer shows a lot of potential. The films stars the lovely Zooey Deschanel and the adorable Joseph Gordon-Levitt, in a love story about about the difficulties of falling in love. It’s definitely a refreshing twist on the old romance cliche.

Check out the trailer below…

So what do you think? Just another chick flick or something you’re excited to see?

Thanks to TrailerAddict for the trailer!

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