The Social Network

After reading great reviews about the Facebook movie, The Social Network, I was eager to see it. Even though I had also read a New Yorker profile of Mark Zuckerberg that claims that the movie distorted some of the facts about Facebook’s inception, I was still persuaded to see the movie. And It was really good.

I liked seeing the world of Harvard and the amazing gifted and privileged students at Harvard and how these youngsters, future leaders of the world, create amazing start up companies in their dorm rooms. It makes you feel old and not so smart, but it is definitely something to see.

I also enjoyed the Winklevoss brothers (two of Zuckerberg’s “victims”)– the young wealthy twins who row crew and act as if there right out of Brideshead Revisited. Plus, Zuckerberg’s friend, Eduardo, who is Facebook’s co-founder, is another reason to see the movie – played by Andrew Garfield – he’s sweet and earnest and a good friend and the perfect contrast to Zuckerberg’s icy wit.

And of course, Zuckerberg, played by Jesse Eisenberg, is great. He is downright mean but very funny throughout the movie, and it is especially pointed when he sheds some of that meanness at the end of the movie. I wondered if the real Zuckerberg is really that funny. The movie starts out as a profile of the brilliant world of Harvard with all its amazing possibilities and ends in the brighter but meaner world of California and throughout it is a great movie.

If interested, like I was, in a fact check of the movie, check out this site.

Temple Grandin and Get Low

I don’t know if others have had the experience of weeping through Temple Grandin, but this movie really got to me. Besides loving Claire Danes and thinking she is amazing in this movie, I cheered on her subject, Temple Grandin, a brilliant autistic woman who overcame her fears and achieved her goals. Because of her intuitive understanding of animals, she able to make cattle lots more compassionate for the cattle. She also has been able to explain what it is like to be autistic. This movie is definitely one that tugs at your heartstrings (which normally I hate in a movie) but the combination of Claire Danes’ great acting and Temple Grandin’s remarkable life, makes this movie well worth watching and a genuinely inspirational story.

I also saw Get Low about a grizzled hermit who emerges from the woods and declares he would like to plan his funeral and attend it. Robert Duvall is the crusty old guy; Bill Murray is the potentially shady funeral director; and Sissy Spacek is the old girlfriend. Holding the movie together and giving it some perspective is the young guy named Buddy played by Lucas Black who works for Murray’s character. For me, his reactions to the events of the movie was the most interesting part. The movie had a few genuine original moments but was mostly pretty forgettable.

Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (2002)

Confessions of a Dangerous Mind is based on a Charlie Kaufman screen play, so you know it’s going to be freaky. And indeed it is. Charlie Kaufman is known for oddball screenplays like Being John Malkovich, Synecdoche, New York, Adaptation, and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Not only does Confessions of a Dangerous Mind have the weirdness of Charlie Kaufman but also depicts the life of the ultra weirdo Chuck Barris of The Gong Show fame. The movie, based on Chuck Barris’ autobiography, tries to convince us that Barris, in addition to creating a host of mod game shows (The Dating Game, The Newlywed Game, and the Gong Show etc.), is also a CIA agent and George Clooney (also the director of this movie) plays his bullying contact who forces him into being a gun for hire. Wikipedia says that it was never proven that Barris was a CIA agent, so who knows what to think about that. What’s also weird about this movie: strange camera angles, bizarre lighting, surreal colors, and cuts back and forth in time. Though highly stylized it’s really funny at the same time, partly because of Barris’ reaction to events and also from some star’s cameos like Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, George Clooney, Julia Roberts (*take note of bizarre kissing scene) and a don’t miss hilarious drill sergeant played by Robert John Burke. All in all, I am glad that I got a chance to see this movie which was not on my radar. Thanks Michelle for tuning me into this movie.

