As long as you don’t buy in to everything “The Social Network” tells you, David Fincher’s 2010 film is actually a compelling and engrossing exploration of the evolution of socializing through computers and how it’s shaped and defined our new generation turning us in to passive aggressive bullies and thugs who seek one another out through text and HTML code. David Fincher’s film is not perfect. It’s sexist, sensationalist, and turns an internet revolution in to a mere game of revenge from a lovelorn geek. But for its faults, “The Social Network” is a truly gripping and entertaining courtroom drama about the construction of Facebook, and how it managed to affect every single person who ever came in to contact with Mark Zuckerberg. He’s depicted as a narcissistic social outcast who brought down the walls of class, superficiality and exclusivity by allowing people the advent of elitism by virtue of distance that could allow anyone from the gorgeous woman to the awkward nerd to become the kings of their own personal domains.
Tag Archives: S
Skyline (2010)
I’m still trying to wrap my head around why the Strause brothers included a very superfluous prologue of Balfour’s character being sucked in by the bright lights of the alien ships and then suddenly zooming back to him and his girlfriend in a plane with the card reading “15 Hours Earlier…” Why is that opening scene important to know? What relevance did that have to anything? Did they feel the movie was so mind-numblingly stupid they’d have to lure us in from second one? “Skyline” (a movie Roland Emmerich would groan at) is the “Dragon Wars” of 2010, a movie with a great concept that fails on every conceivable level of entertainment, competence, and creativity imaginable. This is a movie–much like “Dragon Wars”–that should rightfully have been relegated to cable television but somehow warranted a theatrical release all for a PG-13 B grade science fiction movie about aliens consuming Earth and Eric Balfour… well you’ll see.
Superman/Shazam: The Return of Black Adam (DVD)
Here’s what I assumed happened with the release of “The Return of Black Adam”: DC and Warner Bros. didn’t have enough creative material to turn the reunion of Superman and Shazam! in to a feature length film, and in spite of Shazam! playing a supporting role, Superman is much too iconic to be used as simple filler before a big animated feature from DC home video, so what they did was take the half hour movie featuring Superman and Shazam! and, knowing no sensible fan would spend twenty bucks on a half hour movie, filled the DVD with other short animated films starring DC third tier characters that were featured on prior DVD Releases. Deep down this feels like DC Comics testing the waters for a Captain Marvel animated movie, gauging public interest and we’re paying them to be a focus group.
Scott Pilgrim vs. The World (2010)
“Scott, if your life had a face, I’d punch it.” – Kim Pine
The stellar Edgar Wright has finally made it to the American shores by way of a cult series of graphic novels and in typical Wright-fashion, he’s not prone to just making any movie that would appeal to an audience of the PG-13 sector. “Scott Pilgrim vs. The World” is self aware. It’s so self-aware it’s aware that it’s self-aware and makes its audience aware of its self-awareness by reminding us of its self-awareness with an often self-aware sense of humor that very few will get. Leave it up to Wright to make a broad mainstream teen film that will only appeal to a cult audience as “Scott Pilgrim vs. The World” is basically about the modern generation. It’s pure unadulterated pop culture overload with ideals that are simplified and set to the tune of classic video games.
Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island (1998)
When it comes to hardcore well versed Scooby Doo Fans… we’re not one of them. But for a brief (oh so brief) period in the late nineties, Hanna Barbera thought it’d be a good idea before the live action movie to feature the Scoobies solving actual paranormal cases that they presumed were originally just scams and con jobs. “Zombie Island” is one of the best (and few) examples of Scooby-Doo done well and correctly with a case the entire gang gets in on that is creepy and actually risks their lives, in the end. With animation I’m never above being experimental, and my faith in “Zombie Island” was rewarded with a wicked and creepy little yarn about the Mystery Machine group re-uniting after a long stretch on their own.
Second Coming (2008)
I honestly don’t even feel good calling this a horror movie, but I guess at the end of the day it is. “Second Coming” is a movie I’d looked forward to watching since I received it and I’m saddened that it didn’t meet my expectations at all. In fact it’s so far below my expectations I was pretty crushed to finish it. “Second Coming” could very well be an engrossing supernatural crime thriller, but in the end it’s really just a glorified television melodrama with a supernatural angle that doesn’t even make good on its tagline of a revenge tale.
Sorority Babes in the Slimeball Bowl-O-Rama (1988)
Spider: It’s too bad we had to kill her. I really liked the outfit she had on.
Full Moon’s 1988 cult film is something of a hideous movie that will make many cringe, roll their eyes, and have fun just the same. Admittedly “Sorority Babes” has something of a nostalgic value as I can still fondly remember watching it on late night cable in the nineties trying to figure out what in god’s name this movie was. Finally being able to grab a copy, I now know why “Sorority Babes” isn’t going in to the film registry any time soon. Obviously, it’s not a good film, but it surely is a film that’s so bad it’s really damn good.