Retro Review Double Feature: Death to Smoochy and Panic Room

 Or was it Panic Room and then Death to Smoochy? It's so hard to say these days, as memories get hazy... in fact, it's been almost ten years since both films were released. On the same day (March 29th, 2002), which was why we determined that it MUST be a double feature we attended. Who is we? Well, it was broken up into two groups - the folks who went to see Death to Smoochy and the folks in for the long haul: all 221 minutes, plus trailers, ads, and the period in-between films at the Grande*.

 It was necessary to make this a double feature for the following reasons:

 1. Panic Room was David Fincher's follow-up to Fight Club, a movie we'd seen three years before and been blown away by. While the two films only featured one actor (Jared Leto, who suffers brutal disfigurement in both movies), Panic Room was being described as Fincher's "Hitchcock" and we were on board.

 2. Death to Smoochy starred Edward Norton (Fight Club), Catherine Keener (Being John Malkovich), Danny DeVito (Batman Returns), Jon Stewart (The Faculty...?), and Robin Williams, who would go on to have a banner year by adding One Hour Photo and Insomnia for a "comedian playing psychopaths" hat trick. Oh, and DeVito directed Death to Smoochy, an R-rated film about children's television.

 3. I love double features. As time goes on, it's probably become abundantly clear that's the case, but even now it's something I consider a luxury in theatres. It's certainly not cheaper now, but I'd like to try one again sometime soon if the right movies were playing in conjunction. Anyway, that's neither here nor there in a Retro Review. We went to see these movies because they looked like fun, like it would be a twisted / suspenseful / hilarious double feature. There was nary a hint of irony in seeing two disparate genre entries (black comedy and thriller), in spite of our post-Phantom Menace / pre-Attack of the Clones malaise.

 Death to Smoochy had the great benefit of being unable to accurately portray what a filthy, irreverent, at times brutally violent, and profane film in its trailers. This can work against many R-rated comedies, and I believe it had an adverse effect on Shaun of the Dead, Bad Santa, and Pineapple Express initially. They all had word of mouth and the internet to help with that, but Death to Smoochy is still kind of regarded as a stinker. It sold itself as goofy, only to welcome audiences with a litany of profanity as soon as Rainbow Randolph (Williams) was no longer on camera. The mean-spirited nature of the film turned critics and audiences off alike.

 We loved it. The film is unabashedly cruel to all of its characters from beginning to end, and if you like movies like Heathers (or later, World's Greatest Dad) about misanthropes being horrible to each other in bitterly funny ways (as opposed, to say, anything Lars von Trier ever made, which is exactly the same without the "funny" part), Death to Smoochy is for you. It's probably very easy to find out DVD, so go pick it up.

 Panic Room, which I really think was the second film, was our first brush with disappointment and David Fincher. After Seven, Fight Club, The Game, and even Alien 3 (which many of us argued was flawed but more interesting than Aliens) seeing a young director stumble wasn't much fun. Panic Room isn't a bad movie necessarily, but it's not a very good one either. At nearly two hours, it drags out the tension for too long and doesn't do enough to keep viewers invested in the narrative. Yes, the cast is pretty good: Jodie Foster, Forest Whitaker, Dwight Yoakam, Jared Leto, and a pre-Catch That Kid Kristen Stewart are all pretty good. The visual trickery, camera angles, and seamless digital effects are all cool beans, but for the life of me I can't get or stay excited about Panic Room.

 Fincher bounced back in a big way with Zodiac in 2007 and I liked The Curious Case of Benjamin Button even though most people I know won't even watch it. Everybody seemed to enjoy The Social Network (including the Cap'n) and I haven't seen The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo so I can't comment on that. But Panic Room? I haven't seen it all the way through more than once since then. I hesitate to even suggest I DID see it again because while I know (as a completist) I owned both the "Superbit" and 3-Disc "Collector's Edition" of the film, I don't remember wanting to sit down and revisit Panic Room. By comparison, I've seen Seven, Fight Club, Alien 3, and The Social Network more than once since initial viewings.

 I've seen Death to Smoochy again since as well, and am wondering if I should drive over to a local used cd / DVD store to see if I can find a copy tonight or tomorrow.... Hrm...

 Next week I'll jump even further back, to an even more improbable double feature: Being John Malkovich and Dogma.


 * That's my way of saying "I don't remember exactly who was there for both films." Sorry.

