Mountain Views News          Saturday, January 29, 2011

10

ARTS & ENTERTAIMENT

 Mountain Views News Saturday, January 29, 2011 


SEAN’S SHAMELESS 
CINEMA REVIEWS

C.S. Lewis‘ The Screwtape Letters 

A Play Review by Despina Tsiknas-Arzouman

Many critics 
have declared 
“The Social 
Network” as the 
defining movie 
of a generation. 
Perhaps this is a 
bold statement 
from individuals 
not all that 
familiar with 
the new genesis 
of socializing, 
but for someone 
who is, I truly 
endorse this proclamation. Without a doubt, 
this is a movie completely directed toward my 
generation (18 - 35). Just how good is this film? 
In the very least, it’s a triumph in every aspect of 
filmmaking and storytelling. From the moment 
the plot begins, the film becomes enormously 
gripping. It grabs you, rattles, and engulfs you 
for its entire two hours. The story opens up in 
a bar where the protagonist, Mark Zuckerberg, 
(portrayed by rising star Jesse Eisenberg) is 
having a fast-paced, condescending in nature 
conversation with soon-to-be-ex-girlfriend, 
Erica Albright (Rooney Mara). He belittles her 
yet for the strong, intelligent, and independent 
woman that she is, she’s able to verbally rebound 
back at him. Arguably the best five minutes of the 
movie, we soon develop a sense for what Mark 
Zuckerberg is all about. A socially inept pariah 
and computer genius of sorts, whose so geared on 
personal success that he doesn’t have any regard 
for how others may be feeling. “You’re going to go 
through life thinking girls won’t like you because 
you’re a nerd, and I want you to know from the 
bottom of my heart that’s not true,” Albright says. 
“Girls won’t like you because you’re an asshole.” 
Ringing true to Erica’s statement for the rest of 
the movie, Zuckerberg embodies that persona. 

There are continual shifts throughout the film 
in which particular story is being told to the 
audience. We not only witness how Facebook 
materializes, but also view the lawsuits occurring 
between Zuckerberg and his ex-best friend and 
co-founder of Facebook Eduardo Saverin and 
fellow Harvard students Tyler and Cameron 
Winklevoss. Newcomer Andrew Garfield 
is terrific as Saverin, the affable, intelligent, 
low-key co-pilot to Zuckerberg. The scenes 
with Zuckerberg and him are easily the most 
entertaining and engaging scenes within the 
film. The Facebook guru himself isn’t much of 
a likeable guy, even though he has the potential 
of being well liked. Saverin, on the other hand, 
is the type of character one always roots for – the 
charismatic, amiable underdog in the movie. The 
other key player in “The Social Network” is Sean 
Parker, portrayed exceptionally well by Justin 
Timberlake’s performance. Parker has the too-
cool-for-school attitude as he comes into play 
in the second half of the movie. He’s confident, 
sly, sleazy, manipulative, and conniving. Still, 
he’s awfully fun to watch on screen. Nonetheless, 
Parker’s real concern is what kind of role he’s 
going to carouse with the immeasurable success 
Facebook potentially has. If Eduardo Saverin is 
the angel on Zuckerberg’s right shoulder, then 
Parker is definitely the devil on his left. 

 Jesse Eisenberg is able to effortlessly slip into the 
role of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg as if 
the role was tailor made for his acting prowess. 
Every scene he’s in and every calculated spoken 
dialogue he speaks, Eisenberg consistently knocks 
it out of the park. At the same token, nearly every 
important character is captivating to both watch 
and listen to in this movie. Undoubtedly, this is 
a superior script with tantalizing dialogue that 
never has a dull moment. Most of the credit is 
due to Aaron Sorkin’s razor-sharp, magnanimous 
wit. The storytelling reads more like lines of 
poetry than scripted material. The screenplay is 
amusing, heartbreaking, beautiful, metaphoric, 
and symbolic of the times. For a movie driven 
by words and communication (and/or lack of), 
director David Fincher masterfully directs this 
film with such grace and stylish precision. Just 
the like pro he is, Fincher has one again out done 
himself by giving the movie a heart-pounding 
pulse with his acute directing, rapid cuts, and 
vivid colors and tones displayed in each scene. 
Additionally, the movie’s score by Atticus Ross 
and Nine Inch Nails frontman, Trent Razor, 
spectacularly captures the mood and atmosphere 
of the film. From a technical standpoint, “The 
Social Network” exceeds on every level and truly 
is modern movie making at its absolute finest. 

