I continue the “Aaron Sorkin” portion of our program with a little Thespis.  Thanksgiving with the crew from Sports night.  Enjoy

Marianna is a new guest writer from Massachusetts. Her experience is in television writing and review, and she’s writing for Castanet Clap to introduce us to a funny discovery she’s made about canned laughter. – Chanelle Berlin

I was re-watching the first season of Sports Night a little while ago, after a long absence away, and the first thing I noticed right off the bat was that there was a laugh track. I didn’t know much about laugh tracks, other than the fact that they make watching reruns of Friends even more unbearable, but they seem to be a trend that’s never really gone away.

Sports Night is a great show. It’s being touted now, as ‘One Of The Greatest Shows You Never Watched’ right there alongside Apatow’s Freaks & Geeks and Undeclared gems (both of whom only had one season) and a whole slew of other programs that had such promise, but couldn’t get the public’s attention until they’d been off the air for ten years or more. If you’re wondering about the validity of this phenomenon, check out the DVD sales for My So-Called Life on a little website called Amazon.com.

Jared Leto might want to forget that experience, but any girl who watched the way Claire Danes stared lovingly at him as he sang a song about Big Red (his car, unfortunately, those who aren’t in the know, not her) knows. She knows. That was the moment where the slacking, underachieving guy who never washed his hair and was flunking out of most, if not all, of his classes, became the ideal. The series clearly didn’t last, though it was critically acclaimed, and that regard for the Jordan Catalano-type hasn’t ever really left us.

The internet is a beautiful thing, and as a result of its wide and vast knowledge, I discovered that the guy who created the laugh track was named Charles “Charley” Douglas. He was an eccentric in a family of eccentrics, who never told a soul what was inside his mysterious ‘laff box’ and manufactured thousands and thousands of chortles over the years. If you don’t think that’s weird, check this: shows like Bewitched, The Munsters and The Beverly Hillbillies all showcase what they called ‘canned laughter’, and proved to be breakout stars of their prime time time-slots. A little known show named Kentucky Jones, though, which premiered in September 1964 and bucked the laugh-track trend, however, was canceled within only one season. The theory seems to be that people are too stupid to know when to laugh all on their own–proven when two different versions of the pilot of Hogan’s Heroes were shown to test audiences, one with a laugh track and one without–and the version without, was an unmitigated disaster.

The laugh track controversy hasn’t really gone away, though. Series like Friends continue on for years and years employing fake laughter to invite the viewing audience at home to laugh with them, but a show like Sorkin’s Sports Night–brilliantly written, acted and directed–who bucked the laugh track trend in their second season, were canceled soon after.

Is it a network hot button issue? The New Adventures of Old Christine is hilarious sometimes, but their ratings are atrocious, and yet, they’re back now, for their fifth season, and a laugh track is paving the way to their jokes.

Today, the very lovely (and funny) Allison Janney is 50. I can only hope she’ll do many more movies & that she’ll be part of whatever it is that will mark Mr. Sorkin’s return to TV (I read about it this morning, I can honestly say I was super excited. I do miss the walk & talk ).

Right then….about White Teeth…it turned out to be exactly my kind of story. Maybe a little too much so – like all the ingredients were there (murky family histories, immigrant families and their expectations, adjustment issues, political & relational differences etc) but a spark was missing. Hard to explain really – I had a good time reading it, it was fun, but perhaps not particularly memorable. Maybe Times listed it in the Top 100 books from 1923 to 2005, but I have a feeling it won’t be in a similar top 50 years from now. Still, the amazing thing is Ms Smith wrote it when she was only 24 (!!). 24 – that’s how old I am now, and nowhere near capable of such imagination…

At the center of the story there’s Archibald Jones and Samad Iqbal, WWII comrades. After his divorce, Archie tries to kill himself but is saved by sheer chance; feeling he has been given a new lease on life, he spontaneously stumbles into a party where he meets Clara Bowden. Three weeks later, the white, 40something Archie will marry the black, toothless 19-year-old Clara. Through the seemingly unbreakable friendship of the 2 men, the destinies of the Joneses and Iqbals will forever be entwined. Samad (himself also married to a much younger woman – Alsana) is born in Bangladesh and emigrates to the UK long after the war (in which he fought in the imperial forces) was over. Not knowing anyone else there, he looks up Archie and rekindles their relation. The 2 men share everything – much more than they do with their respective wives. Archie is always ready to admire Sam, always ready to listen to his neverending stories about his ancestor, Mangal Pande (who may have fired the first shot in the Indian mutiny against the British forces) – and Sam is always in need of such a sympathetic ear.

