I love it when a movie is timely and relevant. I refer to The Social Network, the 2010 origin film about the social phenomenon of Facebook. This social media platform had been made available to the public less than four years earlier. Aaron Sorokin and David Fincher worked magic to create such a masterpiece quickly. I still maintain that The King’s Speech beating The Social Network for Best Picture was one of the biggest shams in Oscar history. It showed just how antiquated and set in their ways The Academy had become. While Craig Gillespie’s (I, Tonya, Lars and the Real Girl) Dumb Money is not entirely on the same level as The Social Network, its timely significance cannot be overlooked. Though in a completely different way, the events in Dumb Money are (to many individuals, organizations, and sectors) as impactful as to those in The Social Network.
Category Archives: Based on a True Story
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007)
Ready to call it a career, Frank James (Sam Shepard – Out of the Furnace, The Right Stuff) promises his brother Jesse (Brad Pitt – Legends of the Fall, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood) one last train heist with the notorious James Gang. Then, Frank will drift off into the sunset and live out the rest of his life quietly. But what will happen to Jesse? Well, he will be assassinated by the coward Robert Ford. The film’s title gives the plot away unless somehow we are talking about the assassination metaphorically. We are not. So what keeps director Andrew Dominik’s (Blonde, Killing Them Softly) The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford such an alluring watch for its nearly three-hour runtime?
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Oppenheimer (2023)
Barbieheimer, the crafty, endearing portmanteau of Barbie and Oppenheimer, the two biggest blockbusters of the summer, became mainstream weeks months before the dual-day release of each movie. Moviegoers flocked to the theaters in greater fashion than even 2022’s Top Gun: Maverick. This ultra-successful and undeniably popular film has become universally accepted as bringing people back to theaters following the COVID-19 pandemic. Some would say that it saved movie theaters entirely. As someone who sees two, three, or sometimes even more movies in the theater in any given month, and often being one of a small handful of patrons, I am in that camp.
Zodiac (2007)
Jake Gyllenhaal (Nightcrawler, Stronger) makes every movie he is in better than it would otherwise be, regardless of it it’s a great movie, a terrible movie, or anything in between. Director David Fincher (Se7en, The Social Network) doesn’t make bad films. With Gyllenhaal and Fincher together, along with an ensemble that includes Robert Downey Jr. (Iron Man 3, Natural Born Killers), Mark Ruffalo (Foxcatcher, Spotlight), Anthony Edwards (Top Gun, NBC’s ER), Dermot Mulroney (My Best Friend’s Wedding, Young Guns), Brian Cox, (The Ring, HBO’s Succession), and John Carroll Lynch (The Trial of the Chicago 7, Jackie), Zodiac was bound for success. While the film connected on all fronts, it felt like it left something to be desired, though this would undoubtedly be true for anyone familiar with the story.
The Social Network (2010)
2010 could live forever as the best year for movie releases in my lifetime. As I write this today (April 22, 2023), I, sadly but more confidently, feel like the years when we have two to three dozen quality movies are forever gone. With the advent of streaming television shows and series and an established vast array of cable programming, the cinematic single-viewing experience may be left to blockbuster-type movies. There have been no better examples than 2020, which I had discussed in previous reviews was the worst year of film in my lifetime, only for that argument to be surpassed by the 2021 cumulative list of below-average movies. 2021 is the first year when none of the Best Picture nominees will be in my end-of-year top ten list. Rewatching a film like The Social Network, despite receiving a 100% review, was just my fourth favorite movie of 2010. This would have been my favorite movie in many other years. Still, with The Town (my second favorite movie of all time) and the incredible Blue Valentine and Shutter Island, even a perfect film finished outside my top three.