Favourite Soundtracks Part III

I would like to apologise for my half year hiatus from this very blog! My absence can be explained by the fact I have just started studying at university so have been busy settling in, meeting new people and finding time to bury my nose in Law books on occasion... But fear not and rest assured that I am back and ready to reignite my passion for film. 

Actually, it's rather presumptuous to assume anyone has actually missed activity on Amateur Reviews but I have certainly missed writing it...

FAVOURITE SOUNDTRACKS PART III

1. Les Miserables I Dreamed A Dream - Anne Hathaway I love this musical but the stand out track as cliché as expected is Anne Hathaway's portrayal of the musical theatre great. Ideally my favourite song from the musical is One Day More, however something about the movie version did not quite gel for me as much as some of the stage versions.

2. Great Gatsby Back To Black Beyonce and Andre 3000 This was one of my most listened to CDs of the summer so I was torn between a great many of the tracks. The hip hop edge of the sound track is to our ears what jazz was to Gatsby and co. in the 1920's. Genius from Baz. And as a side note, my second favourite would be Together by The XX.

3. The Vow England The National Yet another track by The National makes it onto one of my favourite lists (About Today from Warrior being the other). This is the instrumental version which ends the movie, however the original with lyrics is beautiful also.

4. Flight Gimme Shelter Rolling Stones Now I know that this song features in so many films other than Flight, but this is the most recent use of it that I am aware of therefore I decided to pick Flight as the soundtrack from which it's from. The intro of this song is summer personified in a song.

5. Social Network In Motion Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross Incredible Oscar worthy soundtrack, the movie would not be what it is without it. I also particularly enjoyed the choral cover of Creep by Radiohead which accompanied the trailer too though is not part of the score.

6. Inglourious Basterds Cat People David Bowie Great song to accompany an even greater tracking shot by Quentin Tarantino.

7. Romeo + Juliet Talk Show Host Radiohead Another inspired Baz Luhrman soundtrack. The modern music in the modern take of Romeo and Juliet keeps the movie feeling fresh and relevant nearly 20 years on. Impressive film making.

8. Requiem For A Dream Lux Aeterna This song is used in so many other contexts nowadays that I sometimes forget that it is from this movie by Darren Aronofsky. I believe it was used for a Lord of The Rings Trailer? Either way it is a cracking piece of soundtrack to a cracking movie.

9. There Will Be Blood Convergence Johnny Greenwood I actually struggle to listen to this. It is not something that you'd put on for a bit of easy listening, or at a party for that matter. But I included it in the post just for the sheer fact that it encapsulates the urgency and unease of the movie ridiculously well. There Will Be Blood is truly brilliant but an undeniably hard watch; this soundtrack contributes to quality. 

10. Silver Linings Play Book Buffalo Alt-J Feat. Mountain Man And finally to round off the list... Alt-J is one of my favourite bands so when I heard their distinctive sound on the Silver Linings OST I was very happy indeed.

So that rounds off Part III. There will probably be a Part IV as I have always got my ears trained on the songs that come from some of my favourite films. Until then you can by all means check out Part I and Part II via the links below if it takes your fancy (or perhaps not if you hate my music/film taste!) 

Part I
Part II

Modern Classics – The Social Network

The Social Network

12A

Directed by David Fincher

Written by Aaron Sorkin

Starring Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield and Justin Timberlake

You don’t get to 500 million friends without making a few enemies.

Amateur Reviews are embarking upon a new series of posts celebrating modern classics from recent years. Today’s feature is the 2010 Oscar Winning film The Social Network. Given the fact this post has the word ‘Classic’ in the title you can rest assured that these movies do not need a rating out of 10 because they are all examples of impressive film making at its peak.

One evening way back in 2003, Harvard undergraduate Mark Zuckerberg started what was soon to become a global phenomenon in world wide communications. The success, however, was not without its controversies and The Social Network chronicles the various legal and personal issues that stemmed from the inception of Facebook.

Aaron Sorkin (The West Wing) heads up the writing credits, alongside Ben Mezrich whose book, The Accidental Billionaire, was the basis for the script. It is probably worth mentioning straight off that The Social Network is not 100 percent fact based and plays with multiple perspectives. In our opinion, the main strength of the movie lies within the script. These characters are the smartest in their game but all have a vulnerable side which makes it impossible not to empathise with them. The script has Sorkin written all over it – the witty banter is extremely clever and there is an elegant level of humour that is just superb. The storyline is told in a non linear style from the various court cases that eventually took place and this allows Sorkin to play with character perspective and memory in an interesting way.

Director David Fincher is up to some of his best work also. The whole film is glossy, sleek and sexy. If someone had said a film about computer coding and lawsuits would be this attractive, it would have seemed unlikely before watching The Social Network. Fincher has succeeded in creating an incredibly well paced and flowing film that moves through a significant amount of content in a modest time: a little over two hours.

Jesse Eisenberg takes on the role of Mark Zuckerberg and makes it his own. To be honest, it is hard for us to judge if he was a ‘good’ Zuckerberg because it is not like we really know who he is. Given that, Eisenberg is incredible. Prior to The Social Network he was quite similar to Michael Cera... We were used to seeing him in nerdy and endearing roles (Zombieland), but The Social Network is a stage where Eisenberg really shows what he's made of. He still channels a lot of that awkwardness and his delivery of lines in light speed time is impressive, but there is a crueller edge to him that is something we have not seen before. Justin Timberlake plays Sean Parker and you genuinely manage to forget you are watching the great JT… He is genuinely charming and shows he is capable of humour as well. The role of co-founder Eduardo Saverin, who is later shunned out of the business, is played by Andrew Garfield who is definitely a young actor on the rise. Armie Hammer tackles both Winklevoss twins and manages to give both Cameron and Tyler distinct personalities. Rooney Mara stars too and rounds of what is a stunning cast of young talent.

One of the reasons The Social Network has been earmarked as a modern classic is because it emulates the best of everything. The best of directing, writing and acting. Facebook is something millions of us use every single day without even considering it so The Social Network is more relatable than so many other films. And while the story is deeply rooted in technology and the impersonal nature of social networking, Fincher manages to bring it back to very human qualities that strike a chord with us all: the need for recognition and acceptance.

The Social Network is definitely a favourite with Amateur Reviews and also friends of our blog! Go check out http://moos-ramblings.blogspot.com/ for more musings on TV, film and life in general!