2010 Recap: The Best DVD and Blu-Ray Releases

As we head towards the end of Cap'n Howdy's 2010 year-end recap, I thought I'd turn the focus away from films released in 2010 to shine a light on some of the fantastic DVD and Blu-Ray titles that made their way to stores (and, hopefully, your homes). Additionally, I'd like to point out a few films that the Cap'n discovered last year, generally tied to Horror and Summer Fests, that you ought to look into.

Blu-Ray:

Alien Anthology - I'm not even close to exploring every nook and cranny of the Blu-Ray equivalent to The Alien Quadrilogy. Not only is everything from that boxed set included, but 20th Century Fox completed the ADR on Alien 3's "workprint" version and included a Mu-Th-Ur mode that bridges all of the discs, allowing you to switch movies out without another round of FBI warnings, plus the streaming data remembers what you marks and directs you to extras on the fifth and sixth discs related to them. Additionally, the documentary on Alien 3 reinstated footage that deals with David Fincher's struggle to maintain his vision while studio executives and producers constantly intervened. Easily the best boxed set of 2010, and it's not even the only good one that came out this year.

The African Queen - It's hard to believe, but John Huston's The African Queen had never been released on DVD (or Blu-Ray) until 2010. It's nice to finally have the film in a very impressive audio and video presentation, and while the extras may be slim, the presence of the film itself was worth the wait.

Metropolis Restored - Kino Films released several quality releases in 2010 (including Sherlock Jr. / Three Ages, Steamboat Bill Jr., and The Black Pirate), but none may have been more anticipated than the almost complete Metropolis. After twenty five minutes of footage were discovered in Argentina and the film premiered in its restored version at the Berlin International Film Festival, cinephiles held their breath for the Blu-Ray release. The restored footage isn't in great shape, but I have to say that being able to see Metropolis as close to its original premiere as possible is worth the limitations of video quality.

Grindhouse - Speaking of movies that debuted in their original form this year, 2007's Grindhouse finally saw a Blu-Ray release of the film as shown in theatres (with awkward splices, commercials, ratings, and fake trailers intact) plus a second disc of extras (old and new). It's worth the price of admission just for Don't, Thanksgiving, and Werewolf Women of the S.S., but being able to show Grindhouse the way I saw it the first time is an even the Cap'n is looking forward to in 2011.

The Bridge on the River Kwai - I'm an unabashed fan of David Lean's The Bridge on the River Kwai, and while I parted with my DVD copy with hesitation, the upgrade was absolutely worth it. Like The African Queen, the new extras aren't much to speak of, but all of the old features are intact and considering that you can get The Bridge on the River Kwai for $20 or less, it's a no-brainer for classic film fans.

Back to the Future Trilogy - Other than the fact that the discs are almost impossible to remove the first time you open the set, I heartily recommend the Back to the Future series on Blu-Ray. The "set ups and payoffs" extra runs through all three films, and there are a gaggle of in-jokes that I never caught before. The set is also worth checking out for what will likely be the only footage of Eric Stoltz as Marty McFly we'll ever see.

Apocalypse Now - This "Full Disclosure" edition improves on the "Complete Dossier" DVD version by putting ALL of Apocalypse Now and Coppola's Redux on one disc (the DVD version split half of each version over two discs), restores the film to its proper widescreen format (2.35:1 rather than 2.00:1) and includes another disc of extras from previous versions. Oh, and Hearts of Darkness, the documentary about making Apocalypse Now that's as riveting as the film itself, in high def on disc three.

Psycho - The film is great. The disc looks great. I don't know that I need to sell you on Psycho any further.

Fantasia / Fantasia 2000 - We'll get to a review of Fantasia 2000 in the next week or two, but having what is arguably my favorite Disney film on Blu Ray is worth having its sequel on board. The extras from the Fantasia Legacy are included, but as an online "Virtual Vault" set. Disney doesn't slouch with their high definition classics, and Fantasia and Fantasia 2000 are no exception.

Delicatessen - Jean-Pierre Jeneut's debut film is the first Studio Canal Collection disc that I really went gaga over. Sure, Contempt looked good and The Ladykillers had a greater clarity, but Delicatessen is a knock out on Blu-Ray. I certainly hope that The City of Lost Children follows, and that if Studio Canal insists on pulling Criterion licenses (this is not one of them, but bear with me), that they'll give future releases the treatment Delicatessen got.

A Nightmare on Elm Street (Blu-Ray) and Never Sleep Again: The Elm Street Legacy (DVD) - Although I may have a soft spot for Jason Vorhees and Michael Myers, Freddy Krueger has always been my favorite boogeyman in the "slasher" era. While it would be nice to see the entire Nightmare on Elm Street series in high def (even Freddy's Revenge), I can't complain about New Line's release of the first film on Blu-Ray. The only down side may be that the terrible looking "stretched arms" scene is even cheesier in 1080p, but beggars can't be choosers, right? As I mentioned in my favorite films, Never Sleep Again is THE horror documentary to beat, period. I would happily watch it again.

