Film: The Ides of March
Year: 2011
Director: George Clooney
Written by: George Clooney, Grant Heslov & Beau Willimon, based on the play 'Farragut North' by Beau Willimon.
Starring: Ryan Gosling, George Clooney, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Paul Giamatti, Evan Rachel Wood, Marisa Tomei, Jeffrey Wright, Max Minghella, Jennifer Ehle.
Running time: 101 min.
Politics. They're one thing that I should have a strong stance on, but every time I hear about them, my brain switches off. I'm sure they're really interesting and all, but the only thing I think about before my brain switches off is how our government thinks it is okay to take money out of the education system, and they wonder why nothing good ever comes out of this place. It just confuses the crap out of me. One thing that confuses me even more is the way that American politics work. I could not tell you the first thing about American politics. So I guess that makes it seem like The Ides of March, George Clooney's latest directorial effort which is all about a presidential candidate's campaign trail, would not be a very good film for me. Admittedly, a bit of Ryan Gosling eased me into things, but The Ides of March was enough to not only get me a little more interested in the ins and outs of politics (only a little, though), but my eyes were opened to the stuff that may or may not be happening behind these smooth talking hot-shots who claim to have the right stuff for running a country.
This day an entire year ago, I watched The Social Network for the first time. You remember how I did this list to go with my one year anniversary between Inception and I? Well it's just the cool thing to do when I love a movie and we've been together for a whole year. The Social Network is a film which perhaps many of you have forgotten about now, after all of the awards season mish-mash was over and we all had to accept that The King's Speech won because it was pure Oscar bait. But for me, The Social Network is a film that I saw twice in cinemas, then watched three times in one week as it came out on DVD, and have watched eight times all up. Basically, it's a film I wish I made, and I'm sure that I could find more than 52 things that I love about it, but I'm limiting myself here!
So here's my 52 things I love about The Social Network...one for every week that has passed since that glorious first viewing (not in any order):
1. That amazing first scene. Music to my ears.
2. Rooney Mara's small, but outstanding performance.
3. The many hoodies Mark Zuckerberg wears.
4. Oh, and let's not forget the lovely Adidas flip flops.
5. Watching Mark run around during the credits before finally making it to his room.
6. The song 'In Motion' backing the wonderful editing between the party and Mark making 'FaceMash'.
7. Farm animals. They are referenced throughout the film more than one would think.
8. Seeing Andrew Garfield rock up. That dude's got swag.
9. Everything that Eduardo Saverin wears. He dresses extremely well.
10. Oh, and let's not forget Andrew Garfield's performance. I'm still kinda pissed that he didn't get an Oscar nomination.
11. Jesse Eisenberg's Oscar nominated performance is revolutionary. Who knew he had so much narcissism and douchebaggery in him?
12. "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." - I hope that one day I'm given the opportunity to use this line.
13. The sneaky Fight Club reference in the film. Tyler Durden makes an appearance in the film - you've just gotta keep your eyes peeled!
14. David Fincher directed this. And we all know that David Fincher is awesomeness.
15. Give David Fincher an Aaron Sorkin script and that's too much awesomeness for one Stevee to handle all at once.
16. Armie Hammer 2x. Because you know what's better than having one perfectly gorgeous Armie Hammer? Having two of them.
17. "I'm 6'5", 220 and there's two of me."
18. I never feel like Max Minghella ever gets enough credit for his performance...or anything.
19. The Caribbean Night. That looked like a good party.
20. Eduardo's dance. Always has me in fits of laughter.
21. How happy Eduardo is after he and Christy Lee, along with Mark and Alice (in a separate cubicle) do R-rated stuff in the bathrooms.
22. ...and the Josh Pence cameo that follows.
23. Being able to tell the difference between the 'Winklevii'.
25. Also, the song 'Intriguing Possibilities'. It's the best song to listen to when you're typing.
26. Mark's 'praying' after The Facebook goes live.
27. "I think if your clients want to sit on my shoulders and call themselves tall, they have the right to give it a try - but there's no requirement that I enjoy sitting here listening to people lie. You have part of my attention - you have the minimum amount. The rest of my attention is back at the offices of Facebook, where my colleagues and I are doing things that no one in this room, including and especially your clients, are intellectually or creatively capable of doing. Did I adequately answer your condescending question?"
