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(500) Days of Summer
[Blu-ray]
Blu-ray A - America - Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment Review written by and copyright: Ethan C. Stevenson (27th December 2009). |
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The Film
 Boy meets girl. Boy falls in love. Girl doesn’t. Cutting straight to the center of the plot of “(500) Days of Summer”, it doesn’t get much simpler than the above. Tom (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is a hopeless romantic. Summer Finn (Zooey Deschanel), the girl of his dreams is, well, decidedly not. The film is the story, told in a not so orderly fashion, about the ups and downs of their relationship, and the aftermath of their breakup, all in a five hundred day span. Although the synopsis on the back of the Blu-ray case and basically every other piece of promotional literature I can find for the film describes it as a romantic-comedy, I’m not so sure that calling this film something as pedestrian as that is doing the movie true justice. First and foremost, right off the bat the viewer is told that this is not a love story, and that it doesn’t have a happy ending were the two leads end up together in storybook fashion, so that alone sets it apart from anything starring one of the Jennifer’s (Aniston, Garner or Lopez). It is especially not as formulaic as the regular, crummy, run-of-the-mill rom-com either. Make no mistake; it is funny, in fact very funny, so, yes; “(500) Days of Summer” is a comedy, and the film is a tale of romance, as unconventional and wishy-washy as it may be, so, in the most generic, dictionary definition sort of way the only genre that the film fits into, if it must be forced into one, is the dismal romantic comedy. But, “(500) Days of Summer” is so much more than the types of films that regularly fall under the banner of ordinary, predictable tripe. “(500) Days” is innovative, creative, fun and yet tragic, realistic and above all else an excellent film. Not just a great film compared to other entries in the genre, but a truly great piece of cinema. I hesitate to describe the film as “quirky” or “indie” because, in this day-and-age, those terms have a somewhat negative connotation, having associated themselves with smarmy productions that are too overly sweet and not nearly as likeable as their writers and directors think they are. But, at the same time, those are the terms I would use, because they fit. “(500) Days of Summer” is quirky, indie and yes. it’s even cute, but I mean that in a good way. The casting in the film is perfect. Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s stock continues to rise with me, his appearance in “G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra” (2009) not withstanding, and he’s really an excellent actor and especially outstanding here. As Tom, he runs through a gamut of emotions in the film. Not only can he handle the light and fun stuff, like a funny little trip to IKEA where he and Deschanel get to play house, but also he’s also able to convey the totality of despair and depression Tom feels once he no longer has Summer in his life. I can’t imagine anyone other than Zooey Deschanel playing the role of Summer Finn. She is absolutely the one and only choice for the enticingly beautiful, free spirit that couldn’t possibly be bothered with the unneeded thoughts of commitment and marriage (how could she when the character doesn’t even believe in love). Deschanel also exudes that sense of mystery that, for whatever reason, attracts those around her, to her, almost to a fault. The film calls this mysterious attraction the Summer Effect, but they may as well call it the Zooey Effect. It’s the same difference in my book. Scott Neustadter and Michael Weber’s script is nothing if not original. First, quite uniquely the tale of unrequited love is told through the male perspective, which is not something one often sees in these types of films. Secondly, they both make the smart decision to tell the story in a free flowing, unconventional way. “(500) Days of Summer” flows like the memories one has of a past relationship, which seemed absolutely perfect at first glance. The reality is that it wasn’t perfect, but usually we always remember the good and forget the bad. Likewise, Summers announcement that she wants to break up comes out of left field, and the viewers aren’t entirely sure, much like Tom, why and how she came to this decision. It feels sudden and confusing, as before this we’ve seen nothing but happy memories from the two. Later, as the film naturally progresses towards the breakup and the aftermath, Tom’s memories are slightly skewed. We start to see things almost entirely from the perspective that it was actually all unhappiness and nothing good came from their time together. It’s the same set of scenes that we were shown during the happy remembrances, only the tone is different; what was once a definite and well meaning smile, becomes a uneasy smirk. Finally, in the films final moments, Tom experiences an abrupt, but needed moment of clarity and we are given the whole relationship, good and bad. It’s because of this, the way it is presented, that the film feels real, and genuine. It’s a story that most can relate to and the way that it is told, which can often be absurdly but definitely hilarious, is both truthful and precise. Together, the script and actors make “(500) Days of Summer” come alive. 