She & Him & 500 Days of Summer: One big happy family
I can’t remember the last time I loved a film as much as (500) Days of Summer. Granted, it was a pretty easy sell to me in the first place. Quirky indie romances with credible leads make up a good portion of my DVD collection. This one towers over all of the others though. No one factor causes this, but everything about it seems to work. A non-linear structure, coming through on the promise that “this isn’t a love story” and boldly ditching a female perspective altogether help. Rattling off a few things like that doesn’t put across just how well this film works though. It even managed to get me back into a cinema for a second watch, which hardly ever happens.
Which leads us to She & Him, the band made of M.Ward and Zooey Deschanel. I’m not sure if I’m using the film as an excuse to post the band or the band as an excuse to praise the film. Either way, both are worthy of being explored. The crossover between the two is muddied somewhat by the video above. It’s the video for Why Do You Let Me Stay Here?, but it’s also directed by 500 Days director Mark Webb and stars Deschanel and Joseph Gordon-Levitt. It doesn’t really tie into the film beyond those elements, but it makes for a nice little aside. And just as the film proved, any opportunity for an over the top, slightly silly dance number is always worth taking.
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