I had no idea the film (500) Days of Summer was set in Downtown LA until a friend of mine told me that she thought of me throughout the entire movie. She is now requesting we do a "Downtown Day" where I can show her my favorite spots. Though I loved the premise of the film, I couldn't help but jump in my seat in excitement every time there was a mention or shot of Downtown's architectural beauty. With so many different neighborhoods, it was nice to see the Historic Core and Broadway District get a little recognition. Don't get me wrong, I love the new modern buildings in Bunker Hill , Grand Ave, and South Park (sans LA LIVE) but the true gems are those often ignored amidst the hustle and bustle of discounted electronic, toy, and clothes shops. You just need to look up.
The LA Times put it best:
Tom and Summer try their best to find architectural relatives of the Chicago School in downtown Los Angeles: soot-stained but broad-shouldered and highly decorated mid-rise buildings like the Eastern Columbia, in particular. For them, the neighborhood's charm is decidedly romantic, and therefore never far from nostalgia, and the buildings that sum up its appeal are underrated architectural gems that have managed through all these decades to avoid the wrecking ball. And yet as was the case in last year's "In Search of a Midnight Kiss," an inferior movie but one with many scenes downtown, the characters in "(500) Days" symbolize a younger generation of Angelenos who find the neighborhood appealing precisely because it feels to them dusty and underappreciated, rather than notable for new buildings by some of the world's leading architects.