The 168 Turnaround: Zuckerberg vs. Raptor; Caulfield for the Win

THIS WEEK:  JAN 9 – JAN 15, 2011

ZSROE.COM: This week is a particularly important one at zsroe.com, as it is the first.  While many blogs serve as online diaries or journals, mine will focus on pop culture:  mostly film and literature, but also a little music, theatre, etc.  This sounds especially highbrow, perhaps even a little snobbish—I don’t mean it to be so.  But rather than attempt to persuade you to my thinking, I’ll let my blog speak for itself.  Brevity is the soul of wit, and so on and so forth.

THE SOCIAL NETWORK: If you’ve seen the DVD/Blu-ray front cover of The Social Network, then you’ve seen the pull quotes that run top to bottom.  “A BRILLIANT FILM,” says one; “REVOLUTIONARY,” says another; “MAMMOTH AND EXHILARATING,” says yet another; and the list goes on.  Believe it or not, the high praise is well earned.  While not a film of great spectacle or momentum, David Fincher’s The Social Network, which was released on DVD and Blu-ray on Tuesday, is a film to be reckoned with, and a sure contender come Oscar season.  The script is tight, the performances are nuanced, and the score is quietly hypnotic.  Unlike Fincher’s last film, The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button, The Social Network never wastes a moment—it is to the point without losing thematic depth.

THE CATCHER IN THE RYE, PART DEUX: A good storyteller will create characters that resonate, characters that are relatable, and characters that are missed once the story ends.  Hence the push for sequels.  Mind you, novels that have one, two, or (God forbid) several sequels are usually of one genre or another (often sci-fi or fantasy); that is to say, they are not “serious” fiction (there are exceptions, of course; Robertson Davies’ trilogies come to mind).  But if a storyteller really wants to piss in someone’s milk, he or she will write a sequel to a novel that someone else wrote.  Such is the case with Fredrick Colting, a Swedish author who has written an unauthorized sequel to J.D. Salinger’s famous novel, The Catcher in the Rye.  Unsurprisingly, Colting’s novel, 60 Years Later, has caused a stir with the Salinger estate; Colting has agreed not to sell the novel in the U.S. or Canada until the copyright on The Catcher in the Rye has expired (see here for more).

JURASSIC PARK IV: Yes, it’s true—a fourth instalment in the Jurassic Park franchise is in the works.  Wasn’t three of them enough?  Actually, two of them were enough (the third one shouldn’t even be mentioned).  And, no, Steven Spielberg won’t be returning to the director’s chair; Jurassic Park III director Joe Johnston will be captain of this ship (here’s hoping he’ll attach the rudder this time, and steer the film in some kind of sensible direction).  New this week are photos suggesting that JP4 has already begun filming on the Universal Studios lot.  According to comingsoon.net, Universal is denying everything, but this wouldn’t be the first time a studio has tried (and failed) to keep things under wraps.  Who’s to say one way or another?  Oh, and if you thought a fourth film is going too far, Johnston has said that JP4 is to be the first film of the second Jurassic Park trilogy.  Jesus wept.

WIN OF THE WEEK:  2010: A Symphony of Violence
Say what you want about my small mind; this amuses me—that’s reason enough to include it here.

FAIL OF THE WEEK:  Taser Test
These videos are a dime a dozen, but this one hits all the right spots.  Pure manliness.

The 168 Turnaround is a week-in-review column:  a place for me to reflect on the week’s most interesting pop culture news items.  If it mattered to me or I think it might matter to you, then it will be here.  If I’ve overlooked something, or if you have a comment or question, please leave a response.  Until next week…