28. Forced cannibalism. That poor chicken.
29. "Don't the fish eat the other fish?! The marlins and the trout!"
30. I guess I should mention how good Justin Timberlake is in this movie. I still can't take him seriously, though.
31. The subtle Natalie Portman reference. She was the movie star on campus.
34. That guy who didn't know that the guest speaker was Bill Gates.
35. Mark checking the math - $18,000+$1,000 does indeed equal $19,000.
36. How I wrote an essay on this for one of my assessments this year, and I spent a whole paragraph talking about the colours used in this film. They really are magical.
37. The Sean-a-thon. Everything from that swanky restaurant, to the appletinis, to 'Magnetic' playing in the background. Oh, and "A million dollars isn't cool. You know what's cool?" "You?" "A billion dollars. And that shut everybody up."
38. The little punch Mark gives Eduardo when he comes to California from New York. So precious.
39. The club scene. The lighting, the story about Victoria's Secret creator that Sean tells, and 'The Sound of Violence'. Brilliance on so many levels.
40. The "I'm CEO, bitch" cards. I'm gonna get me some of those one day.
41. The Henley sequence. So well done. Only David Fincher and double Armie Hammer's could make rowing look appealing to me.
42. MARK'S FACE!
43. The Winklevii meeting with royalty. Just brutal.
44. The way Eduardo smashes Mark's laptop. "How about now? You still wired in?"
45. "Sorry! My Prada's at the cleaners! Along with my hoodie and my 'fuck you' flip-flops, you pretentious douchebag!" Oh, how I've always wanted to use this line.
46. Gretchen: What was Mr. Zuckerberg's ownership share diluted down to?
Eduardo Saverin: It wasn't.
Gretchen: What was Dustin Moskovitz's ownership share diluted down to?
Eduardo Saverin: It wasn't.
Gretchen: What was Sean Parker's ownership share diluted down to?
Eduardo Saverin: It wasn't.
Gretchen: What was Peter Thiel's ownership share diluted down to?
Eduardo Saverin: It wasn't.
Gretchen: And what was your ownership share diluted down to?
Eduardo Saverin: .03 percent. Me: :''''''(
47. "You better lawyer up asshole, because I'm not coming back for 30%, I'm coming back for EVERYTHING." I shamefully admit that I use this line every day in the most inappropriate situations.
48. When Sean gets caught with the drugs, and 'The Gentle Hum of Anxiety' plays in the background. That was the soundtrack to my March, for some reason.
49. The special features included with the 2-disc edition are the best.
50. "You're not an asshole, Mark, you're just trying so hard to be."
51. The film's end. Mark sits there, staring at his computer, waiting for Erica to accept his friend request, and 'Baby, You're a Rich Man' by The Beatles starts playing. Perfection.
52. That nearly every single line in this movie is quote material. Which means it's one hell of a film. I wish I had made it.
So there's my 52 reasons why I love what is possibly one of the best movies of my generation. Why do you love it?
Since 2004 the world has slowly been introduced to a different world filled with ‘likes’, ‘pokes’ and having more friends than everyone else. Whether you like to admit it or not, Facebook has taken over the world as we know it. So this was an ample opportunity for Aaron Sorkin to write an awesome screenplay and have famed director of murder-themed films David Fincher helm a film about the making of Facebook. When I first heard about this project I was a little confused as to why they would do this, but I, like many people, was completely blown away by what The Social Network achieved. This is highly intelligent drama at its absolute best, and really is the ‘film of our generation’.
Facebook is a website known for connecting people via technology and claims to ‘bring people together’. However, its creator, Mark Zuckerberg (played by Jesse Eisenberg), experienced the opposite after he created this phenomenon. The Social Network takes a look at the early days of Facebook and the two lawsuits that came with it: his best friend Eduardo (Andrew Garfield) suing him for trying to get him out of his company; and Divya Narendra (Max Minghella) and Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss (Armie Hammer) suing him for ‘stealing their idea’.
