Edit Notes

[handful_ofdust]

Managed to cut roughly 1,400 words out of Chapter Five alone, which now looks startlingly better, if not hugely different. So on to the endless wedding/fight sequence, and thus to the end of part one (of Book Two;)).

Tonight, I paused to unwind by watching the Alexandre Aja Piranha remake, which has a cameo with Eli Roth playing a wet t-shirt contest barker/host and reeling off a list of increasingly ridiculous boob-sorbiquets (show us the Brad Pitts?) before getting his head crushed between two crashing boats. Also, fish eat Jerry O'Connell's penis, then throw it up again. (I don't think this counts as any sort of spoiler, per se.) It's definitely a film that takes place in a pornocentric universe, is what I'm sayin'; this may explain why I watched much of the climax on fast-forward, with the subtitles going. But I can't say I didn't enjoy myself, in a weird, totally cheese-ridden way.

Last night, meanwhile, was The Social Network, which proved utterly fascinating. I think it helps that A) I don't give a fuck how much of it is "true" and B) coding/hacking seems like a variety of magic to me anyhow, so the fact that we never quite understand what Jesse Eisenberg as Mark Zuckerberg does doesn't matter even a tiny little bit. The cast in universally amazing, up to and including Justin Timberlake as Sean Parker, who manages to be charismatic, visionary, paranoid and pathetic all at once. ("I love standing next to you, Sean," Eduardo Savarin says at one point, after he's almost been goaded into hitting him, only to watch Sean recoil like a little girl. "You make me look so tough.")

But yeah, it's pretty much a Richard III With Asperger's sort of thing. My favourite Aspie line has to be when Eduardo turns up at the Facebook house in California, where Mark has been holed up doing a coding push so vicious he basically forgot he was even coming, and left him at the airport for two hours in the pouring rain.

Eduardo: You were supposed to pick me up.
Mark: Yes. How's Christy [Eduardo's first Facebook groupie, who he's now living with]?
Eduardo: She's, uh...she's crazy. Like psychotic. Just hideously jealous, and she thinks I'm cheating all the time, so she never lets me out of her sight...I'm afraid of her.
Mark: Yes. But it's still pretty cool you have a girlfriend, right?

The last image is pretty killer, too. Well worth your rental money. I'll probably end up buying it, in the end.

Okay, back to Chapter Six. Tomorrow is a crazy grind, what with those two meetings, and all--and that crane is still outside my fucking window. Which means if I can't sleep, I might as well edit.

Comments

[sovay]

Also, fish eat Jerry O'Connell's penis, then throw it up again. (I don't think this counts as any sort of spoiler, per se.)

Sorry; that's a lovely sentence.

[handful-ofdust.livejournal.com]

Not to him!;)

[handful-ofdust.livejournal.com]

By Oscar standards, it absolutely qualifies. Perceived zeitgeist applications, check. Large, mainstream, multi-niche audience appeal (nerds, people who think nerds are scary/hilarious [Big Bang Theory watchers, etc.], young people, older people who want to "understand" young people, people who like the idea of shaming big business and yet becoming incredibly rich), check. Great Man of History narrative, check. You look "smart" for watching it, check. Water-cooler chat cachet, check. "Visionary" director making a film that's less threatening/more "normal" than usual, check. Yes, ladies have complained that there aren't enough chicks with agency in it, but I doubt that's stopped them from going (especially with boyfriends), any more than the lack of black people/stereotypes about Asian girls and Jewish guys things has cut much into their bottom line on that level, either. I'm not trying to be dismissive, but I spent a good ten years following this crap, and yes, The Social Network has a far better chance than most. Besides, the Coens already won (twice, right?).