In This Economy?

Here at ITE we’ve been writing about things that we feel are a WASTE OF MONEY for months now, so it only made sense to take a look at the other end of the spectrum in this new feature — WORTH THE MONEY.

Below, ITE guestblogger/Hollywood correspondent T-Bag kicks the whole thing off by getting a little emotional about:

(500) Days of Summer

First of all, yes, (500) Days of Summer is a great film. Possibly the best of the year and my favorite romantic comedy since High Fidelity. It is very much worth your money and I hope you go see it when (and if) it gets to your town.

BUT FIRST…

I’d like to take this moment to address an issue I’ve been having. There’s a figure of speech running around the lexicon that has more than run its course. That phrase is the following:

“It’s not going to win any Oscars but….”

If you have ever used this phrase, stop it. Right now. Okay, if you worked on Gran Torino, you got a pass last February… But that’s all. “It’s Not Going To Win Any Oscars But…” (Henceforth abbreviated to INGTWAOB) is a disrespectful phrase that makes the user sound ignorant as they try to sound casual.

Is this our benchmark for quality? The organization that gave Roberto Benigni an award for best actor and convinced us Life is Beautiful was actually good? (Spoiler Alert: …It wasn’t.)

Don’t apologize for the fact that you liked something like Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen by playing the INGTWAOB card. Be honest. Say you paid to see giant robots beating the hell out of each other and you loved it.

A few weeks ago, I saw Knowing with Nicky Cage. Most of the critics, and many of the people I’ve talked to, considered it to be offensively bad, but I thought it was damn awesome. Well-written, deftly paced, and filled with provoking sci-fi concepts that rocket to an immensely satisfying third act with one of the most beautiful final shots I’ve ever seen. As far as I’m concerned, it’s a fantastic film.

People, that’s all the justification you need. Did you like the movie? Yes? Good. Case closed. Don’t conjure up an independent group of self-congratulating jackasses to enforce the point. They get enough attention.

Your honest opinion is all that matters.

SO ANYWAY…

I’m warning you right now. Due to my feelings about (500) Days of Summer and the Jeff Buckley I’m listening to… There’s a high chance that I’m going to get passionate here. Just be grateful I’m not playing any Elliot Smith.

(500) Days of Summer is a film about the girl who refuses to commit and the boy who falls in love with her anyway. When she leaves him, he loses his mind. Hilarity ensues… No, seriously. This movie is very very funny.

And it’s the first movie I’ve seen that makes a very simple and truthful statement about the single American male of 2009…

We’re all a bunch of pussies.

Most men have grown up wanting nothing. We have been coddled, protected, and doted upon since the moment we were born. Defining ourselves by the jobs we have, the people we know, and the music we listen to…

…But all we really want is to be loved! We have convinced ourselves of a simple grand delusion: If our beds are empty, so are our lives.

Tom Hansen (played awesomely by Joseph Gordon Levitt) is a man of that disposition. He lives his life waiting patiently for the woman of his dreams to jump out of the ether and validate his entire life.

He thinks he has found it with Summer Finn (played by Zooey Deschanel, who makes up for The Happening in spades). He hasn’t. But that doesn’t stop him from going for it anyway.

What follows is a non-chronological telling of Tom and Summer’s entire relationship. From birth to death, happiness to tragedy, unconditional love to unrelenting hate. All told from Tom’s point of view. It is unflinchingly honest and beautiful in its heartbreak.

I have friends who have been told to steer clear of this movie. Their pain is too real and the film is too brutal. Frankly, they’re getting terrible advice.

There’s a therapy at work in (500) Days of Summer. It does not trivialize your personal tragedies, it celebrates them. Tom’s heartbreak is relatable to everyone… and the movie concludes with a wonderful and affirming statement:

We fall in love with the wrong people. That doesn’t make our feelings any less true or our aching insignificant. It’s just the way it goes. The only way to fight back is to continue becoming better people and live for brighter days.

A movie like this is worth your money. It is worth laughing, cringing, clapping, and cheering for. It is worth a post-view meal where you talk about how it moved you. It is worth making you re-evaluate and appreciate the loves of your life. It’s also better than writing poetry in a tear-stained notebook after downing an entire bottle of wine… Oh come on. Don’t act like I’m the only one.

Also, who knows? With the new Academy rules for Best Picture… (500) Days of Summer just might win a few Oscars…

Loving and losing and loving again,

T-Bag.

T-Bag resides in Los Angeles, California. He is currently single.

Tags: guestblog, guestblogger, Hollywood, movies, oscars, T-Bag, worth the money

This entry was posted on Sunday, July 26th, 2009 at 8:11 PM and is filed under Good News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.