This movie could have been made about a guy making a chair and it would still be wildly intriguing. The Facebook factor just adds novelty. The story it tells is one of friendship, betrayal, greed, power and the inability to connect with anyone. When we first meet Zuckerberg, jabbering away at his girlfriend Erica (Rooney Mara, the next ‘Girl with the Dragon Tattoo’), we see a man completely devoid of emotion and simply unaware of what it means to be socially ‘with it’. While this scene sets up his cold character, the way this one opening scene is written by Aaron Sorkin is so brilliant. I swear every word in the English language was stuck into that one scene, thus setting the tone for the rest of the movie.
The Social Network is a perfectly made film. The Oscar winning script is perfect in the way that it has all the trimmings to make a fine thriller. The Oscar winning music by Nine Inch Nails front man Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross is totally modern and the way it zips across each scene is perfect. The Oscar nominated (and unfairly robbed) direction by David Fincher combines techniques he used in his past films Zodiac and FightClub to make this an intense drama. While this isn’t the type of film he usually makes, he proves he is one of the best directors working at the moment. The Social Network is exactly like Fight Club without Marla Singer. And it’s beautiful.
Perhaps the best asset within The Social Network is the performances. Jesse Eisenberg (Zombieland), known for playing awkward and sweet geeks, makes a complete transformation as narcissistic and cold Zuckerberg. Even though his Oscar nominated performance is beyond amazing, he’s nothing without his friendship with Eduardo Saverin. Andrew Garfield (the next Spider-man) serves as the emotional joint of the film, and his final confrontation with Mark shows exactly how talented Garfield is. You heard it here first: he is the star of the future. Justin Timberlake does a damn good performance as Sean Parker; Disney starlet Brenda Song is crazy as Eduardo’s girlfriend; Armie Hammer does a brilliant job of playing a set of twins; and Rooney Mara, in three scenes, blew me away.
Unfortunately, The Social Network was unfairly and inexplicably robbed of Best Picture by The King’sSpeech. I will always regard this movie as the better one of the two. I simply can’t speak any higher of TheSocial Network. It’s a frequently funny, enjoyable and fresh piece of cinema that ‘captures the spirit of the times’. Believe it.
THE VERDICT:Should have won Best Picture. Obviously, too modern for the voters.
It's not like The Social Network needs any more awards, because, quite frankly, it has this whole awards season won. While most people keep going on about how great the Aaron Sorkin script is or what a great transformation this is for Jesse Eisenberg, many seem to forget the other actors and actresses in this movie. Without their stellar, polished performances obviously made perfect by DavidFincher's 50 take regime, this movie wouldn't have been nearly the Citizen Kane comparison it has become. Let's have a look at the people who have a sizeable part in this film:
Jesse Eisenberg has the lead in this film, and to the surprise of many sceptics, he does a star job which has seen him become a front runner in the awards race. Before this movie had come out, Jesse shot to fame in such films as Adventureland and Zombieland, but was quickly degraded to being another Michael Cera. As soon as The Social Network came out, people soon started to sing his praises. The thing is, you can't read too much into his version of Mark Zuckerberg, because we can't quite believe that someone could really be that deadpan. It's just the way that Jesse wraps himself around Sorkin's dialogue, where he finds himself having a million conversations rolled into one and subtly dragging people down to his level. If you dare try and look into his eyes, it's like nothing is happening, even though you can feel thoughts bouncing around his brain at a million miles an hour. It's a rare trait that Jesse possesses, which could see him nabbing the Oscar (that's if he can get past Colin Firth, which probably won't happen). The bad thing about his performance is that it outshines everyone, and all the other great performances within the movie are often forgotten.
Andrew Garfield serves as the most emotional part of the film, which seems to be working in his favour when it comes to the awards. His supporting performance is by no means the best, as there isn't really a lot for him to chew on, but he has made use of this opportunity to let his star shine. Whenever he's on screen, he seems to light it up, playing the Phoenix dreamer who is often misunderstood and forgotten. Andrew does a remarkable job, and once the second half unravels we see Eduardo Saverin becoming a main character, as we see all the bad things about Zuckerberg coming straight from his characters perspective. It’s a little strange that Andrew is getting so much attention for this role particularly, when he also starred in Never Let Me Go, which has been surprisingly missing from awards circuits. Though he hasn’t got the SAG award nomination to back him up, I’d be very surprised if he didn’t get nominated.