Then comes the second generation – Irie Jones and the twins Millat and Magid Iqbal. The boys’ destinies are heavily affected by their father’s inner turmoil and inadequacies as a Muslim: where he feels he is a failure, too heavily influenced by the lenient Anglican morals, he expects his sons to be entrenched in tradition. Unable to lead by example, ultimately unsure of what he really wants from them; Samad ends up being eternally disappointed, culminating with the decision to separate the 2 brothers: Millat will stay in London, while Magid will be sent off back to Bangladesh. Alsana is never involved or aware of the decision until after the fact – which only splits the household even further. Thus, Millat’s evolution to a teen thug and later to a Muslim fundamentalist (not pushed by higher ideals, but looking to belong to a group, like in the American mafia movies he so fervently loves) is no surprise to anyone (just as Irie’s hopeless passion for him).

While the Irie & Millat are in school, a third family will enter their lives – the Chalfens, intellectuals, British to the bone and set on straightening the two misguided kids. Going through the whole plot would take a while – and it wouldn’t be fair, because a lot of the fun comes from discovering what will go wrong next in these people’s lives. Suffice to say that, eventually, all 3 families and the various groups their members are affiliated to will finally converge to one place: new year, 1992, at the unveiling of Marcus Chalfen’s controversial genetic project. From then on, I felt the book had a very anticlimactic ending – almost like Ms Smith got bored and sent all her characters walking off into the sunset.

Although events take place in the span of about 20 years (mid 70s to early 90s) and capture a few historically significant moments, the narrative is neither linear, nor does it take on a serious tone (and I quite enjoyed the humor in it). Ms Smith plays jump rope with the timelines, skipping from present to past, exploring the roots and stories of Mangal Pande, of the WWII adventures of Archie & Sam, of the Bowden clan, their Jamaican heritage and their unyielding attachment to the Jehovah’s witnesses. And through it all, characters are constructed – some shallower (like Clara) some more rounded (like Samad who, though thoroughly unlikable, feels real in his dilemmas, contradictions, mistakes & punishments, ultimately embodying displacement), but all finding a niche in this sometimes dizzying book.

Aaron Sorkin, mannen som tok allmenndannelse til et nytt internasjonalt nivå med tv-serien The West Wing, skal i gang med en ny tv-serie så snart Facebook-filmen hans er i klippen. Denne nye tv-serien skal foregå backstage på en – ja det stemmer – tv-serie.

“I’m going to be starting on a new TV series” when filming is done on the upcoming movie “The Social Network,” the Sorkin-penned account of the founding of Facebook directed by David Fincher, he says. “It’s going to be what turns out to be the third in the trilogy of TV shows that take place behind the scenes of a TV show, but this will be a different kind of TV show. That’s all I can let out of the bag right now.”

Sorkin said he “hopes” to reunite on the project with at least some of the actors he’s worked with previously. “If you’re a writer, when you’re find an actor like Josh Malina, Felicity Huffman, Brad Whitford, Matt Perry, Allison Janney, Richard Schiff, all these great actors that I’ve worked with, you just want to stick them in your pocket and work with them forever, so I hope so.” He also expects to be working with director and longtime collaborator Tommy Schlamme “for sure.”

Alan Ball, en annen av mine tv-serie-helter gikk fra tidvis geniale Six Feet Under til vampyrserien True Blood. Der Six Feet Under var preget av dyp menneskekunnskap, er True Blood fascinerende, men ikke så mye mer. Grunnlagsmaterialet er altså med på å bestemme kvaliteten også på det svært begavede mennesker skaper. West Wing hadde autentisiteten og tyngden av verdens mest fascinerende og inflytelsesrike politiske apparat som grunnlag. Det blir spennende å se om kulissene til en tv-serie gir Sorkin nok luft under vingene.

