August 14 @ 1:00 p.m. | Center for the Arts @ 801 Magnolia Avenue
In 2003, Harvard undergrad and computer genius Mark Zuckerberg began work on a new concept that eventually turned into the global social network known as Facebook. Six years later, he was one of the youngest billionaires ever, and, for better or worse, he’s still filthy rich and still in the news.
His fame got a bump in 2010 when the director David Fincher and the writer Aaron Sorkin made a movie about his rise and his travails. It’s called The social Network and you can catch it next week in downtown Piedmont.
One of the rewarding pleasures of movies is seeing one with friends and then chatting about it when the lights come up. That’s just what the Piedmont Flix Fest, which meets on the second Thursday of each month, offers: a great movie in a comfortable setting, and then a lively discussion of it afterward.
The Social Network stars Jesse Eisenberg as Mark Zuckerberg. Aaron Sorkin won an Oscar for his screenplay. The film was released in the United States on the weekend of October 1, 2010, debuting at Number One, with widespread critical acclaim. Rotten Tomatoes gave it an approval rating of 96%, followed by this critical consensus: “Impeccably scripted, beautifully directed, and filled with fine performances, The Social Network is a riveting, ambitious example of modern filmmaking at its finest.” Roger Ebert named it the best film of the year. “David Fincher’s film has the rare quality of being not only as smart as its brilliant hero, but in the same way. It is cocksure, impatient, cold, exciting and instinctively perceptive,” Ebert said. And Rolling Stone also named it the movie off the year, adding “ Fincher and Sorkin triumph by lacing their scathing wit with an aching sadness that defines the dark irony of the past decade.” In addition, the film appeared on 78 film critics’ top-ten lists of 2010.
Sponsored by the Rec Department, the event takes place in the Center for the Arts at 801 Magnolia Avenue on the second Thursday of each month. Doors will open at 12:45. The event is free and available to anyone over 18 years of age. Participants are invited on a drop-in basis, though registration with the PRD is encouraged and can be done at https://bit.ly/3PJyxkP. Everyone is welcome to bring snacks or lunch.
The next movie in the Piedmont series is Dead Poet’s Society, starring Robin Williams, to be screened on September 11th.