New FaceBook trailer

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  • #31
    Re: New FaceBook trailer

    Originally posted by Biohazard View Post
    Oh.

    I thought something was actually AT STAKE. What we have here is a trophy, not something the hero will lose is he fails. He just won't win, and then go back to ordinary life.

    I prefer films where failure carries a heavier price than a simple return to the way things were before.
    So you can't relate to this character because you're not a billionaire?

    Dude, that's like saying I can't relate to Indiana Jones because I'm not an archeologist, and I don't think there's any stakes in Raiders because I'm not religious and don't care about a so-called Ark of the Covenant.

    With Zuckerberg - his entire life was at stake. If you were on the verge of making millions of dollars, while still in college - everything would be at stake. And on top of that, you have lawsuits pouring out of every orifice. Even now, despite his billions, he's still being sued left, right and center. Many of the lawsuits are from people who he considered his best friends - and now they want to destroy him financially. Zuckerberg was an everyday kid who had an idea and turned it into something incredible. How can you not relate to that?

    Bio, you know I love you, but sometimes I don't get your 'rules and laws.' You can be one rigid mofo.
    @TerranceMulloy

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    • #32
      Re: New FaceBook trailer

      Originally posted by omovie View Post
      Bio, you appreciate CITIZEN KANE for the technical aspects and not the story and character? Is it because you think there is nothing at stake or...?
      Originally posted by gravitas View Post
      Bio, I think losing yourself and others around you because of money are pretty big stakes. The stakes may not affect you, but they COULD affect you. You don't go back to an ordinary life after something like that. And that's the point. People are destroying themselves and each other over money and this contrasts the whole idea behind a "social network."
      Originally posted by Terrance Mulloy View Post
      So you can't relate to this character because you're not a billionaire?

      With Zuckerberg - his entire life was at stake. If you were on the verge of making millions of dollars, while still in college - everything would be at stake. And on top of that, you have lawsuits pouring out of every orifice. Even now, despite his billions, he's still being sued left, right and center. Many of the lawsuits are from people who he considered his best friends - and now they want to destroy him financially. Zuckerberg was an everyday kid who had an idea and turned it into something incredible. How can you not relate to that?
      I like a good rise and fall story from time to time. Charles Foster Kane is one of the most enigmatic and tragic characters ever committed to film. His downfall is a very intriguing story, and I'd love to talk about it more, but the finer details are not as fresh in my mind as I would like before explaining any further. It's been a while since I've seen it because, like I said, I enjoy them from time to time.

      But I will say this - if you're doing a rise and fall story like this, it's a good idea to have the character work hard at leaving a bad position to rise to something better. Take Scarface for example...we root for Tony Montana not because of his less savory qualities, but because he's a self-made man who worked hard and wasn't afraid to take chances while climbing the ladder to the top. He started as an uneducated immigrant at the very bottom, not as a genius undergrad at Harvard. So right there, the facebook film has to work extra hard to get the ordinary moviegoer to be able to relate to this guy and his situation. And the marketing fails to do that, which means I will be staying home opening weekend and watching Citizen Kane instead.


      Originally posted by Terrance Mulloy View Post
      Bio, you know I love you, but sometimes I don't get your 'rules and laws.' You can be one rigid mofo.
      I'm just trying to find the reason why this movie looks like utter shit to me.

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      • #33
        Re: New FaceBook trailer

        I'm a big believer in using stakes as a dramatic tool.

        The important thing to keep in mind, however, is that stakes are NOT the end goal. The end goal is emotional catharsis.

        Rising stakes are a GREAT tool for setting up such a catharsis. In some cases, it's invaluable. I, for one, think INCEPTION could have benefited from better developed stakes for Leo's character. But that's for another thread.

        That said, a movie can definitely achieve catharsis without ramping up external stakes. We see this a lot with character driven stories.

        AMERICAN BEAUTY doesn't have much in the way of stakes. Lester's goal, which serves as the story's structural throughline, is literally to bang his daughter's hot friend. Not exactly high stakes.

        Furthermore, you know in the opening scene that Lester dies by story's end. Again, not exactly high stakes.

        Yet, for many folks, AB delivers a whopping catharsis.

        Same goes for CITIZEN KANE. The stakes in CK aren't very high, but for a lot of people, the Rosebud reveal is pretty damn cathartic.

        This is the problem I have with Bio's view. He looks at a movie like a chemistry formula. If it's missing an element, he immediately discounts the end product.

        He sees that the stakes aren't through the roof in a movie... he automatically jumps to the conclusion that the movie fails.

        The problem with that view is it means shutting off one's emotional response to the drama.

        Which is a terribly ironic tragedy because the whole point of dramatic elements such as rising stakes is to generate emotion.

        IMO, Bio's getting way too caught up in sum of the parts, and as a result he's missing the magical synergy that really makes a movie "great".

        I have no idea if SOCIAL NETWORK will be able to deliver a cathartic experience for many movie goers. I have no idea if it will ultimately do so for me, and I've read the script.

        I won't know that until I see the movie first hand. That's what makes emotion great. You never really know until you experience it.

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        • #34
          Re: New FaceBook trailer

          Originally posted by prescribe22 View Post
          This is the problem I have with Bio's view. He looks at a movie like a chemistry formula. If it's missing an element, he immediately discounts the end product.

