That Facebook film and entering the void.

It was always going to be a difficult subject. It's too contemporary, it's glamourising the life of fame, the subject matter's not strong enough, no one gives a shit. Unfortunately 'The Social Network' has turned out to possibly be film of the year (with 'Inception' nipping at it's heels). It is what it says on the cover - the story of Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook and how everyone he knows tried to get money out of him. That's two hours condensed into a sentence, but it is worth your own time to watch the full movie.


David Fincher (director of 'Fight Club' and ridiculously named 'Se7en'), has done an amazing job of making every character in the film instantly interesting and complex. Jesse are-you-sure-I'm-not-Michael-Cera Eisenberg puts in a stellar performance as the website's founder, making him relatable but at the same time, come across as a snark asshole. Andrew Garfield (soon to be the new improved Spiderman) plays the part of scorned best friend excellently. There's not much else I can say other than go and watch it. The scripting is some of the best seen for fucking ages, the cinematography is consistently good and it's incredibly easy to watch. Time magazine said that "The rewards for paying attention are mammoth and exhilarating. This is a high-IQ movie that gives viewers an IQ high" but you don't have to be a genius to know this film's good.


I've seen a few films that made me feel sick in my time. That bit in 'The Pianist' where the Nazis chuck that old man off a balcony, that was pretty nasty.  In 'Trainspotting' when they find that dead baby, also mega nasty. That bit in 'Misery' where that fat bitch Kathy Bates goes to town on James Caan's foot, that was pretty bad. HOWEVER. None of that stuff means shit until you've seen Gasper Noe's 'Enter the Void'. I might be exaggerating, it might just be my awful sense of balance, but that film literally fucked me over like a steam roller. I don't know what it was specifically. Maybe it was the shot from inside a vagina of a penis cumming on the screen? Maybe the POV shot as a character walks down about 40 flights of stairs? Oh I know, it might have been the 10 minutes of panic inducing, epileptic fit style credits at the beginning of the film? I'm not saying it's bad. Quite the opposite in fact. The whole thing's beautiful. Set in Tokyo, it tells the story of a drug dealer who gets killed and afterwards, comes back as a ghost to watch over his sister. It sounds simple, but the story's intertwined with a load of other tales and events. There are flashbacks and flashforwards and dream sequences and drug sequences and shots from below and shots from above. There's less structure to this fucking film than there is to a jenga tower. Yet, in spite of everything, it still manages to be instantly captivating. The film bombards you visually with colours and constant on-screen action. The sounds and story keep you constantly glued. At two and a half hours long it's not exactly a walk in the park, but there's so much shit happening all the time you don't really notice. It won't be for everyone, in fact it won't be for most, But for those who do persevere, they'll be rewarded with one of the most aesthetically pleasing and interesting films for an extremely long time. You can find a link for where to watch the film here, but don't fucking tell your mum I sent you there. If you can be bothered to get it on DVD, or if you've got a projector watch the film on that, the bigger it is the more likely you are to feel like you're mental afterwards. Thanks to Ashley Rommelrath and others for letting me know about the film.