Best Film

[modage]

Best Film: THE SOCIAL NETWORK

THE NOMINEES

Black Swan
Enter the Void 
Inception
The Social Network
True Grit

[Stefen]

Well deserved.

[Kal]

 

Fuck you, Oscars.

[modage]

I was really surprised to see The Social Network sweep the awards here. I still maintain it's a solid B+ film and think people may have gotten swept up in the hype. But I have a feeling this will not be taking the award next year for the Redux...

[Alexandro]

maybe, but it's better than a b+

my perspective is that it's such an easy film to underrate. nothing in it is particularly special, let alone groundbreaking.
yet it's perfectly done and executed. it manages to be emotional and create sympathy for a character trying so hard no to be liked. it uses all of the traditional elements in surprising ways. maybe a lot of us don't see it that way, but the fact that the main character is in his 20's speaks volumes about the decade that just ended, even if the film never puts that on the table too explicitly.

[modage]

I'm perfectly entertained when I'm watching it but it feels like its building to a crescendo that never comes. Because it's beholden to real life, where nothing spectacularly dramatic happens at that point in history, it kind of peters out. The Timberlake getting busted/Eduardo showing up/deposition room all show up and the movie is over before you know it. The film is missing it's third act. But that's the story so what can you do? I agree with Fincher, it's not one of his best.

[Stefen]

I'm perfectly entertained when I'm watching it but it feels like its building to a crescendo that never comes. Because it's beholden to real life, where nothing spectacularly dramatic happens at that point in history, it kind of peters out. The Timberlake getting busted/Eduardo showing up/deposition room all show up and the movie is over before you know it. The film is missing it's third act. But that's the story so what can you do? I agree with Fincher, it's not one of his best.

Yup. I totally agree. It's so captivating through the first two acts, then..........it just ends. When I saw it for the first time I felt cheated. But still, it's really great up until it's non-ending. It's still very deserving.

[I Love a Magician]

Because it's beholden to real life

was it now

[Gold Trumpet]

For me, The Social Network is better for petering out in its third act. Even though the film has many characters, by the end, they all exist inside the drama of Mark Zuckerberg. A major final act could have only have been formed around him so to make a dramatic conclusion out of his life is to get too definite about what becomes of him. Either good or bad, a large conclusion would have had to say something about his life that would be a major transition from everything he does in the film. You can't just hang a final act on a repetition of the things he constantly does in the film. Because the story ends one a mild note, it feels like he has become lost in the vacuum he has created for himself. Zuckerberg takes every blow he can from two different lawsuits and is reduced to a basic need (like facebook requesting his ex gf), so it seems to better fit the structure of the story.

The only problem I have with the ending is what Rashida Jones tells him as she is leaving. It doesn't frame a good thought around the whole story and gets the viewers comfortable with thinking all they have to do is interpret it to understand the meaning of Zuckerberg. It could be a rosebud ploy and attempt to be meaningless. Maybe, but I would have discarded it completely.

[ᾦɐļᵲʊʂ]

Since the Oscars are all but meaningless to me, I am glad I could at one point or another find refuge in commending actual great films of the previous year and not just Oscar bait.

And now, looking back through the previous years and clearly through this one, Xixax has its own bait.  Who knows, maybe in the 2009 redux, Enter The Void has another chance to be overlooked.

And this isn't even to say that because I voted for one thing that it should sweep, that defeats the purpose of even complaining about the sweep in the first place.  But seriously, Social Network was ok, but it's like no other movie came out this year for you guys.  I don't know who voted for what, really, and hell, if it is in fact the best movie of this year to you, then awesome.   But really?  I wouldn't say it's totally forgettable, but it left little to no lasting impact on me, what is it that's hypnotized you all about it?  What am I missing?

Black Swan was great, but also suffers from not fully resonating.  It was skillfully executed, but offers little beyond a thorough character study.  Inception I'm glad didn't win, but I had fun seeing it.  True Grit and Social Network both fall under the "Better Than King's Speech" category, and maybe the DVD impressed you so much that you just had to view it as the best film of 2010, but will you look back on 2010 and say "Social Network was truly unmatched.  Its subject matter was enervating, it was brilliantly accomplished, it really did something new for cinema."

But whatever, it could've been worse.  We haven't really gushed over Fincher in previous awards, so even if it has to be this movie, then woohoo.

[Alexandro]

well, surely enter the void has more balls that all the other films combined.

[Pas]

Great post Walrus.

I fell for the TSN hype big time. I think it was hard not too. Especially here with our Pubrick going all out on it.

I'm sorry but the awards are too early and I'm barely starting to scratch the surface of 2010 best films. My january top 5 list I consider to be a total joke and I'm ashamed to have posted it on my blog I might just go and delete it.

I will canpaign HARD for a xixax-awards reform. We want better categories, and we want more fun stuff. Best sound is a fucking joke to have as an award when we don't have stuff like 'best quote' or 'best shot' or even 'best rip-off'. which is a lot more what we, as xixaxians, are about. Best new actor, most overated film of the year, best thread of the year, best post, best member, best avatar, best new member(is karljan dead btw?), event of the year, all kinds of shit

[polkablues]

We don't have a best sound award.

[Gold Trumpet]

The Social Network is an excellent film. I like Black Swan a lot too. I wanted Enter the Void to win, but I'm happy Social Network won. I have read some decent opinions on why it's overrated and I liked their critical evaluations, but these threads here are hype threads and say nothing significant one way or another.

To help the awards, I think every award in the future should have a Vincent Gallo option in case no one really thinks any film/actor/director/writer did substantial enough work in a category. Like, for a visual effects award, the sixth option in the ballot should be "Vincent Gallo scribbling go fuck yourself to a hooker who expects to be paid." or something. That would be nice, but I think our awards did fine this year.

[Pas]

We don't have a best sound award.