Class of Nuke 'em High - You never thought this would be on Blu-Ray, did you? Here's a shocker: it's the best looking Troma movie I've ever seen, on DVD or otherwise. Admittedly, that's like saying "well, he's the handsomest caveman," but even with that caveat, you'll be surprised how nice such a cheap exploitation movie looks.

DVDs:

Death Bed: The Bed that Eats - There's no explaining the story of Death Bed in a way that makes sense. There's no adequate way of describing how the death bed eats people, because you really need to see it to believe it. For a film that had never seen release until the 21st century, 1977's bizarre Death Bed: The Bed that Eats must be seen, yet cannot be un-seen.

Mad Ron's Prevues from Hell - In the age of trailer compilations (42nd Street Forever, All Monsters Attack, Shock Festival, Trailers from Hell), it might be hard to argue the value of a VHS cheapie ported directly to DVD and released without any effort to hide that fact, let alone one with a terrible "corpse" ventriloquist and plodding zombie gags. However, Mad Ron's Prevues from Hell manages to be entertainingly sleazy and has a "let's put on a show" vibe that excuses much of the cheapness to the affair. There are better ways to watch exploitation trailers, to be sure, but Mad Ron's Prevues from Hell is a throwback to the golden age of VHS, and as a result manages to eek out a win.

Kingdom of the Spiders - Admittedly, I'd only ever seen Kingdom of the Spiders on TV, and not even in a complete form (mostly just random scenes). Aside from a zonked out Japanese film to be mentioned shortly, this was probably the best received film from Horror Fest V. It's incessant sleaziness, mean-spirited tone, and quasi-apocalyptic ending, along with the Shatner factor, made Kingdom of the Spiders the re-issue of 2010 (close runners up: The House on Sorority Row and The Slumber Party Massacre Collection).

Now we'll move on to a few companies that consistently hit it out of the park on high definition this year:

Shout! Factory - Specifically their MST3k and Roger Corman Cult Classics collections, which continue to be great stuff. Shout! took over for Rhino in releasing Mystery Science Theater 3000, and in addition to providing some truly excellent retrospective pieces on the films, the series, and the people behind both, volume XIX completed the "bot" triumvirate by including a Gypsy figurine to the existing Servo (volume XVI) and Crow (volume XIII / 20th Anniversary), leaving only Cambot or the Satellite of Love for future releases. The Roger Corman Cult Classics collection runs across DVD and Blu-Ray and has included remastered versions of Death Race 2000, Piranha, The Slumber Party Massacre collection, Humanoids from the Deep, Not of This Earth, Starcrash, Galaxy of Terror, Rock 'N Roll High School, Forbidden World, and double feature discs with the likes of Death Sport, Battle Truck, Up from the Depths, Big Bad Mama (1&2), Lady in Red, The Warrior and the Princess, Crazy Mama, Barbarian Queen, The Evil, Twice Dead, The Terror Within, Dead Space and Demon of Paradise. And there are more to come in 2011!

Blue Underground - William Lustig's spin-off of Anchor Bay has continued to reissue their titles on Blu-Ray, often with surprisingly great looking discs. In 2010, they released George Romero's The Crazies, Fulci's City of the Living Dead, plus Vampyres, Django, Machine Gun McCain, Maniac, The Prowler, Vigilante, Uncle Sam, and The Toolbox Murders.

Warner Brothers - who pushed harder than just about any other studio to put their back catalog on Blu-Ray, including The Maltese Falcon, Forbidden Planet, King Kong, The Exorcist, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, and more recent Cap'n favorites The Goonies and Kenneth Branagh's Hamlet.

Criterion - I don't even know where to start with Criterion's 2010 release slate. If we focus strictly on the NEW Blu-Rays (and not re-issues of Spine Numbers in high definition), we're still talking about Paths of Glory, Modern Times, Cronos, Che, Stagecoach, Paris, Texas, Vivre sa vie, Mystery Train, Red Desert, By Brakhage volume two, Crumb, The Magician, The Thin Red Line, The Night of the Hunter, The Darjeeling Limited, Antichrist, Lola Montes, Bigger Than Life, and Nobuhiko Obayashi's acid-trip ghost story House. Or we could look at the motherload boxed set, America Lost and Found: the BBS Story, which features Head, Easy Rider, Five Easy Pieces, Drive, He Said, A Safe Place, The Last Picture Show, and The King of Marvin Gardens. That's not including DVD releases of Terry Zwigoff's Louie Bluie, Make Way for Tomorrow, The Fugitive Kind, 3 Classics by Josef von Sternberg, Roberto Rosselini's War Trilogy, and Eclipse sets for Chantal Akerman, George Bernard Shaw on Film, early Kurosawa, Nagisa Oshima, Sacha Guitry, and Allan King.

