The Minority Report - "The Social Network" (2010)

“You are probably going to be a very successful computer person. But you're going to go through life thinking that girls don't like you because you're a nerd. And I want you to know, from the bottom of my heart, that that won't be true. It'll be because you're an asshole.”
People are calling a staple of our time. That’s a reasonable statement, considering the movie is about Facebook. This film has been getting rave reviews all over the place and most of the only people complaining are the tech blogs (for legitimate reasons). The thing is, when a movie about Facebook comes out, what can you really expect? It’s interesting to note the developments from 2004 onwards as described by the movie, but it never ceases to amaze me how much people believe from movies these days. They are works of fiction for a reason. Even the most convincing ones are still fiction. Apart from that, though, let it be recognized that Jesse Eisenberg did an absolutely phenomenal job as the story’s lead role. The script is, for sure, one to be admired. Besides that, though, David Fincher let me down a bit.

The story centers around a young man by the name of Mark Zuckerberg, whom is currently attending Harvard University and dating a girl named Erica Albright (Rooney Mara). She, of course, dumps him because of his terrible personality traits, which sets him on his course to become one of the Internet’s greats. His roommate and best friend, Eduardo Saverin (Andrew Garfield), a business guru, aides him on this journey after dear old Zuckerberg comes up with the idea for Facebook when he begins working with a pair of rich Olympians known as the Winkelvoss’s (Armie Hammer). Doing everything but stealing the idea, he goes on the high road to create what is the most successful social networking site of the present day. Along the way, he meets people that test his friendship, commitment to Facebook, and his beliefs and values. Tearing it apart is the name of the game in Zuckerberg’s life from this point on. The rest is just history.

The first scene really set the mood of the whole movie: witty and intelligent comments followed by lazy scene transitions. For me, most of the acting consisted of merely stating the lines and getting it over with. There was emotion behind it, but it just felt forced and fake. The scenery and colors didn’t help much either. Drab and dark blues and greens don’t make for a movie that will effectively transmit the intricacy of not just the situations it was trying to portray, but also the emotions involved. The soft camera pans and the smooth, linear transitions didn’t allow the true emotions being portrayed to be felt. It was almost as if the movie was muting itself. All in all, it is a fine movie to watch if you have time, but nothing really memorable. Saddening, really, considering that it is based off something that is quite memorable, indeed. This movie is like watching paint dry on the Facebook home screen as it refuses to load the next page.

By Kulguy

The Minority Report - "The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus" (2009)

This is Heath Ledgers final film. Well, his final half of a film as he died in the middle of production. “Then how was this movie completed,” you may ask. Well, simple you see! When Tony (Heath Ledger, Johnny Depp, Jude Law, and Colin Farrell) enters the imaginarium, he becomes a different actor, same person though. Tony, outside of the imaginarium (a mirror essentially that transports the visitor to a magical land of their imagination), is Heath Ledger, but as soon as he enters the mirror, he becomes another actor. This was a way of avoiding reshooting the entire movie and works for the most part. But I am not going to knock the film for its lack of continuity. I will knock it for other things, though. I will also give it praise.

This is the type of film that I hate to review. At moments it is a fantastic film that I must applaud for its pure creativity and all out madness. Yet, at other moments, I had to hang my head in sheer disappointment either from disappointing acting, an unraveling story that began so intriguing, or some spotty special effects. The premise for the film is an interesting one that spans out from the absurd, and pivots upon the ideals of making a deal with the devil. Doctor Parnassus makes multiple deals with the devil, and now it is time to pay. For this, he uses his powers (which he obtained ages ago) to transform a simple mirror into a gateway into one’s imagination. From there, they must conquer their vices and, if not, their soul becomes damned and claimed by Satan himself. What Doctor Parnassus does is try to present choices so that the world can “rule itself.” He tries to achieve this goal by making a traveling theater company which grabs members of the audience and makes them pass into the mirror. Once somebody enters the imaginarium, the pallet of the real world goes from dark and bleak into a burst of color and transforms the screen into a psychedelic adventure. At times in the imaginarium it is a fantastic whimsical land, but it can be spotty and sometimes easily dismissed. The story is also a very slow burning candle that has very little effort to help entertain the audience and get them to where they need to go and yet still manages to lose them at times.

This movie was an interesting thrill presented by the man who brought us Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. It is a slight disappointment for it to be Heath Ledgers last moment on film. Overall, the movie is a very interesting story and presentation that may lose some audience on how it is approached. This movie is like paint drying on an M. C. Escher painting on acid.

By V-Dawg