The Social Network (A Late-To-The-Party Review)

I live online. I spend a good 40% of my day on Twitter, or some other social network. The term "social network" is a broad one. It could mean anything from 'online society' to 'tribe in the jungle'. There's a lot of them out there too, online. We all use them... But it's not all pokes and @'s. There's a story to tell behind the biggest of the social network monsters. And that story - be it completely true or not - has been told. 

David Fincher's film The Social Network tells the story behind the roots of Facebook. Focusing on the people who may or may not have had a direct hand in the creation of the online monster it is a classic "trust exercise" movie in the vein of Primer. Only this one is at least part-true.

It's not all straightforward business dealing. In fact, none of it is. Facebook began as a hobby - or a test - and became a billion dollar industry all of its own. Fincher's film tells the story of the people behind it and how their downfall meant very little to them since they'd already made enough money to buy you, me and every other person reading this review ten times over. And I guarantee that when you watch the movie, as you all should because it is an exceptional piece of cinema, you'll be a little more thoughtful about how and why you use social networking sites. This is something of a cautionary tale for us web-dwellers - albeit a well-hidden one. I could write for hours about this movie, but I won't. I won't tell you that the cinematography is some of the best I've ever seen, or that the cast are outstanding - even Justin Timberlake, or that every second of the movie feels like you're waiting for someone to fall over - the type of anticipation you never want to feel, but love to feel when you do. 

It's a truly fascinating and somewhat understated slice of film that offers enough fact to make it interesting and enough fiction to make it exciting. It shows how an idea can become so much more. And how, if handled irresponsibly, that idea can eat us up... I didn't move throughout this film - except to update my Twitter feed (ironic or what?). I'd watch it again tomorrow. A real modern classic. This will be watched in the future as All The President's Men is watched today - a fictionalised slice of modern history. And when a website is considered History, even by a humble blogger like myself, then you really know it's the future.

Service Is Over

If you've been watching the wonderful Michel Roux's Service as avidly as myself then you should know that it's almost over - it's on tonight at 8pm (BBC2) and tomorrow night - then that's it! Tonight sees the trainees serving more well-known guests - Gok Wan, Sophie Ellis-Bexter and Dairmuid Gavin - as they return to London after serving every type of customer thinkable, from snotty toffs to smelly builders. And what a journey it has been! Highs, lows and tantrums - we've seen it all. We've met a bunch of people from all walks of life who have succeeded admirably at making themselves some of the most likeable reality tv contestants (if you could call them that, I wouldn't) that have ever appeared on screen - every single one of them charming and gracious. I've loved every minute of this series and am genuinely sad to see it end. It's been the best thing on TV this year so far.

I think if you were to ask them, though, the trainees would say that they've had a wonderful (if sometimes stressful) experience. Well, guess what? You CAN ask them. TVResearcher.co.uk is hosting a live web-chat with many of the people we've watched blossom into the sort of service staff we're not used to in this country.  I'm going to do my very best to pop over and say my "hellos" (and maybe apologise for a comment I made on Twitter about a certain trainee, something that was not unpleasant or derogatory, but was never meant to be read by her... who knew she was on Twitter?! I do, now!) and I suggest you should all pop by too. Just click the link above (then follow the very short and harmless registration) at 9pm to ask the guys, to their face (sort of), what the hell they were thinking when they agreed to this and whether they're glad they did! :)

Hopefully, I'll see you there!

Episodes (BBC)

It's a strange old beast, is Episodes. It has a "feel" to it that sets it apart from most other comedies on the box at the moment. It's very funny, pretty interesting and filled to the brim with excellent performances, not least by Matt LeBlanc - but it seems to be slipping below many people's radar. 

Telling the tale of the compromises that need to be made when adapting a smash-hit British TV series for American network television - from the inside (something that many screenwriters have cited as being scarily accurate) -  Episodes stars Stephen Mangan and Tamsin Greig as a British screen-writer couple forced to bend over for the yanks. 

Matt LeBlanc plays himself as the new star of the adapted series - replacing Richard Griffiths as the lead in the American version - and really it's Matt's performance that goes a long, long way to making this show so much fun. Stacked storeys high with bad language and sarcastic 'Brits in America' situations, Episodes really bridges the gap between British sit-com and American studio-com in a way that no other show has before - in my opinion. Fusing together the cringe-humour of the likes of The Office and Extras with the glossy laugh-inducers of Friends and Seinfeld, the show makes for often uncomfortable, but never unpleasant viewing.

It takes an episode to kick in properly. The opener is - again, in my opinion - the weakest of the four episodes we've been given so far. But since there's an arc set in place even before the credits roll on episode one (indeed, the ending is more or less laid out for the series in advance, with the rest of the shows taking place in a sort of flashback) there's a real sense of journey to this piece. Even when some of the jokes hit a little lower than Network Telly usually would in the States, or the bad language shocks you into realising you're not watching a glossy laugh-on-cue clone that so many American comedies are these days, the show never feels like "a British sit-com set in America", which it isn't really, anyway. It has gigantic charm and the episodes fly by fast enough to leave you wanting more. For my money, this is well worth digging out if you haven't already seen it.