Toy Story 3

I can still remember the first time I saw Toy Story.  I recall laughing a lot, and having lots of admiration for how ingenious the whole thing was.  For some reason, I never got around to Toy Story 2 until maybe three years ago.  Once I did, I really enjoyed it too - the humor was smart, the characters were well-drawn (in more ways than one...get it??) and the new chapter took the series in a welcome direction.

Now along comes Toy Story 3, and the whole gang is back...except for the loss of a few characters, as explained by Sheriff Woody at the beginning of the movie.  When I heard that this one was coming along, I thought - where else could the story possibly take these toys?  I didn't doubt that it would be good (though my brother Ben worries about every new Pixar release...and he may be right to do so with Cars 2), but I just had no idea what to expect.

Well, what we get is a colorful, bright, and breezy tale of belonging and friendship.  It's packaged as a lot of things - a buddy movie, a prison break movie, and a comedy.  Thankfully it hits all these notes with great balance and the superb craftsmanship we've come to take for granted from Pixar.

I will forgo providing an outline of the plot, and just list some of the things I liked a lot about this entry in the series:

 - I highly enjoyed any scene involving Ken.  The movie gets lots of mileage out of mocking Ken's ambiguous orientation, and Michael Keaton really makes the role a lot of fun.  Whoever thought of him as the voice of Ken deserves a shiny nickel, cause I would never have put those two together.  My favorite line, I think, is when Ken tells Buzz, "You don't talk to Lotso until we say you can talk to..." only to have Lotso interrupt him by coming in.  A host of other moments could be mentioned.

- I really enjoyed the quality of the animation.  Any serious fan of this movie has to watch it on Blu-ray to appreciate all of the color, texture, and gloss that went into the artwork.  This is nothing new from Pixar, but I think they may have topped themselves with this one.  Just look at this:

 "The door has a rainbow on it!!"

-  I didn't recognize at first, but this is a movie that rewards multiple viewings.  Over the holidays I got the chance to watch this movie about 4 times, and I got new things out of every viewing.  I love the little details embedded in the screenplay.  It is these little touches that get big laughs for me - like when Buzz quickly flips his helmet on when little kids come bursting in the room to play, or when Rex drops a piece of popcorn from his mouth.  Blink, and you'll miss stuff like that.

- I admired the craft of the narrative this time as well.  Like I said, I had no idea where the writers would take this one.  Yet the themes are well-developed, and there is real emotion at the end when characters part ways.

- I liked the new characters that came along, like Mr. Pricklepants, a doll named Dolly, and Chuckles.  I could have done without Big Baby though.  Bonnie is also a wonderful addition that really ties the emotional narrative together.

Those things and more make Toy Story 3 very entertaining and, for me, more rewarding as time passes.  I think I like it better with each new viewing.  However, I think it falls just a tad short of the first two in some very very minor ways.  Again, these are minor complaints/observations.  Minor - got that?

- Some of the scenes seem like they are kinda shoe-horned in there just to get an easy laugh.  The best way to describe this is by comparing it with other of today's animated films.  Sometimes these films throw in a scene that is sure to gain a big laugh from lots of kids, like some joke about someone's butt, say.  It doesn't really grow organically from the story, and it seems a bit cheap.  There may be, like two of those in this whole movie, which is infinitely better than some of the mindless eye candy that's out there - but sometimes it just feels that way with this one, like maybe it is a little...hyper?  Spanish Buzz comes to mind, but it is still pretty funny.

- I wish that some of the characters were better used in this one.  Slink doesn't really do that much, and sometimes Mr. Potato Head's jokes don't really land.  It even seems like Buzz has been relegated to secondhand status.  However, the fact that we're talking about character development in an animated film is quite remarkable.

So, on the whole a very worthwhile movie experience.  In fact, a lot of recent 'Best-of 2010' lists place Toy Story 3 at or near the top.  I would put it up there too, but not quite at the top.


Three-and-a-half stars out of four.

The Social Network

The 2010 Baseball Season has been correctly labelled the "Year of the Pitcher", due to the noticeable shift away from the power offense that punctuated recent seasons (combined with those 4 no-hitters, two almost-no-hitters, and two perfect games).  A no-hitter is a beautiful thing to behold, because as it is happening there is an increasing impression that the pitcher will not falter.  The no-hitter reflects command and precision despite enormous pressure to fail.  Contrast this phenomenon with something as exciting and flashy as a game-winning walk-off grand slam.  The sheer thrill involved, the energy, and the collective release make this feat a dream of all big league ballpalyers.  Now imagine that these two complimentary achievements were accomplished in the same game...

Such is the way I would describe the creation that is 'The Social Network', the endlessly fascinating new film that combines the precision and certitude of David Fincher's direction with the propulsive energy and power of Aaron Sorkin's screenplay.  Both elements are fully realized in a film that never steps wrong and represents everything I love about the movies.  Here is a film that contains enough ideas for three films, that hurtles the viewer through its events at a headlong pace, and that quietly earns the high praise it has been recently accorded.  Like 'The Godfather', the overriding word I would use to describe it to others is: richness.

