The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Tuesday, January 25, 2011- 7 The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Tuesday, January 25,2011 -7 The 'Social'generation Kids loses its edge The entire "Social Net- work" team is celebrating its triumph this winter as circles of film critics and awards shows make it rain statuettes over the film. It's the rare critical suc- cess that not only scores high points in every part of its production' - directing, ANKUR writing, act- SOHONI ing, music, cinematogra- phy and editing - but scores the highest points. Receiving the utmost praise from among the cast and crew is writer Aaron Sorkin, well known for his TV success with "The West Wing." Sorkin has a Golden Globe in his pocket and an almost-guaranteed Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar waiting for him in about a month. But the film has been seen as more than just a critical success. It's more than a film - it's an artistic achievement in the social realm. What makes "The Social Network" important? The 49-year-old Sorkin, along with 48-year-old director David Fincher, has made a film more current and fresh than perhaps any mainstream competitors, and they have, at the same time, created a discourse both for and concerning people half their age. "The Social Network" isn't mere- ly a good film, but it's one that makes social waves far beyond its release and will continue beyond this awards season. "The Social Network" interacts with the contemporary world unlike any other film; as unique as Facebook itself, so too is the film that depicts its founding. Almost every major film release has a Facebook page these days - even the neglected films dumped into the January-April film release doldrums - and each one seeks to use online buzz to its advantage. "The Social Network" had the unique opportunity to both capitalize on Facebook's success and make ironic the site's graphic presence in its logo and posters while promoting the film among online film fan circles. A first gl Netwo the me awkwa and ac return Social film's F Sor Univer up the people realist "The S Facebo people ings - were ci take to friends its mer scope i someb separa book g sents i reactio users h ance may see "The Social Zuckerberg, "plugged in" to the rk" as rather opposed to site's operation as if separated ga-site. As such, it was from the world around him, is ard and uncomfortable - peacefully oblivious to Saverin's tually somewhat eerie - to rage, lost in his digital experi- home after seeing "The ence. Saverin grabs Zuckerberg's Network" and visit the computer and smashes it to the Facebook page. floor, breakingthrough the digi- kin, when he visited the tal wall Zuckerberg has set up for sity in September to talk himself. No matter how Zucker- film, noted the intrigue berg tries to talk his way out of felt with the new sur- this one, the unexpected look of' ic double-experience that pain as he loses his only friend ocial Network" was for is remarkablytelling, a poignant ok. He realized that many lesson on the worst effects of see- who attended pre-screen- ing friendship as nothing but a a large number of whom digital connection. ollege students - would But perhaps that morality Facebook to tell their tale - the danger of the de-per- s about the film and discuss sonalization of friendship - is its. Perhaps the trend's something our generation already s an exaggeration from has. Current college-aged people ody like Sorkin, who is well - those who grew up largely ted from the true "Face- before AIM and other forms of eneration," but it repre- instant messaging, and those who n principle a self-conscious remember when cell phones were n that many Facebook still rare - are actually the ones sad to the film. who best understand the down- sides that "The Social Network" wants to infer about Internet interaction. It's the people even 'ace-to-face younger, those who know noth- ing before online communication, th Facebook. and the people older than the phenomenon who mistake the nature of that communication. Perhaps that's why many ny figured that the "true" describe "The Social Network" f Mark Zuckerberg's rise asa niche film, and something onaire-dom would hurt unlikely to appeal outside of ok's brand and tarnish its mature or adult audiences. The r's reputation. It seemed film is remarkably relevant to 'hat inevitable given some our generation, but it is, at the ilm's media coverage, but same time, somewhat imitative of measured performance something we personally know e Eisenberg and subtle far better. on to detail, the film placed I think "The Social Network" rberg sympathetically is fascinating. And with Facebook en genius and loser. His going full-steam ahead and pos- :he film represents the sibly becoming a publicly traded ning prevalence of Face- company in the coming years, ver the past seven years, the film will likely be called upon er for good or for bad. repeatedly in reference to the ckerberg of "The Social company's successes and failures. rk" shows how the digital But I'm not really going to be nteraction isborn from thinking too much about it when in the tangible and physi- I check my Facebook profile. If rld. you use the social network, you he film's climactic scene, probably know why you do. A cebook crew celebrates its film doesn't really do anything to th member as Eduardo change that. Cold War Kids slick but slippery on 'Mine Is Yours' By ELLIOT ALPERN DailyArts Writer For those expecting a con- tinuation of the blues-inspired, natural Cold War Kids of Rob- bers Et Cow- ards, prepare for a marginal letdown - Cold War Kids the band has changed. The Mine is Yours characteristic rough edge, Dswntswn which had previously drawn comparisons to the likes of Spoon and the White Stripes, has been blunted and, in some songs, removed entirely. In its place, there is a feel of post-production studio refinement, of a band that has worked and reworked each song until it has either been polished to a careful sheen or has become overwrought. Cold War Kids, in a sporadically fruitful pursuit of