For a film about the establishment of an online 
social networking site, it’s surprising to realize 
that there are very dark and ominous tones 
embedded deep within the narrative. A plethora 
of themes found in the movie that range from 
friendship, betrayal, greed, power, success, and 
acceptance. Still the real significance of the film 
delves into the lives of the brightest minds on 
earth. To watch all the trials and tribulations 
Zuckerberg had to go through and the kind of 
brilliance and creativity it took to do what he 
did, makes for such a wildly entertaining and 
downright engrossing motion picture. Think of 
Mark Zuckerberg however you may (the movie 
obviously isn’t 100% accurate), but know that 
“The Social Network” represents what geniuses 
can do when they become entrepreneurial. They 
can always make a fortune, but some have more 
important goals and desires than just that. They 
have a vision to accomplish something that is 
totally intoxicating, despite any copious amounts 
of money that may be earned from their process. 
I believe Zuckerberg sees success as the journey, 
not the destination. If it were a final harbor, he’d 
retire and sell his business at the ripe old age of 26. 
From the very beginning, the actual Facebook site 
could have easily been deemed merely a copycat 
of social networking sites before it’s time, but the 
movie version is no carbon copy. It’s the real deal 
and deserves every bit of praise and recognition 
that it’s received and then some. Swiftly paced, 
brilliantly acted, impeccably written, and 
superbly directed, “The Social Network” is a 
stunning achievement in every aspect of art. It’s 
emblematic of the times and unquestionably, a 
contemporary masterpiece. 

Grade: 5 out of 5. 


Sean Kayden

Having read C.S. Lewis’s book The Screwtape 
Letters many years ago, I couldn’t wait to review 
this play when I learned it was coming to the Alex 
Theatre (in Glendale) on January 15 & 16th. The 
three scheduled showings were a sell-out, so the 
chance of not getting seats caused me some anxiety 
(but luckily, a forth show was added). 

Now, for any of you dear folks who are not familiar 
with this work, I am privileged to tell you a little 
about it. The Screwtape letters was a novel written 
by C.S. Lewis and published in 1942. And, while 
Lewis wrote this book in satirical style (thank 
heaven) using a branch of Christian theology 
called Christian apologetics, the “lead character” 
was none other than “the devil.” Now, you might 
wonder who in their right mind would want to 
head-up a writing using the most abominable of 
characters as the center of attraction!? Well, it 
was obvious that C.S. Lewis was devout in his desire 
to comprehend the full scope of life’s spiritual 
mysteries, and through his focused observations 
of how such workings might exist, he was intent 
on shedding Light upon a subject matter which he 
found dwelt mostly in the recesses of one’s mind. 
I’m sure such endeavor was not only fearsome 
and quite mysterious in nature, it is also one of 
global proportion. And so, no matter what language, 
jargon, or argot is used (i.e. “a ‘rose’ by any 
other name would smell as sweet”) there is a fundamental 
principle in the concept of evil in every 
culture, religion, and race -- from ancient times 
to the present. And, though couched in christian 
dialect, “Screwtape” represents a paradigm which 
every human being is at sometime or other has 
considered thinking about, or wondered about.

The adaptation of “Screwtape” for the stage 
worked quite well and probably couldn’t have 
been better. The cast consisted of two people, and 
I found it to be quite profound and appropriate 
that the playbill also listed nine “unseen characters” 
characters as well. Max McLean who played 
“Screwtape” did an extraordinary job in his delivery 
of presenting, reciting (and memorizing) all 
the Letters written to, from, and between himself 
and “Wormwood” (a junior temptor in his internship 
to influence a young man on earth -- and one 
of the unseen characters in the play). Screwtape’s 
secretary, “Toadpipe” (played by Elise Girardin) 
took Screwtape’s dictation and sent the Letters, but 
also acted-out some of the insidious “thoughts” 
referred to in the subject matter in the correspondences, 
which really served to be a mirror for our 
own self to look at. The stage setting and special 
effects were just-enough to create an environment 
conducive to feel a spooky, skin-crawl quality of 
“hell,” while still (simultaneously) allowing the 
‘space’ to be able to pay enough attention in order 
to perceive and grasp the underlying message 
being conveyed through the (thankfully) brilliant 
use of satire. However, despite the satirical angle, 
perhaps the most chilling line was this: “The safest 
road to Hell is the gradual one.” 

