Movie Night: The Social Network.

Review #705: The Social Network.

Cast
Jesse Eisenberg (Mark Zuckerberg), Andrew Garfield (Eduardo Saverin), Justin Timberlake (Sean Parker), Armie Hammer (Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss), Max Minghella (Divya Narendra), Rooney Mara (Erica Albright), Brenda Song (Christy Lee), and Rashida Jones (Marylin Delpy) Directed by David Fincher (#586 - Alien 3)

Review
Yes, business is rough. Yes, it seems a lot of people love this movie. Yes, it is true that a lot of people use Facebook, even you (the reader) might as well. I do too. I still don't love the movie. The fact this was made when everyone involved was still alive and the fact that the writer admit that the book the movie was based off is played slightly fast and loose with only makes up the pile of tedium that this movie is for me.  Actually, you could recut this movie into a horror film, especially with the soundtrack, and especially with our main character. It's sad, because the movie is actually well-acted, the problem is the fact that barely any of these characters are ones you want to root for, which makes for a boring clod. By the end of it, you are wondering if the movie you have seen is mainly for people who are into characters of snark or just a big giant joke. Ultimately, this is a movie that left me cold and mostly stoic. But my dilemma is how to rate this movie. Do I give it a high rating for its acting/music/thrills and feel guilty, or do I give it a low rating for the general tedium it gave me that seems harsh? In a way, that is what anyone who watches this movie must do. Either they like the movie, or they grow sick of it. It's really hard to stay in the middle. For once, I won't be too generous with a rating, though I do recommend seeing it just to see if you'll like it any better than I did.

Overall, I give it 7 out of 10 stars.

Movie Night: The Muppets.

Review #522: The Muppets.

Cast
Jason Segel (Gary), Amy Adams (Mary), Chris Cooper (Tex Richman), Steve Whitmire (Kermit the Frog/Beaket/Statler/Rizzo the Rat/Link Hogthrob/The Muppet Newsman/Lips), Eric Jacobson (Miss Piggy/Fozzie Bear/Animal/Sam the Eagle/Marvin Suggs), Dave Goelz (Gonzo/Dr. Bunsen Honeydew/Zoot, Beauregard/Waldorf/Kermit Moopet), Bill Barretta (Rowlf the Dog/The Swedish Chef/Dr. Teeth/Pepe the King Prawn/Bobo the Bear/Beautiful Day Monster/Mahna Mahna/Behemoth/Fozzie Moope/Muppet Gary/Whatnot Hobo), Peter Linz (Walter), David Rudman (Scooter/Janice/Miss Poogy/Wayne, Nigel the Conductor/Bobby Benson), Matt Vogel (Floyd Pepper/Camilla the Chicken/Sweetums/'80s Robot, Lew Zealand/Uncle Deadly/Crazy Harry/Rowlf Moopet), Rashida Jones (Veronica), Jack Black (Himself), Alan Arkin (Muppet Studios Tour Guide), Bill Cobbs (Grandfather), Zach Galifianakis (Hobo Joe), and Jim Parsons (Human Walter) Directed by James Bobin.

Review
It had 12 years since the release of Muppets From Space (#377), and in that span the Muppets were confined to television specials only (Okay, okay, I admit to watching A Muppet Christmas: Letters to Santa when I was younger, it wasn't bad, but I don't remember watching any other special), until this film. I wanted to end this so called Muppet Trilogy of mine with this film because the first part of the trilogy began with the first, and so it only made sense to finish with the most recent (Muppets Most Wanted hasn't been released..yet.), and...this is a good Muppet film. It has its moments of fun, and Walter is a welcome addition for the Muppets, the human cast is interesting because Segel and Adams work alright together, and Cooper is pretty funny, and "Man or Muppet" is probably the most memorable song of the film along with being a really fitting one for a film like this. The Muppets are fine as usual and while not every joke works, the film still has enough passion for its subject to work. I hope you like this trilogy of Muppet films, as I enjoyed watching these films, and I hope you do as well.

Overall, I give it 8 out of 10 stars.