2009 has been a great year for first time directors. Earlier this year, Duncan Jones impressed me with his cerebral sci-fi tale “Moon”, then Neill Blomkamp blew me away with wholly original “District 9” and now Marc Webb proves to be possibly the most exciting of the three with his work here on “Summer.” He will definitely be one to watch in the coming years. Like two distinctive filmmakers before him, David Fincher and Spike Jonze, Webb, an accomplished director of music videos, arrives to his debut feature with an already unique vision and style. The dance number is not only outstanding fun and, quite frankly, perfectly crafted, but the juxtaposition of that sequences last shot, the entering of an elevator by Gordon-Levitt who is all smiles and sunshine, with the match up of the doors closing and then reopening on a new day, just after he’s been dumped, with Gordon-Levitt now depressed and crestfallen is absolutely brilliant. Furthermore, his black-and-white homage’s to old European films are great. And his pièce de résistance, a sequence showing Tom’s expectations of a dinner party against the reality of said party, in a split screen, is not only the highlight of “(500) Days of Summer’s” style for me, but also one of my favorite sequences of the decade. Not of the year. Not of the past 5 years, but of the decade. It’s not only a smart, clever little scene but the emotions that he is able to capture, and the pure essence of the story that he is able to showcase, without his actors speaking (or rarely doing so) demonstrates a fine understanding of the medium, and a rare craftsmanship that makes me ready to see what else he can create in the future. Admittedly there are still a few choice films that I need to see, chiefly James Cameron’s “Avatar”(2009) and Quentin Tarantino’s “Inglorious Basterds” (2009), but I have to say that, next to “Moon” and perhaps “Up” (2009), “(500) Days of Summer” is my favorite film of 2009. A surprising little movie from a first time director, “Summer” most definitely won me over and stole my heart.
Video
Presented in 1080p AVC MPEG-4 encoded 2.40:1 widescreen high-definition, with an average bitrate of 34 Mbps. Fox offers an extremely faithful encode for their release of “(500) Days of Summer” on blu-ray; the studio has not touched the source, which is as pristine as one would expect for a new film from 2009 to be. There are no signs of digital noise reduction or edge enhancement. I see no evidence of banding, even in the animated shots of the “counter” inter-titles, and likewise macro blocking is a non-issue. The film retains a thin but consistent layer of grain, preserving the filmic qualities of a modern Super35 production. Occasionally Webb infuses black-and-white academy-ratio footage, pillar boxed in the center of the frame, in his homage’s to the likes of Goddard, Truffaut, Bergman and European cinema in general. These scenes are sourced from 16mm film stock, which is grainier but still well digitized in transition to Blu-ray. Detail is exceptional, with meticulous facial textures and complex clothing intricacies crisply rendered. Medium and long shots are also expectedly sharp and clean. Blacks are superb, looking inky and deep, if a little too much so from time to time, resulting in some (very minor) crush. Although a majority of the film is subdued and flat, one particular sequence, a dance number that happens the morning after Tom and Summer first have sex, is lively with nicely saturated colors, and genuinely a bit more oomph in the presentation. Grain is light; the image is bright, all around the sequence looks like something out of a bubble gum musical. If you absolutely had to choose a scene from this film to show off the wonders of high definition, this is undoubtedly the one to use. However, for the rest of its runtime “(500) Days of Summer” is perhaps not the liveliest looking movie. Viewers will be met with relatively flat contrast and a bland color palette, almost completely comprised of earth tones, made up of brown, yellow and amber-toned hues, and sometimes a steely grey-blue. Skin tones are orangey-yellow: warm but somewhat flushed and not too natural. The film essentially lacks the use of primary colors, with the exception of blue, which is found almost exclusively in scenes with Summer. Director Marc Webb and director of photography Eric Steelberg wanted to accentuate Zooey Deschanel’s striking blue eyes and so the color is used in her scenes, or in scenes where Tom is thinking about her; blue represents the character. The film isn’t a conventionally appealing image as it lacks “pop” and many of the other attributes that most will look for in a high definition presentation, but technically speaking this is still a slick, rich picture that looks, at all times, like a Blu-ray. I also feel that the disc accurately represents the intended look of the film and reflects the original theatrical exhibition faithfully. Personally, I like the way the film looks, even if it isn’t as shiny and polished as the latest blockbuster; the unique visual characteristics add a bit of charm to the overall package.