Before ending, I’d like to quote what C.S. Lewis 
himself wrote in the Introduction of his book:

“I have no intention of explaining how the correspondences, 
which I now offer to the public, fell into 
my hands.

 There are two equal and opposite errors into which 
our race can fall about the devils. One is to disbelieve 
in their existence. The other is to believe, and 
to feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them. 
They themselves are equally pleased by both errors 
and hail a materialist or a magician with the same 
delight.

 Readers are advised to remember that the devil is a 
liar. Not everything that Screwtape says should be 
assumed to be true, even from his own angle.

 There is wishful thinking in Hell as well as on 
Earth.”

-- C. S. Lewis, July 5, 1941

The Screwtape Letters had a nine month run at the 
Westside Theatre in New York, and prior to that all 
shows were a sold-out hit in Chicago and Washington 
D.C. The current tour of The Screwtape 
Letters will next be in San Diego at the Balboa 
Theatre on January 29th; then in Portland at the 
Portland Center for the Performing Arts on February 
12; then moving to Seattle on Feb. 26; Colorado 
Springs on March 19, and Charlotte on March 26 
& 27. If you can go see it, do so; and tell your 
friends and family members about it too! 


The Fifth Woman (A Kurt 
Wallander Mystery) by Henning 
Mankell

Mankell is another wonderful 
Swedish mystery writer. At the start 
of this excellent version of a station-
house police investigation, set in the 
Skne district in the south of Sweden, 
Detective Inspector Kurt Wallander, 
who has just returned from an idyllic 
vacation in Rome, joins the hunt 
for the missing Holger Eriksson, an 
elderly poet. Finding the man’s body 
in a ditch, impaled on sharpened 
bamboo stakes, brings Wallander 
back abruptly to the realities of crime 
in modern Sweden. While Wallander 
and his colleagues investigate the murder, another man is found 
dead in the local woods, making it clear that they have a brutal 
killer on their hands. . Mankell takes the reader slowly and 
meticulously through the long investigation’s progress, including 
frequent reversals. The policemen are constantly overworked and 
exhausted, but they make acute deductions and chase down every 
lead relentlessly. There has been 9 Wallander books and 6 movies 
staring Kenneth Branagh!

The Immortal Life of Henrietta 
Lacks 

by Rebecca Skloot

Doctors took her cells without 
asking. Her cells never died. This 
launched a medical revolution and a 
multi-million dollar industry. More 
then twenty years later her children 
found out. There lives would never 
be the same. Science journalist 
Rebecca Skloot writes this multi-
layered tale about faith, science, 
journalism, and grace. It is also a 
story of medical wonders, racism, 
medical arrogance, poverty and the 
bond between two very different 
women, Skloot and Deborah Lacks, sharing a desire to learn about 
Deborah’s mother, Henrietta, and her amazing, immortal cells. 
The book covers science, ethics, and the story of a family who was 
terribly wronged in the pursuit of scientific research. This book 
is considered by many reviewers as one the best science books of 
2010.

Creative Arts Group (CAG) Winter Session

2011 Adults and Teens, Classes & Workshops

 108Th BALLPOINT PEN DRAWING......................... Djibril N’Doye

 Thursdays, 7:00 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.

Learn line drawing, shading, and control using only a ballpoint pen on paper to create amazing works of art. This class provides a 
unique opportunity to become good at drawing by giving yourself the time and patience to learn to work with the medium. No previous 
drawing experience necessary. This is a 4-week class beginning Feb. 3.. Fee: $69.00* members --- $84.00* non-members

CAG is a nonprofit art center located in the community of Sierra Madre in Los Angeles county.

Hours: M-F 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. | Sat. 10 am to 2 pm | (626) 355-8350 | www.creativeartsgroup.org

Creative Arts Group | 108 N. Baldwin Ave. | Sierra Madre, CA 91024

The Book Report