That’s the word going around the campfire — the campfire being Aaron Sorkin and TV Guide. The genius, and I throw that word around lightly, behind the The West Wing recently had this to say…

I’m going to be starting on a new TV series. It’s going to be what turns out to be the third in the trilogy of TV shows that take place behind the scenes of a TV show, but this will be a different kind of TV show. That’s all I can let out of the bag right now.

Sorkin says he’ll start work on the show after filming on the upcoming Facebook movie, “The Social Network,” has wrapped. I’ve heard rumors that the show will take place behind the scenes at a news network, but I guess we’ll see. Whatever it is, I hope it’ll be chock full of divisive politics, which is what Sorkin does best. And if the show were set at a news network, it would give him an excuse to do it. I was excited when I first heard about Studio 60, but after a few episodes I realized I didn’t give a sh*t about actors on a sketch comedy show pontificating on the war and the economy. I mean, they weren’t even wearing wigs.

I am a GENIUS of UNSPEAKABLE EVIL and I want to be your CLASS PRESIDENT is the best book of the century for at least three reasons.  1. Josh Lieb is funny 2. Middle School is Hell 3. Jon Stewart approves.  Josh will also be writing the screenplay, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

Here’s my favorite excerpt from the first chapter:

In case you’re lucky enough to have escaped it, Fahrenheit 451 is one of those books that is about how amazing books are and how wonderful the people who write books are.  Writers love writing books like this, and for some reason, we let them get away with it.  It’s like someone producing a TV show called TV Show are the Best and the People Who Make Them Are Geniuses.*

*Probably the name of Aaron Sorkin’s next project. Ha.

Here’s a link to a very long interview with Mr. Lieb: http://bigthink.com/joshlieb

(Full disclosure: Gail Lieb, Josh’s mom, is my favorite person in the universe)

Like it says there, three quotes about politics, which we sorely miss talking about here at Counterforce, and then we’ll call it a night.

Thank you, Hunter S. Thompson.

Quote #1:

“I don’t like it. I think the cables have a lot to do with it. I’ll take you back to when I was president – we got tons of criticism, but didn’t seem day in and day out quite as personal as some of these talk show people.”

That’s former President George H.W. Bush, during in an interview in Texas about the lack of civility in politics. The interview was supposed to be about his support for volunteerism, but he had to address how we can’t be nice to each other anymore because of the reception Obama was getting in Texas. He goes on to say:

“And it’s not just the right. There are plenty of people on the left. If you want me to name a couple of names, I’ll be glad to do that for you.”

Of course a reporter would love for him to go on from there…

“Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow – I mean here are a couple of sick puppies.”

This quote fascinates me, especially as Olbermann pointed out in his response on the Maddow show, this is from the man who arguably started the era of dirty political attacks we’re in now by employing guys like Roger Ailes and Lee Atwater, and the kind of shit that would eventually beget guys like Karl Rove.

It’s funny that the elder Bush then added: “And the way they treat my son and treat anybody that’s opposed to their point of view is just horrible,” as his reasoning for specifically naming Maddow and Olbermann. Cause that’s what he’s really upset about, I’m sure. The way they treated his son, yeah, which I believe, but that they attack people who don’t share their beliefs. That’s something that Bush, sr. really wants to stand up against, I’m sure.

Before I go onto my next quote, I want to share this link with you about an interesting supposition about the wedding storyline in the Archie comics – seriously – and how it’s an allegory for the state of America right now. What happened was: a few issues ago Archie proposed to Veronica, shocking everyone, and then in the most recent issue, he ended up changing his mind and instead proposing to Betty. The semi-serious gist of the post is:

“This is clearly a reference to America’s voting for Barack Obama, then turning against the very things he stood for, such as greater public healthcare coverage.”

Good enough for me, man.

Quote #2:

“Why should we hear about body bags, and deaths, and how many, what day it’s gonna happen, and how many this or that do you suppose? Or, I mean, it’s, it’s not relevant. So why should I waste my beautiful mind on something like that?”

That’s former first lady Barbara Bush, wife of George H.W. Bush, is from March 17, 2003 when she was asked about the coming Iraq war. On it’s own the quote is just ridiculous and damning about this family of east coast intellectual elites who made a career out of posing as Texas good ol’ boys and “real Americans.” Taken within the context of the interview itself, the statement makes a little more sense, but only just a little more. But it was one of the first things that came to mind, along with “a thousand points of light,” when I hear the “sick puppies” comment.

