"Moondance" by VAN MORRISON (2013 Warner Brothers 2CD 'Extended Edition' Reissue And Remaster) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"…Let Your Soul And Spirit Fly…Into The Mystic…"

First things first – the reissued album "Moondance" by VAN MORRISON is presented in two versions. The other is a 'Deluxe Edition 4CD/1BLU RAY' set in a book that has received derision for its packaging faults. 

This review is for the October 2013 'Expanded Edition' 2CD version of "Moondance" in a three-way foldout card digipak on Warner Brothers R2 536561 (Barcode 081227963842).  I love the way this reissue looks, feels and sounds. Here are the fantabulous details…

1. And It Stoned Me [Side 1]

2. Moondance

3. Crazy Love

4. Caravan

5. Into The Mystic

6. Come Running [Side 2]

7. These Dreams Of You

8. Brand New Day

9. Everyone

10. Glad Tidings

Disc 1 has the 10-track album "Moondance" in 2013 remastered form (38:56 minutes). The original self-produced vinyl LP was released March 1970 on Warner Brothers WS 1835 in the USA and UK.

1. Caravan (Take 4)

2. Nobody Knows You When You’re Done And Out (Outtake)

3. Into The Mystic (Take 11)

4. Brand New Day (Take 3)

5. Glad Tidings (Alternate Version)

6. Come Running (Take 2)

7. Crazy Love (Mono Mix)

8. These Dreams Of You (Alternate Version)

9. Moondance (Take 22)

10. I Shall Sing (Take 7)

11. I’ve Been Working (Early Version, Take 5)

Disc 2 (52:12 minutes) is an 11-track Bonus CD with Sessions, Alternates & Outtakes. The three-way card digipak houses CD1 in the left flap with pictures of the master tape boxes beneath – the 24-page sepia-effect booklet sits in a centred lip pouch with a photo of Van out walking amongst Autumn trees and Disc 2 is on the right – again with tapes boxes beneath the see-through tray. The booklet also features Janet Planet’s original notes, a new essay by Alan Light, photo outtakes from the cover session and notes on the recording and master tapes.  But then you get to the real meat and potatoes – the huge overhaul in sound...

The original tape engineer ELLIOT SCHEINER has been recalled for the remaster and he gives 3 pages of warm and detailed explanation. The album was recorded in Mono in two gulps - September and November 1969 - and then mastered into Stereo on the latest equipment of the day - an 8-track. There is faintly detectable hiss on some of the songs inherent to the original tapes - but the clarity on his vocals and the individual instruments is now truly fantastic – warm, sweet and allowed to breath. I don’t detect any compression here - nor is it over trebled for effect – it’s just beautifully handled and allowed to simply be.

While "And It Stoned Me" is a good sonic opener – the remaster really kicks in with "Moondance" and "Crazy Love" where John Kleinberg’s bass and Jeff Labes’ Piano are suddenly alive - while the fabulous threesome of backing singers Emily Houston, Judy Clay and Jackie Verdell add so much Soul to these renditions. Then you're hit with "Caravan" and everyone's Soul igniter – "Into The Mystic". And wow is the only appropriate response. Like so many fans I've waited too long to hear these joyous songs sound this good. And when he launches into that abandoned vocal during "Into The Mystic" ("…I Wanna Rock Your Gypsy Soul…Just Like Way Back In The Days Of Old…") – I'm blubbing like a teenager confronted by Ryan Gosling…. 

I hadn't expected the bonus to be so brilliant. It hits you on many fronts - the intimacy - sound engineers talking in the takes - classics in beautiful full-studio sound quality. Take 3 of "Brand New Day" is shockingly gorgeous and he may have lost something in the final translation. As if to reinforce that Take 2 of "Come Running" is even better – the band and song fresh – a truly lovely outtake (I'll re-play this cut more than the album version). Even the finger-clicked in "Crazy Love" which is Mono is lovely (possibly the mix used for the 7" single B-side to "Come Running"). The only one that sounds slightly off is the out-of-whack piano and vocal to Take 22 of "Moondance" – a jazz-based rock track he seemed to struggle with feel-wise.