Audio
The default English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz/24-bit/3.6 Mbps AVBR) track is, in a word, unassuming. Modest, light and front heavy for most of the films runtime, at least on the audio front “(500) Days of Summer” is about what one would expect from an indie rom-com. Dialogue reproduction is excellent, with clear precise delivery. Dimensionality is fine, at least across the front speakers and stereo separation is perfectly acceptable. Rears are predominantly silent with little ambience, but on one or two occasions do feature some activity. All of this of course is applicable to the portions of the film that are without musical backing. Once the soundtrack is full of music, be it in the form of the wonderful score by Mychael Danna and Rob Simonsen or a song from one of the numerous artists featured in the film, “(500) Days of Summer” becomes a completely different animal. With an eclectic array of artists ranging from Hall & Oates to The Smiths to Regina Specktor, Simon & Garfunkel and even Zooey Deschanel herself (both in solo form and as part of her band She and Him), the film has a wide variety of sounds, creating a unique aural experience. These scenes, which have said music, are full bodied, with excellent use of the full 6-channel mix, and a rich, bold dynamic range. The karaoke sequence is alive with not only loaded bass from the LFE channel, but crowd chatter and a nice crispness. Another standout, also mentioned as one of the most visually pleasing scenes of the film above in the video portion of the review, is the dance number sequence, set to “You Make My Dreams” by Hall & Oates; the mix opens up completely and is just about perfect there. The soundtrack is balanced and well put together; but it isn’t a film that has explosive bombast and certainly isn’t what I would consider demo material. Still, “(500) Days of Summer” sounds brilliant for what it is. 20th Century Fox also provides an English Descriptive Audio track in Dolby Digital 5.1 (448 kbps/48 kHz) and a trio of dubs, in Spanish, French and Portuguese, all encoded in Dolby Digital 5.1 (448kbps/48kHz). English for the hearing impaired, Spanish, Portuguese, Cantonese, Mandarin and Thai subtitles are also included.
Extras
The Blu-ray edition of “(500) Days of Summer” contains all of the supplemental material from the concurrently released DVD, including an audio commentary, deleted and extended scenes and various trailers; on top of those extras, the disc also includes a considerable amount of exclusive content including featurettes, two short films, a music video, audition tapes, storyboards with accompanying storyboard-to-film comparisons, a series of interviews and, finally, a digital copy on a second disc. Video based supplements are presented in a mix of standard-definition and high-definition. A further look at the extras is outlined below: DISC ONE: Starting things off is an audio commentary with director Marc Webb, writer Michael Weber, co-writer Scott Neustadter, and actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Light, jovial, but well meaning and informative, this commentary accents the film nicely. Webb discusses a lot of the necessary subjects, like casting and how certain sequences were completed. Writers Weber and Neustadter talk about the origins of the project, commenting that much of the film is semi-autobiographical in nature and how many of the films scenes actually happened to one or the other in real life. Joseph Gordon-Levitt talks about working with his costar, and all four men praise Zooey Deschanel for being, if nothing else, a kind soul and a pleasure to work with. The commentary participants occasionally gets off task, with someone always wanting to goof around and crack jokes, and there are a few gaps of silence, but all in all, “(500) Days of Summer” has a perfectly decent commentary to supplement it. This is one extra that is well worth a listen. 9 deleted and extended scenes with optional audio commentary by director Marc Webb, writer Michael Weber, co-writer Scott Neustadter and actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt can be found under the menu marked “Lost Days of Summer: Deleted and Extended Scenes.” The deleted scenes are presented in 2.40:1 framed 1080i AVC MPEG-4 high-definition; quality is comparable to the feature film. Scenes include: - “Love Testimonials.” 