Grays Almanac

Home/Episodes/The Social Network

'The Social Network' With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Chris Ryan

May 24, 2018 · The Social Network (2010) · Biography · Drama · 1:17:47

IMDb ↗Letterboxd ↗

Categories

Most Rewatchable Scene

Bill Simmons▶ 21:24Four scenes: opening scene, crew scene at Henley Royal Regatta, first Justin Timberlake/Dakota Johnson scene, and Eduardo finding out he got screwed
Chris Ryan▶ 27:52Larry Summers scene
Sean Fennessey▶ 28:01The cutting between the final club party mixed with Mark creating Facebook

What's Aged the Best

Chris Ryan▶ 38:40The Winklevoss twins digital effects - groundbreaking digital cinematography that still looks convincing years later
Sean Fennessey▶ 39:19How much we should have been trusting the Peter Thiel character when he comes on as an investor (played by Wallace Langham)

What's Aged the Worst

Bill Simmons▶ 40:29Eisenberg's Zuckerberg portrayal, Zuck's message board comments, the hot-or-not rating app, Eduardo's girlfriend's bed-burning subplot, and Kevin Spacey as executive producer
Chris Ryan▶ 43:14The Christie character and relationship, particularly the bed-burning incident
Sean Fennessey▶ 39:28Peter Thiel (though he notes it also aged the best in some ways)

Casting What-Ifs

Bill Simmons▶ 43:33Shia LaBeouf — Shia LaBeouf turned down Zuckerberg role - thinks Eisenberg was better and LaBeouf would have been fired; Jonathan Groff almost got Sean Parker role but JT was the right choice
Sean Fennessey▶ 43:37Shia LaBeouf — Agrees Shia LaBeouf was too manic and Eisenberg was A+ for Zuckerberg; agrees JT was right choice over Jonathan Groff for Sean Parker

Dion Waiters Award

Bill Simmons▶ 46:11Rooney Mara
Chris Ryan▶ 46:41Rooney Mara
Sean Fennessey▶ 46:48Armie Hammer

Half-Assed Internet Research

Bill Simmons▶ 47:26Harvard scenes filmed at Phillips Milton Academy, Wheelock, and Johns Hopkins; Natalie Portman was the movie star referenced; Josh Pence (other Winklevoss twin) also appears in bathroom scene; Justin Timberlake lost 15-17 pounds to seem younger; opening breakup scene took 99 takes and 8 script pages; Bill Gates played by impersonator
Chris Ryan▶ 48:05Confirmed Natalie Portman went to Harvard (initially thought she went to Brown); guessed Justin Timberlake lost weight because Sean Parker was on cocaine
Sean Fennessey▶ 49:03Guessed Justin Timberlake lost weight because Sean Parker was on paleo diet; noted usual script pages per scene is around three compared to the eight-page opening scene

Apex Mountain

Bill Simmons▶ 49:52Jesse Eisenberg — Jesse Eisenberg - calls it his Apex Mountain, says it's hard to imagine him having a more impactful role than this iconic one
Chris Ryan▶ 50:10Jesse Eisenberg — Agrees on Jesse Eisenberg's Apex. Says David Fincher's Apex is not this movie because it's 'not perverted enough' and considers Zodiac his masterpiece. Thinks Justin Timberlake's apex is his work with Lonely Island
Sean Fennessey▶ 50:18Jesse Eisenberg — Agrees on Jesse Eisenberg. Says David Fincher hasn't reached his Apex Mountain yet - thinks something is 'around the bend.' For Justin Timberlake, says the 'Rock Your Body' video was his pinnacle. Says Armie Hammer's Apex is 'Call Me By Your Name'

Picking Nits

Bill Simmons▶ 1:01:30The Dustin Moskovitz/Eduardo Saverin thing for people who actually know a lot about Facebook
Chris Ryan▶ 1:01:37The PR guy who's in one scene is Chris Hughes, who now runs the New Republic, but he was one of the roommates

Best Quote

Bill Simmons▶ 1:01:51Multiple quotes including 'There's a difference between being obsessed and being motivated', 'Dating you is like dating a stairmaster', 'You're going to go through life thinking girls won't like you because you're a nerd, and it's going to be because you're an asshole', and 'If you guys were the inventors of Facebook, you would have invented Facebook'
Chris Ryan▶ 1:02:20I'll bet what you hated the most is that they identified me as the co-founder of Facebook, which I am because you better lawyer up asshole because I'm coming back. Not for 30%. I'm coming back for everything.
Sean Fennessey▶ 1:02:39Sean Parker's monologue ending with 'This time you're going to hand them a business card that says I'm CEO, bitch', though also notes 'If you were the founder of Facebook, you would have founded Facebook' as the iconic line

Probably Unanswerable Questions

Bill Simmons▶ 1:03:47Did Zuck actually steal the Harvard connection? No. Was this movie too harsh about Zuck? No.
Sean Fennessey▶ 1:03:56On the theft question, says it doesn't matter because Zuck won. On harshness toward Zuck, says the movie should have been harder on what he was doing.

