3 in 1!!!

So, three reviews in one blog post, what a privilege for you, dear reader!

First up: Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part 1. In a word: terrible. In two words: terribly boring. In several more words: terribly boring without any actual depth, character development, interesting dialog, creative lighting or unexpected anything. It is, at best, a shoddy collection of poorly filmed and barely connected scenes that amount to a waste of two and a half hours.

Don't waste your time or money.

Secondly: Skyline. Infinitely better than Harry Potter, and also better than expected. It has an almost identical plot to Cloverfield; people are at a party in an apartment in a big city, when something falls from the sky and strange things start to happen. While Cloverfield was game-changing and inventive, what with it's gritty, low-budget-yet-quality effects and hand held camera style, Skyline is just a bit more than a fun romp. There's layering to the movie, believable dialog, awesome special effects and shots, a mostly unknown cast and a fresh take on aliens.

While there were certainly facets of the film that weren't explored that a geek like me would love to know (mostly backstory stuff), it gave enough context clues to allow one to invent their own answers.

I would recommended hurrying to see it ASAP. Maybe wait for it to be in blockbuster, or download it illegally. If you enjoy sci-fi, this is a goody.

(And) Thirdly: A Day To Remember's new album What Seperates Me From You.

Actually, I'll review that later and (hopefully) post it along with my review of Disambiguation.

A Movie Reflection and Not Much Else

I really do more with my life than watch movies. Honest.

But I love the cinema and will go whenever I have a chance, and this weekend I had two chances, so I took both. The first movie was The Social Network, which the blog prior to this one was about, the second, as I'm sure you realized, was Easy A.

Now, they are both good movies, but for radically different reasons. The Social Network is a serious biopic based on real events that will still be an amazing movie 10 years from now and will probably do well at the Academy Awards.

Easy A is a fun romp that requires little personal investment but elicits lots of laughs. While it is a comedy, it is a smart(er) comedy. Rather than depend on some idiot goofing off and acting like a mentally deficient child (coughadamsandlercoughwillferralcough), Easy A gets most of it's laughs from the script and delivery of the dialog. It's smart, satirical and over the top in just the right way. It pokes fun at itself for using cliches and conventions, and often points out how often these topics or actions have been employed (teacher who raps, how fast rumors spread, having a classic novel being studied in the english class that reflects the plot of the movie). The main character's (whose name escapes me) parents are completely inane but somehow still believable. It's also incredibly refreshing to see teenagers actually get along with their parents and go to them for help instead of treating them like the clue-less enemy.

Something else that I enjoyed about it though was it's philosophical and literary underpinnings. One major and obvious reference is to The Scarlett Letter by Nathanial Hawthorne. This book helps to further the plot and act as a guide to the protagonists actions (which, as aforementioned, is a stereotype that the film-makers acknowledge and embrace). But beyond this, there were lines of dialog here and there that reference other classics of literature. At one point in a webcast the main character holds up a sign that says something to the effect of "Not with a bang, but a ..." I can't recall what word she substituted for 'whisper', but it was a clear reference to T.S. Elliot's masterful poem The Hollow Men. How, if at all, that poem is connected to Easy A isn't something that is immediately apparent to my 2AM mind, but I'm sure there are connections somewhere. There is also the line "rumors of my promiscuity have been greatly exaggerated" a play on Mark Twain/Samuel Clemens snarky one liner "rumors of my demise have been greatly exaggerated." Twain also gets a shout out for Huckleberry Finn, so that piece of referential continuity is nice.

There were two major issue's I had with the film, one being more important than the other. I'll start with the less serious one: Easy A continually relies on other classics to give itself wings. The movie ends with the main character and some Deus Ex Machina love interest riding away on a lawnmower to "Don't You Forget About Me" with their fists raised triumphantly in the air. While the John Hughes tribute was nice, it gets a little tiring when movies don't try to invent any new memorable moments, rather must recreate moments that are 30 years old. Second issue: mis-portrayal of Jesus' followers. While I'm used to seeing Christians completely misrepresented in movies, they usually refer to some sort of odd, New Age-ish 'god-entity' that is obviously nothing like the one in the Bible. In Easy A, the 'Christians' bring up Jesus and act like judgmental zealots in His name. Which is sad, because that's completely contrary to what Jesus was about.

Work And The Social Network

If you're reading this for a review of the movie The Social Network, scroll down to the photo and heading that says The Social Network. Otherwise, keep reading.

Today I finished up my third shift at my new job, No Frills. It's nice. It's so much more laid-back than any other job I've ever worked, and as such I often find myself confused because I'm enjoying the work.

The newness of it will eventually wear off of course, and the monotony will set in and I'll want to shoot myself in the face. Until then though, I will enjoy it as much as possible.

The Social Network

I went into this movie with high expectations. The director, David Fincher, directed arguably the most brilliant movie of the 90's, and as such I was assuming this would be at least a little good.

I assumed wrong, it wasn't a little good; it was a whole ton of good.

I can honestly say that I love this movie. It's completely brilliant. There are so many strong elements to this movie that picking where to begin is like trying to eat France: you just don't even know where to start.

The first thing that really, really got my attention as I sat in the theatre was the dialog. Mark Zuckerberg (played by Jesse someone or other from Adventureland and Zombieland) has a long and almost confusing conversation with his soon-to-be-ex-girlfriend Erika. The speed and inanity of the conversation is a lot like university; there is so much happening that finding where you were is just as hard as establishing where you are going. The scene helps to establish that this movie is going places. It sets the character of Mark Z. perfectly, or rather, realistically. He is a tortured anti-hero, consumed by his own genius in a subtle way. He is snarky, sarcastic, sardonic and all around a fascinating protagonist.

The next major element to catch my attention was the soundtrack. After Mark is dumped, he jogs back to his dorm. As I sat watching him be the most athletic he would be in the movie, I wondered why there was dark industrial ambient music pumping out the sound system, then the credit for scoring was given to Trent Reznor, and it all made sense. Trent Reznor is best known as the creative force behind Nine Inch Nails, and a prodigy of sorts to Marylin Manson.

The scoring for the movie is immaculate and fresh. Relying heavily on electronica-based mood music, Reznor helps to set a perfect atmosphere, not just chronologically, but personally.

Next up on the chopping block: Film technique. David Fincher does a stupendous job behind the camera. The most standout usage to me was that of focus, and how it was employed for different scenes. It was not always on the most obvious spot, so it made you look for a spot to rest your eyes. It forces you to examine the shot, much in the same way the over-all feel of the movie forces you to re-examine it as a whole. There is a myriad of nuances strewn throughout the movie that subtly mirror facebook: the appearance of characters sporadically, similar to Facebook's newsfeed, the non-linear timeline constantly giving us different snap-shots into different parts of mark's life, akin to one's 'wall' on facebook. I feel that in order to fully appreciate the scope of the movie, I'd have to see it again.

Even looking back on it now, I know there was more that I liked about it, but it's all garbled together in my still astounded 2AM mind.

I think it just boils down to the fact that this is a character driven movie. Yeah, sure, the plot is awesome and engrossing, but where the movie really earns its stripes is in the acting. It's like watching REAL reality T.V. with actual people instead of people trying to be silicone versions of someone else. But, they're just really good actors. Really, Really good actors.

I would be surprised if this movie doesn't win an Oscar or two, and I'd be downright appalled if it wasn't even nominated.