My Top Ten Films of 2010, Somewhat.

    
       Oh another year has gone by and I feel as if I've done nothing substantial. Nonetheless, I did watch a few good films. And when I say few, I mean 2010 films. I think I've watched 10 (get the connection? No. Ofcourse). However, being the list-fiend I am, I'm still gonna make a Top-Ten Films of 2010 List!! Enjoy.

NOTE: I haven't seen 127 Hours, The Kids are All Right, Blue Valentine, The King's Speech, Winter's Bone, True Grit, I Am Love etc. And yes, I do know I should jump off a cliff before calling myself a film critic again.

1) The Social Network- What is left to say that I haven't said before? This film just gives me so much joy everytime I see it. Also, I realised today it was the funniest film I've seen this year. Also, Andrew Garfield stole my heart.

2) Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1- Never thought a Harry Potter film can surprise me like this. But HP7 just shook me, in a very very good way. Yes, most critics would kill me for alone putting this film on the list, and even more for putting it before the numbers 3 and 5, but the dance scene and the Deathly Hallows scene can stand up to any such animosity.

3) Inception- This is probably the coolest film of the year, or the decade. The whole concept is nothing short of revolutionary and the film might just become the uber-talented Christopher Nolan's magnum opus. Add to that a fantastic cast, with Joseph Gordon-Levitt stealing the show from Leo DiCaprio big time.

4) Easy A- I just love a good chick flick. And this one's pretty much on top this year. Emma Stone's brilliant breakthrough performance with a hilarious support cast and a really smart take on a beloved classic, Easy A is easily one of the year's best.

5) Black Swan- Darren Aronofsky's frightening and beautiful and melodramatic spin on the Swan Lake tale, with the excruciatingly stunning and talented Natalie Portman is a fantastic drama. Ah this film and it's dazzling look and feel, and the shock-factor. Quite perfect.

6) Toy Story 3- I saw this yesterday. I am very sorry for the late viewing, but still this film was just awesome!! I love Woody and Buzz and Andy! It's funny, magical and so touching at the same time. Best Animated Film his year by a mile.

7) Never Let Me Go- *wipes a tear off my face* God I loved this film. It just touched my heart so much. The story, the metaphor, Andrew and Carey. New Year Resolution- read the book.

8) Scott Pilgrim Vs the World- One might find it odd, but Michael Cera is amongst my most favourite leading men. And as the cute, confused, base-playing, ass-kicking Canadian Scott Pilgrim, he's too cool. The whole idea of the film, the way it's been made, the total lack of explanation for Scott's and Ramona's and her seven evil exes' superhuman fighting ability, and the whole comic book feel is so very novel. And I just love Kieran Culkin, and Wallace Wells is friggin' magnificent. Allison Pill, Anna Kendrick and Jason Schwartzman are superb too. I just saw that it's tagline is "An Epic of Epic Epicnes". Mindblasted.

9) The Ghost Writer- I love Roman Polanski to bits (well, I have a little crush on him actually). This was such a well-made film. Yes the whole CIA-is-the-Thought-Police-thing annoys me, but with the very subtle yet intriguing plot, and to-die-for cast, consisting of the always amazing Ewan McGregor, Pierce "James Bond" Brosnan, the very talented Olivia Williams and Kim "Samantha-fucking-Jones" Cattral; the films a hell of a thriller.

10) Kick-Ass- I just love superhero noir. Chloe Mortez as Hit Girl has easily become one of my most favourite female characters. This film was cruel, blunt and mindblowing!

      Okay, now thinking back, I did see more than 10 films, but these were the cream.

      New Year Resolution- I'll watch EVERYTHING in 2011.

HAPPY NEW YEAR PEOPLE!!

THE SOCIAL NETWORK

*Insert Rocky's Victory Music*
       So I finally finally finally watched The Social Network yesterday. I've waited for a year for it to come out and on 28th October, 2010- a full month later than its release in US, I finally saw it...and was it any good? YEAH BABY!! It was everything I imagined it to be and so much more(if there ever was a more clichéd line, I would've written that too).


       I'm not going to really write the plot- Wikipedia and the million other reviews that I've personally read on the film will fill you in on that. I want to write about why I liked this film so much. It's because it is current. If you know me at all, you would know how much I love the 60s and well almost every other time period in history except now (and the 80s as they sucked). This is because, as is the case with almost everything and me, no films have really captured the essence of this decade, or rather the people of this decade. Up in the Air came pretty close in grasping the idea of surviving in the 21st century, but again it was for an older audience. True Anna Kendrick was adorable and George Clooney is an evergreen hunk, but the youth of today have never truly been portrayed in a film. And this is exactly what The Social Network achieves. It is not the Facebook part, as I've been trying to explain to countless number of people, it's the story behind it.


       What The Social Network shows us is how people fit in in today's world. Mark Zuckerberg made Facebook over an angry break-up with a girl. He made it to become cool. He made it so that, as it is being drilled into our genertaion's head everyday, he can be unique. It is the paradox of today's youth that we all want to do something individually so we can all fit in together. From this we see that Zuckerberg's only friend Eduardo Saverin becomes his most fatal enemy. The film mirrors our world, one which is obsessed with the internet, statuses, social standing, shares, achieveing numerical extremes etc. And on the contrary to what you might think, I really liked all of it. I like the What You See Is What You Get idea...and this is very splendidly captured in the film, making it more real and understandable to me than any other work of fiction made about my generation. Also it was refreshing to see how it is the simple matters that bring about big changes. Zuckerberg made Facebook because he had been refused by a girl and was drunk and needed social acceptance. Sort of like how in A Beautiful Mind John Nash refuted some Adam Smith concept based on techniques on picking up girls. But then again this is Facebook, and that was some economic principle.

