The Social Network
Dir: David Fincher
2010
****
It is hard to like a film about a concept that I despise. I have a facebook page but I hate the fact that I have one and I hate the fact that I rely on it so much when what I really want to do is delete it and to stop wasting my time on it. It is also hard to like a film that is essentially about successful but obnoxious college kids. I hate computers generally but then I'm a grumpy old sod, the very idea of watching a film on a computer screen fills me with utter disgust. I digress...The dialogue in the film was so fast I kept checking to see if I hadn't pressed the fast forward button by mistake, if the characters weren't hateable enough, they sound like car alarms with their high-pitched and monotonous voices. It makes me sad that these people are revered and are seen as modern day pioneers. Sean Parker may think he did the world a favour but in reality he lost a lot of creative people a lot of money and severely damaged the music industry. I used to work for a record company and I loved my job but illegal downloading absolutely destroyed it and the staff and artists were all let go. Anyway, I digress, again, the fact of the matter is, The Social Network does actually show these people for what they are. It is also masterfully directed and edited. The cinematography is perfect and the soundtrack truly deserved the Oscar (in the absence of the Clint Mansell nomination that year). The acting is also very good, the roles may seem like fairly easy ones to portray but I think the main performances have been rightly praised. Overall, it's a really good film, the hype was a little too high me thinks but I think the screen play and Best director nominations were fair. Now, lets all delete our facebook pages and get our lives back. You go first though!