Julie and Julia, Guest Entry by my Mom, Doralu

Julie and Julia exceeded my expectations. Meryl Streep, who I have always admired, IS Julia. I went with my two daughters and we all were engrossed from beginning to end. There are two stories to the movie: Two people from different generations, whose lives become entwined by a love of food and cooking. One story centers on Julia Child's life in France and one is about Julie Powell, the blogger who in one year attempted make all of the recipes in Child's famous French cooking book. We had read that the Amy Adams part as Julie was not as good the Streep parts of the movie. But we disagreed and found the blogger Julie played by Amy Adams to be very good in her role and her story very important to the movie as a whole. Despite that I, especially thought Julia Child's life was interesting; her husband was an American diplomat who traveled around the world in China and of course France. After Child's took a cooking class at the Cordon Blue, she became obsessed with French cooking. Her next step was collaborating with two French women on the masterpiece cookbook, Mastering the Art of French Cooking. Coincidentally when we got back from the movie, we saw Meryl Streep and Nora Ephron on Charlie Rose. A nice ending to the day.

Control

Control is about Ian Curtis, lead singer of Joy Division. Director Anton Corbijn focuses on the part of his life that leads up to his suicide. It’s an arty movie, black and white, with the Sam Riley as Curtis who mopes around the screen, decrying his epilepsy and stage fright. Despite these gloomy bits, the movie isn’t a bummer. Instead it’s pretty compelling. You don’t really figure out what makes the awkward misfit Curtis so unhappy, but it is fascinating to watch a man, that is not made to be a rock star, perform as if it is a heavy burden. Have you ever seen him dance? It is bizarre, very march-like, and Riley does it spot on. I even checked YouTube and was amazed how closely he matched Curtis’ odd march-like dancing style. The movie also made me want to download some Joy Division, which I was never a big fan of, but now want to revisit their enigmatic music.

Secret Life of W. and Australia

Three movies I have seen in the last week:

The Secret Life of Bees: I liked Dakota Fanning as Lily, the girl escaping her abusive father with the help of her African American housekeeper (Huck Finn, anyone?) But the movie gets too syrupy and "heartfelt". A bonus is the appearance of Paul Bettany, a great British actor as the father.

W.: too much of a caricature of George Bush -- Oliver Stone is as heavy handed as he was in JFK.

Australia: This movie could have been ended after two hours when the cattle were driven to market. A perfect ending, almost, but there was still another hour and a half! Yikes! I actually had to watch it over two evenings. I can't imagine sitting through the whole thing in the theater. There is a very cool Baz Lurman (Moulin Rouge) highly-stylized look with a dash of Gone with the Wind and Wizard of Oz thrown in. But it's a mess of a movie in the end. It could possibly be worth seeing it for the adorable aboriginal boy who is also the narrator for the story, but probably not.

Music Within

While Music Within is a made-for-TV-like melodramatic bio pic, it tells about a very important moment in history when the Americans with Disabilities Act was passed and how Richard Pimentel was instrumental in educating the public about people with disabilities. Richard Pimentel is played Ron Livingston who is a very likable actor. Pimentel's good friend Art, Michael Sheen (recently in Frost Nixon), is a man with Cerebral Palsy who teaches his friend about living with CP. I found myself drawn in by this movie and I think anyone who is interested in this topic would like this movie.

I also saw Feast of Love this weekend. Dumb ensemble piece with good actors like Greg Kinnear and Morgan Freeman (who plays the same role he always does -- wise mentor). I chose both these movies from seeing previews on a DVD. That usually does not work out so well and Feast of Love proves that.

La Vie En Rose

I finally got a chance to see La Vie En Rose, the biopic about Edith Piaf. I have Piaf's music on my iPod and play it for my students from time to time, much to their wonderment. And, I guess, I was a little leery about watching the movie, maybe for the same reason I never saw Angela's Ashes; I loved this book so much and had read that the movie was a dour remake of the original; I didn't want the movie to ruin my vision of the book. When I heard that La Vie En Rose focused on Piaf's train wreck of a life, I was leery. Despite these reservations, the movie was fascinating and the lead actress, Marion Cotillard, is captivating and impossible not to watch.