The comment, of course, also reminds me of that Tony Kushner play, “Only We Who Guard The Mystery Should Be Unhappy” starring Laura Bush during the Iraq War. Ah, seems like it was just yesterday.

I don’t want to fully bash the Bush family, so it’s important to remember this, showing that they really aren’t all that bad.

And last, but not least…

Quote #3:

“Crime, boy, I don’t know.”

But in context, you’ll have to see it here:

“In the future, if you’re wondering, ‘crime, boy, I don’t know,’ is when I decided to kick your ass.”

That’s from the third season finale of The West Wing, entitled “Posse Comitatus,” and deals with President Bartlett, played by Martin Sheen, meeting his rival in the upcoming presidential election, Flordia Governor Robert Ritchie, a clear George W. Bush analogue played by James Brolin, backstage at a performance of “The War Of The Roses.”

My God, I miss this show, not because of it’s “liberalism,” or what most moderate liberals would call simply “common sense-ism,” but because it was just a solidly written, performed, produced show. Aaron Sorkin wasn’t always great with long term story planning (blame it on the cocaine?), but he had a playwright’s excellent sense of immediate personal drama in a single moment and doesn’t get nearly enough credit for his abilities with comedy, but that’s a story for another time.

This particular storyline dealt with President Bartlett being up for re-election, despite lying about having MS, and in a bid for a taste of the real world, he was going up against the Governor of Florida, essentially a take on GWB. The storyline was good enough, just hard to believe in that Bartlett was a great president and in this wonderful television world, you couldn’t believe he’d actually struggle in an election against such a moron. In real life, morons tend to have the advantage over the smart because of a successful attack on “intellectualism” that has been sweeping through this country during the past few decades, perhaps starting with the days of Lee Atwater and Roger Ailes?

Well, no, I wouldn’t give them all the credit for that, but Sorkin does point out that beyond Clinton fatigue, anti-intellectualism was a large part of the 2000 election contest between GWB and Al Gore. That, and outright thievery, but that’s a story that’s been told many times before.

The storyline between Bartlett/Ritchie essentially ended with their debate…

…in which Bartlett so mercilessly and effortlessly kicked his opponent’s ass that it seemed like science fiction. But it was so good. Not just for liberals, democrats, and “intellectuals,” but for people who liked good TV and were American porn enthusiasts. It’s Bartlett’s line in that debate – “I’m the President of the United States, not the President of the people who agree with me” – that has strongly affected my rather simplistic view on politics. Left, right, right, wrong, smart, dumb, agreeing with the President, disagreeing with the President, or somewhere  drifting in between any of those so called absolutes, in this country, you’re still in America. Every part of America is “the real America,” it’s changing every single day, every single moment, and not necessarily drifting towards socialism just because you don’t understand it, don’t like, or are scared of the color of the skin that the man running the show has.

I’d love to throw out the question of why is it necessarily a bad thing to have a smart President who’s considered elite and recognized as being so? I’d love to, but that’s a losing debate amongst the hoi poilloi, I know. Oh, and to continue the tenuous thread between the here and now and the halcyon days of The West Wing, one of the many things I like that Barack Obama and Josiah Bartlett have in common: They’re both Nobel prize winners.

Jed and Abbey Bartlet are the fictional President and First Lady of the United States of America, from television’s ‘The West Wing’. Portrayed delightfully by actors Martin Sheen and Stockard Channing, this First Couple enamored its audience with charm, grace, intelligence, sass and wit. With the creation of these characters, the world was presented with a refreshing change at the way we look at the leader of the free world and his wife. With the installation of these two actors to play the parts, we were awarded with the hopeful and entertaining prospect of a fabulously decorated duo. When Stockard and Martin began to breathe life into their on-screen alter-ego’s, they bestowed upon us an awed sense of wonder. Some might claim that Aaron Sorkin is a genius for dreaming these characters up. Perhaps he is, but Martin and Stockard are the reason that Jed and Abbey are as spectacular and perfect as they are; they created their own backstories. Now, I know that the Bartlet’s are fictitious people, but damn do I love them!

