Love In The Time Of Social Networking

With the Oscar nominations officially released, it’s clear that there’s still a lot of love for The Social Network. But can a film this contemporary take Best Picture?

On the surface, the story of The Social Network is one that we’re familiar with – Mark Zuckerberg founds Facebook while he’s a student at Harvard, drops out, and becomes the youngest billionaire ever. But under the direction of David Fincher (Fight Club) and with a script by Aaron Sorkin (The West Wing), there’s no denying the elegance with which the story is told.

In the opening sequence Mark (Jesse Eisenberg) and his girlfriend Erica (Rooney Mara – who is working with Fincher in The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo) converse in a pub, and their charged interchange sets the tone of the picture. Mark’s working at a breakneck pace, but people and relationships can’t be broken down into ones and zeroes. Fincher reportedly shot the scene 99 times, and it’s so tightly written that it compresses what could be 15 minutes into five and a half.

Sorkin’s dialogue drives the film and it’s deftly crafted. Even if the story is culled from Ben Mezrich’s book The Accidental Billionaires, it’s Sorkin’s intensely pithy interchanges that allow the story to flow through the characters. Really, the only disappointing part of the script to The Social Network is that it never makes a crack about Pets.com (which was the butt of many jokes in the Silicon Valley circa 2005).

It would have been easy to make a very boring film about the creation of a website and the lawsuits regarding ownership that followed it, but The Social Network maximizes every tool at its disposal. It plays with ideas about status, class, and the nature of communication and friendship – underlying themes that tend to bubble up at just the right moment. It also utilizes its college setting – alternating quick cuts of computer hacking with images of sorority girls on their way to an exclusive party – making sure the viewer’s interest doesn’t wane. But is the brilliant construction enough to push The Social Network over the top?

Certainly the actors deserve a lot of credit for making this picture as compelling as it is. Eisenberg (now nominated for Best Actor) plays Mark with such focused aplomb that you might forget his precociousness in Adventureland. Mark’s best friend and right-hand man, Eduardo (British actor Andrew Garfield, who is taking over the Spider-Man franchise) may be the film’s most sympathetic character, as he finds himself alternately fighting against and defending Mark in the litigation scenes. And the Winklevoss twins (both played by Armie Hammer) exude just the right amount of entitlement and privilege to make them perfect foils. While these characters are pitted against each other, the lawsuits are largely symbolic – they’re not about money as much as they are about credit, acclaim, and loyalty.

There’s been a very literal interpretation of the final sequence of the film – where Mark sits alone, endlessly refreshing the webpage where he’s just requested Erica as a friend – that suggests he’s regretting a lost love. But this gesture is more about wanting to right past wrongs. Mark’s only real love has ever been his work, and the acknowledgement that it’s solely his. The film’s final scene is not about love, it’s about maturity.

Despite the film’s contemporary contrivances, its seamless construction and ultra-tight writing could definitely help earn the Best Picture award. Of course, sometimes being contemporary in and of itself can work in a film’s favor (the navel-gazing, yet of-the-moment Crash springs to mind). The Social Network is a decidedly modern film, but its themes – class, status, distinction – are far-reaching. Though, with all that being said, it’s hard not to secretly want Toy Story 3 to pull out the big win.

Character Study: The King’s Speech and Winter’s Bone

When a proper Englishwoman comes into the office of Lionel Logue (Geoffrey Rush) seeking help for her husband’s speech impediment and explaining that his job requires much public speaking, Logue suggests her husband find a different job. Of course when it’s revealed that her husband is the Duke of York, things change.

The real life story of King George VI’s rise to power and struggle to overcome stuttering, The King’s Speech is really built on the strong performances of Colin Firth and Geoffrey Rush. Playing the King-to-be, called Bertie by his family, Firth does a masterful job of creating a prickly and sensitive royal whose speech difficulties have impaired not only his ability to communicate but also his sense of self-worth.

Meeting for the first time, Logue insists on calling the Duke Bertie and asking personal questions. Logue’s methodology is miles from anything Bertie has experienced before, and it’s clear from the very start that Logue intends to overstep normal boundaries.

As Bertie and Logue begin their speech sessions, a subtle friendship emerges. But while Bertie is on the precipice of curbing his speaking difficulties, his father, the King, dies, leaving the throne to his older brother David (Guy Pearce). The world is on the brink of WWII and David is carrying on an affair with a married woman from (gasp!) Baltimore. When David chooses the woman over the crown, Bertie must assume the position.

The King’s Speech really succeeds when it lets in moments of great humor. Firth has some great lines, but almost all of the humor is provided by Rush, who manages to steal nearly every scene he’s in. Logue’s theatrical ambitions add just the right amount of misplaced bravado.

If the movie feels a bit slow, that’s largely part of its aesthetic. It’s a relatively simple story whose pacing is a function of that simplicity – it takes a while to build climactic interest.

There are a couple of minor cosmetic details that feel odd. It’s hard to believe that David is older than Bertie – both in his impetuousness and appearance. A bit more could have been done to make Pearce look believably older, as he’s actually seven years younger than Firth. Additionally, it’s hard to get past the appearance of Winston Churchill (Timothy Spall). Perhaps it’s because Spall played Susan Sarandon’s henchman Nathaniel in Enchanted, but something about him is distracting.

The real injustice of The King’s Speech though is the “R” rating. The film has a couple of moments featuring the spouting of curse words – not said maliciously and not directed at anyone, and yet this uplifting piece about the power of friendship has the same rating as Saw 3-D. Now that’s something to curse about.