2010 Year End Recap, Part Three

An important note from the Cap'n: While every review available is included as a link, the placement of the film on these "year end" lists may not appear to reflect the review. As time passes, I have the opportunity to reconsider films, revisit initial reactions, and every now and then, change the way I feel about movies.

Finally, we come to day three, my favorite films of 2010. This comes with the caveat that I have not yet seen Darren Aronofsky's Black Swan, a film that seems evenly split between ridiculously enthusiastic reactions and equally dismissive pans. Does that mean I should put the list on hold for Black Swan? Well, no, and here's why: I have a list of movies - a fine list, might I add - of films released in 2009 that I didn't see until 2010. They always, without fail, end up in what I call the "Lost in the Shuffle" list*. They have individual reviews, but I do not revise year end recaps to insert them into the conversation. With one exception, this list is comprised of films I saw in 2010 and reflects the year 2010.

These are, for me, the best films I saw in 2010. That may not make them the "best films" of the year, and I can assure you many of them won't be mentioned come "Awards Season," but they entertained, challenged, and confounded me long after the first viewing. As usual, links to the reviews will be provided, along with an asterisk (*) for films that had festival showings prior to 2010 but were not widely available until last year.

I hesitated putting these in an "order," but what the hell. You should see all of them, but since there are fifteen films, I'll put them from "favorite" to "very favorite" just to spark discussion. From the best to the best of the best:

15. Double Take* - The more I think about Double Take, the more I'm willing to overlook the artificiality of Grimonprez's "recreation" of the Hitchcock double meeting, not only because he announces the artifice by introducing the audience to the physical and vocal "doubles" early in the film, but because it's beside the point. This film, experimental in its storytelling, its premise, and its juxtaposition, does stick with viewers after the initial confusion wears off. A film that can do that belongs with the best of the year.

14. I’m Still Here - A film that would be higher on the list, were it not for an even more ballsy attempt at blending reality and fiction that doesn't show its hand. All the same, whether you view Joaquin Phoenix's downfall into misery and drug addiction as a "document" of true events or a film that rides the fine line between real and fantasy, it succeeds in making viewers uncomfortable, yet unable to turn away.

13. The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus* - We may never be able to see what Terry Gilliam originally planned for audiences in 2009, but the end result - finished after the death of Heath Ledger - is nevertheless a valiant and visually fertile attempt to pick up the pieces and tell the same story. There's so much to recommend in The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus - the battle of wits between Christopher Plummer and Tom Waits, the execution of the inside of the Imaginarium, the ability of Johnny Depp, Jude Law, and Colin Farrell to stand in as Tony - that I'm willing to overlook the scattershot manner the film tells its story. Gilliam, even when compromised, is always worth a look, and this is a step above The Brothers Grimm and Tideland by a long shot.

12. Never Sleep Again: The Elm Street Legacy - This documentary sets the bar for covering a series of films, and I sincerely doubt anyone will ever top it. As somebody who watched His Name was Jason, Halloween: 25 Years of Terror, and any other so-called "comprehensive" doc covering horror films, Never Sleep Again blew me away. At four hours, anything you could possibly want to know about the Nightmare on Elm Street series is covered, and that's not including the extra disc of content that covers EVEN MORE stories never before told. Even without Johnny Depp, Patricia Arquette, and Frank Darabont, Never Sleep Again is so comprehensive, so addictive, and so frank about the making of this series that even casual Freddy fans will be able to keep it on for the duration. I guarantee this is the one film on this list least seen, and with as many horror addicts as there are that visit the Blogorium, I want to change that.

11. Piranha 3-D - A shameless explosion of gore, gratudity, mayhem, and B-movie acting, from the director of High Tension and The Hills Have Eyes. You won't come out of this film feeling smarter, or even with a greater critical acumen, but as 3-D exploitation goes, you're going to have to search long and hard to to better than Piranha 3-D.

10. Get Him to the Greek - In almost every way superior to Forgetting Sarah Marshall, of which this film is a spin-off. Get Him to the Greek never forgets that it has to be a rock and roll comedy, and as the wild rocker lifestyle of Aldous Snow (Russell Brand) spins out of control, so too does the film... but never to the point that it loses its heart, the bewildered but surprisingly balanced Aaron Green (Jonah Hill). More to the point, writer / director Nicholas Stoller never forgets that a comedy is supposed to be funny, and Get Him to the Greek is in abundance.