2 minutes 20 seconds. - “I Think We Should Stop Seeing Each Other.” 35 seconds. - “Family Dinner (Day 11).” 58 seconds. - “Paul Meets Summer.” 1 minute 57 seconds. - “Tom and Summer Argue.” 1 minute 58 seconds. - “Tom in the Movie Theatre (Day 286).” 1 minute 46 seconds. - “The Worst Morning Ever.” 1 minute 7 seconds. - “Tom Sees Summer Everywhere (Day 306).” 42 seconds. - “Date With Allison (Day 345).” 4 minutes. “Not A Love Story: Making (500) Days of Summer” is a rather solid behind-the-scenes featurette. Playing out like a condensed version of the audio commentary, Webb talks about his work on the project, writers Michael Weber and Scott Neustadter talk about the origins of “Summer”, stating that some 75-to-80-percent of the film is based on real events from their lives, and the actors, mostly Gordon-Levitt and Deschanel, talk about their characters. But, this featurette also covers topics not mentioned in the commentary. What makes this featurette worth watching are comments from producer Mark Waters, who reveals what drew him to the film in the first place and what he found unique about the script, an interview with cinematographer Eric Steelberg in which he discusses the look of the film, and a conversation with Mychael Danna and Rob Simonsen who talk about the score and music. This is a nice addition to the rest of the package and goes above and beyond the typical EPK fluff. Presented 2.40:1 widescreen 1080i AVC MPEG-4 high-definition. 29 minutes 21 seconds. “Summer at Sundance” is the second featurette in the package, and in many ways is more interesting than the “Making of…” above (although both are extremely solid). This piece documents the crews’ trip to the Sundance Film festival, via rather candid video footage in which director Marc Webb talks about the joy (and fear) he felt having his debut screening to a packed house at the prestigious event. Presented in 1.78:1 1080i AVC MPEG-4 high-definition. 13 minutes 46 seconds. Next, two audition tapes, interesting if only for the optional audio commentary by director Marc Webb, that supplements them. Both of these are presented in 1.33:1 480i MPEG-2 standard definition. The tapes are for: - Geoffrey Arend (“Mackenzie”). 4 minutes 23 seconds. - Matthew Gray Gubler (“Paul”). 2 minutes 38 seconds. “Summer Storyboards” are, you guessed it, a look at the original storyboards for the film, each with accompanying, optional, storyboard-to-film comparison. Two scenes are available, each with optional audio commentary tracks from director Marc Webb. Unfortunately, both versions of the storyboards are presented in 1.33:1 480i MPEG-2 standard definition: - “Summer Effect,” Angle 1: Storyboards with optional “Character” audio commentary by director Marc Webb. 1 minute 36 seconds. - “Summer Effect,” Angle 1: Storyboards with optional “The Look” audio commentary by director Marc Webb. 1 minute 36 seconds. - “Summer Effect,” Angle 2: Storyboard-to-Film Comparison” with optional “Characters” audio commentary by director Marc Webb. 1 minute 36 seconds. - “Summer Effect,” Angle 2: Storyboard-to-Film Comparison” with optional “The Look” audio commentary by director Marc Webb. 1 minute 36 seconds. - “Reality/Expectations,” Angle 1: Storyboards with optional audio commentary by director Marc Webb. 1 minute 55 seconds. - “Reality/Expectations,” Angle 2: Storyboard-to-Film Comparison with optional audio commentary by director Marc Webb. 1 minute 55 seconds. The quirky “Bank Dance” is a short film, directed by Marc Webb, starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel. The director showcases his music video based roots with this short, which has no words (other than the underlying musical track) and is basically 4 minutes of choreographed dancing with the two actors. Again, unfortunately, even though it is exclusive to Blu-ray, this is another feature presented in 1.33:1 480i MPEG-2 standard definition. 4 minute 18 seconds. “Mean’s Cinemash: Sid and Nancy/(500) Days of Summer.” Early in the film Summer (Zooey Deschanel) equates Tom (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) and her relationship to that of Sid Vicious and Nancy Spungen. In this short film, directed by Marc Webb, the famous stabbing incident is recreated, with Deschanel as Sid and Gordon-Levitt as Nancy (the latter complete with dress and blond wig.) Presented in 1.78:1 1080p 24fps AVC MPEG-4 high-definition. 