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Taking the top spot on the Onion AV Club’s list of 2010’s best films, and landing at number five on Roger Ebert’s list, (not to mention bunches of other lists) there’s been much critical acclaim for Winter’s Bone, and it’s easy to see why. Winter’s Bone feels like a poignant short story – centering on 17-year-old Ree (Jennifer Lawrence), a rural Missouri teen who is basically serving as the adult of her family. Ree is tasked with raising her younger brother and sister in the stead of her seemingly catatonic mother and absent father.

When an officer lets Ree know that her father has posted their house as collateral to make bail (he’s been caught up in drugs), Ree sets out to track down her father. While Ree gets some assistance from her friend Gail (Lauren Sweetser), she’s virtually on her own. It’s never quite clear who, if anyone, Ree can really trust. Even her neighbors and her uncle are infused with a conniving creepiness.

What Winter’s Bone does so well is deliver tiny moments of large realization. In one sequence we see Ree peer into the high school gym – we don’t know if she regularly attends school, but we do know that she is looking in on a world of which she is not a part. Those simple regular teenage things – marching bands and pep rallies – belong to other people, not to her.

Lawrence, looking much like Renee Zellweger in Cold Mountain, carries the film on her back, giving a powerful, layered performance. Through the harsh circumstances Lawrence gives Ree a vulnerability that highlights her tender age and allows the film’s final moments to be as triumphant as they are disturbing.

Albums of 2010

Ground Control has released our annual "best albums" list: http://groundcontrolmag.com/detail/1/2290/

Here are my picks for the top of the 2010 heap:

10. The Black Keys – Brothers – (Nonesuch Records) –
While Brothers, the band’s sixth album, may not be as strong as 2006’s Magic Potion, it does boast some solid offerings. “Tighten Up” and “Everlasting Light” prove the Akron, Ohio duo is making a firm return to their raw bluesy guitar-driven sound, after a dalliance with Danger Mouse’s production on 2008’s Attack & Release.

9. The Roots – How I Got Over – (The Island Def Jam Music Group) –

Dropping two albums this year, including a collaboration with John Legend, providing the soundtrack to the Daily Show/Colbert Report “Rally to Restore Sanity,” and playing nightly behind Jimmy Fallon on Late Night, The Roots may be the busiest band in the biz at the moment. Luckily all that work seems only to have strengthened the quality of their music. With tracks like the socially-conscious “Dear God” (featuring Monsters of Folk) and “Now or Never,” this latest disc may be their best since Phrenology.

8. Delorean – Subiza – (True Panther Sounds) –

How an album packed with 4+ minute songs can be so catchy and so esoteric at the same time is something of a mystery, yet Subiza walks this fine line perfectly. Sonically the Spanish band lies somewhere between Yeasayer and Miike Snow, crafting choruses that seem to float ethereally over varied backing sounds.

7. The National – High Violet – (4AD) –

Led by the dark rich voice of Matt Berninger, The National packs High Violet with delicate brooding songs about lost love and getting and feeling older. Sufjan Stevens and Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon contribute, strengthening songs like “Afraid of Everyone.” Praise for the band may have been a while in coming, but with their latest batch of melodies built on haunting, repetitive choruses, the praise has been well earned.

6. Big Boi – Sir Lucious Left Foot... – (The Island Def Jam Music Group) –

While record execs may have been demanding a new OutKast album, Big Boi fought to release a solo disc, and they should be glad he did. The album features what’s probably the year’s best use of an opera sample (on the track “General Patton”) and guest spots by Janelle Monae and Jamie Foxx.

5. Robyn – Body Talk – (Konichiwa Records) –

Perhaps the most prolific artist of 2010, Robyn released more than two albums worth of material this year, carefully crafting the infectious stuff dancehall dreams are made of. The Swedish singer produced the equivalent of pop candy, treats like “Hang with me,” “Call Your Girlfriend” and club anthem “Dancing on My Own” (which found its way into a couple of DJ-created mash-ups).

4. Beach House – Teen Dream – (Sub Pop) –

The third release from this Baltimore duo, Teen Dream is packed with simple lo-fi melodies like the opening lullaby-esque “Zebra.” Like their hipster-friendly contemporaries The XX, Beach House excel at creating delicately organic songs like “Norway.” And “Silver Soul” sounds like it could have come from The Flaming Lips’ songbook.

3. LCD Soundsystem – This is Happening – (DFA) –

Likely James Murphy’s opus, This is Happening, doesn’t follow a lot of rules, either musically or as what a traditional dance-rock album should be. Most of the tracks are long, extended songs that build from something simple into a full-on dance track. Only one song, “Drunk Girls,” is under four minutes, and lyrically the album trades in sentiments of insecurity and duplicity. It’s to Murphy’s credit that he can dare us to dance while requesting our pity.

2. Kanye West – My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy – (Roc-A-Fella Records) –

Certainly countless hours have gone into analyzing everything Kanye (including a Jimmy Kimmel-sanctioned parody featuring Josh Groban), but given the merits of West’s latest, the rapper’s boundless bravado is not for naught. While he may trot out ballerinas and famous friends, including Jay-Z, John Legend, and Rihanna, Dark Twisted belongs to Kanye. Simultaneously self-aggrandizing and diminishing, with humorous lyrics wrapped in musically interesting coverings, every track on the album is a strong effort – it may well be West’s most mature work to date.

1. Arcade Fire – The Suburbs – (Merge Records) -

Following up their ambitious, heavily orchestrated Neon Bible, Arcade Fire released a disc that feels raw and unfussy. Here the themes– being able to control your destiny, struggling with living in the world – are woven into simple bright lyrics, allowing familiar ideas to morph into great tunes like “Modern Man” and “We Used to Wait.”