      The characters in the film are all real people (except Erica Albright) but as it is based upon the book "Accidental Billionaires" which was mostly written in Eduardo Saverin's POV, they might not be exactly like this in their real lives...but I sure do hope so.
      So first, Mark Zuckerberg- give me a flawed hero and I'll give you a devoted Nikhat. I don't know how many people will agree with me here, but I understood Mark. On two levels. First, I like his whole straightforward way of thinking and talking, even though it gets him into trouble with people. He is a science person, a math person and somewhere in his mind it is right to call a spade a spade and I get it. He talks not to impress people, but to truly state everything going on in his head, even when he is being mean. Second, I understand his whole need to fit in by doing somethig extraordinary. I mean that's what I try to do through this blog, something unique that people would like, though on a microscopic level when compered to Zuckerberg (I actually have a mild phobia of computers for that matter). Also he is a geek and for decades now the whole geek becoming a cool dude has been a popular subject in films. It is very obvious with Zuckerberg too as he was fixated on the super-exclusive Harvard clubs and keeping Facebook cool. He is Facebook in the film, starting at a point and not really being sure of what he'll turn into. Despite all his misgivings, he is very likeable and one feels for his "social" awkwardness.
      The next character is that of Eduardo Saverin, the protagonist of "Accidental Billionaires". He is the ex-bestfriend of Zuckerberg and like him, being cool is very important for him. Though unllike Zuckerberg, he gets into one of these coveted Harvard clubs, but he values his friendship more. He is the sweetest character in the film, who is also a very wonderful friend. He does a lot for Zuckerberg's sake, but gets screwed in the end...well sort of- he did get 5% of Facebook's shares amounting to 1.1 billion dollars. I loved Eduardo because he was such a nice guy and also damn cool as an angry young man.
      Sean Parker is the next character. He is that guy who was the very first to rebel and becomes an instant idol to everyone. He has all the charisma and all the stories and all the girls, but in the end he is not all that what he seems. I liked him at first, but he is a completely horrible person towards the end.
      The final two main characters are the Winklevoss twins. They were funny. I liked the whole subplot about them as the priviledged, good-looking, perfectly brought-up "gentlemen of Harvard" and how they have to tackle the problem of being intellectually robbed of an idea.

       David Fincher is GOD! When I heard that he was making a film on Facebook all those months back, I was psyched and apprehensive at the same time. This is because this film is so unlike all his previous films. Though the testosterone level is high in this film too, as it is in most of his other films, it does not have the dark and gritty feel to it. As the film shows only a period in the lives of the characters, albeit the most important one, it was not very biographical. Fincher had a very youthful approach to it. Yes there was college rivalry and legal drama and corporate disputes involved, but it was all done in a very calm manner, so the film does not seem angry, but rather a chain of events following a group of people who are neither right nor wrong. The only other Fincher film it can be compared to is The Zodiac as it was also sort of a journalistic look on true events, but it is so much more modern and approachable. This might be the most congenial film that Fincher has ever made, and it was expertly done so. As Ebert said, "The Social Network is a great film not because of its dazzling style or visual cleverness, but because it is splendidly well-made."


      Aaron Sorkin's screenplay is impeccable. Fincher could not have done this without him. Though I had been "warned" by people that I might not understand it because it is computer-jargon filled, none of that happened. My 10 year-old brother understood all of it...well mostly. It has some fantastic tongue-in-cheek and high-level humour which might have passed over his head, but did not fail to impress me. Lord knows I'm 18 and I still laugh on "chicken" jokes. It also has many unforgettable lines, and the dialogue is what keeps the film going, in a way that no other Fincher movie has. The film is well-structured, though it follows a non-linear timeline. This is because the story obviously focuses more on the people, like Facebook itself.

      And now the actors. You must understand that though I consider myself a film buff, what I am first and foremost is... a girl. And this film was absolute candy for my one fine and other infected eye. Except Panic Room and Alien 3 (the only Fincher film I haven't seen) all of his films have faaaiiine men, and The Social Network most definitely takes the cake. Jesse Eisenberg is so adorable! He is a very good actor and I thought that no other "geeky" actors like Michael Cera and Shia LaBeouf etc. could have played Zuckerberg like he did. He was fun, condescending, brilliant and pityful all at the same time. Andrew Garfield is my future husband...he is so hot and cute at the same time, and those sexy suits are plain orgasmic. He is definitely an actor to watch. I loved him as the senstive and loyal Eduardo and unlike Zuckerberg/Eisenberg's rather stoic display of emotions, he was very expressive and it was just transplendent! Armie Hammer, who played both the Winklevoss twins was quite sexy. Just something about very tall guys in Ivy League rowing teams, you know. I've read people who want an award to be given for creating this effect of twins, but honestly Leaves of Grass came out this year and it has Edward Norton in a double role as twins- one as a professor and the other as a drug pusher. 'Nuff said. Finally, if Justin Timberlake can bring Sexy Back, he can definitely play Sean parker. I thought he was very convincing as the charismatic bad-ass, and his looks did help. Oh and Rooney Mara, who played the fictional Erica, is gorgeous and I cannot wait to see her in Fincher's next, the film adaptation of "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" along with Daniel Craig.


       My Oscar predictions for the film- it should be nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Actor for Eisenberg and Best Supporting Actor for Andrew...and I really hope that it wins Director, Screenplay and Supporting Actor.


      So in the end of all this, I must say to one and all that please go watch The Social Network. It is the story of our generation and one of it's biggest milestones. Comment when you do.


Love,
Mrs. Andrew Garfield