In the last week I have watched both ‘The Social Network’ and ‘Inception.’ Both movies are goodish, neither of them blew me away, but one is the better of the two (at least for me).
"The Social Network"
I didn’t really know what the plot of the movie was going in, other than it was about Facebook and its creator. I don’t know much about Mark Zuckerburg and I don’t know how accurately the movie reflects him and the events that transpired, but if it is close I like him. Why? Let me explain.
Mark Zuckerburg is a douche
I mean that in the most complimentary way. Some of my best friends would fall quite nicely under the moniker of douche, or the more often used douche-bag. This is not an indictment on who they are, it is just a reflection of who they are. The thing about Zuckerburg that I really enjoyed is the fact that he is openly hostile to the proceedings he is involved in. I love the honestly that he displays when dealing with the lawyer regarding his attention. The fact that the court case against him (in his mind) is without merit and the fact that he has more important items to deal with while being deposed shows a kind of dickishness that I wish I posessesd.
Money means nothing
One of the overwhelming themes through-out the movie is that Zuckerburg doesn’t care about money. At all. Of course being a student at Harvard there are doubts to whether a lack of money was ever an issue to him. Beyond that when he is in the courtroom he is approaching (or already has attained) billionaire status so it is kind of disingenuous for him to talk about how money means nothing. Kind of like a rich person spouting that money can’t buy happiness, you have to wonder how little money would matter to him if his net worth was in the hundreds rather than the hundreds of millions strata.
A girl will lead them
I think the thing that I enjoyed more than anything else is that this whole enterprise, this worldwide phenomenon, this amazing thing that has captured the world’s attention was, at its base, spurred on because some girl pissed him off. I think everyone in IT has had the moment where a relationship went sideways. Most of us got drunk. He, instead, set off a chain of events that now allows me to get friend requests from girls that wouldn’t talk to me in high school.
A let down
A long time ago I wrote a script called “Magnet and Steel”. It is actually one of my favorite things I’ve ever written, a nice tale about a geekish high-school Senior and his quest to win the love of the new girl at school. Of all the feedback I’ve received on it, the most common thread is “It just ends…what happened to…” That is the problem I had with the movie. I really wish it went on for another half an hour and the items that are summarized in closing title cards actually played out on screen. I was left wanting for more, which in a way, speaks to the quality of the film.
Sony can blow me
A special FU goes out to Sony for making this Blu-Ray disc unplayable on my Playstation 3. A second FU goes out to Sony for making it impossible for me to watch a ripped version of this movie on my Playstation 3…Thank FSM for the 360.
"Inception"
I walked into “Inception” (walked into my bedroom and put it in the aforementioned PS3) knowing that it was something about dreams and there was some uncertainty by viewers who had seen it before me regarding what was real and what was a dream. I knew that, and that it starred Leo DiCaprio, who I have a hard time seeing as an adult, no matter what stubble appears on his cherubic face.
What is Inception?
The idea that you can go into people’s dreams, create worlds, etc. is interesting. The changed idea of what happens when you die in a dream was also interesting. Even more intriguing was the idea of inception, that is the idea of implanting a thought in the sub-conscious within a dream that the dreamer will believe is their actual thought.
Who is this chick?
I think one of the most damning things about the movie for me was I spent a good portion of the time trying to remember where I knew the architect from. This became a constant nag in my mind, which means that the film never completely engrossed me. By a weird twist of fate I didn’t have my Ipad handy so IMDB wasn’t immediately available and I couldn’t figure it out until after the movie was over. She was the knocked up chick in Juno.
A dream within a dream within…
The rules they laid out for the dream world, the attacking of the subject’s subconscious, etc. were interesting, if somewhat convoluted. The whole idea of how time exists and the concept of being lost within the dream are interesting.
Finally
Was it real? Experts will tell you both yes and no, and there is supporting evidence for both. I usually love a movie that ends with some ambiguity, but this movie seems like it just missed the mark. For me it was entertaining, but not the earth-shattering thing everyone led me to believe.
“Robin Hood” reboot
It sucked.
I think the Inception ending showed that Cobb was still in a dream: how many years was he away from his kids, and they are the same height as they are in his memories? Anyway, I thought the movie was original, intelligent, thought provoking, well-acted, emotional, and just plain fun. How many big budget movies come out each year that you can say that about?
ReplyDelete