Listening to Take 11 of "Into The Mystic" is as spine-tingling as the finished track and while the Jimmie Cox cover version "Nobody Knows You When You’re Down And Out" is a bit of a let down – the new song "I Shall Sing" is properly fabulous stuff and only hammers home the huge contribution the horn section of Jack Schroer (Alto and Tenor Sax) and Collin Tilton (Trombone and Flute) made to the album. In fact it sounds like The Mavericks only 30 years before their time. The last entry is a genuinely unexpected high - the band fully rocking it out on Take 5 of "I've Been Working" which goes a little Beefheart in its quirky guitar parts. Its ten-plus minutes is cooking ("I've been working for Jesse James…") and ends Disc 2 with a feeling that you’ve been treated to something very special indeed. In fact in some respects I prefer the single disc of alternate versions and outtakes rather than the overload of the 5-disc version that for me actually spoils the magic of the original album.

In truth Van Morrison fans have been waiting more than 40 years to hear one of their favourite albums sound this good and finally be presented with a degree of packaging dignity its always deserved at least in the 2-disc version). The only real mystery is why it wasn’t combined with a series of releases – one of which would be the masterpiece that preceded it – "Astral Weeks"? But that's another man's licensing headache.

"Switch on your electric light" Van sings on "Caravan". Well after all this time - "Moondance" is burning brighter than ever. Don't hesitate - buy this beautiful reissue...

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"About Time". A Review Of The 2013 Film Now On A 2014 BLU RAY.

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ABOUT TIME the 2013 Movie on on BLU RAY

"…Big Cupboards Are Very Useful…"

Richard Curtis' Sixth Film "About Time" (2012) opens with a killer monologue that establishes Tim’s largely crackpot family living out an all weathers idealized existence in a house by the sea in Cornwall. Book-loving table-tennis playing Father and unsentimental solid Mum are portrayed by the formidable British talent of Bill Nighy and Lindsay Duncan - while Tim’s scatological but adorable sister Catherine (nicknamed Kit Kat) kisses her equally absent-minded Uncle Desmond on the cheeks at every possible opportunity (lovely work by Lydia Wilson and Richard Cordery). But then Tim ("too skinny…too ginger…") gets called into Dad’s library on his 21^st birthday to be told the big secret – all the males in the family can travel back in time to their own past and alter/relive it (you can’t shag Helen of Troy unfortunately – too far back - damn). All you need to do is to find a dark place somewhere (dialogue above), clench your fists, think about the time and place you want to be – and boom - you’re suddenly there.

At first Tim uses this newfound tool to fix his nerd-like behaviour with Polly in a New Year’s Eve Party blunder (a midnight kiss he should have engaged in first time around) and second - he deftly rubs suntan lotion into the bikinied-back of the visiting American lustbucket Charlotte (the stunning Margot Robbie) instead of spilling it all over her like a twat. But then Tim twigs that he can use his cupboard jaunts to get to his real quest – the 'motherlode' – love. And after he meets the magical American girl Mary (Rachel McAdams) in the London cellar of a blind person's café – Tim (Brendan Gleeson’s son Domhnall Gleeson) realizes that this woman is his future and must bend all things (including time) to that purpose. And on it goes to moving in, marriage, children, car-crash scares with sister Kit Kat and medical problems with a father who can manipulate the clock too but not outrun it…

This is Richard Curtis so when "About Time" is funny – it’s blindingly so. Tom Hollander’s character Harry gets the lion’s share of great lines. Blocked writer and perpetual curmudgeon Harry points to a picture - "This is my daughter. Would you like to have sex with her? Apparently everyone else has…" As his new much-anticipated West End Play bombs because two huge stage actors go dry – Tim nips back in time and 'does' both so that they remember their lines and 'genius' appears in the newspaper reviews instead of 'disaster of Titanic proportions' (short but priceless cameos from Richard Griffiths and Richard E Grant). And of course there's the music score with beautifully chosen songs by Paul Buchanan of The Blue Nile and members of The Waterboys busking on the London underground. All seems well – all the boxes are ticked - but then there are those one-too-many 1 to 4 star reviews for this movie – some even loathing it from a height.

