The Social Network | You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger

But it´s also about so much more than that. It´s about what motivates us, how we make decisions, no less than how we operate as a societal whole. You need to see this film not because you may be interested in Facebook or Zuckerberg, those are just the specifics; you need to see this film because it represents and reflects upon the society we live in better than any other film has for this particular generation. It´s a revelatory experience to watch something so precise and exacting and yet contemporary – it´s as if we´re watching a historical document about the time we´re living in, and learning new things about the world that surrounds us.

Dumped by his girlfriend, Mark goes back to his dorm room, blogs about her, and creates a website: FaceMash.com, which grabs photos of girls from local colleges, pairs them up, and allows users to vote on who´s ‘hotter´. The instantly popular site crashes Harvard´s servers and leads to a formal reprimand. Word spreads, and soon Mark is approached by the Winklevoss twins (Armie Hammer) and Divya Narendra (Max Minghella), who ask him to help with the programming of their new social networking site for Harvard students.

Zuckerberg agrees to help them, but is more interested in developing his own social networking site, which they may or may not have inspired. So with the help of his roommates and friends Eduardo Saverin (Andrew Garfield), Dustin Moskovitz (Joseph Mazello) and Chris Hughes (Patrick Mapel), Facebook is born. At first a Harvard-only site, popularity skyrockets as they roll it out to other campuses across the country. Napster founder Sean Parker (Justin Timberlake) takes notice and arranges a meeting.

The cast here is extraordinary. Eisenberg and Garfield (and to a lesser extent, Timberlake) are known commodities, but they bring a conviction that allows them to disappear in their roles. The supporting cast really surprised me, especially Hammer as the Winklevoss twins (a stand-in was utilized for shots where they appear together, on which Hammer´s face was superimposed): he´s wonderful as the two three-dimensional bully-types who are often more sympathetic than our protagonist. Mara, a Natalie Portman type, is also impressive. Every role in the film seems to have been filled by a memorable face who speaks quotable dialogue.

On a technical level, the film is flawless. Cinematography by Jeff Cronenweth (working with Fincher for the first time since Fight Club) is exceptional, dark and rapturous yet familiarly collegiate. Music by Nine Inch Nails´ Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross perfectly suits the material. Despite the potentially mundane series of events that the film documents, Fincher keeps finding new ways to tell his story, including a rowing scene that employs the first use of tilt shift cinematography that I can recall seeing in a feature film.

The Social Network opened to rave reviews stateside, including a remarkable 97% on the Tomatometer. Expectations were high. On an initial viewing, I was left dazzled and enlightened but also a bit cold. The experience wasn´t as enthralling as Fincher´s best (Zodiac), the subject matter doesn´t lend itself to being filmed, the ending tries to wrap things up too neatly. Upon a second viewing I was completely won over: this is this generation´s All the President´s Men, a Zodiac where the killer is still out there.

Alfie (Anthony Hopkins) has just left his lovely wife Helena (Gemma Jones) for young ‘actress´ Charmaine (Lucy Punch). As Alfie lavishes gifts upon his new young bride, Helena finds solace in psychic Cristal (Pauline Collins), who promises her that better things are on the horizon. Meanwhile, Alfie and Helena´s daughter Sally (Naomi Watts) is having her own set of problems. Her unemployed husband Roy (Josh Brolin) struggles to finish his new novel when he´s not ogling the woman in red (Freida Pinto) across the courtyard. Sally is unsatisfied in her marriage, and might be falling for her new boss Greg (Antonio Banderas).

What has surprised me the most about his work during this time is the consistency of quality. While the plot and tone can differ wildly through the genres he´s covered – comedies, romances, dramas, thrillers, even a musical – each feels about as good as the last; the ones I admire most (Deconstructing Harry, Match Point) aren´t that far off from the ones I admire least (Scoop, Cassandra´s Dream). That´s not necessarily a compliment; Woody´s best years are clearly behind him, and I don´t think he´s made a great film since Crimes and Misdemeanors.

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If there´s one thing I can give the Saw franchise credit for, it´s the consistency in sequel titling. First came Saw, then II, III, IV, V, and VI: always a roman numeral, never a subtitle or any other extraneous info. Now we have Saw 3D, which might indicate the third film in the series, or the first in the series re-issued in 3D, but in no way conveys that this is actually the seventh Saw movie. (What´s the worst example of sequel titling? My vote goes to the Rambo series, which went First Blood (1982), Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985), Rambo III (1988), and then Rambo (2008).)

During the movie, however, the 3D is a non-event. It´s surprisingly bright, crisp, and clean (*see footnote), and, I´m sure, technically proficient. It´s also – outside of a couple very brief shots of intestines and blood spurting out towards the camera – so underutilized (and not just in terms of objects flying at the camera – the added depth is always there but barely noticeable throughout) that after a few minutes I had forgotten I was watching a 3D feature. While this is great for purists who never want to be distracted by 3D while watching a film, your average viewer, paying a 50% premium for the benefit of 3D, is likely to leave disappointed.

Fans of the Saw films, on the other hand, should be pleased with this outing. It´s easily the most violent entry in the series (yet), and I was often shocked at what they were able to get away with to receive an R rating (the film was purportedly sent back to the MPAA six times after originally receiving an NC-17). Most notable (and efficient) is a junkyard scene featuring an automobile, some chains, and superglue; four irrelevant characters are quickly disposed of via a crushed head, a jaw torn from the face, a back ripped from the rest of the body, and a car crash. It´s revolting stuff that has been included in the film purely for shock value; of course, that description can be also be applied to most of the rest of the film and the previous six. Fans rejoice.

Saw 3D picks up right where VI left off: Jigsaw´s protégé Hoffman (Costas Mandylor) tracks down Jigsaw´s wife Jill (Betsey Russell), who attempted to kill him in the previous film. Jill, on the other hand, turns to internal affairs detective Gibson (Chad Gonella) and promises to reveal all. Meanwhile, Jigsaw survivor Bobby (Sean Patrick Flanery) is re-captured and put to the test, making his way through a series of traps to save his friends, just like we´ve seen in every other entry in the series after part II. And Dr. Gordon (Cary Elwes), unseen since the first movie, makes a welcome return.

*While the 3D adds very little here, it´s some of the best-looking 3D I´ve seen yet. However, I suspect this may have less to do with the movie itself and more to do with the (superior?) equipment at Kino Atlas, where I saw the film. I´ll usually see 3D films at a multiplex, where I´ve always noticed a slight ‘ghosting´ effect: 2D remnants of the 3D image lingering in the background. This is most noticeable when reading subtitles, where you can sometimes see 3D text and faintly, in the background, see the same text on the 2D background. This wasn´t the case at all during my viewing of Saw 3D: every last detail was surprisingly crisp.