But let's qualify all of this, shall we?  As anyone must know, the film provides a 'massaged' history of the founding of Facebook, and specifically the subsequent legal battles over its ownership and possible intellectual property theft.  It's central character is Mark Zuckerberg, who dropped out of Harvard following the astronomical success of his creation.  Jesse Eisenberg (unseen by me until now) plays Zuckerberg as a wordy enigma who seems irritated at having to be surrounded by those who aren't as smart as him (usually meaning everyone).  At one point Zuckerberg says "I don't hate anybody."  That may be true, but he certainly doesn't like anybody either.  The character constantly engages others with a palpable disconnect, while somehow failing to seem involved in actual conversation.  He addresses implications, not statements.  This disconnect is central to the themes that Fincher and Sorkin insinuate.  Some really good films (The Dark Knight) suffer a little bit from insisting upon the themes in case you didn't get it.  'The Social Network' invites you to draw your own conclusions, and is powefully understated in its persuasive abilities.

If Zuckerberg seems largely aloof from the proceedings, his roommate Eduardo Saverin is clearly dialed in to the many social mores of Harvard University.  As played by Andrew Garfield, Eduardo is a likable young undergrad who is being considered by an exclusive fraternity, and resembles that guy that we all know whom everyone likes and identifies with.  This is a key tool for evoking audience empathy, but it is also a sharp characterization in its own right.  Eduardo provides start-up cash for early iterations of Facebook as it begins to take form.  The site generates more attention, most notably from the Winklevoss twins and their entrepreneurial roommate.  The twins are talented rowers and all three "gentlemen of Harvard" recruit Zuckerberg to work on their Harvard social networking site.  Zuckerberg accepts, but stalls them while pursuing his own purposes with coldness and tunnel vision.  This single-minded focus becomes increasingly apparent to Eduardo, who is not stupid, yet is powerless to stop the emerging circumstances that provide the central betrayal.

Thus the seeds are planted for the ensuing legal debate over who provided the various components of the modern Facebook.  Justin Timberlake enters the latter half of the film as Sean Parker - a streak of flash and showmanship.  It is ostensibly a no-brainer to cast Timberlake in such a role, yet he succeeds at showing us a darker, subversive, even insecure side to the character.  He offers Mark the chance to relocate to Palo Alto, where his creation can really take off.  An instant rivalry begins between Parker and Saverin over not just ownership, but Zuckerberg's attention.  The film cuts very deftly between the recent (and ongoing) legal proceedings and these key events in the genesis of the rising business.

Okay, enough 'cake and watermelon' as Zuckerberg puts it.  The film fires on all cylinders, with each element combining so seamlessly that the whole truly is greater than the sum of its parts.  "The Social Network" is a triumph of several 'intangibles' such as tone, pacing, and atmosphere.  The richness of the film is greatly facilitated by Andrew Cronenweth's brilliant, dark cinematography.  The early passages of the film paint a memorable portrait of Harvard in the fall and winter seasons.  Fincher's direction shines as well, with a steadiness and confidence in his camera movements.  Each shot is deliberate without calling attention to itself (much like 'Zodiac', the earlier Fincher classic), and I would argue that the whole film contains not one superfluous or misjudged shot (though there is one scene where the score misleads us when it shouldn't). 

Fincher does not wait long to establish his formidable skill.  The film begins with a rapid-fire dialogue assault between Zuckerberg and his girlfirend at a bar, signalling the breakneck pace of the whole film and quickly letting you know that passive observance will get you nowhere in this business.  Zuckerberg leaves the bar after being dumped and we are treated to a methodical credit sequence that follows him as he jogs back to his dorm room in the autumn night of Harvard.  Fincher avoids quick cuts, and lets us observe the beautiful imagery.  As this proceeds, Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross provide a score that more than anything else simply builds and builds, suggesting that something big is simmering in Zuckerberg's head.  This music continues right up until Zuckerberg grabs a beer and begins to blog about the exchange, at which point the music is released into a driving beat.  Scenes of blogging are then intercut with the exclusive party atmosphere of Harvard, and we know we're watching something special.  There are a hundred shots like that where I simply had to sit back in sheer admiration, and be thrilled at the craft of it all.

A word on Aaron Sorkin's screenplay.  I have enjoyed Sorkin's work in previous fare such as TV's 'Sports Night'.  At the same time, I was always aware that real people don't talk with such rapid awareness, and the dialogue would often play as things that people would say if given a moment or two to respond between sentences.  The great accomplishment of 'The Social Network' is that the dialogue is sharp and quick without seeming to exist above the characters.  Because the characterizations are so fully realized, the dialogue always seems like it flows from the character, not from Sorkin.  In this way, I accepted the package and was engaged.  Credit Sorkin, Fincher, and the skilled performances for this.

Several memorable scenes have stayed with me.  In addition to the above mentioned credit sequence, there is the scene when 'relationship status' is added to the calculus of Facebook, the virtuoso rowing sequence set to 'In the Hall of The Mountain King' which works more for me the more I reflect on it.  There is the inevitable confrontation between Eduardo, Zuckerberg, and Parker that wrenched my guts, as well as the memorable exchange when Zuckerberg is asked if his full attention is being given.  The ending is truly significant, without being too heavy-handed.  The film contains so many memorable scenes and inspired moments that repeated viewings will be a necessity.

'The Social Network' is already considered the best movie of the year, with some critics going even further into the scope of the decade.  Is it a great accomplishment that will dominate the year and then become a semi-relevant footnote, or does it have loftier implications?  I believe time will reveal this film as a prescient and incisive commentary on our times, and one of the best movies of the decade.  It is already one of my favorite films of all time, and it is difficult to see how anyone who is part of the computer-literate 'me' generation would not respond to it.  Fincher and Sorkin have crafted a masterpiece that is thrilling, timely, and unsettling.  Everything I love about the movies.

A link to the fabulous trailer, which plays like a short film:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lB95KLmpLR4