The Social Network (Fincher, 2010)

[animatedude]

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/uzELUzfx7oc&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/uzELUzfx7oc&rel=1</a>

this clip is enough for Jesse to get him an Oscar....

[madali]

The Social Network (David Fincher, 2010)

Fincher shouldn't have made "The Social Network". Well, I guess, that's a pretty stupid thing to say for a movie that won him critical acclaim, box office success, and shit load of awards. But if the most important accolade is MY approval (and it is), then Fincher came out as the loser. This film is his least interesting film.

Making a film about a currently living figure and sensationalizing it, basically just seems like Fincher wanted to bank on a fad before anyone else could get to it. Was the film about Steve Jobs not available? Did Oliver Stone beat him to the film about Bush?

I expected Fincher to make a movie about the founder of Facebook, but not actually about the founder of Facebook. The way his film about the Zodiac killer wasn't really about the Zodiac killer. But it wasn't that subtle. The film follows a made-for-TV biopic, but well, just better production, better directing, and better acting, but still a prostitute is a prostitute no matter how well shaved her pussy is.

The film is based on a book called, " The Founding of Facebook A Tale of Sex, Money, Genius and Betrayal". With a tabloid subtitle like that, what more should I expected?

Actually, the author of that book, Ben Mezrich, has penned many books that seem like tabloid trash. Ignore the name of the book, look at the subtitles,

Bringing Down the House: The Inside Story of Six MIT Students Who Took Vegas for Millions (2002)
Ugly Americans: The True Story of the Ivy League Cowboys Who Raided the Asian Markets for Millions (2004)
Busting Vega$: The MIT Whiz Kid Who Brought the Casinos to Their Knees (2005)
Rigged: The Story of an Ivy League Kid Who Changed the World of Oil, From Wall Street to Dubai (2007)
The Accidental Billionaires: The Founding of Facebook, A Tale of Sex, Money, Genius, and Betrayal (2009)
Sex on the Moon: The Amazing Story Behind the Most Audacious Heist in History (2011)
3/5

[shariqq]

You discredit the movie. It probably has the best writing this side of Chinatown! That coupled with taut editing, fantastic cinematography and score. Great acting and direction are become more subjective to judge than the other crafts, but I wager they were the best of the year.

[shariqq]

In fact, the regatta sequence itself is visually the most breathtaking scene of last year!

[madali]

I dont understand the best writing comment, Shariq. The last line was, something along the line of, "You are not an asshole, you just try really hard to be", is one of the lamest last lines of a  movie, and bad psychobabble.

Plus, remember the scene where Mark's friend wondering (randomly and out of the blue in the scheme of the movie) about a classmate's relationship status and Mark says that people dont hang a sign over their head whether they are single or not and suddenly he has the House look in his eyes, and decides to add a feature that says if a person is single or not, thereby adding a feature on a persons profile page,  which existed from the day profiles existed in any form. I am almost certain that it was there in ICQ. This isn't a plot hole or anything, but BAD writing, just a lame excuse to have the audience excited about something they feel familiar about. A bit later, they mention something about Facebook's wall, again connecting with the audiences familiarity. If they make Social Network 2, some caracter will probably talk about FarmVille at one point.

There are lots of stuff like that throughout the movie. For a company that was supposed to be so forward thinking, their 1 million member party which had the huge numbers on the screen, had to be refreshed? Couldnt they do it in real time? Or Mark at the end, hitting refresh, when he should have known that if you have the FB page open, and your friend confirms it, you'll get it in real time? I know it is for artistic reasons to show Mark's loneliness, inspite of being a billionaire, but I don't allow artistic license when it is to make such a bland point. Oh, he's rich, but STILL lonely. Wow. The constant refreshing was done better in the last episode of "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia", because you'd figure Dee and Mac are just stupid.

Finally, the "the regatta sequence". It was visually interesting, but so what? Frankly, it did not fit neither with the narration of the movie, nor the tone.

I gave the movie a 3/5, because I liked it. But to be honest, the more I think about it, the more I realize what a fluff piece it was.

[fizz]

I don't think Social Network sensationalized anything. The film is anything but about the founder of Facebook - it's about a guy and his relationship with his best friend (who he stabs), his girl friend (who he forever tries to win over), his own self doubts and how he tries to overcome them. You're just bitching because you're one of the last people to have seen it and now claim that you don't 'get it' because of all the so called hype and acclaim it garnered. Well, you should have seen it earlier to not let your thinking get so tainted or clouded (it's a shame you can't seperate the acclaim from the actual film and its content, like you do with more older releases). Again, you isolate things that irk you (because your mind is working form the point of view that this film should be good because everyone says it is) and then hold them up as evidences for how lame or ordinary this film is (like that last line you quote).