Thought Jesse had it tough when he had to play a cynical billionaire instead of being an awkward lovesick puppy? Well nothing could beat the difficulty Armie Hammer must have faced when he was chosen to play not one, but two characters. Instead of getting a set of twins to play Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, David Fincher opted to get two very different looking people to play the two, and then covered up Josh Pence’s face with Armie’s. The best thing about this is the fact that Armie is so great at playing both of them and pulls of the twin thing entirely. While they are identical and do everything exactly the same, you can always feel the difference in Armie’s performance. It’s a little scary watching the characters interact sometimes. I’m surprised that more people haven’t picked up on his performances. He plays the power-hungry, always a winner, and slightly arrogant pretty boy perfectly, times two.
Heads were turned and eyes were rolled when people found out that this movie starred Justin Timberlake. Sure, he had been in some decent movies, but he’ll always be the little teen idol from N*sync. I think you’ll agree, Timberlake was pretty damn good as Sean Parker. He does some great characterization, especially when there are all those hints of Sean’s possible paranoia. If we were to see another film about Sean, then it could be possible that he clearly has some mental issues. He’s like that kid who isn’t really that cool until he gets a lot of confidence, which is by no means natural. Even though Mark can’t see it, but the audience sees that Sean is a bit of a dodgy dealer and is not to be messed with. He always has to be at the centre of everything, and if anything, Sean is really the villain of this story. That is a point that Timberlake plays with by making the character very cocky. Once you confront him or put him down in any way, he falls apart, as seen in the moment where Eduardo goes to punch him.
Max Minghella, who plays the Winklevoss’s friend Divya Narendra, is often the most forgotten actor in this movie. Sure, Narendra isn’t the biggest figure in this movie, as he is often over shadowed by his twin friends, but without Narendra, there wouldn’t have been any Winklevoss’s. He’s the voice of reason for them, and is also the brain box who figures out their ideas and puts them into action. It goes without saying; he has one of the best lines in the film: “No, I wanna hire the Sopranos to beat the shit out of him with a hammer!” (which was outshone by Tyler’s line “I’m 6’5”, 220 points, and there’s two of me.”). His performance isn’t exactly awards worthy, but he doesn’t deserve being forgotten. After all, he managed to get nominated with everyone else for the ‘Best Acting Ensemble’ award at the Screen Actors Guild, ahead of the following actors.
One of the scenes most associated with The Social Network is its brilliant opening scene where we see Mark in conversation with his then girlfriend Erica Albright. This is barely what you would call a one man show from Eisenberg. Rooney Mara is perfect in this scene. As she is perfect in her brief second scene and her third scene, where she pushes Mark away in front of all her friends. She seems to be the only one in this movie who can take a beating from Mark’s words and retaliate quickly, leaving Mark lost for words (which is something that doesn’t happen often in the film). I love her power and soul in this movie so much that I rank her as one of my favourite supporting performances in 2010 and also one of the better performances within this film. Sadly, she didn’t make the cut for the ‘Best Ensemble’ award at the Screen Actors Guild, nor is she likely to get any other nominations, but I can see heaps coming her way once The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo comes out. Just you wait and see.
If people were paying attention to this film enough back in the early days, then their heads probably turned and their eyes would have rolled when they heard that Brenda Song was another Disney star joining the film. Brenda plays Eduardo’s psychotic girlfriend Christy Lee, who is maybe a little too clingy, a little too questionable and a little too overbearing, that she could have driven Eduardo to insanity if he didn’t abort ship. This is a perfect role for Brenda to break out of the Disney curse with, but she didn’t quite do that, as she is still tied to many Disney projects. She was great in the role, even if she was trying a little too hard to be really scary.
Another performance which is all too forgotten is Rashida Jones’ turn as Marylin Delpy, one of the people sitting in on the court cases which Mark found himself in. It’s a little silly that she is forgotten, because she has the last stab in this movie, with the line “You’re not an asshole, Mark. You’re just trying so hard to be.” Like Max Minghella, Rashida’s performance is by no means awards worthy, but she proves that she can carry her background role with the necessary means. Marylin may be the only one who believes in Mark in the end, which makes the decision to love or loathe him very hard.
Other performances within the film that should be recognized are: Joseph Mazzello as Dustin Moskovitz, Denise Grayson as Gretchen, and John Getz as Sy.
