The Social Network vs The King's Speech

I like movies. I'd like to be in a movie. The closest I've come is being in an anti-smoking video when I was 13. I hope to this day that every copy of that video has been destroyed.

Anyway, it's award show season, which means that we commoners get to watch unrealistically skinny people wear stuff that costs way too much, then go win trophies and talk about how surprised and thankful they are.

So now is the time to try and predict who those skinny thankful surprised people will be. As is often the case, this year it's not much of a race for Best Picture. It really comes down to The Social Network and The King's Speech (although I'd really like to see True Grit, The Fighter and 127 Hours. Black Swan was impressive, albeit wildly disturbing and I don't recommend it; Inception and Toy Story 3 are also must-see movies).

It's interesting that both of these movies are based on true events, and for both of them the main actors didn't meet the people they were playing yet make the characters fascinating (although in the case of Mark Zuckerberg perhaps not altogether accurate). Both movies are sharply written, but in the case of The Social Network it's fast wit as opposed to The King's Speech's balance of drama and humor.

Personally, I vote for The King's Speech. Erik and I watched it last night, and we were struck by the message of the film - the idea of looking back to the roots of what drives you, and questioning the identity you've come to claim for yourself as a result. I'm all for a movie that has a good message without being preachy. Watch it, if you haven't already, and let me know whether those other ones are worth my time.