Movie #122 The Social Network *2010*

Jesse Eisenberg - Mark Zuckerberg
Andrew Garfield - Eduardo Saverin
Justin Timberlake - Sean Parker
Armie Hammer - The "Winklevie" twins
David Fincher (Director)

The Best Film of 2010 in my opinion.  This movie is so good I was afraid to watch it again.  This is not the first time that this has happened.  I watch a movie once, or I watch it a bunch and aquire a love for the film then I suddenly stop watching it.  I get scared that somehow it won't live up to its own hype that I have developed in my head.  The first time I watched this movie it was in a nearby college town with my girlfriend.  We left the theater and I knew right away that I had seen something special.  At the time I couldn't put it into words.  I hope I can do a better job of that now.

Let me start with the script.  The script was penned by Arron Sorkin.  The head writer for The West Wing and Sports Night television shows.  I (not one to watch television) have never seen so much as 1 episode of either of these programs, but I understand that they were both considered to be very well written and acted.  Mr. Sorkin is known for his ferocious, machine-gun-like dialogue.  This is completely on display.  "Words are like weapons".  I know that sounds trite, but there are no explosions, no car chases, no Mexican standoffs in this picture.  All the drama, all the suspense and all the vitriol comes from the spoken word.

And who is responsible for how those words are spoken?  David Fincher.  The director of Fight Club and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button to name a few.  But his responsibility doesn't stop there.  If you are in aggreance with the auter theory then you believe that a director is the creative force behind a film as a whole.  Of course they have to work with all sorts of people: Sound, effects, writters, camera and lighting, and so forth.  But all of those tasks are (or should be) in service of telling telling the story which is the job of the director.  In The Social Network Fincher's fingerprints are all over this movie.

Lets talk for a second about the sound and score.  The film was scored by Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails and Atticus Ross.  This is an electric, pulsating score that washes over you like a warm bath.  I tried to constantly notice the music in the film, but the movie is too damn captivating.  I couldn't focus on any one element of the movie because all of the elements are so well woven. 

In brief, The Social Network is the story of the founding of Facebook.  It is how a smartass 19 year old had (or stole) an idea to make a website that would change the way people communicate in first part of the 21st century.  Courtroom drama stuff?  It could have been in the hands of lesser talent.  Lesser film makers would have turned this story into another Pelican Brief or The Rainmaker or some other John Grishman stories.  Instead Sorkin and Fincher look deeper than that.  The themes in The Social Network are themes that have been in stories since stories were first told.  Revenge, greed, friendship, power, trust.

When I first watched the film I knew one thing.  The performance were mostly good but none of them were outstanding.  Eisenberg was very good in by far his most difficult role.  I loved Justin Timberlake in the newest version of Pontius Pilate, Sean Parker.  The only one that I didn't really care for was Andrew Garfield as Eduardo Saverin.  I though he was not committed to the role. He seemed to be acting in front of a green screen while the rest of the cast was on set.  I don't know what changed with this viewing, but I take it back.  I felt this time around that he at least held his own with the rest of the cast.  At this point I need to mention Armie Hammer in the role of both twins.  My girlfriends favorite part: "I'm 6'5", 230lbs and there's two of me".  He is dreamy.  But seriously he was great.  I can't imagine playing two roles.  Twins.  They need to look and act similar, but they have to have different personalities.  And he pulled it off.  Also props to Fincher and his special effects team.

There is one scene that I want to talk about from solely a visual perspective.  That is the big rowing match on the Thames river.  I have no idea how Fincher achieved that look.  I have never seen anything that looked like that as far as I can remember.  I hope there is something on bonus content that explains how he made that segment look like that.

I could go on and on about this movie and I am sure that I will be watching it a few more times before the end of my year. I wish this film good luck at the Oscars.  I give The Social Network ★★★★★.  Check out the Trailer Park to see for yourself.   Wow.  I made it to the end of this blog and realized that I blogged about this movie already (Movie #25)  Check out that post as well!



http://365degreesoffilm.blogspot.com/2010/10/movie-25-social-network.html

Movie #115 Aliens3 *1992*

Sigourney Weaver - Ripley
Charles Dutton - Dillon
Lance Henriksen - Bishop II
David Fincher (Director)

This is the franchise that I think best personifies diminishing returns.  Alien is one of my favorite Sci-Fi films.  I personally believe it is better than Blade Runner (blasphemy to some).  Then came Aliens.  I found it to be a serviceable action movie but I think it has none of the charm and intrigue of the first film. 

Now I have seen the third film in the series. I looked through the internets to see how many more sequels there are and found that there is no easy answer to that.  Mostly due to the merging with the Predator franchise and continued support of the films. There is even talk of a new Alien movie directed by the original director Ridley Scott.

Alien3 takes place on a distant planet inhabited exclusively by ultra religious, convicts.  They are all violent killers and/or rapists that have now found God.  There living quarters at one point were a work release of sorts in where they used to refine lead.  The establishment has a warden, a guard and a doctor that used to be an inmate.  Of all the people on the planet the doc is the only one glad to see Ripley arive.  Of all the non-regular Alien cast members, I found his character and performance the most interesting.

Ripley arrives in a pod due to an electrical problem on the main spaceship.  And guess what she brings with her?  That's right another alien creature.  This seems to be a different breed from the first 2 films.  It moves differently and has strange and unique features.

This is David Fincher's debut feature and while like so many first films from will be auteurs, you can see glimpses of their style and sensibilities but as a whole the film is a mess.  The location makes for a very dirty, brownish green color that makes it difficult to get depth perspective.  I don't know what was going on with the music.  The script is a mess and some of the characters come off more like caricatures.  Poor Charles Dutton.  Either he is a bad actor, or he gets saddled in many films and TV shows with poorly written parts.

