The Social Network (2010)

Best Screenplay of the year. By a long shot.

I've gushed once about how great The Social Network is. But a friend of mine wasn't interested in seeing "The Facebook Movie" so it became priority one for me to prove her wrong.

We saw it in a near empty theatre and the print was scratched. MAN is that annoying. But she enjoyed the film and I felt vindicated.

Since seeing it the first time, I've become well acquainted with the score and I enjoyed listening to it as accompaniment to the film. My friend and I also realized that the little kid from Jurassic Park is in The Social Network - all grown up and nerdish. My friend was like, "Who IS that?" and I was like, "I feel like maybe he used to be a kid..." and then we got it. Weird how people tend to grow up...

I love so much about that movie. How hacking is made to look exciting, how funny the twins are, how awesome it is when Eduardo finally loses his temper. Andrew Garfield is terrific.

This is one movie I whole-heartedly recommend to everyone. I can't wait to own it.

I'm Here (2010)

Okay, first off, click here and go watch I'm Here. It's 30 minutes long and I don't think you'll be disappointed. Go ahead... I'll wait.

You back? Great. What did you think? I feel like maybe Spike Jonze sat down and thought, "Hmm. I wonder if I could make two robots feel more human than most humans feel." Isn't it a lovely little film? I feel like it could be analyzed into oblivion. One could discuss: Discrimination against robots. True love. If machines can be programed to love better than humans can. If you can train a machine to be more selfless than a human would. What truly differentiates humans from machines. Maybe machines will take over the world because they learn to love, not because they'll learn to kill us. 

But I like to just smile and think, aww. How sweet.

Plus, who'd ever think Andrew Garfield and Sienna Guillory could act through all that robot-ness. It's mostly voice acting and it's done very well. It's all pretty awesome. And aren't their mouths cool? What a neato effect. Anyway...

It reminded me of The Giving Tree. Ya'll remember that book? It's where the mommy tree gives everything she has to the boy? I'm Here is sweeter than The Giving Tree because the boy in The Giving Tree is a dick. But the similarity is there.

I've always believed the key to a great short is an incredibly simple story told well. A story that makes you smack your forehead and say "Why didn't I think of that?" This is such a story. It's got a beginning, middle, and end and there's a mini-journey along the way. I'm Here is a true delight.

Never Let Me Go (2010)

Never Let Me Go was lovely. I don't want to spoil it - more for those who plan to read the novel. The novel keeps you in the dark longer than the film and that mystery is half the fun of the book.

I enjoyed the novel a great deal, and narratively, the movie stayed fairly close to the source material. Thematically, it strayed quite a bit. The film decided to focus entirely on the love triangle between its three central characters. This was a wise decision. Everyone understands the desire to have time with the person you love. It's in the novel but it IS the film and it changes the characters in subtle ways that allows them to be better understood by the audience. 

Keira Knightly and Andrew Garfield were unbelievably good. Carey Mulligan was also quite good, but hers was an understated performance that did not scream to be noticed the way the others did. The visual style was perfect. The subtlety throughout fantastic. I hate to talk in cryptics, but lots of people have an issue with this film. They don't understand why the characters do not run away. I think it is a valid point considering the movie as a stand alone film. This issue is addressed in the novel, and with an eye toward the answer, you can feel it in the film. But I suspect it's only there for the novel readers. Nonetheless, It's a lovely looking film with fantastic performances. I would recommend reading it first, but I believe it's a film worth seeing either way.

The Social Network (2010)

The Social Network was brilliant. Perfect writing, mesmerizing acting, great humor, smart, fast, enjoyable, and above all, entertaining. This was the best film I've seen in the theatre in a long long time. Andrew Garfield and Jesse Eisenberg were spot-on. The score was enthralling. See it.