          He sees that the stakes aren't through the roof in a movie... he automatically jumps to the conclusion that the movie fails.
          You are incorrect.

          I look at the concept and the marketing for a film and see if it grabs me. If it doesn't, I try to find reasons why...instead of making excuses.

          The Social Network doesn't grab me. Period. I want to know why, and I am free to express my feelings and theories as loudly and as often as those who say it looks great.

          Please don't talk about what I like, don't like, or my beliefs or myself in general again. Thank you.

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          • #35
            Re: New FaceBook trailer

            I don't think a movie like this succeeds or fails on its stakes or relateability. I think it works or doesn't because of its themes and characters being fully formed and dramatized effectively. Also, this is a character that is pretty sleazy. Sorkin wrote him unlikable from the get-go. This is not the Tony Montana story. He doesn't have the background, chutzpa or charisma of that character. This is a story about a little sh!t who wanted to be popular, who became a king, who then was hated by the only people who cared about him. The success will be in them showing a fascinating and complex character.

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            • #36
              Re: New FaceBook trailer

              Originally posted by omovie View Post
              This is a story about a little sh!t
              That's what I'm afraid of.

              I want to be on the hero's side, not waiting for the scene where someone slaps the bastard upside the head.

              Comment


              • #37
                Re: New FaceBook trailer

                i don't understand the marketing package. doesn't a facebook photo montage keyed with the song "i'm a creep" convey a negative subtext to the target audience: "you're a creep so you'll understand this creepy dude...?"

                all this talk about money and messing people over ignores the one thing about facebook that has made it a powerhouse. i'm not talking about the drive of the creator, big business dynamics, etc. i'm talking about mankind's innate need to connect, express, find validation and a sense of belonging.

                any movie about facebook organically comes with this theme-baggage. going to the dark side of the equation is cool. the story, the actual story looks interesting. but, a trailer that rips into the visceral themes of the ordinary man outside of the story world... maybe not such a great selling point...


                i could be wrong, but i believe the subtext is passively breaking the 4th wall.
                Last edited by asjah8; 08-02-2010, 09:15 PM.
                life happens
                despite a few cracked pots-
                and random sunlight

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                • #38
                  Re: New FaceBook trailer

                  Originally posted by Biohazard View Post
                  You are incorrect.

                  I look at the concept and the marketing for a film and see if it grabs me. If it doesn't, I try to find reasons why...instead of making excuses.

                  The Social Network doesn't grab me. Period. I want to know why, and I am free to express my feelings and theories as loudly and as often as those who say it looks great.

                  Please don't talk about what I like, don't like, or my beliefs or myself in general again. Thank you.
                  Bio, I've looked at the concept behind your previous posts on this thread to see if it grabbed me. It didn't. Period.

                  So, I've simply been trying to reason why, and I'm doing nothing other than freely expressing my feelings and theories on that subject as loudly as you have expressed yours.

                  Comment


                  • #39
                    Re: New FaceBook trailer

                    Originally posted by prescribe22 View Post
                    Bio, I've looked at the concept behind your previous posts on this threat to see if it grabbed me. It didn't. Period.

                    So, I've simply been trying to reason why, and I'm doing nothing other than freely expressing my feelings and theories on that subject as loudly as you have expressed yours.

                    Dude, are you in love with me or something?

                    Comment


                    • #40
                      Re: New FaceBook trailer

                      Originally posted by Biohazard View Post
                      That's what I'm afraid of.

                      I want to be on the hero's side, not waiting for the scene where someone slaps the bastard upside the head.
                      LOL. You mean you don't to spend two hours watching a movie about an assh0le who makes money?

                      Comment


                      • #41
                        Re: New FaceBook trailer

                        Originally posted by Biohazard View Post
                        Dude, are you in love with me or something?
                        That all depends on how you look in a bikini.

                        No offense, but the marketing so far isn't giving me very high hopes.

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                        • #42
                          Re: New FaceBook trailer

                          Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf was a movie (and play) about uniformly unpleasant people, but it was a fascinating and entertaining character study. It may be an extreme stretch to compare that film with SocNtwrk, but I think the point holds.

                          An interesting, even riveting, movie can be made about people whose behavior seems mostly unsympathetic. I'm sure the script won't have Jesse Eisenberg mouthing the kind of ascerbic and literate dialogue heard in Woolf, but I'm looking forward to seeing the story just the same. As in Woolf, I don't expect to have a warm and fuzzy time with the characters; I don't expect even to like them very much, if at all.

                          But a story of sudden, fabulous success and wealth coming to a nerdy and edgy sort of guy, followed by (I presume) backstabbing and recrimination between him and his erstwhile friends, strikes me as pretty interesting---kind of a closeup study in human psychology--or pathology. The youth of the principals may add a sense of sorrow and lost opportunity.

                          No, I don't think the movie will have any Tom Hanks-like noble characters or goals, but I like the very contemporary slice-of-life-in-our-times idea of it. I think it will offer more of a reward than the recent very unpleasant Michael Douglas vehicle Solitary Man (which had a theatrical run of about 48 hours), so I'm up for it.

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