Best Picture

     This week we decided to review another Oscar loser for our DVD Reviewsday. The Social Network was originally tagged for best picture winner, but was overtaken by The King's Speech. Honestly, we felt this was dubious, and decided to check out "the facebook movie" for a review.
     The Social Network is the latest film by director David Fincher, who also directed classic thrillers such as Alien 3, Se7en, Fight Club, and Zodiac. While Social Network is not a thriller, it is shot and edited like one, giving the movie a brisk pace, especially for such a solitary subject. It is strange to think of social networking as a solitary activity, but it is something that we often do alone.
     Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg is a lonely figure in the film. He creates his first great project after a fight with a girl, while drunk. FaceMash uses stolen pictures of Harvard undergrads to rank women based on sexual attractiveness. This gets him noticed, mainly by the Winklevoss twins, who offer to hire Zuckerberg to create a dating site using only Harvard email accounts. Instead, Zuckerberg uses their idea of exclusivity to create a social network, The Facebook, with start-up money from his friend Eduardo Saverin. The Winklevoss's and Saverin would both go on to sue Zuckerberg, and the depositions serve as the plot vehicle for the film.
     Seriously, the story of facebook has enough deception and intrigue to make it a fine film on it's own, but it's the position that facebook itself holds within our global society that makes this movie a must-see. Facebook allows users from all over the world to express their thoughts and desires. Facebook connects people from across cultures, and brings down regimes. Last month, an Egyptian family named their newborn baby Facebook.
     So, bravo to the Academy. While we haven't had a chance to review The Kings Speech yet, we're sure that the acting, costumes, writing, and editing are all really great, but it's the relevancy of The Social Network that merits best picture. It is a study of the characters behind an innovation no less important than the printing press.