9. Shutter Island - The hate for Shutter Island astounds me, but it's there. People bag on Scorsese for making The Departed, and now are deriding his decision to embrace a technicolor laden exercise in pulp film-making. The twist is apparently the final straw, but I'm going to be honest with you: despite having guessed the twist before watching the movie, I was nevertheless riveted as the story unfolded. I don't understand why people hate the film, either as an exercise in homage or as a spiritual sequel to Cape Fear that nobody knew they needed. Give it a shot - either it will work for you or it won't.

8. The American - Since my initial review, I've seen a series of write-ups that insist Anton Corbijn is commenting on American foreign policy with this film. You could make the argument that yes, the concept of "I make the weapons but I don't use them and I get very defensive when you use them on me" is a direct criticism of the United States military complex. Fair enough, I suppose. Either way, The American can be appreciated as a excellently told story with fine performances, or as a critique masked as cinema.

7. Waking Sleeping Beauty - I don't really want to add too much more to the review. Waking Sleeping Beauty is exactly the documentary the Walt Disney company needed right no; its honesty is refreshing, its story is too amazing to be real, and its execution is refreshing in a world of "talking head" true stories.

6. MacGruber - I haven't laughed at a film this hard all year. Period. If you're still avoiding the MacGruber because it "looks stupid," or because somebody told you it probably sucked, rent it and find out for yourself. Then, after you buy it, show it to everybody you know that didn't see it.

5. Inception - I'm terrified to watch Inception again. So much of the film relies on allowing Inception to unfold in front of you, knowing nothing of what's to come, that any familiarity with the twists and turns could tumble the whole house of cards. That said, Christopher Nolan made a wildly ambitious film with ideas that stick around after the film is over, not to mention some set-pieces I've never seen before. It's technically impressive, well-acted, with an understandable "heist" narrative that kept audiences from feeling lost, but never holds your hand after setting up the rules. I'm not going to pretend its wholly original - nor will I play into the many "Inception stole from" arguments - and I really hope that this film is more The Prestige than Memento, where multiple viewings hold up.

4. Exit Through the Gift Shop - Did Banksy create Thierry Guetta? Does Mr. Brainwash really exist? How much of Exit Through the Gift Shop is designed and how much is document? I have no idea, and I don't care. The discussions that this film generates will be fascinating once more of you see it, but regardless of that, it doesn't matter unless Exit Through the Gift Shop can't hold up on its own, and it does.

3. True Grit - There have been reasoned, well argued points about my reaction to the potential racism in True Grit in the comments of my review, but I'm still not convinced that the individual instances don't point to a larger comment. That being said, I'm not saying Joel and Ethan Coen are engaging in racism so much as their ironic detachment in comedy is raising a point about systemic racism (at least in post-Civil War Arkansas). What I can't deny is that True Grit is an extremely well made film, a very entertaining movie that pushes violence beyond the PG-13 rating, and a film that, despite its history as a novel and very well known prior adaptation, manages to stand on its own in the Coen brothers body of work.

2. Best Worst Movie* - Best Worst Movie has been traveling from festival to festival since 2009, but had I seen it then, it would have been on my top films of 2009 list. As it was, I caught a screening of Best Worst Movie in New Mexico shortly before its DVD debut (the way almost everyone else saw the film) in 2010, so here it is. It's not necessary to have seen Troll 2 before you watch Best Worst Movie; if you see it on its own, chances are you'll seek out Troll 2 afterward. This is a fantastic "personal essay" film (my working moniker for documentaries where the filmmaker is central to the narrative) covers the cultural phenomenon of the "best worst movie" through the eyes of Troll 2's cast, crew, and fans, but particularly dentist George Hardy, who was in the film and moved on with life. Hilarious, disturbing, touching, and embarrassing, Best Worst Movie is easily my favorite documentary in a year of excellent non-fiction films.

1. The Social Network - Broadly speaking, the only thing I fear about seeing The Social Network again is a faint concern that Aaron Sorkin's dialogue might be "too" perfect: the scathing comebacks, the one-liners, the returning phrases throughout the film - I fear an off-chance it feels too clever for its own good. But even so, I can't wait to pick up The Social Network next week. I have no misgivings in recommending this film to anyone, and especially to people who think it's just "the Facebook movie." Trust me, it's not. The Social Network wasn't a movie made because it was temporally appropriate; it's a fully realized character study that covers events we lived through and weren't necessarily paying attention to. David Fincher's assured hand as a director marries with Sorkin's dialogue, and the cast - from Jesse Eisenberg to Andrew Garfield to Armie Hammer to Rooney Mara to Justin Timberlake - are pitch perfect. Does it have small faults? Yes, it does. Do they keep me from considering The Social Network from being my favorite film of 2010? Not even a little.