precision, stripped away the subtle imperfections that made the music engaging. The saving grace for Mine Is Yours - as has always been the case with Cold War Kids - is the voice of lead singer Nathan Willett. Though the instrumen- tation may be stale at times, those soulful vocals can add just enough variability to make a track worth listening to. For instance, without Willet's voice, "Finally Begin" would sound like something picked up from the floor of the Kings of Leon recording studio. Even with unoriginal lyrics ("Finally open my arms wide / Finally I let you inside"), Willett manages "Wait, wasn't there an American Apparel here?" F Wi Mat story o to billi Facebo founde somew of the f with a by Jess attenti Zucker betwee arc in t burgeo book o wheth The Zu Netwo social i failure cal wot In t the Fa million Saverir Other] office t been k to unleash astonishing prowess, creating a viable hit single. The album starts out strong with the title track and picks up steam with three more solid songs. It begins to falter only when it reaches "Out Of The Wilderness," a building piece that eventually comes out flat. At this point, Mine Is Yours slumps and never really recovers. Later in the album, "Sensitive Kid" relies a little too heavily on Wil- lett to stand on its own. Though he skillfully dictates the dys- function of a teen with a single mom, the song is too downcast to sound vexed, and awkwardly resides somewhere in between. Luckily, the first half of Mine Is Yours provides the listener with glimpses of the rocking- yet-restrained Cold War Kids of old. "Louder Than Ever" com- bines crashing cymbals and subtle guitar to produce what is clearly the best track on the album. Willett provides poetic verse ("All my windows were barred, the sun made stripes of shade") and a chorus that can leave listeners humming it well after the song has ended. Imme- diately following it is "Royal Blue," an impassioned composi- tion with an irresistibly upbeat mood. Though the track has a new sound, it works, and it shows what Mine Is Yours could have been. Cold War Kids's latest effort is a risky departure from what gave it a small amount of success in the past. Nathan Willett continues to shine as a singer, and his foray into soul only adds to the depth of his ability. However, Mine Is Yours is top-heavy, leaving the album fairly disjointed. The note- worthy tracks are strong enough to warrant a second or third lis- ten, and even though some songs are skippable, the first-half hits manage to outweigh the busts. Cold War Kids has shown that it has the ability to produce creative and talented music, but instead of completely revamping its pre- vious style, the band must find the middle ground between edgy melodies and carefully manipu- lated music. - n (Andrew Garfield, "The Boleyn Girl") comes to the o discover he's essentially icked out of the company. Sohoni is confused about social networking. To friend him, e-mail asohoni@umich.edu. Creativity wins in 'Planet 2' By SHIN HIEFTJE DailyArts Writer The original "LittleBigPlanet" was a platformer that let play- ers create their own levels with a robust in-game * toolset and then share UitlgPnet 2 those levels easily with PS3 the rest of Sony the world. At first it may seem like few concepts have changed in the sequel, but the deeper into it a player gets, the more wrong that impression becomes. The game's new level creator is the star of the show, allow- ing players to create a lot of new genres and gametypes - and what some people have created is just short of mind-blowing. Whereas only platformers could be made in the original, now both developers and the community have created racing games, side- scrolling shooters, RPG combat systems and tower defense. Some of the user-created dual joystick shooters are more fun than the core platforming ele- ments the game has been known for. Since each level has a rating and description, those that are more creative and interesting rise to the top and are easy to find. Over 3 million levels have been made so far, so the playability of "LittleBigPlanet 2" is virtually limitless. But with so many lev- els available, the loading times online can sometimes be slow. The level creator is remark- ably rich - letting players com- bine and manipulate objects, fabrics, stickers and more - and allows for literally limitless cus- tomizability. The game even allows players to create music for their levels. Inventing full game- types and quality levels takes an extraordinary amount of dedica- tion and ingenuity, so patience is required when approaching that aspect of the game. Despite the new gametypes players are making, "Little- BigPlanet 2" is still primarily a 2-D platformer, and a good one at that. Most platforming levels have a clever design that can become challenging but never overly frustrating. New game mechanics, like the grappling hook, have been introduced that open up the level design in both the story mode and online. The story mode is delightful. Stephen Fry's English-accented narration is incredibly endear- ing, and the dialogue is cheeky and silly. Visually, the game is absolutely beautiful, with realis- tically textured fabric and wood, making the game world look like a giant diorama come to life. The music is eclectic, ranging from orchestral scores to thumping techno to female a cappella. There is a host of combative multiplayer game types for two to four players, and many are a blast because of how frantic they are. Some of the story mode lev- els have cooperative aspects in them as well, which are inventive and well implemented. LittleBigPlanet, big big fun. The only major complaint that can be lobbied against the game is that the controls are not ideal. The grappling hook allows more variation in the gameplay, but it can often be unwieldy when try- ing to be precise. The jumping in the platforming sections feels a little too floaty and slippery, which can be slightly annoying at times. It's far from a deal breaker, but it's one of the few things hold- ing "LittleBigPlanet 2" back from perfection. Cutest staring contest ever.