The Social Network (Spoilers)

Goodwill

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Any of you guys see this yet? I did. Thought it was a very interesting movie. Definitely deserved the hype. It would not surprise me if this movie got a lot of attention come award time. I'd like to say I think either Andrew Garfield or Justin Timberlake could win a best supporting actor for their roles.
 
I saw this last night, Justin Timberlake really surprised me with how well he did. Also, I actually felt sorry for the rowing brothers.
 
For me it's tied between this and Inception as best movies so far.
 
Haven't seen Inception yet.

And you felt bad for the crew twins? I did and I didn't. Obviously the entire business behind Facebook was a little dirty. I mostly felt sorry for Eduardo who kept shelling money to fund it, only to get cut out of it because of Justin Timberlake's cut throat ethics. One thing that I had a problem with, and I guess that's Fincher wanted, was Zuckerberg. There was no curve for his character -- he was essentially a static character from beginning to end. An ass hole.
 
Jessie Eisenberg was great. I don't know if Mark Zuckerberg is really that sociopathic, but his performance was interesting nonetheless. Andrew Garfield was also excellent, but Justin Timberlake steals the show from the second he enters the screen. The guy really can act, which is good because his music is terrible. David Fincher is still at the top of his game, this movie is beautifully shot, well paced, and often fairly funny.

All of that said I left the theater feeling very "meh" about the whole thing. In the end, even when everyone does their jobs perfectly this is still a story about a guy creating a website and getting sued. And the ending is as flat and uninteresting as anything I've ever seen on the big screen. I have no idea why this movie was made. I would love to see this cast and crew get back together and work on a story that isn't so damn boring.

7.5/10 - Effort and talent make it moderately enjoyable, but anyone giving it Best Picture hype is blowing smoke up your ass.
 
I'll probably catch **** for this but you talk about boring, just go watch the Hurt Locker. There was no arc to the film at all. While there was good acting it was really dull for the most part.
 
Timberlake was playing the same "cool" role he has in a couple of films and he was an enjoyable presence onscreen, but not Oscar-worthy. Garfield was good at just being the cool best friend and then being turned on and crying about it later on. Eisenberg was good at speaking fast and small quiet moments of contemplation or satisfaction. The writing was okay, but kind of annoying at times (did every character have to be sarcastic? Even the President of Harvard? Even the jock twins?)

It was pretty good. I enjoyed my time at the cinema. But it doesn't deserve any Oscars.
 
This is the best film I've seen since Toy Story 3.

Best Actor. Best Supporting Actor. Best Cinematography. Best Director. Best Original Score. Best Picture. Best Adapted Screenplay. This film should be nominated for all of these and win at least half of them.

Fincher's best film since Zodiac (****, this guy is good, isn't he?).
 
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I'll probably catch **** for this but you talk about boring, just go watch the Hurt Locker. There was no arc to the film at all. While there was good acting it was really dull for the most part.

There is an arc, it's just very internal and thus, subtle. He goes from someone who's unaware of his addiction to and love of warfare to someone who is not only aware of it, but embraces it. It's a Disillusionment Plot, in which is attitude toward life is positive at the beginning (he thinks he's a competent, effective military professional) and ends in a negative view of his life (that he's a hopeless adrenaline junkie who doesn't care about anyone but himself).

His need for adrenaline is what drives him to do anything in that movie, and when he sees that addiction for what it is, and is given a chance to change, he chooses not to, instead to wallow in it. It's pretty good. It's just that in film, internal arcs like this are very subtle and can be missed, particularly if it's merged with a more bombastic, physical setting like the war genre. In a novel, this is much easier to do, while the reverse, physical kinesis, is much harder to do.

The Winklevi rowing sequence was the best part.

I really liked that part. I liked how it was shot with a tilt-shift (which is why the depth of field and focus is so tight and blurring outside) which makes everything look like a miniature. They did this throughout the film, I suppose to make everyone look more petty and emphasise how everyone is rather tunnel-focused on their desire to the exclusion of everything else.

Fincher's best film since Zodiac (****, this guy is good, isn't he?).

He really is. His second film was SEVEN, dammit. That movie is one of the most important movies to come out in the 1990s and is a masterpiece. And then we got THE GAME, FIGHT CLUB, PANIC ROOM, ZODIAC, okay, THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON was apparently stupid, but THE SOCIAL NETWORK is back on form.

THE SOCIAL NETWORK is a lot like THE HURT LOCKER, and the two are a reverse of UP IN THE AIR (which is a wonderful film by the way) in which the internal character arcs from obliviousness to self-awareness. In UP IN THE AIR Clooney arcs from living a shallow, meaningless life but thinking his life is full of meaning, to a man with a shallow, meaningless life, but aware that his life is shallow and meaningless, creating an education plot. THE SOCIAL NETWORK and THE HURT LOCKER are both the reverse, Disillusionment plots which have really morally corrupt protagonists who think they're wonderful, and at the end, they're still morally repellent people, but they're aware of it and incapable (as in NETWORK) or unwilling (as in LOCKER) to change.

I think the final image of the movie; Mark Zuckerberg constantly hitting refresh in the hopes of gaining a friend, is rather perfect. It's definitely a meaning that the Academy Award loves, so it'll probably be nominated if nothing else.

I think Jesse Eisenberg did a great job in drawing empathy despite being a total bastard from the first scene (which is impressive), Justin Timberlake was annoying in the right way, the guy who played the twins was stellar and very sympathetic, but I think my heart strings went mostly for Andrew Garfield who was superb. He will be a brilliant Spidey.
 
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And yet if Garfield had done that dance in a Spider-Man movie, everyone would hate him.

FOOD. FOR. THOUGHT.
 

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