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Oct . 1,2010 I The Clarion Arts & Life Page 7 Movie Review; 'Cropsey' is terrifying By Alex McCracken Staff Writer F ilms are inspired by both fact and fiction. But rarely is the bold face truth as fascinating and terrifying as a man in human leather chasing a cheerleader with a chainsaw. “Cropsey,” a documentary of a real life boogey man on Staten Island, gives the Blair Witch Project a serious run for its money. Its story, archive footage of a violently mismanaged mental facility, interviews and cut throat pace create the tension and drive every director in Hollywood dreams about. Here are the facts: over a 20 year period six mentally handicapped children and toddlers went missing at night right off their neighborhood streets. Despite investigations into every incident no evidence of them was ever found; they all simply vanished. Now we come to the legend of Cropsey. Admittedly, almost every town has a few scary stories. However, the difference is that Stanton Island actually has an axe wielding maniac and odds are that they’re still free to roam the streets. I won’t ruin the best parts, but this documentary goes down like a big bag of popcorn and requires very little patience to enjoy. However, make no mistake, the points it makes about the vulnerability of the criminal justice system will haunt you for days. Movie Review: 'The Social Network' nails it By Alex McCracken Staff Writer I am a firm believer that “Citizen Kane” is the greatest film ever made. Why? Because if you were to watch any other film from 1940, it would be pretty obvious. It was head and shoulders above any film that had proceeded it from a script writer’s point of view, from an actor’s point of view, and from a photographer’s point of view; just not from the academies’ point of view. But while “The Social Network” may not be the next “Citizen Kane” from all these perspectives at once, Orson Welles is still beaming in his grave. The story is, how do I put this, nonlinear? It attempts to tell the true story of the Web site Facebook from the perspective of the Ivy League twenty-something who made it. There’s just one problem—nobody knows the true story of Facebook. So instead, we as the audience are treated to the most credible versions of this origin story in “Rashoman” fashion. (“Rashoman” is an old Japanese movie ... never mind.) What really matters here is that for once our generation is not talked down to or romanticized; we are shown as we are: wholly dependant on technology and praise from our peers. Jesse Eisenberg—^AKA “That Zombieland guy,” AKA “not Michael Cera”—is pitch perfect as the socially stunted/socially innovative genius that invented Facebook. He is twice the actor that I had given him credit for and I would not be surprised to see a bald stone faced statuette in his near future; he nails it. I can’t readily describe his performance; his cadence is fearful, yet angry. He emotes this contradiction all at once and the movie soars. Justin Timberlake—yes, that Justin Timberlake—as the inventor of Napster is also YOU DON'T G El TO 500- !ON FRliiD^ WITHOUTmMAKING A FE W ENEMieS on fire with his portrayal as... well you could call him the “tempter” goading the Facebook friends down the rabbit hole of success, fame, and disillusionment. While you have seen his ability to be, let’s face it, funny as hell, he finds something very eerie about his character and plays it up every chance he gets. The trailer has a great example of this where he asks Eisenberg rhetorically what he has heard about Facebook and himself He mouths the words “nothing” and at first you think he is going for a laugh; but then the moment cools and you realize that he tries, and succeeds, at something much darker The bottom line here is that the disjointed story makes its point and the characters and acting rocket this film straight into greatness territory. I have never found the term “Instant Classic” more appropriate than I do right now. THIS SPACE FOR RENT! Contact us at clarion@brevard.edu for advertisement information!
Brevard College Student Newspaper
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Oct. 1, 2010, edition 1
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