President Jed Bartlet, and First Lady Abigail Bartlet

Jed Bartlet might be the greatest President we have ever seen, but, who on earth would not want to be Abbey Bartlet? All American woman, successful thoracic surgeon, Harvard graduate, three beautiful children with a handsome husband who has been terribly faithful to her for thirty-something years? On top of that, she is the First Lady to  his Presidency?! It’s the perfect part for an actress, isn’t it?  Perhaps it’s not perfect until we match a face to the character. Ahh, now it gets even better. On top of it all, we have sparkling hazel  eyes, flowing auburn hair and a body made for sin. With the birth of  Abbey Bartlet, Stockard Channing filled the role with ease, grace, skill, class, inteligience, and yes folks, attitude. She was a sassy little firecracker that made the audience take another look at how we view our First Lady. For God’s sakes, she had more cleavage in the first season alone than all of the real life FLOTUS’s combined!

For a long time I was afraid to watch ‘The West Wing’ because I thought it would be too ’smart’ for me. When I decided to give it a try, I had stumbled upon a re-run, and only tuned in to catch a glimpse of Stockard (whom I had always loved). It was during a time in my life that was particularly wretched (I had just quit a terrible, low paying job, and no idea what to do with myself…), and it brought joy, humor and interest back into my world. ‘The West Wing’ made me strive to be a better person, and Stockard Channing played a key part in bringing me back up to the road I should have been traveling. I was hooked on this show within one episode (ironically enough, the ep I watched was sans Channing). Thus, began my infatuation with the show and it’s characters.

Jack Nicholson is wonderful as the arrogant Col. Jessup. Uploaded by i.cdn.turner.com.

I’m a big fan of Aaron Sorkin’s writing. (You’ll eventually see a couple of his TV series in this list.) And A Few Good Men is, above all else, a wonderfully written film.

It starred Tom Cruise back when we liked him. And a wonderfully pompous Jack Nicholson. Even the minor parts were wonderfully cast, with Cuba Gooding, Jr., Kiefer Sutherland, Noah Wyle, Christopher Guest, and J.T. Walsh demonstrating why they would go on to be bigger stars.

Uploaded by japattie.info.

A Few Good Men is essentially a courtroom drama that climaxes in the famous “I want the truth!” “You can’t handle the truth!” confrontation between Cruise and Nicholson. “You can’t handle the truth” was selected as the 29th greatest movie quote of all time by the American Film Institute. The AFI also ranked the movie as the fifth greatest courtroom drama ever.

Oh, one story that’s the kind of lore we love about movies. A defendent that Tom Cruise’s character Lt. Kaffee defends was Lance Corporal Harold Dawson, played by Wolfgang Bodison. But Bodison never tried out for the part – he was working as a location scout for the film. Director Rob Reiner thought he looked like a Marine, and suddenly Bodison had an acting career.

I get traffic from people searching for this quote almost daily.  Aaron Sorkin paraphrased it twice–once on Sports Night, and again on The West Wing.  I’ve used it before too, once in describing Harry’s role in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

Sorkin’s paraphrase goes like this: “As if it matters how a man falls down.  When the fall is all that’s left, it matters very much.”

The line comes from The Lion in Winter, as Prince Geoffrey and Prince Richard find themselves in the dungeon, believing they hear their father’s approach…

Richard: He’s here. He’ll get no satisfaction out of me. He isn’t going to see me beg.
Geoffrey: My you chivalric fool… as if the way one fell down mattered.
Richard: When the fall is all there is, it matters.

And here it is in living color! (Unfortunately, the only YouTube video I found that displays this scene refuses to let me embed it–click the link and enjoy.)

NO PEOPLE LIKE SHOW PEOPLE: New Emmy-owner Justin Timberlake has joined the cast of The Social Network, director David Fincher and writer Aaron Sorkin’s take on the invention of Facebook …

TIMBERLAKE: Facebook friend

Heather Locklear, one of the stars of the original Melrose Place, will reprise her role on the current re-invented series … stage and screen favourite Eric Peterson, already slated to pick up an Earle Grey Award later this month at the Geminis, will receive the 2009 Gordon Pinsent Award Of Excellence this week when The Company Theatre fetes him Thursday night at the Windsor Arms. Seamus O’Regan and Allan Hawco will co-host the gala evening … and speaking of excellence, award namesake Pinsent plays the Archbishop in The Pillars of the Earth, the epic drama based on Ken Follett’s bestseller, currently shooting in Hungary and Austria. Also appearing

PETERSON: getting Gordon & Earle

in key roles are Ian McShane and Donald Sutherland.