* For the 2009-10 list, that would include The Road, Fantastic Mr. Fox, Big Fan, A Serious Man, Black Dynamite, The House of the Devil, The Informant!, and the unfortunate An Education and I Sell the Dead.

Troncanny

This may feel like an insubstantial post, for which I offer no real defense, but after seeing a trailer for Tron Legacy in front of Faster (a trailer that, strangely, followed True Grit), I was overcome with an uncanny feeling from staring at the digitally young-ified Jeff Bridges as CLU. Before I go any further, it might be best to show you what I'm talking about:


It's Jeff Bridges... but it isn't. Something is "off": his skin is a little too smooth, his features seem to be painted on. Which they are. Jeff Bridges - as he appears in Tron Legacy (as Flynn) - has roughly the same features from the nose upward, but graying hair and a beard, better defined wrinkles on his forehead, accurately replicating what Bridges looks like now. This is what he looked like in Tron:


So on a cognitive level, I understand that the effects crew on Tron Legacy couldn't make Jeff Bridges look like he did almost thirty years ago. I get that, and I understand that effects can accomplish the de-aging process (see the X-Men 3 or Wolverine), but it doesn't prevent me from having the visceral reaction of a Bridges that is simultaneously real and unreal (which is the case considering that he filmed the CLU performance). How do I reconcile this cognitive dissonance?

Okay, if you aren't interested in reading Freud's entire essay breaking down "the uncanny," the working definition that most people know is a sensation of something familiar and yet unfamiliar simultaneously, creating unease that is often difficult to describe. Following the first Tron Legacy trailer to show the completely de-aged Flynn, I had such a sensation and failed to articulate it in a way that registered beyond "weird."

I had a similar reaction to Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, but for no particular reasons I never connected the waxy, slightly unrealistic yet hyper-realistic digital versions of actors with the uncanny situation I studied (and, in fact, lectured on during a class about German literature). Other than feeling a bit embarrassed to let a bit of scholarly knowledge fall by the wayside, my reaction is to feel a bit more comfortable in reacting to faux-Bridges and reconciling what I know and my visceral response to seeing something so familiar and yet so alien on TV and projected in theatres.

Whether this affects my ability to watch Tron Legacy remains to be seen, because knowing the root cause of this uncanny reaction doesn't necessarily diminish its impact. I'm working on that, but it's tricky.

Blogorium Review: The Social Network

This review arrives too late for the party, and for that I apologize. My decision to stick strictly with horror for the month of October meant that The Social Network, which I saw on October 3rd, was going to have to wait another four weeks before it could go up. The good news, as I see it, is that my two cents weren't necessary to keep people going to see what is, in fact, an excellent film; The Social Network has consistently appeared in the top ten Box Office performers since it was released, enjoys a 97% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and an 8.4 rating on IMDB. This makes me happy, for reasons I'll discuss momentarily, but in order to justify reviewing The Social Network, the Cap'n will direct my comments to regular readers of this blog, many of whom I know haven't seen the film.

When I mentioned having seen The Social Network to friends of mine, there were invariably two reactions: 1) "Oh, I hear that's really good!" or 2) "Really? The 'Facebook' movie?" By now, most of them (and you reading) already know the background information - the film is based on how (and why) Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg) created Facebook, how he, with the help of Sean Parker (Justin Timberlake), effectively screwed Eduardo Saverin (Andrew Garfield) out of co-ownership of the company, and how Divya Nirendra (Max Minghella) and Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss (Armie Hammer) accused Zuckerberg of ripping off their idea.

You also probably have had someone bend your ear about how the Winklevoss twins (or, as Mark calls them, the Winklevi) are actually played by Armie Hammer and Josh Pence, who provides the body for Tyler with Hemmer's face digitally mapped over Pence's. You may have heard about the score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, or you may simply know the film from its (in my opinion, effective) trailers, utilizing a cover of Radiohead's "Creep" and Kanye West's "Power." At the very least, everyone I've talked to knows that David Fincher directed the film, and some are aware it was written by Aaron Sorkin (The West Wing, Charlie Wilson's War). There are, however, also a few misconceptions about the film I've noticed.

