(500) Days of Summer = (past)(present) + (soundtrack)(dance sequences)

Maybe it's that the movie (500) Days of Summer is so clearly aimed at my age demographic (romps through IKEA! A main character in Clash and Joy Division t-shirts!) Or maybe it's the parenthetical title, which refers to the time span Tom (Joseph Gordon-Levitt, the now-grown kid from TV's "Third Rock from the Sun") and Summer (Zooey Deschanel, of the film All the Real Girls, which should be watched for the brief clown-dancing scene alone) meet, do or don't fall in love, and leave Tom to piece together what happened in a narrative that jumps around in time. Whatever the case, I spent much of the movie making my own parenthetical asides, mostly in my head so as not to disturb other theatergoers (though it's impossible not to exclaim over the scene with Pixies karaoke. What bar do I need to go to for PIXIES KARAOKE? Apparently a bar in Los Angeles.)

This is the kind of film that anyone who's had their heart broken could appreciate, if only for the vicarious closure of revisiting the past and learning to see it objectively rather than selectively. Good luck with that, eh? Or maybe it's possible, as we watch Tom's attempts (when did the kid from "Third Rock from the Sun" get so...handsome? And why do I keep saying "30 Rock" instead of "Third Rock from the Sun"? Need to watch the "30 Rock" premiere. Hope the Tivo worked.) Tom's a sensitive guy -- reminded of Summer by the song "She's Like the Wind" by Patrick Swayze (sad. He died last week. The Barrelhouse folks put together all their Swayze Question answers as a tribute. Nice.)

And then there's the public dance sequence to Hall & Oates, as Tom revels in a particular morning after. (She's All That, 13 Going on 30 and Ferris Bueller's Day Off also have excellent spontaneous-ish dance sequences, though S.A.T.'s actually takes place at a dance, making it comparatively pedestrian. I am drawn to these moments because I harbor a secret wish that it will happen in the middle of my day. I've given some thought to this, logistically speaking. I find mass demonstrations of coordinated movement inexplicably moving.)

There's also a scene when the characters go to a movie, and they are facing us, eating popcorn. Which was weird, because we were watching them, eating our popcorn. (I don't care what anyone says, a little artificial butter every once in awhile is gooood. But I suppose I could've skipped the Reese's Pieces.) And French film is gently lampooned (funny, because Audrey Tautou showed up in a preview - Coco Before Chanel, mayhaps? - and she is adorable in Amelie, which I'd just been thinking about watching again. I used it in class a couple times and it went over better than expected. Good students.) (And there was that other preview for a movie set in Paris, as well as New York I Love You, a redux of Paris Je'taime but, um, in New York. What's with all the Frawnch previews? Why isn't anything getting blown up? Arts Cinema. Got it.)

It took more than half the movie for me to realize it was set in L.A., which, if it has a distinct and picturesque downtown, was inaccessible for shooting. One train scene had lovely shots of the ocean through a dingy window at sunset. (Pretty effect for photos, but so glad I finally cleaned the living room windows. You finally can see so much more clearl--)

(You are spending an awful lot of time thinking about things you're reminded of, considering the $$ you paid to go to a movie and clog your arteries. Pay attention already.)