[fizz]

I can understand your frustration about not liking what Fincher did with this film but how can anyone not appreciate the rapid fire writing? It just explodes on the screen when you watch it. To give you an example - if someone told me that another of Sorkin's film (A few good men) had the line "You can't handle the truth" - I would think it sounded corny and quite cliched. This is because its taken out of context. Dialogues accenuate scenes and in the scene where this is delivered, it builds towards the moment. The same is true of that "asshole" last line - it brings closure to the film because of the opening breakup line where he is also called an asshole by a woman in a different way (quotes):

"You are probably going to be a very successful computer person. But you're going to go through life thinking that girls don't like you because you're a nerd. And I want you to know, from the bottom of my heart, that that won't be true. It'll be because you're an asshole."

If I were to be picky, which you can only be if you take apart scenes or dialogues from the film and deconstruct them till there is nothing, the scene where the kids break into other social network programs at the start to steal their member list is also quite lame - but look at how exciting and watchable Fincher makes it? Did we see the same film here?

And how could anyone not love this line:

"If you guys were the inventors of Facebook, you'd have invented Facebook."

[madali]

I didn't say I completly hated the film. And I liked both of the lines of dialogue you mentioned, plus the part, where Mark fires back to the lawyer when asked if he had his attention. These were good lines, and Jesse played him well. I'm not attacking the movie purely for the sake of attacking the movie.

ANd I don't  think watching the movie last has clouded by judgement of it, actually, I'd say vise versa. If I saw it in a group, with you guys, in Dubai, THATS when my judgement might be more clouded. I know sometimes it seems I'm being contrary, just for the sake of being different, with me being unimpressed with some of the movies you guys rave about, such as this and Inception, but I don't think this is just a matter of hype. If this movie was released 10 years ago and I watched it now, I probably still would have the same concerns about it.

Again, I wasn't watching this movie thinking, "This will be awesome, this will be AWESOME", because I had the movie in my house for months, and hadn't come around to watching it, because hype doesn't affect me that much.

I'm usually not that different than Wearethemovies general mentality.

[X.]

There is a tendency to canonize Fincher and sing his praises. In most cases, it is reasonable to do so, but Fincher's works lacks the touch of truth. That being said, he has always alluded to making "movies" not films (as I define them), so there are no illusions of grandeur from his side. The thing about Fincher is that he is simply...cool.

On the matter of THE SOCIAL NETWORK, it is a solid film: well-written and well-crafted. The timing of its making/release was perfect and the film was able to tap into the zeitgeist and growing power of social media; the other sociological advantage it had is the prevailing interest in Celebrity CEOs (it's a retread of what happened in the 80s), but by a newer generation. Fincher and Sorkin have exploited this quite well.

I do not think THE SOCIAL NETWORK is a masterful film. It is engaging, well-acted and holds your attention. It is pretty plainness made with the highest standards. Most importantly, it is a moment in pop culture and something that has had an indelible effect on the general public. But I do not think the film even deserves to be dissected seriously, even in terms of film criticism, though it has its moments. The reggatta sequence is NOT one of them. As Mad correctly pointed out, it is separate from the film and, in my view, a music video. Even the editors of the film attest to this sequence being "David Fincher's cameo." It was a false step and silly and actually not very visually interesting. (Take a couple of digital cameras; over crank them; put long lenses on them; stick them on row boats...Fuck that shit!)

[kaytee]

Even the editors of the film attest to this sequence being "David Fincher's cameo." It was a false step and silly and actually not very visually interesting.
(Take a couple of digital cameras; over crank them; put long lenses on them; stick them on row boats...Fuck that shit!)

Knowing how to do it and actually having the cahones to doing it are two different things. He had the balls of doing something different something that I have not seen in a film/movie before and I commend Fincher for that.

[X.]

Okay, here's the thing: the argument of knowing something and doing something is an old one. What you really should say is that the difference between Subject A doing the regatta sequence and Fincher doing it is: Fincher does it and it's cool; Subject A does it, it does not reach the general populace and fails to become the "phenomenon" that it has. The regatta sequence is by standards of good taste a fucking cartoon. It impresses the fools.

[shariqq]

The regatta sequence is by standards of good taste a fucking cartoon. It impresses the fools.

"Standards of good taste"? And who defines these standards? Anyone who thinks his own tastes are the benchmark of what is good is the fool here, not the ones impressed by the execution of a sequence that hasnt been done in cinema before, or if it has, then never this good or memorable.

[shariqq]

Also, ak, it would be good if we continue disussing the movie and its elements, rather than passing judgement on people who were impressed or not impressed by it. Your implying Kaytee, Fizz or myself as fools is not something that, I think, either of us would take as jest.

[X.]

No spite was intended. Treat my comment in the lightest terms and please let's not post serious responses to something trivial. Besides, Soderbergh is a huge fan of the regatta sequence so at least you have good company.