For Your Consideration: The Social Network

Assessing the year's best films, according to my refined tastes and, as usual, in no particular order (except this one). These are the top 10 movies I would select on my ballot for a Best Picture Oscar nomination.


The Social Network (R)
Starring: Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield
Director: David Fincher


What an amazing and fascinating movie. Upon first hearing that they were making a Facebook movie, I scoffed and immediately decided it was just going to be boring. But then they got Aaron Sorkin to write the screenplay, won of the snazziest screenwriters in Hollywood today. And then David Fincher, my boy, got attached to direct. And then! Jesse Eisenberg decided to bring his geek-tastic acting skills to the movie. Eisenberg is a good actor and he plays the arrogant asshole pretty well. It's pretty amazing to see how this insecure and socially awkward genius turns into one of the richest guys in the world. It's a stunning masterpiece of a movie, not simply because of the story, but how it's told. Fincher is an amazing director and this is one of his best. He's always finding great ways to frame his movies. One of the most unique parts of the movie is the rowing competition scene where he uses the tilt-shift effect to great use. Everything looks miniature and the music swells to the climax of the race. It's a perfect little scene that really has nothing to do with the main story, but says a lot about the dwindling status of the twins who are suing Zuckerberg. And the scene in the club where the music is pumping so loud that you have to lean closer to the screen in order to hear what's going on; It's this kind of attention to detail that makes this movie special. And Sorkin's screenplay crackles with snappy and witty dialogue. It's fast and fun and makes for repeat viewings with the subtitles on so you can catch everything. This is the obvious front-runner for Best Picture and it's most deserving. The story may not be all true, but it's just so fun to watch how the biggest social phenomenon of the 21st century came from one of the biggest assholes of the 21st century. And as much as I'm comforted by the last scene of the movie that depicts him as really just a lonely, sad man, I'm sure he's crying every night into his billions of dollars and sobbing after a dive into his pool of gold.