Who Won the Movie

Bill Simmons▶ 1:13:13Aaron Sorkin — Sorkin - agrees with the others while acknowledging Jesse Eisenberg's excellent performance
Chris Ryan▶ 1:12:08Aaron Sorkin — Sorkin - argues the dialogue is the hero of the movie and creates the architecture for the film's structure
Sean Fennessey▶ 1:13:13Aaron Sorkin — Sorkin - agrees with Chris, noting the script won an Oscar and is essential to everything else working

Movies Referenced (45)

Miami Vice (2006)

7 mentions · Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan▶ 20:43IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Gravity (2013)

4 mentions · Sean Fennessey, Chris Ryan▶ 1:09:57IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Molly's Game (2017)

4 mentions · Sean Fennessey, Bill Simmons▶ 53:21IMDb ↗Lb ↗

All the President's Men (1976)

3 mentions · Bill Simmons▶ 5:24IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Gone Girl (2014)

3 mentions · Chris Ryan▶ 51:56IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Jaws (1975)

3 mentions · Bill Simmons▶ 0:10IMDb ↗Lb ↗

The Game (1997)

3 mentions · Bill Simmons▶ 52:12IMDb ↗Lb ↗

The Godfather (1972)

3 mentions · Bill Simmons▶ 0:10IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Call Me by Your Name (2017)

2 mentions · Sean Fennessey▶ 55:58IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Hacksaw Ridge (2016)

2 mentions · Bill Simmons▶ 53:57IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Panic Room (2002)

2 mentions · Sean Fennessey, Bill Simmons▶ 24:48IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)

2 mentions · Sean Fennessey▶ 40:24IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Directors Referenced (11)

David Fincher

30 mentions · Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, Sean Fennessey · Known for Se7en, Gone Girl, Zodiac▶ 5:57IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Clint Eastwood

3 mentions · Bill Simmons · Known for Million Dollar Baby, Gran Torino, Unforgiven▶ 53:54IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Tom Hooper

3 mentions · Sean Fennessey, Bill Simmons · Known for The Danish Girl▶ 7:37IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Martin Scorsese

2 mentions · Chris Ryan, Bill Simmons · Known for Taxi Driver, Killers of the Flower Moon, Mean Streets▶ 35:17IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Woody Allen

2 mentions · Sean Fennessey · Known for Annie Hall, Deconstructing Harry▶ 1:15:30IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Christopher Nolan

1 mentions · Sean Fennessey · Known for Tenet, Interstellar, Inception▶ 1:10:07IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Dagny Atencio Looper

1 mentions · Sean Fennessey▶ 1:05:05IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Gore Verbinski

1 mentions · Sean Fennessey · Known for Rango▶ 56:06IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Mel Gibson

1 mentions · Bill Simmons · Known for Braveheart, Conspiracy Theory▶ 54:02IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Michael Mann

1 mentions · Bill Simmons · Known for The Insider, Collateral, The Last of the Mohicans▶ 28:24IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Steven Soderbergh

1 mentions · Chris Ryan · Known for Traffic▶ 37:17IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Actors Referenced (70)

Jesse Eisenberg

26 mentions · Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, Chris Ryan · Known for A Real Pain, The Social Network, The Squid and the Whale▶ 7:37IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Justin Timberlake

15 mentions · Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, Chris Ryan · Known for The Social Network▶ 20:02IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Armie Hammer

10 mentions · Sean Fennessey, Bill Simmons · Known for Call Me by Your Name, The Social Network, The Lone Ranger▶ 33:49IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Rooney Mara

9 mentions · Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, Sean Fennessey · Known for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Social Network▶ 13:51IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Trent Reznor

9 mentions · Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, Chris Ryan · Known for The Social Network, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo▶ 28:58IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Andrew Garfield

7 mentions · Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, Sean Fennessey · Known for Hacksaw Ridge, The Amazing Spider-Man, The Social Network▶ 15:42IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Dustin Hoffman

7 mentions · Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan · Known for Rain Man, Tootsie, Midnight Cowboy▶ 2:01IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Larry King

5 mentions · Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, Sean Fennessey · Known for Ghostbusters, Enemy of the State▶ 7:34IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Roy Scheider

5 mentions · Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan · Known for Jaws, The French Connection, All That Jazz▶ 1:16:28IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Dakota Johnson

4 mentions · Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey · Known for Fifty Shades of Grey, The Social Network▶ 24:52IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Max Minghella

4 mentions · Sean Fennessey, Bill Simmons · Known for Babylon, The Social Network▶ 34:34IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Al Pacino

3 mentions · Sean Fennessey, Bill Simmons · Known for Dog Day Afternoon, The Godfather▶ 39:55IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Writers Referenced (6)

Aaron Sorkin

26 mentions · Sean Fennessey, Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan · Known for A Few Good Men▶ 5:33IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Andy Greenwald

1 mentions · Chris Ryan▶ 48:11IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Damien Chazelle

1 mentions · Chris Ryan · Known for Whiplash, La La Land, First Man▶ 1:15:27IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Harvey Weinstein

1 mentions · Sean Fennessey · Known for Shakespeare in Love, The Hateful Eight▶ 8:55IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Noah Baumbach

1 mentions · Sean Fennessey · Known for The Squid and the Whale, Marriage Story▶ 1:15:21IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Spike Jonze

1 mentions · Sean Fennessey · Known for Three Kings▶ 1:15:18IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Cinematographers Referenced (3)

Michael Grantland

6 mentions · Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey · Known for The Other Guys▶ 17:33IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Jeff Cronenweth

1 mentions · Chris Ryan · Known for Gone Girl, The Social Network, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo▶ 1:10:36IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Keith Eisberg

1 mentions · Bill Simmons · Known for The Astronaut Farmer▶ 55:05IMDb ↗Lb ↗