Why Matthew Walked Out on (500) Days of Summer

I chatted with Matthew (thank you facebook, you bring families together) today about 500 days of Summer. To save time and energy (you'll waste enough of that trying to understand Matthew's psyche) I'll just recreate our chat here. I've deleted the parts where we talk about Mom's upcoming 63rd birthday.

Me:
why did you walk out on 500 days of summer?
and what part did you walk out on?

Matthew:
the first 30 min
it was really bad

Madeline:
why?
what did it in?

Matthew:
they were more focused on being hip than having a movie
they referenced a band or a song like every 5 min

Madeline:
I didn't think it was THAT bad

Matthew:
it was kind of gross

I might watch it tonight
give it a second chance

Madeline:
I think you should watch it all the way through

Matthew:
yeah
I know
It just bothered me

the Smith's
Pixies
Bruce Springsteen
Sid and Nancy
there's more too I'm just forgetting

Madeline:
a little too Gilmore Girls for you?
(ed. note: I don't think he got this reference)

Matthew:
well that's 4 in 30 min
?
a little too much like, trying super hard to just appeal to a certain audience than write a movie
too much cashing in

Matthew:
I understand that you want to connect to your audience and relate to them

(ed. note: I deleted a part here where I didn't listen to him and repeated a question, because it makes me sound stupid)

Matthew:
it was trying too hard to connect with an audience through pop culture than through a story
a love story
an easily relatable love story
and zooey deschawhatever was fucking stupid
and so was 3rd rock

Madeline:
well, to be fair, you only watched 30 minutes so they could've only set up the problem to the story in that time
why did you think they were stupid?

Matthew:
they were annoying
yeah, that's fair - I only watched 30 minutes

Madeline:
let me know what you think when you watch the whole thing

Matthew:
ok


So, there you have it, folks. But I think he does bring up a interesting point - is using pop culture reference to identify with your audience "cashing in"?