#8 The Social Network
The year-end lists that have all been coming back with this one at the top are definitely right about one thing: The main reason this movie is good is because of David Fincher. That's not to discredit the snappy, inventive, highly-touted Aaron Sorkin script, or the smart-ass performances of Jesse Eisenberg and Andrew Garfield, or the dark undertones of the awesome Trent Reznor (Nine Inch Nails) score. This movie does indeed have a lot going for it, but Fincher is the man behind it all.
And to be honest, I can't really think of a more capable director to make an interesting, sleek and engaging movie about a g-damn lawsuit.
Okay, maybe it's more than that. No matter how much we hate to admit it, facebook has become stream-of-consciousness for just about every American. It's become so big that car commercials are now selling their automobiles by saying at the end-"see more at facebook dot com backslash Hyundai." For someone like me, stuck in Minnesota until at least next weekend, it's allowed me to live vicariously through photos and posts by all of my family and friends that are marching at the state Capitol in Madison. Over the past few years, it has literally become the norm for spreading the word about anything--a product, a concert, a protest. Anything. I remember facebook hitting the University of Wisconsin at some point in 2004 and me resisting it as long as I could. I wasn't exactly sure why, I guess I just didn't see the draw. I did 4 and a half years of college, and I joined the "semester" after I graduated. In a way, I kind of miss the days it was only available to college kids, but the sheer utility of the thing is straight-up remarkable.
Naturally then, audiences are drawn to the mystery surrounding its creation. I was fortunate enough to see it for the first time with my Harvard-educated gf, who would whisper additional notes to me as the movie went on. Evidently, one of her friends was on the original facemash.com that preceded fb. I liked the way the movie opened quite a bit, first with Zuckerburg getting dumped at the bar and then with him walking the dimly lit campus as Reznor's score eerily guided him home. It was a drunken rant that would become the basis for the entire thing, and I found that fascinating.
The way that Fincher bounces the movie back and forth is almost jarring at times, but it's really the only way to tell the story. Amidst two separate lawsuits, one from his business partner Eduardo Saverin (Garfield) and one from the notorious Winklevoss twins (hilariously refered to at one point as "the Winklevi" by Zuckerburg), Eisenberg and the surrounding players tell their stories from the top, and they are interspersed seamlessly with the settlements that are taking place in the present. We see him get approached by the twins to form their "harvard connection" website, form his meager company with him as the brains and Saverin as the money, the impending move to Palo Alto to form a programming haven, the initial meetings with Napster founder Sean Parker (A super-obnoxious Justin Timberlake), and the eventual disintegration of the original partnership. All the views are of course differing, and all are captivating. The scenes between Eisenberg and Garfield are great, with we as the viewer watching the ominous train wreck on the horizon, despite things looking hopeful in the rearview. Also effective is the sexiness of power that is displayed by being a part of one of Harvard's traditional year-end clubs, and its contrast with the sexiness of power that Timberlake's Parker offers to bring to the table.
Lest we forget though--this movie also features what may be the best preview of all time. Radiohead's "Creep" is given a brilliantly terrifying makeover by an Austrian women's choir as some of the most tense moments toggle across the screen. I have acted the preview out several times with the gal, and I'm not ashamed to admit it in the least. Watch the preview again. Re-live it.
#7 Blue Valentine:
Oscar snub of the year: Ryan Gosling in Blue Valentine. Are you kidding me, academy? Franco and Firth are obvious choices. Jeff Bridges' performance is good but over the top and cartoonish, Jesse Eisenberg talks too fast to really show any depth and though I didn't see Biutiful, my boss told me that there is no redeeming qualities in any of the characters, including Javier Bardem's. Ryan Gosling is way too good to leave out of this mix. I'm glad they recognized Michelle Williams at least, even though she doesn't stand a chance.
I did a little research on Gosling and found out that he was part of the Mickey Mouse Club that spawned careers for Timberlake and Spears and Aguilera. I think I may have already heard that somewhere. I also found out he smartly doesn't take a whole lot of movies--a couple in 2011, but before BV, nothing since 2007. This is a good thing if you want to put all you have into a role--even though Forest Whitaker beat him out in 2006 for Last King of Scotland, Gosling was far and away the best of that year in Half Nelson.
With the Chinese Democracy-like delays that plagued the film, though, Gosling may not have had a choice to take any other movies. See the following: Derek Cianfrance's 60-plus drafts of the script since 1998, the death of Williams' ex Heath Ledger in 2008, the battle to get it rated R when the MPAA wanted it to be NC-17. Which to me seemed a little farfetched--there's one kind of rough sex scene at one point. People can be sensitive, I suppose.
The movie follows Cindy (Williams) and Dean (Gosling) in two separate but intertwining timelines: The present, in which their marriage has begun to fall to pieces; and when they first met, when everything was crisp and colorful. Cianfrance used two different kinds of film stock to show the time periods (cool, though not revolutionary), and the past being shot in Super-8 gave it a nice, vintage-y feel. They're trying desperately to get the spark to return, but nothing seems to be working--especially for the increasingly guarded Cindy. They fumble their way through a romantic getaway at a "theme" motel, in which they choose the future room-complete with rotating bed and blue-ish lighting. There are roadblocks though--Cindy is a nurse working to get a leg up at her hospital, and she's worried about leaving the Budweiser-drinking house painter Dean in her dust. Their daughter's getting older too, and many of their fights feature her at the epicenter.
We come to find that their past isn't exactly perfect either, but it was a time where you could tell the couple felt invincible as long as they were together, and that simply isn't the case anymore. You can see it in their beleagured faces, which Cianfrance shows in close-ups pretty often. Apparently they shot the scenes in the past first, and then Gosling/Williams cohabited for a month and cooked meals together, eventually working to make each other mad. Talk about commitment. They're both unbelivably good-I can't say enough about Ryan Gosling-and it's powerful (but sad) to watch what used to be fade into an impossible void.
#6 Exit Through the Gift Shop
Thierry Guetta is a strange Frenchman living in L.A. who videotapes more or less everything that happens in his life. He's got an entire room devoted to his VHS cassettes, and it's so overwhelming that you know there is absolutely no way he'll get through them all.
He's also obsessed with street artists. At some point he is granted audience with Shephard Fairey (he of the iconic Obama poster and the Obey imprint) and gets to spend time filming Fairey's process in the streets. Guetta is very excited and thankful for the insider pass, but it's not good enough. He wants to land the big fish.
And that would be Britain's own Banksy, notorious worldwide for his legendary political grafitti, such as the girl holding the balloons trying to float over the West Bank's wall in Israel. I have friends that were in New Orleans on vacation and saw drips of paint stuck to the sidewalks. They followed them to one of Banksy's famous mice, painted on a wall. He doesn't grant interviews because of the legal implications. Somehow, Guetta manages to swing it. The interviews are of course done with a disguised voice and put into dim lighting, the silhouette of Banksy's hoodie the only prominent feature in the shot.
Then about midway through, a funny thing happens. Banksy ends up the documentarian as a suddenly inspired Guetta begins to put together what he considers to be an groundbreaking art show. The only thing is--it isn't. I don't want to give a whole lot away as to why, but it's a hilarious turn of events that leaves Banksy to constantly wonder why he agreed to meet this weirdo in the first place.
I respect the hell out of grafitti artists, as a few of my friends growing up were talented artists. A couple still are. I even tried, but I was terrible. Just awful. This movie is conceptually ingenious, and insight into the world of the incredible Banksy-even though it's just a little insight-is well worth the price of admission.
Special bonus section: Really? Seriously??
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