Monday, 11 October 2010

The Social Network

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9 comments:

  1. James11/10/2010, 03:04

    Fincher keeps to his career path. Odd numbered films excellent examples of genre movies (Alien 3, The Game, Panic Room, Benjamin Button). Even numbered films (Seven, Fight Club, Zodiac) magnificent.

    Fantastic screenplay. Features some of the best written dialogue I've heard for a while. Forget any cynical preconceptions of it just being "The Facebook movie" and go see it.

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  2. Anonymous11/10/2010, 09:35

    Alien 3 sucked. The fact that 3 and 4 come with the forthcoming Alien Anthology on Blu Ray will make me think twice about getting it.

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  3. James11/10/2010, 15:54

    Alien 3 is clearly a film messed with by studio suits and rushed to meet it's release date (which was announced before the script was finished). It's patchy, but vastly superior to almost every other studio interfered movie, it's the best looking movie of the franchise and has a magnificent end. Fincher has disowned it because it wasn't the film he wanted to make. Yes, it's the one that is below par in his catalogue,, but for what it was, with all the bullshit that surrounded it, it was very good. I prefer watching it to the emotional vacuum (but better film) that is Alien because I actually give a fuck about the characters.

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  4. Anonymous11/10/2010, 16:17

    Definitely agree that Alien is the better film. Not sure about the emotional vacuum thing though. I personally had more of an emotional connection with Alien than any other from the series. Maybe that means I'm an emotional vacuum too, I dunno.

    Still, how is Ripley - who is clearly the character where most of our emotional investment is supposed to go - any more sympathetic in Aliens or Alien 3 than she was in Alien?

    In Aliens, does anyone really give a fuck about any of the marines? They're a great laugh as a set of characters, but with the possible exception of Hicks, a bunch of assholes really!

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  5. James12/10/2010, 00:18

    Alien is an exceptionally well crafted film, but I find the humans barely human and devoid of development. They are all just fodder and when it comes to them getting picked off I've just never cared about them. It's a consistent flaw in everything Ridley Scott's ever made; I just don't care. Pretty pictures with nothing behind them. This works well enough in a few of his films (Alien, Blade Runner, um...), but just makes them all feel hollow.

    Ripley herself has no "life". She's just a woman who works on a ship. Who she is, where she came from, what motivates her, what she cares about... All the human elements of Ripley are introduced in the second movie and brought to their conclusion in 3. This is why Ripley's more sympathetic, or more empathetic, in the sequels. It's kind of the point of her in the first though as she's the character you least expect to survive, being the most blank canvas you expect her to die early as that is what happens t those characters. But it only works once and if you know there's Aliens (and that Weaver's a star now) before you ever see Alien it never works.

    Aliens is comfortably the best of the franchise. Again it does well by taking it's time, building to the attack brilliantly. This time though when the Aliens are unleashed it is far more gripping. Not only do you have a strong emotional core to the movie with Ripley and Newt, you also give a damn about Hicks, Bishop is more human and empathetic than anyone in Alien and Burke is a cunt. So not only is the action elements far more exciting, you're far more invested in them.

    I've never quite understood the vitriol hurled at Alien 3. It may not be as good as the first 2, but that does not make it bad. In fact Ripley's journey is great. Knowing that the thing that has destroyed everyone you care about is going to destroy you and you can't escape it is a far more emotional story than any in Alien. Yes, beyond her there's just a lot of fodder, especially after the whole middle 20 minutes of the movie was excised with one cut, but they are fun fodder. Charles Dance works hard to generate empathy, Charles Dutton's nails and Brian Glover's enormous fun.

    It's not the best movie ever, but as an example of a "monster killing off people" movie it's, at worst, a good example. It's not Alien, Aliens, The Thing, but it pissed on the likes of Species, Mimic, The Relic and the like.

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  6. James12/10/2010, 00:27

    Regarding the bluray set... not only do you get 3 & 4, you get 2 versions of each; both of which were in the Quadrilogy (thank God that word can be put to bed after the BR's come out). The alternate 4 just has a gay scene on Earth at the end and an intro shot that sets up a better tone to see 4 in (wacky comedy). 4's still not that good though.

    The alternate 3 reintroduced the middle with McGann going crazy which fixes a few of the inconsistencies, but it does also include a couple of irrelevant alternate scenes (the Alien isn't born out of a dag). A mix of the two would be the best version possible.

    I'm assuming the excellent, in depth, documentary about the making of 3 will also be in there which gives a great insight into the mess the studio execs made of production. It also shows a lot of the original concepts where there planet was meant to be a monastary made of wood until all that was ditched a few weeks before shooting started. That's why all the actors have shaved heads. Whether you re-evaluate 3 or not the documentary is a superb watch. Get the Blurays, Ted!

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  7. McK12/10/2010, 08:33

    All Alien movies are over rated. This is a post about The Social Network, take it elsewhere.

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  8. James12/10/2010, 15:26

    Sorry, we did get carried away.

    I will reiterate what I said at the start, The Social Network is magnificent; one of Fincher's great films.

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  9. Ed20/03/2011, 23:32

    Just saw this - thought it was very good: well written, well acted and gripping, given the subject matter. Not as 'dark' as I had been led to expect though...

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