Almost There: Andrew Garfield in "The Social Network"

by Cláudio Alves

Aaron Sorkin and David Fincher are back on Oscar's radar. Sorkin's sophomore directorial effort, Trial of the Chicago 7, is set to premiere on Netflix later this week while Fincher's movie about the making of Citizen Kane, Mank, is scheduled for a December release, also on Netflix. Looking back at the last time both these men were in the awards conversation brings us to 2010 when The Social Network was the critics' favorite going into Oscar night. The drama about the creation of Facebook was the David that fought against the Goliath of Weinstein's The Kings Speech. Unlike the biblical tale, however, the giant won this battle.

The signs of trouble and pending defeat were obvious for most pundits. After all, despite the film getting eight nominations, one of its stand-out performers and expected honorees failed to make the cut. Andrew Garfield had earned great support from the precursors and reviews to match, making his absence from the Best Supporting Actor lineup a shocking snub…

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Zombieland: Double Tap

by Michael Frank

Zombieland: Double Tap doesn’t waste time telling you that you’re watching a zombie movie. The Columbia Pictures logo comes to life, fighting off multiple would-be enemies, leading to a Deadpool-esque opening credits sequence. It’s not new by any means, but it reminds you why you like zombie movies in the first place: they’re fun as hell. 

The rest of the film follows its opening: an enjoyable movie-going experience with a lack of plot, a lack of originality, yet just enough movie stars, inside jokes, and heart to make it worthwhile. Double Tap follows our leads from a decade earlier, Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson), Columbus (Jesse Eisenberg), Wichita (Emma Stone), and Little Rock (Abigail Breslin), as they traverse the new-look world that’s still full of zombies. The actors themselves have aged nicely as well, with Harrelson, Eisenberg, Stone, and Breslin all maintaining prolific and award-winning careers. If anything, they’re more likeable than they were 10 years ago, an difficult feat for a cast to pull off. They bring their full arsenal of charisma to their roles in Double Tap, giving generous performances to a film that cares more about its world than its characters...

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New this weekend: "The Farewell" and "The Art of Self Defense"

The alligator thriller Crawl and the buddy comedy Stuber are the new wide releases this weekend but let us now direct your attention to the new films in limited release today, as we reviewed both during their festival runs...

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SXSW: Jesse Eisenberg in "The Art of Self-Defense"

Abe Fried-Tanzer reporting from SXSW

How seriously are we supposed to take a movie about Jesse Eisenberg learning karate? Watching The Art of Self-Defense, from director Riley Stearns, there are many different answers to that question. Eisenberg’s lanky frame and token physical awkwardness make his training in martial arts a laughable concept from the start, though its origins are brutal. At the beginning of the film Eisenberg’s Casey is mugged and beaten by masked assailants while walking home with a bag of dog food. This film feels like a parody, but one that's trying to mock too many things...

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Beauty vs Beast: Wakanda Forever

Jason from MNPP popping in from between Tribeca screenings to quick give us our Monday afternoon "Beauty vs Beast" fix -- I figure it's a Marvel Week what with that lil' Avengers movie opening in a couple of days and so what better time to step one step back and tackle their most recent smashing success, Ryan Coogler's Black Panther, which is still sitting pretty in the Top Ten, box-office-wise. 1.3 Billion dollars! I figure some of you have seen it? So let's face down its titular hero (Chadwick Boseman) and The Best Villain Marvel Has Given Us Yet Eric Killmonger (Michael B Jordan), which is totally that character's official name now.

survey solutions

PREVIOUSLY Mark Zuckerberg did even better than I expected with last week's The Social Network poll - he managed a whopping 14% of your vote, getting comfortably trounced, as well he should, by Rooney Mara's Erica. Said IanO:

"This is one Sorkin’s most electrifying scenes. I’m Team Erica because sometimes you see someone become a star (of a sort...) right in front of your areas, and it’s one of the greatest pleasures cinema. Plus she delivers that kiss-off line magnificently, with just a hint of pity and sadness colouring the brutality of the line. So even though I’m Team Erica, you have to give it up for Eisenberg too, who charts the journey from clueless arrogance to awful realisation beautifully. It’s one of favourite performances of the decade."