FOOTLIGHTS: Mimi, or A Poisoner’s Comedy, the controversial new Allen Cole-Melody A. Johnson-Rick Roberts musical, continues its ribald run at the Tarragon Theatre … Bob Martin’s Tony-winning hit musical The Drowsy Chaperone tap-dances into Ottawa next week for a two-week run at the National Arts Centre … Carrie Fisher opened her one-woman show, Wishful Drinking, at Studio 54 last night. Sez Fisher: “Basically, I talk about myself behind my back.”
 Her Broadway stint will run ‘til January … and Monty Python alumni Terry Jones, Michael Palin, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle and John Cleese are set to appear in a rare reunion at the Ziegfeld Theater next week. Did you know that the Pythons have

FISHER: on stage

their own YouTube channel? Seriously! … and tickets are now on sale for the new National Ballet Of Canada season, which kicks off next month with the perennially lavish Sleeping Beauty. To check out the new NBOC season, just click here.

OUR TOWN: The 14th edition of Eat to the Beat, benefitting Willow Breast Cancer Support Canada, takes over Roy Thomson Hall tomorrow night with culinary creations from more than 60 chefs,  including the Food Network chef Anna Olson, Fiona Lim of George and Dufflet Rosenberg of Dufflet Pastries. And you can still buy a ticket! For more info, click here … also tomorrow night: Royson James moderates a Toronto Star panel discussion on what it takes to create a workable city, with Susan Eng, Kevin Stolarick, Sudz Sutherland and Rahul Bhardwaj, at the new Bram & Bluma Appel Salon at the Toronto Reference Library … Jack Rabinovitch and jurors Russell Banks, Victoria Glendinning and Alistair MacLeod will announce this year’s Giller Prize finalists tomorrow morning at the Four Seasons … and yes, those still-sensational Jersey Boys are still winning standing O’s every night at the Toronto Centre For The Arts.

The blog ScriptShadow.com has released an unauthorized script for a film called The Social Network, which is basically a story about how Mark Zuckerberg started Facebook. Aaron Sorkin (West Wing) is penning the script which is actually said to be pretty good. Justin Timberlake has just signed on to play Napster’s Sean Parker and Jesse Eisenberg is rumored to star as well.

Here’s Gawker’s story on “The Social Network”:

The blog ScriptShadow got hold of the first draft of Aaron Sorkin’s Facebook movie. The verdict? The movie reads oddly mesmerizing, and has an unexpected hero: Sean Parker, an early investor in the social network.

As the co-founder of Napster, Parker was overshadowed by Sean Fanning, who actually wrote the wildly-popular music-sharing software. Sorkin reportedly brings Parker to the fore, giving him credit for lighting a fire under Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and accelerating the company’s growth.

ScriptShadow’s Carson Reeves:

And don’t get me started on Sean Parker – a character that can become

iconic if the film is made. The brash techy rock star revels in his own

ego, and is a key player in why Facebook is on our computers today

(Parker ended up selling his portion of the company for – I believe – a

couple hundred million dollars).

Zuckerberg, meanwhile, looks comparatively pathetic. In what Reeves calls a “heartbreaking scene,” he sits alone (“not one true friend”) in a dark room and “friends” the girl who dumped him right before he started Facebook. The movie nevertheless bops along as something of a comedy, thanks to Sorkin’s “crazy unknown voodoo screenwriting tricks” and, apparently, jokes involving Facebook use.

O cantor Justin Timberlake será um dos co-fundadores do Napster e presidente do Facebook, Sean Parker, no filme The Social Network, que contará a história de Mark Zuckerberg, que criou o site aos 22 anos de idade, em Harvard.

O cineasta David Fincher, o mesmo de Zodíaco, escalou ainda Jesse Eisenberg, de Férias Frustradas de Verão, para interpretar Zuckerberg, e Andrew Garfield, de Leões e Cordeiros, para viver Eduardo Saverin, co-fundador que acabou saindo do projeto.

O filme terá roteiro de Aaron Sorkin, da série The West Wing.