“About Time” has its problems for sure…about half way through - the endless ducking back in time starts to become tedious (more than a passing resemblance to "Groundhog Day") and the story gets darker to a point where it doesn’t seem to know what it is anymore. And all too many scenes feature tea by the beach and skimming stones and pretty London locations that no mere mortal can afford. Worse – its hard to believe the dweeb lead would ever score a babe like Mary or Charlotte in the real world (so credibility is stretched throughout) and all those clunky nerd mannerisms that once seemed so endearing start to irritate instead of please. But – and this is again a Richard Curtis film – there’s truly beautiful and touching scenes in amongst all the forced madcap – moments with his sister and father – moments with his children – moments with his friend Rory (Joshua McGuire) where he savours life and all that surrounds them instead of being too busy to notice it…

Defaulted to 1080p Widescreen 2.40:1 - there are bars above and below – but even stretched the picture quality is really lovely - especially on the coastal home scenes and the night locations in the West End. Audio channels are English DTS-HD 5.1, French, Italian, German, Spanish DTS Surround 5.1 and finally English Audio Description 2.0. Subtitles include English SDH, French, Italian, German, Spanish, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Icelandic, Norwegian, Portuguese, Swedish and Arabic.

The extras are impressive and very enjoyable:

1. Four Deleted Scenes with introductions by Richard Curtis

2. Blooper Reels: Making Movies Is A Serious Business

3. About Tim and Time Travel

4. The World Of Richard Curtis

5. "The Luckiest" Music (a short piece about Ben Folds and his new version of the song)

6. Ellie Goulding “How Long Will I Love You” Video

7. Feature-length commentary with Director Richard Curtis and Actors Domhnall Gleeson, Bill Nighy, Vanessa Kirby (who plays Joanna – Mary’s friend), Lydia Wilson and Tom Hollander

"Four Weddings And A Funeral", "Notting Hill", "Bridget Jone's Diary", "The Boat That Rocked" and especially "Love Actually" – I'd say that’s a pretty impressive run. I don’t know if "About Time" will get the repeated viewings those illustrious predecessors do – but it has more real charm in it than most trite rom-coms and the theme of his father's love and loss moved me more than I care to admit to.

There are some who see Richard Curtis and his writing as a Great British National Treasure. Well I'm Irish and I'd be one of them. Spend a few hours with "About Time" – it will reward you for doing so…

"The Adjustment Bureau". A Review Of The 2011 Film on BLU RAY.

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"…Your Future Is About Your Choices…Not Theirs…"

"The Adjustment Bureau" is that rare beast– a future-bending Sci-Fi romance blockbuster with heart and warmth and quite possibly two of the most likeable lead actors in the world - both exuding a genuine and believable chemistry…

After the loss of his entire family and an 8-year career climb as the youngest ever Congressman - US Senate hopeful David Norris is poised for the throne of New York State when a barroom moon years earlier conveniently makes the front page of The Post. Preparing his defeat speech by himself in the men’s toilet of a plush hotel – David meets a woman’s who’s crashed a wedding on a dare and is hiding out in the cubicles from Security. Earthy, natural and everything his crafted campaign strategy isn’t – the flighty and talented British ballet dancer Elise is a breath of fresh air. He is stunned and smitten after only minutes of electrifying conversation and they quickly launch into a mutually uncontrollable snog…

But mystery men who stalk the top of Manhattan buildings wearing 1940’s style Trilby hats and immaculate overcoats - have other ideas. They carry with them books that show every-changing grids and expanding street maps like they’re controlling people’s lives. They are convinced their all-powerful ‘chairman’ has decreed that these two people’s pathways must not converge no matter what the personal cost. So David and Elise need to be subtly adjusted.

Adapted from another ingenious Philip K Dick story (other adaptations include "Blade Runner", "A Scanner Darkly", "Minority Report" and "Total Recall") – the look of the film is cleverly not futuristic. Director George Nolfi uses glossy uptown locations, clean-lined buildings and real world sets so that it doesn’t feel like the mind-bending world of "Inception". And the ‘God’ angle doesn’t get in the way of the story or the romance but only adds to it. Damon’s struggle with his heart versus politics is brilliantly handled. His suddenly honest speech to the party faithful about "Phrases that pulled traction with focus groups…" and why his ties and shoes have the right colour and correct mount of scuffing to secure the workingman’s vote - is properly brilliant writing. Then a dozing operative (a great part for David Mackie) forgets to spill coffee on Norris’ shirt at exactly 7:05 a.m. one morning before he boards a bus to work – and thus begins the dance of David and Elise towards each other as they meet yet again and click like before.

As you can imagine with subject matter as ropey as this – it could all have gone horribly wrong in the hands of some ‘name’ stars that might look good but share no real vibe. But the naturalness of both lead actors goes a long way to making the audience care. There are many moments between them as characters that are genuinely touching – giggling over coffee and mobile phones – racing each other down a night street in the wet. Then David stumbles on a mind recalibration in progress in his offices and runs like any scared man would. But he’s cornered in a car park by these angels of sorts and is told that not only is his relationship with Elise verboten but if he tells anyone of their existence – he’ll be memory-lobotomised (but in a nice way). But love has taken hold of his heart and hers - and they make a run for a future together despite the overwhelming odds.

