Critically Revisiting The Social Network: Is it Really the Best? (more Oscars talk)

[fairy_tale_echo]

OMG YOU GUYS.  Thank you for starting such an amazing Awards-season dialogue in my Oscars post.  It was truly wonderful to finally have some great Oscar thoughts from fandom, as I have spent most of my Oscar season  with non-fandom peeps! ^___^

Here's one update: they've announced the show will start off with Tom Hanks giving two BIG awards: Art

Comments

[ceciliaj]

I love, love, love what you're saying about the two Zuckerbergs. And agreed on everything. So much subtlety, so much love.

[kissoffools]

Oh gosh, I so love this post. <333

When I hear people say there are no likable characters in this movie, that Eisenberg plays Zuckerberg as almost a sociopath, I wonder what movie they were watching

Oh god, yes, this. Aside from the fact that I found Eduardo likeable almost immediately (and he stayed likeable for me throughout the entire thing), there are so many little nuances that Jesse puts into his portrayal of Mark that makes it impossible for me to hate him.

Moments like the exchange over the masthead: "You have no idea what this will mean to my father"/"Sure I do", and after the chicken gets brought into the lawsuit: "Oops", scream humanity. Jesse may not inject his voice with emotion and he may not be as outward with his thoughts and feelings as Eduardo, but I dare people to watch those moments and not see that Mark cares for Eduardo. Hell, when the chicken first gets brought up by Mark's lawyer, you can see Mark in the background lean forward, as if he's trying to grab his lawyer's arm and say, "No, don't, I don't

[poose78]

This is such a beautiful analysis, and I appreciate all the comments about JE's performance. His acting is so immense, so subtle, that half of it is done just with his eyes, and it kills me.

Thank you, really, for saying all these things.

[cattycass]

So, I feel confident when I say that Eisenberg's work as Zuckerberg is, besides being the best work he has ever done, career-defining at only 26, the best acting work of the year.

I think it is without a doubt the most memorable performance of the year - the comparisons to Gordon Gecko, Mean Girls and Scarface write themselves because Eisenberg made something cool that was actually supposed to be a cautionary tale. I don't think it's quite reversal that "Greed is good" was, a lot of that genius rock star hacker crap is in the script. Still to pull that off, to pull of that megalomania and quotability and cool...

The last time this was pulled was when Daniel Day-Lewis played "a family man and an oil man". He doesn't have to hide his Zuckerberg in a direct comparison with Daniel Planview and that really says it all.

[melkerr]

I love you so much for these posts, what a great analysis! So I have question, what's your opinion on Mark Ruffalo getting a nod over Andrew?