A ceux qui ne le sauraient pas encore, un film sur Facebook est prévu. Je n’en ai pas parlé parce que sérieusement, ça avait l’air aussi crinqué que le film sur Apple et Microsoft dont je ne me rappelle plus le nom (avec Anthony Michael Hall et Noah Whyle) qui était pas mal mais pas immense non plus, mais avec David Fincher (Seven, Fight Club, Zodiac) et Aaron Sorkin (The West Wing, Charlie Wilson’s War) aux commandes, on pouvait déjà se poser des questions sur ce film qui s’intitulera The Social Network. Dustin Rowles, sur Pajiba, semble détenir la réponse.

Apparemment, le film pourrait bien être un putain de film, avec dans le rôle du créateur Mark Zuckerberg, Jessie Eisenberg (Adventureland, Zombieland) et Andrew Garfield (Boy A) dans celui du co-créateur Eduardo Saverin. Justin Timberlake sera le créafondateur de Napster, Sean Parker.

Justin Timberlake

Columbia Pictures dio a conocer el elenco preliminar de The Social Network, la nueva cinta de Aaron Sorkin basada en los creadores de Facebook. los elegidos para los papeles principales serán Jesse Eisenberg, Justin Timberlake y Andrew Garfield. La misma está programada para lanzarse el próximo años, aunque todavía no se tiene una fecha definitiva, y considerando que es apenas el elenco preliminar, es posible que sea para los últimos meses.

According to Variety, Columbia Pictures and director David Fincher have cast Jesse Eisenberg, Justin Timberlake and Andrew Garfield in the The Social Network.

The script was written by Aaron Sorkin (The West Wing). The film will examine the formation and phenomenon that is Facebook. The script will also focus on “how overnight success and wealth changed the lives of the classmates who created it.”

Eisenberg will play Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg; Justin Timberlake is going to play Sean Parker, the Napster co-founder who also became Facebook’s founding president; and Andrew Garfield will play the role of Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin. He fell out with Zuckerberg over money.

The film will start shooting next month in Boston and then move to Los Angeles.

Timberlake was most recently seen in “The Open Road,” Garfield in Red Riding and the Terry Gilliam-directed “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus.”

Johnnie Moore shared this video a couple weeks ago:

It prompted me to ponder the question “what is as moment?” which I think was the goal of the piece.

That in turn, made me think back to an old episode of the Aaron Sorkin show, Sports Night.

In one episode there is a rather geeky discussion about the definition of the word “momentarily.” It turns out, “momentarily” has two conflicting definitions:

• For a moment
• In a moment

That means that the statement, “I will be with you momentarily” could mean, “I will be with you shortly,” or it could also mean “I will be with you for a short while, then I will leave.” I guess it’s also possible that it could mean “I will be with you shortly and then leaving.”

I don’t think any of this ultimately matters, but this kind of inane BS is the stuff that runs through my skull.

That wheezing sound you hear is the last original idea in Hollywood dying a slow, undignified death. Fox announced a few days ago that it’s developing a TV show based on Texts From Last Night, a website founded a little over six months ago that aggregates embarrassing texts sent in by users (sample: “I woke up in my own vomit, a chunk of cactus in my thigh, shirtless, with jons mom poking at me with a glass of dr pepper and a talk about god….damn alcohol”).

After years of airing reality shows that have been progressively more awful, I shouldn’t be surprised that Fox has yet again proven to be the network most willing to scrape the bottom of the barrel. Still, though, I’m amazed that the Hollywood Reporter claims there was “strong interest from several networks” in a TV show based on TFLN. Don’t get me wrong – TFLN is the second best. site. on earth (this is #1), but how exactly do you write a show about funny text messages? How could anybody have thought this would be a good idea? And isn’t there already a show highlighting embarrassing moments of 20-somethings? I think it’s called The Real World.

Maybe Fox is just trying to compete with whichever network ends up with the inevitably terrible Twitter game show, which promises to “harness Twitter to put players on the trail of celebrities in an interactive, competitive format.” Aaron Sorkin, creator of The West Wing, has also announced that he’s working on a feature film about Facebook. Seriously.

After hearing about movies and TV shows based on web sites, the film adaptations of board games like Monopoly, Candy Land, and Ouija Board that are currently in the works sound positively Oscar-worthy by comparison. What’s next, a movie about Netflix? A miniseries about Wikipedia? A weekly series based on FML?

Actually, what am I talking about? I’d totally watch that.