Will freedom of choice and protecting your soul mate win the day? Well after a few trips to Yankee Stadium and the Statue of Liberty via doors that act as portals and a little help from an angel who feels his assignment is just plain wrong – they might just stand a chance - despite the efforts of a fearsome Terrance Stamp and a bumbling John Slattery (both superbly cast in their parts).

Original issues are a Triple Play package coming with a Blu Ray, DVD and Digital Copy. The BLU RAY 1080p picture is defaulted to 1.85:1 so fills the screen and is visually beautiful throughout. This is a big movie and has those huge production values screaming off every frame. The audio is English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, English Audio Description Track 2.0, Latin American Spanish and Canadian French DTS. The subtitles are English SDH, Latin American Spanish and Canadian French.

The extras are pleasingly comprehensive too:

1. The Labyrinth Of Doors: Interactive Map Of New York

2. Leaping Through New York

3. Destined To Be

4. Becoming Elise

5. Deleted and Extended Scenes

6. Feature Commentary

"The Adjustment Bureau" is a lovely upbeat film with wit, charm and cleverness in its storyline that will keep you coming back for more. Chuck away those false clip-on ties people and tip an old-fashioned hat at Director George Nolfi - because this is one cinematic door you should definitely open…

"Adventureland". A Review Of The 2009 Film On BLU RAY.

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"…Summer In Pittsburgh! That’s Harsh!"

It’s Ronald Reagan’s 1987 and curly-haired college dweeb James Brennan (Jesse Eisenberg) is dumped by his girlfriend Arlene in Scene 1. Then his promised European Road Trip is kyboshed in Scene 2 by his downsizing parents who can’t afford new drapes let alone a graduation present. Then things get really nasty for our sensitive Renaissance student when he’s sentenced to work at the notorious cesspool that is the “Adventureland” Amusement Park in Pittsburgh (title above).

But during a brutally honest induction course from the bug-eyed Joel (great work from Martin Starr) James notices something well worth the pain of puking children and a childhood pest called Frigo who can’t seem to resist jokily kicking him in the privates at every opportunity. The eye-opener James clocks is the seemingly ordinary yet ethereally beautiful Em (Kristen Stewart) who is all Lou Reed and David Bowie teeshirts and smoky eyes and magical long hair. The kind of girl you want to make mix tapes for and even consider joining a gym. From the moment he meets the svelte Em poor James is a goner – hopelessly falling for the emotionally conflicted young woman no matter what extra-curricular crap she pulls on him.

Em’s biological mom has passed two years prior via a long and horrible battle with cancer and she’s left living with a Stepmom she despises (and vice versa) and a father who seems unable to fathom his daughter. Em is therefore feckless in her relationships and reluctant to commit to anything other than drinking and toking and hanging out after work – sappily accepting the occasional rumble in the kitchen with Mike the Rock 'n' Roll star of the Park (a cool and suave Ryan Reynolds). But James the nice guy persists despite customers who try to rob the Giant Pandas and the attention of the playground’s curvaceous babe Lisa P (the deeply sexy Margarita Levieva). Slowly but surely Em begins to see the merits of a nice guy who’s willing to take a few punches for her and equally not allow her to anyone’s punching bag. "You may be the cutest and coolest guy I've ever dated…" she finally admits in a clincher behind the arcades - making James want to go all Johnny Weissmuller and yodel from the trees.

The funniest parts go to Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig as the odd couple Bobby and Paulette who run the rip-off-for-all-the-family rides and games with a baseball bat and motivational speeches about horse races. Also like Cameron Crowe's wonderful "Elizabethtown" - "Adventureland" has a gargantuan soundtrack – featuring a cool tune from all periods in almost every scene. Lou Reed, The Cure, Big Star, The Replacements, The Rolling Stones, Nick Lowe and Crowded House – to name but a few - the list of appropriate choices is legion and they’re used well (as James watches Em drive – you can see him falling in love as Lou Reed’s lyrics echo his aching for her).