Sigourney Weaver is solid even though the script kind of hangs her out to dry.  The first ending was very anti-climatic.  Then there is a suprise and the second ending was ridicolus.  Then there is a third ending that I thought was beautiful and that The Matrix totally ripped off.  As a matter of fact this film reminded me a lot of The Matrix. Only not nearly as good.

Because of its pervasiveness the Alien franchise is availible in a multitude of collections.  I was given a DVD of the first 3 films for Christmas.  I would say if possible watch Alien of course.  Then if you are in the mood for a decent silly action movie watch Aliens.  Then if you need a nap watch Aliens3.  I would give Alien3 a 2/5 stars.  Check out the Trailer Park to see for yourself.

Movie #99 The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo *2009*

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is the first film in the millennium trilogy.  Tattoo (as I will now be referring to it) is based on a book of the same name.  It is the story of an abused orphan who works as a private detective and a publisher that has been convicted of a crime.  They end up working together on a missing person case at the estate of a rich excentric family.

The book is an airport book.  By that I mean that it is the type story that fills an international flight or great for relaxing at the beach.  I of course haven't read it, but I am told that the film is a good representation of the source material. 

The films is a dark one that deals with issues like rape, Nazi's, torture, incest, self mutilation and other taboo topics.  The star of the film and the series is Noomi Rapace as Lisbeth Salander.  She is excellent in a difficult role.  She has to play a detached , hard as nails vamp.  But she need to be a sympathetic character to the viewer or we wouldn't care about her story.  We have to love the woman that doesn't believe in love.

This film is a Swedish one and it is subtitled.  But if you watch this movie and the sub titles are the thing that bothers you most, you should probably seek professional help. 

I watched this over the Christmas break.  I just never got around to blogging about it.  My fondest memory will be of my girlfriend falling asleep on my lap while watching this.  I don't think that says much for the film, but I won't forget it for a long time.

Tattoo is a solid thriller in the vein of Michael Criton films.  It did make me want to see the rest of the trigiloy.  FYI:  David Fincher is remaking this in English.  I am excited about that, but I am excited for every new Fincher film.  I give Tattoo 3.5/5 stars.  Check out the Trailer Park to see for yourself.

I am proud to say that I am now totally caught up on my bolgs!  Vacation here I come.

Movie #57 Panic Room

This is a postponed review. I watched David Fincher's film Panic Room entirely on my iPhone over the course of a few nights where I couldn't sleep. I sort of forgot about it and never got around to blogging about the film. Then the other day I was sinking my phone up and realized that I hadn't reviewed it yet. So here it goes.

I was motivated to see this film after seeing The Social Network. I realized the Panic Room was the only film in the Fincher cannon that I hadn't seen and one of the few that I didn't own on DVD. Now I see why I skipped it.

This film is about Jodie Foster's character (Meg) buying a new house in NY. The house comes complete with a "panic room". That is to say a room that is 100% secure in case of home invaders.  Moving in with her is her diabetic, early teenage, smart mouthed daughter played by Kristen Stewart. Hummm, a room safe from intruders, what could possibly happen? You guessed it. Someone breaks in. And not just anyone. It is a 3 man job.  Jared Leto was "The brains" (who of course ends up being really stupid),  Forest Whitaker played "the inside man" who worked for the panic room installation company and who is in desperate need of money, and Dwight Yochum as "the wild card" the crazy guy hat you never know what he is going to do.  That is this films biggest flaw.  You have an impenetrable fortress, and a bunch of bumbling robbers.  It seemed implausible.  Then to see these idiots actually make headway in there progress of getting into the room and all the design flaws of the room destroyed any creditability the film might have had.

I feel like giving Jodie Foster a shoulder rub cause she carried this movie on her back. The trio of would-be criminals were the most bumbling, non-believable crooks I can remember.  At least for a group of guys that I was supposed to be fearful of.  Forrest Whitacre plays the compassionate, rational one. Unfortunately his lines land with a thud. I don't blame him mostly. The script is poor top to bottom and he is not helped out much by his accomplices including Dwight Yochum (who I thought was fantastic in Sling Blade). Kristen Stewart seemed really stiff and annoying as the snotty kid.  A typecast that she hasn't really grown out of yet.  I'd like to thank Panic Room for reminding me why I hate Jared Leto.  He is terrible in this.  I have never seen him give a performance I enjoyed.

You know it's a rough movie when Fincher can't pull it out of the gutter.  Although he tries.  He took the CGI visuals and the extended tracking shots that were used so well in a movie like Fight Club and hit us over the face with them. Maybe this movie was the ground work for Benjamin Button.  A movie I still contest to be better than most gave it credit for.

I think one of the problems was that Fincher used all these bells and whistles when the script didn't call for it. This year I have seen Buried and 127 Hours. Both films are about tight situations and how a person copes with that. There is an immediacy to that. By adding all the visual stunts, it constantly kept me at arms reach. This movie could have been about the paranoia of individuality and staking out on your own. Instead it was a silly romp and quasi-thriller content to pacify it's audience instead of challenge them.

I would love to see a $500,000 version of this film made by some film student. Someone without the resources Fincher has.  I think the same creative malaise that has ruined Tim Burtons movies as of late caught up with Fincher.  With all that being said it might be a surprise to announce that I didn't hate the movie.  And compared to a lot of other "thrillers" out there Panic Room managed to entertain. It is frustrating to see a film like this and know what it could have been.  But I do not judge based on the "what ifs".  I judge based on what was presented. Therefore Panic Room gets a 2.5/5 stars. Slightly below average but not unwatchable. Check out the Trailer Park to see for yourself.