3 minutes 28 seconds. An awful music video for “Sweet Disposition” by The Temper Trap is included. Another 1.33:1 480i MPEG-2 standard definition supplement. 4 minutes 1 second. The generically titled “Conversations with Zooey and Joseph” is the header for a collection of no less than six short interviews with the actors. These interviews are all too brief, but they give a bit of insight into the two, who discuss their relationship outside of the film, their techniques in acting, and share their thoughts on different subjects like Karaoke and life in Los Angeles. Presented in window-boxed 1.78:1 480i MPEG-2 standard definition. A “Play All” option is also available. Topics discussed: - “Acting vs. Reality” runs 2 minutes 49 seconds. - “Creative Process” runs 1 minute 58 seconds. - “Favorite Parts of L.A.” runs 1 minute 50 seconds. - “Karaoke” runs 2 minutes 50 seconds. - “Los Angeles” runs 1 minute 45 seconds. - “Music” runs 1 minute 41 seconds. Another header, again with a generic name that hides a collection of interviews, which this time reads “Filmmaking Specials”, is the catchall for the leftover bits deemed unworthy of their own spot on the larger menu. However, as each of these interviews is rather short, I can understand the grouping. The titles explain the features well enough; basically each just consists of Webb, Deschanel or Gordon-Levitt discussing their thoughts the subject at hand. Presented in window-boxed 480i MPEG-2 standard definition. The 6 short interviews include: - “Behind (500) Days: Director Marc Webb on Casting Joe and Zooey.” 2 minutes 7 seconds. - “Behind (500) Days: Director Marc Webb on the Summer Effect.” 1 minute 35 seconds. - “Behind (500) Days: Director Marc Webb on French Film References.” 58 seconds. - “Behind (500) Days: Director Marc Webb on the Color Palette.” 1 minute 11 seconds. - “FOX MOVIE CHANNEL PRESENTS: in Character with Zooey Deschanel.” 2 minutes 38 seconds. - “FOX MOVIE CHANNEL PRESENTS: in Character with Joseph Gordon-Levitt.” 3 minutes 8 seconds. A barrage of forced bonus trailers, all encoded in 1080p 24fps high-definition, precede the menu-proper. Unfortunately, the top menu command is disabled for these previews and one must skip them individually: - “Post Grad” on DVD and Blu-ray. 2 minutes 10 seconds. - “Whip It” on DVD and Blu-ray. 2 minutes 16 seconds. - “Jennifer’s Body” on DVD and Blu-ray. 1 minute 35 seconds. - “All About Steve” on DVD and Blu-ray. 2 minutes 24 seconds. Also accessible via the menu, under the header marked “Trailers,” are 3 additional bonus trailers. Again, these are encoded in 1080p 24fps high-definition: - “Amelia” on DVD and Blu-ray. 1 minute 48 seconds. - “Fame” on DVD and Blu-ray. 2 minutes 14 seconds. - “Adam” on DVD and Blu-ray. 2 minutes 24 seconds. Fox also includes their standard bookmarking feature. A bit more advanced than the regular bookmarking one usually sees on Blu-ray discs, Fox has used the formats BD-Java technology to remember where you left off even after the disc has been removed from the player, even if you do not specifically tag your last viewed scene with a bookmark. DISC TWO: Finally, a digital copy of the film is included on the second disc. Per usual for 20th Century Fox, the portable version of “(500) Days of Summer” is compatible with both Macs and PCs, including iPod, iTunes and WMV-enabled devices.
Packaging
“(500) Days of Summer” comes to Blu-ray from 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment via a 2-disc set, packaged inside a Viva Elite case of the Eco-Box variety. The first disc, a dual layer BD-50, contains the film and special features; the second disc has a digital copy of the film for playback on portable media devices. The film is locked to Region A.
Overall
One of my favorite films of 2009, “(500) Days of Summer” is made all the sweeter by it’s excellent high definition release from 20th Century Fox. With a faithful and sharp video transfer, an above average DTS-HD Master Audio track and a boatload of supplemental features, a majority of which are exclusive to the 2-Disc Blu-ray edition, Marc Webb’s “(500) Days of Summer” earns my highest recommendation.
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