The first seems to be tied to a strange backlash on David Fincher, based solely on The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - which almost nobody saw, but apparently everyone seems to hate. It can't be residual hate from Panic Room, because people don't seem to remember Panic Room, and most of the people I talked about The Social Network to either really like or love Alien 3, Seven, The Game, Fight Club, and Zodiac. Since I didn't hate The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (it's not great, and probably wasn't an Oscar contender, but it's not the disaster everybody painted it as) I must confess that carrying this over to The Social Network seems a little harsh.

If the problem is Fincher's typical underlit, visually acrobatic aesthetic, then I feel the need to point out that The Social Network is anchored by that other force, namely Sorkin's script. For those not familiar with Aaron Sorkin, he writes dialogue that goes on for pages, filled with the kind of effortlessly clever banter you wish you had come up with but know isn't within you. Sorkin's gift is that he can fill a series (or a film) with nothing but characters who do that and still keep you emotionally invested. The Social Network is set up as a series of flashbacks, told during Zuckerberg's dual depositions with the Winkelvoss and Saverin legal teams. There's a lot of verbal jousting, and Fincher doesn't indulge in many crazy camera tricks, although it would be unfair to say the film is uncharacteristic Fincher. I'd refer you to Zodiac, which is also based on a true story.

Speaking of which, many of the people who call it "The 'Facebook' movie" have also expressed disinterest to me because they feel they already know the story: socially awkward geek creates social network - isn't it ironic, don't ya think? That's maybe the kernel of the story, but Eisenberg's Mark Zuckerberg is so far from interested in "fitting in" once the film gets rolling that you're invested in him, Saverin, the Winklevoss twins, and (to a degree) Parker that the levels of subterfuge, betrayal, and shades of gray on everyone's part become fascinating.

It's also important to point out that, in The Social Network at least, Zuckerberg is ultimately less interested in the actual networking than he is the programming and potential of Facebook as a concept. There is one shot of Mark adding a "friend," tied directly to an argument he has with his girlfriend at the beginning of the film, Erica Albright (Rooney Mara), the only thread in the film which I found problematic. It does make it possible for the easy characterization of The Social Network, and in some ways it undermines the original argument in the first place.

Albright and Zuckerberg are having a conversation where the two of them are operating on different levels, and the inability to bring those threads together is what splits them up. But that's not because Mark is awkward and Erica isn't; it's because what they want out of Harvard are at odds with each other. When she leaves him, Albright says "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," which is at the center of almost every conflict that Mark has during the film. Does he use the Winklevoss twins? Does he betray Saverin? Does he put Parker's connections above his business partners? Yes, but there are moments in the film where Eisenberg plays regret and betrayal at the flip side of those questions.

Let's move on to the acting, briefly, because I do want to talk about the film itself and not simply defend it from generalizations. Slowly and quietly over the last few years, Jesse Eisenberg has become an actor to keep an eye out. The first time I saw him, in Noah Baumbach's The Squid and the Whale, I hated him (by virtue of the character he played), and during the rise of Michael Cera after Arrested Development, comparisons seemed to be everywhere. Honestly, I haven't seen Scott Pilgrim (or many of Cera's movies), but I think I'll take Eisenberg. If nothing else, he's more versatile and takes the "asshole" in Mark Zuckerberg, complete with Sorkin zingers, and invests you in his story. Zuckerberg could easily be the villain of The Social Network (and a lot of people argue that he is), but Eisenberg shifts that distaste halfway through one of the Saverin depositions.

Andrew Garfield has a very similar track record with the Cap'n, in that I disliked his character so much in The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus that the news he would be the new Spider-Man gave me no sense of interest whatsoever. I'm actually much more on board with Garfield because of his Eduardo Saverin, who has the "put-upon friend" role and is saddled with one of the worst Facebook related scenes in the film (the dreaded "relationship status update"), and gives him life and depth. Eduardo puts a lot on hold because of Zuckerberg, and his abandonment doesn't make much sense to either of them.

It happens because of Justin Timberlake's Sean Parker, the creator of Napster and a character that seems to be more of a huckster at first. What's so impressive about Timberlake is that he never overplays the dubious side of Parker (which would be very easy considering where Parker ends up in the story of Facebook) and for a while, you genuinely believe his enthusiasm for Zuckerberg's idea is altruistic. And, as Sorkin writes it, it is. He's just also has paranoid delusions and has a bad habit of being at the wrong place at the wrong time.

