Chatroom, 2010

Chatroom, 2010
Director: Hideo Nakata
Cast: Aaron Johnson, Imogen Poots, Matthew Beard


Stage: home laptop set, right after Social Network

Chatroom in short: When jaded teens Jim, Eva, Emily and Mo meet William online, they're seduced by his charisma. But William isn't what he seems. He's calculating and manipulative and doesn't have time for people in the real world. Jim is vulnerable and he has no idea how dangerous his new friendship with William will be. When Jim confesses he's on anti-depressants, William knows he's found a victim. He vows to help Jim off his drugs, and the rest of the group fall in line. Fantasy meets reality when William and Jim are face to face in rush hour on the underground. Without the faceless security of the online world, everything becomes real. It's now a race against time to save Jim, but the clock is ticking... and we fear someone must die.



Preps: I know it's a complementary movie /the movie whose topic goes hand in hand with the notorious The Social Network about Facebook. The implication of a chatroom feels I will explore something deeper than a portal like FB, Flickr, etc. I am deeply interested in the topic, hence high expectations.



Reality: The movie drags me into the mystery world of chatrooms - fully developed "irl", the way you can really imagine things going on there. Second life, per se. I am sure it looks similar to the real users. As I am not an user of a chatroom and seldom go to similar places, it's a truly interesting insight. The input/output; the things that get to be discussed there, virtually beyond any borders possible - well, just the philosophy and me thinking about this is purely enough to satisfy my curious genes.

The story revolves around one individual with a mission to destroy. Seek for ones that are weak and destroy them. In the process, get the others on your side and make them help you. Even though the main story is superb, in my opinion it doesn't go too deep into the mind of each participant in the chatroom. The shortness of the movie could be easily replaced or upgraded with a deeper insight into the life stories of the five people in this perticular chatroom.

The problems that lead people to use chatrooms as the means to escape real life, are definitely taken out of reality. The vivid shows of suicides are something that will move even the toughest person.. the cold approach or the cold soul that may evolve in process of ewoking your other self in the virtual reality, can be devastating. You could be easily living the life of your other - virtual self. The movie implies as many before it in this period (Avatar for sure being one of them).. that the life you get to design can be so appealing you may never want to leave it. Or you may choose to live that one instead of your own. Because in the virtual world you can be whoever you choose to be and present yourself for any living cell in the world.

The movie will dazzle you with the idea.. and make you terrified with the feeling or fear - what if this happened to me also?


My personal rating: 7,0 (the power of social media is impressive. A brilliant show to what it may lead. Lacks a bit of dynamics inbetween, nevertheless, a true masterpiece to stand besides The Social Media)

The Social Network, 2010

The Social Network, 2010
Director: David Fincher
Cast:Jesse Eisenberg, Rooney Mara, Andrew Garfield


Stage: home /laptop in my lap on a chilly evening


The Social Network at a glance: On a fall night in 2003, Harvard undergrad and computer programming genius Mark Zuckerberg sits down at his computer and heatedly begins working on a new idea. In a fury of blogging and programming, what begins in his dorm room soon becomes a global social network and a revolution in communication. A mere six years and 500 million friends later, Mark Zuckerberg is the youngest billionaire in history... but for this entrepreneur, success leads to both personal and legal complications.

Preps: I am overwhelmed and overexcited to see this, as I am a huge fan of social media from philosophical perspective. I have heard a lot about this piece and it strikes me that it will generate millions of new users of FB and reproduce this Zuckerberg's masterpiece and blow it into the galaxy. Plus, I am very curious what the biography might tell me, because I haven't been following for real.


Reality: In the same maneuvre as FB does to masses, I am struck by this piece, not letting my eyes drop the attention for one moment. Normalwise, I would follow a biography and a success story, however in this case I am stuck on the laptop like a glue. I have this deep profound respect for such geek programmers that shape the universe with a touch of their imagination. The movie slides beautifully between different periods of Facebook development and lets the viewer shape his own mind about the phenomena. It surely gives an insight into the start up period and it shakes with the basic philosophy of turning something into a big bang with energy of few individuals.
The success leads to partial endings of some stories - the movie politely inclines. Great or even the greatest friendships can be torn apart for the sake of money or change of philosophy at one stage. Being driven by the money is supposed not to be one of Zuckerberg's ideas.. nevertheless, with such success it's truly hard not to want to earn more and more, and here comes the greed.
In my opinion the movie lacks the period inbetween. The leap from 10.000 users to 1 mio is generally speaking, too fast for the viewer and in some sense, negotiates a perfect flow of the business in all the period inbetween. Well, I am curious about the period inbetween. The courtal procedures cannot be as tasty as it would be trying to depict the time from a small success to a billion dollar worth kid.
The cast is brilliant, I totally buy main actors. The friendship seems real you could taste it with a spoon. And also the creation of the great divide between them. And the master of Napster joining the party - absolutely brilliant.
In my opinion, a movie I shall see again soon. Definitely worth your time and consideration afterwards. No special effects, no music. Just Facebook. The king of this century afterall.



My personal rating: 8,0 (a truly unique and dazzling piece, definitely a must see in this period of social media)

Social Network on IMDB
The Social Network home page