The Blu Ray pictured is defaulted to 16 x9/1.85:1 so its fills the entire screen but because a large amount of the scenes take place at night and in people’s homes – those shots can have some grain and fuzziness. But once outside during the day – and even on some of the indoor restaurant and bar shots - the picture quality is glorious. Audio is DTS 5.1 HD English, DTS 5.1 Italian and Spanish, and Dolby 2.0 Described English. Subtitles come in English, English For The Hearing impaired, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese and Hindi.

Extras exclusive to BLU RAY are:

1. Frigo’s Tips – A Satiric "How To On Inflicting Unexpected Pain"

2.  Lisa P’s Guide To Style

3. Welcome To Adventureland – Adventureland Commercials, Orientation Training Video and Drug Policy

Other Extras:

1. Deleted Scenes

2. Just My Life: The Making Of Adventureland

3. Feature Commentary with Writer/Director Greg Mottola and Actor Jesse Eisenberg 

"Most people have low standards – I guess I'm different…" James explains to his mates as to why he’s holding out on his virginity (only wanting to lose it to someone special). You can’t help but feel that something special is going on in Greg Mottola’s lovely and funny "Adventureland" (he also Directed the equally witty and touching "Superbad", "Paul" and some episodes of "The Newsroom" Season 1).

Take a ride on this cool rollercoaster. You’ll feel like a kid on the dodgems again - laughing and wanting to go back for more…

 

“Across The Universe”. A Review Of The 2007 Film on BLU RAY.

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"…Is Anyone Going To Listen To My Story…"

Messing with an icon like The Beatles song catalogue is like doing a whoopsie on the Crown Jewels – probably not a smart move – but fun and imaginative nonetheless. And that's why I love the inventive and brave "Across The Universe" - a film that seems to elicit derision and ecstasy in equal measures. The spirit of The Beatles as a group and as individuals was always to move forward – experiment – expand your horizons – and this 2007 movie is extraordinary for doing just that in such a fresh and challenging way.

Director Julie Taymor and Music Production Supervisor Elliot Goldenthal take 33 Lennon and McCartney classics and along with legendary British TV writers Ian Le Frenais and Dick Clement weave them into a story about a poor Liverpudlian dock-worker/artist (Jim Sturgess playing Jude) seeking his absent wartime American father in the USA. There he meets the handsome, well-healed and slightly crazy Max (Joe Anderson) and his preppy American sister Lucy (Evan Rachel Woods) who is waiting for her boyfriend to return from a war far, far away. And on their story goes as the two culturally different types passionately fall in love with each other (much like the USA did with The Beatles and Britain).

The movie is not surprisingly set during the height of the Sixties American Protest movement - Corporate greed, Vietnam and the Draft, racial inequality, freedom from the straight-jackets of parents and old ways are all grist for the “All You Need Is Love” theme that permeates throughout. And it gels more times than it doesn’t because a huge amount of work and imagination went into the making of this movie – choreography, locations, the lyrics craftily woven into the narrative… But most of all it’s the radical restructuring of The Beatles songs that impresses most (and who sings them and how).

The boys get drunk and lark about on the lawns of Princeton University to "With A Little Help From My Friends", a black child sings an Acapella "Let It Be" by a burnt-out car wreck as rioting goes on in the city streets all around him which then segues into a choir crying as they sing the hymnal song at his funeral – a black guitarist called JoJo (Hendrix) arrives in New York off the bus and is greeted by Joe Cocker dressed as a subway bum/pimp doing "Come Together" while U2's Bono turns up as an acid-totting preacher singing "I Am The Walrus" as he exits a psychedelic bus. Jude befriends the reckless Max (brother of Lucy) and they both thumb-it to the Village Scene of New York where Sexy Sadie is their landlady (a great turn by singer Joan Osborne). The Polynesian Prudence (who is a lesbian) literally comes in through her bathroom window while Max later has to enlist in the army to a truly menacing rendition of "I Want You (She's So Heavy)" where the draft poster literally comes alive. These are just some of the inspired moments - but there are so many more. Better still however is both Evan Rachel Woods and Jim Sturgess producing aching vocals on radically slowed down mop-top tunes like "Girl" and "If I Fell" that suddenly feel tender in a way they never did before.

It helps that English actor Jim Sturgess is a dead ringer for Macca and has a great accent and voice – but the problems arise when too many of the set scenes feel a bit forced no matter how inventive the visuals.