This review is getting long, and I haven't even scratched the surface; the fantastic Armie Hammer, who plays Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss so distinctly that you never doubt that both of them exist on-screen; Rooney Mara, who has a lasting impression on the film that almost erases the bad taste she left in my mouth after A Nightmare on Elm Street; the crackerjack deposition scenes; Fincher's use of light to punctuate the typical "dark, fluorescent" visual palette of his other films; the way Sorkin's screenplay slowly doles out information that would change impressions of earlier scenes.

I was very impressed by The Social Network, in just about every respect. Yes, there are one or two things that don't quite work, and there's definitely a slightly misogynistic undertone to the film, but I don't feel that it's fair to characterize The Social Network as just "the 'Facebook' movie." It's like saying Zodiac is just "the 'serial killer' movie," which it's not; it's the backdrop of a far more interesting character study. That is, by the way, an absolutely fair comparison, because each one is very much a David Fincher film. None of you jumped on Fincher for the pre-millenial angst of Fight Club, which is as (arguably) on the nose as making a film that takes place seven years ago, as The Social Network does. So go against those gut instincts to avoid the film; I really do think you're going to be surprised, even if you go in with pre-conceived notions. Well written, acted, and directed films can have that effect on you*.


* Although I have to admit that I feel somewhat hesitant to include this review as a "Status Update" on Facebook.

And Now I Miss The Janus Again...

Somehow, until this afternoon I'd forgotten that Fight Club was ten years old. In fact, a little over a month ago in 1999, a number of us (including some current Blogorium readers) went to the Janus Theatre to see David Fincher's anarchic vision of Chuck Palahniuk. Back when the flashes of Tyler Durden early in the movie were literally flickering frames, so you weren't sure what you saw, back when Brad Pitt was still in movies like Seven Years in Tibet. More importantly, back when we were all angsty 19 and 20 year olds who wanted to see the system taken down a peg or two.

And now it's ten years later. I'm not as angst-y - maybe grumpy - and we've taken a few shots at the system only to realize its design is pretty solid. Well damn. At least Fight Club remains entertaining as black comedies go.

I have a bit of a difference of opinion with one of the PHD students on campus about which film is more "dated" as late-nineties social critiques go. I say it's American Beauty, which I cannot watch anymore because it of how fixed in time it is. He disagrees, and believes that Fight Club is a product of the late nineties, and that it doesn't hold up anymore. I'm not going to decide for you folks, but if you have any other suggestions (*coughChasingAmycough*), let me know.

What I do know is that the chunk of Fight Club I watched on Blu Ray this afternoon still held up pretty well a decade later. If you remember correctly, the dvd opened with the normal "Warning / Attention" red screens, followed by a "Warning" from Tyler Durden, one that broke away to the dvd title screen. Fincher and company haven't forgotten the simple joys of messing with our expectations, so the Blu Ray has a new trick: when you put the disc in, the normal "Warning" ad pops up, then a "The interviews blah blah blah do not represent..." screen, and then something fun happens.

The menu for Never Been Kissed, another ten year old 20th Century Fox movie, starts up. Sappy music, static picture of Drew Barrymore, lipstick cursor selection. For just a second, you wonder what's going on here. Then I chuckled. It's a good one, and before long it skips like a scratched dvd to reveal a rotating screen with furniture descriptions, ones that get more interesting as you move from the narrator's apartment to Tyler's house. So yes, Fight Club is still toying with your brain, particularly the addled minds of people who caught the film many years after its theatrical run.

For me, that's kind of weird. I don't know why, since that's how I experienced many movies people much older than me saw the first time on big screens, but the audience for Fight Club now consists of people who would not have possibly been old enough to see it at the Janus with us in October of 1999. Like the Cap'n did with so many "cult" films, many of the Space Monkeys buying this Blu Ray were introduced to Fight Club in dorm rooms hazy with bong smoke, probably on a double bill with *shudder* The Boondock Saints.

That may be, for me at least, why Fight Club still holds up. There's an audience for the movie that doesn't see why being a Space Monkey is a Bad Thing, and why nobody should really want to be like Tyler Durden (or Patrick Bateman, although that is another discussion for another time), and so quite unintentionally, the movie perpetuated its own misguided followers. While some might be inclined to blame Fight Club for the presence of the mooks, I would point instead to the central message of The Life of Brian: "It's not Jesus' fault you idiots misinterpreted the message!"

So happy 10th anniversary, Fight Club. And, since it's only a week away for their dual release (also at the Janus), Happy 10th anniversary Being John Malkovich and Dogma. That was a strange double feature...

Oh, and Happy 15th Clerks. What the fuck, Clerks? I was fifteen when you came out the first time, so now I feel really old. Stupid movies from my teenage years becoming teenagers themselves...