The Blu Ray picture is defaulted to 2:40.1 (lines top and bottom) but even stretched to 16 x 9 full screen still looks ravishing. There’s 5.1 True HD audio and Subtitles are in Arabic, Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, English for the hard of hearing, English, Hindi, Hungarian, Icelandic, Polish, Romanian, Slovene and Turkish. The extras are impressive too:

1. Extended Musical Performances

2. Deleted Scene

3. Commentary with Director Julie Taymor and Music Production Composer Elliot Goldenthal

4. Five Behind The Scenes Featurettes and More

5. Don Mace Art Gallery Featuring Drawings From The Film

 As you can imagine there will be thespians and scholars with their noses right out of joint over "Across The Universe" – I say knob to that. I loved it. Fresh, original and yet warm and deeply respectful to music and people who have literally weaved their way into our DNA - this is a movie and subject matter you mustn’t get precious about. Taymor and Co. went for it and I’m sure John Lennon would be smiling right now at the fact that they did so with such panache and balls…

And in the end – and in the words of the brillo Fabs - isn’t love all that you need…

“(500) Days Of Summer”. A Review Of The 2009 Film Now On BLU RAY by Mark Barry...

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"…The Best Way To Get Over A Woman…Is To Turn Her Into Literature…"

30-something wannabe architect Tom Hansen (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) has worked for 4 long years in a Los Angeles greeting card company as a slogan writer dreaming of love that somehow seems to elude him. Enter a new ‘average girl’ employee – the heart stopping bug-eyed Summer Finn (Zooey Deschanel) whose very presence can make ice-cream sales increase and add value to unsellable real estate. Everything about Summer is magical and Tom’s gone-baby-gone in a heartbeat (“This Is Not Good!” his friend quite rightly muses). And therein lies the problem. New Jersey Tom doesn’t just want Summer Finn as a friend...he's thinking Soul Mate - when maybe Michigan's finest isn't thinking anything of the sort…

Possessed of a freshness and wit that is so often replaced with crudity in modern world rom-coms (especially those hoping to be hip, happening and hitting the zeitgeist) – “(500) Days Of Summer” is exceptional is so many ways. It’s lol funny a great deal of the time – visually surprising – beautifully cast and above all just keeps you watching and enjoying right up until its unexpected and satisfying end. Even movie clichés like the dweeb friends to the lead character (superb turns by Geoffrey Arend and Matthew Grey Gubler as McKenzie and Paul) and the smart-arsed child (a droll and grown up performance by tiny Chloe Grace Moretz as his younger sister Rachel) are given such great lines that you’re too busy enjoying yourself to notice piddly little things like time passing. Characters play The Smiths on their Walkman’s, wear Joy Division teeshirts to work, quote Sid Vicious at dinner, want to buy Octopus’s Garden in record shops and even quote Henry Miller for solace (title above). This is a very cool and likeable movie.  

It also uses the brilliant device of an intermittent screen page that tells you which day number we’re on (flicking up and down like a counter clock). If we’re on Day 36 then love is all happy-wappy and new with chirping animated birds and gymnastic sex in showers. But if we’re on Day 329 then the boredom and suffocation on her part has set in - and friendship let alone love is fading fast. Many of the very funny earlier sequences explaining their upbringings are also accompanied by the dry-as-a-cactus-root droll voiceover of Richard McGonagle having a Stephen Fry type hoot with statistics on men, women, shoe size and fate. There’s even a song and dance sequence – a truly infectious sketch played out to the magically upbeat “You Make My Dreams” by Hall & Oates (1981) which is the kind of cinematic genius that is guaranteed to put a smile on the most miserable of mutts.

Defaulted to 2:40.1 Aspect Ratio – the BLU RAY image can be stretched to 16 x 9 without any degradation and is frequently beautiful (especially when Tom shows Summer the beautiful lesser-known architectural wonders of L.A.). There are good extras too:

1. Deleted and Extended Scenes

2. Bank Dance – A feature on the scene choreographed to the Hall & Oates song (as mentioned above)

3. Mean’s Cinemash: Sid And Nancy/(500) Days Of Summer

4. A Music Video to “Sweet Disposition” by Temper Trap

5. Conversations with Lead Actors Levitt and Deschanel

6. A DVD which includes a DIGITAL COPY of the film

Brilliantly written by Scott Neustadter with Michael H. Weber and zestfully Directed by Marc Webb – “(500) Days Of Summer)” isn’t going to send Oscar committees into raptures – but it should.

The movie’s blurb tells us “This is not a love story – but a story about love…” 

Well - when the story of our hopes and dreams is told this well – then count me in…