Aaron Sorkin, who penned The Social Network and The West Wing and co-wrote Moneyball, which will open in theaters next week, showed up at an Emmy event in West Hollywood on Friday with a broken nose. It turns out he injured himself while writing.

“I wish I could say I was in a bar fight, but I broke my nose while writing,” the Academy Award winning screenwriter told the Los Angeles Times. He said he was staring into a mirror, working on some dialogue, when he got too close and head-butted himself.

Naturally, the story ends there and no one ever bothers to ask Aaron Sorkin HOW ON EARTH THAT HAPPENS AND ALSO WHAT?! Working on some dialogue? “Got too close”? The journalists were just like “his story adds up.” They’re all writers, so they know this is definitely a thing that happens all the time that seems normal and realistic and that you can definitely just picture in your imagination because it’s almost TOO relatable and like a thing we’ve all experienced. “What, it’s called WRITING!” Admittedly, I once broke a tooth eating spaghetti (true) so maybe I am not one to talk. (I later rebroke this same tooth on a sandwich. Also true. My life is a waking nightmare.) Maybe I’m not even one to write. Wait, IS this a normal thing? DO I NOT KNOW WHAT ACTUAL WRITING IS LIKE? Totally possible. I have never broken my nose while “working on some dialogue” by “getting too close” to the mirror. (Still so funny.) Hack. Hahahahhahaaaack.

As a 64-year-old man, I think of myself as being pretty “with it” when it comes to the Net. But the first time I heard of Facebook was from my younger brother, who asked me if I was on it, and I said “on what?” He laughed at me, and switched all the pills in my pill box to the wrong days of the week. It was humiliating! (He actually did say “you’re old” to me. It’s sad that he’s dead now and in heaven. R.I.P. little bro.) The point is that Facebook’s “exclusivity” and “coolness” was actually a real thing at some point. It’s funny to think about that now, since Facebook is neither exclusive nor cool. I mean, seriously. And yet, what it got in exchange for becoming uncool and unexclusive is basically World Domination and 100 gillion dollarz and a David Fincher movie written by Aaron Sorkin about it that somehow becomes number one at the box office even though it’s basically a movie about BUSINESS and NERDS. Of course, it helps that it’s a GREAT movie about business and nerds, but you know what I mean.

Anyway, let’s talk about it!

Read More...

In The Social Network, Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg) models Facebook on Harvard’s legendary final clubs, private groups made up of some of the school’s most privileged students. But the clubs are as secretive as they are exclusive, which meant researching them was no easy task for screenwriter Aaron Sorkin. Luckily, he got a hand from one of the school’s most famous alums: Natalie Portman. The star studied at Harvard from 1999-2003 and dated a member of the famous Porcellian Club — and she couldn’t wait to tell Sorkin all about it.

“Natalie Portman got in touch with me when she heard that I was doing this to say, ‘Listen…come over for dinner and I’ll tell you some stories,’” Sorkin said to a group of Harvard students at a sneak preview screening last week. “I would’ve come over for dinner under any circumstances. But that was really helpful.”

Hahahha. Sure, Hollywood. The things that you guys do over there just make SENSE*. (Via EW.)

*NOT!

MOST. DRAMATIC. MAGIC. EYE. POSTER. EVER!

Oh man, this trailer makes me laugh so much. I’m actually pretty sure that this movie is going to be great? I mean, I love David Fincher (mostly) and I love Aaron Sorkin (sometimes) and I know what Facebook is (ladies!) and I’m a huge fan of greed and backstabbing (in movies, in life I hate it), so it is very promising. But “Let’s sue him in Federal Court!” is the new “I’m a duly appointed Federal Marshall.” And “your best friend is suing you for 600 million dollars” is the new “have fun at dinner.”

My only question is: who cares?

Read More...

Columbia Pictures is in advanced talks with David Fincher to direct “The Social Network,” the Aaron Sorkin-scripted film for Columbia Pictures about the formation of Facebook.

The film will focus on the evolution of Facebook from its 2004 creation on the Harvard campus by sophomore Mark Zuckerberg to a juggernaut with more than 200 million members.

WHAT’S IN THE GROUP?! WHAT’S IN THE GROUP, WHAT’S IN THE GROUP?!

Or:

The first rule of Facebook Club is you don’t talk about Facebook Club.

And other horribly out of date David Fincher references. “Benjamin Button has sent you a gift”? I don’t know. But David Fincher! What is this movie? No one wants this. “It’s gonna be like Shattered Glass meets Hackers meets Gordon Gecko.” No it’s not. (Admittedly, that is a quote that I just made up.)

Stop it, adults. You’re being totally bogue. DEFRIENDSTERED.

I’ve just agreed to write a movie for Sony and producer Scott Rudin about how Facebook was invented. I figured a good first step in my preparation would be finding out what Facebook is, so I’ve started this page. (Actually it was started by my researcher, Ian Reichbach, because my grandmother has more Internet savvy than I do and she’s been dead for 33 years.)

His status is ZING! Also, yuck. If you’re going to make a movie about how a four-year-old social networking site was invented the sequel is going to have to be the story of how entertainment died when someone made a movie about how a four-year-old social networking site was invented. Not to mention SLOW DOWN Facebook. You are not movie-ready yet. There are piles of social networking sites that have been waiting patiently for their faithful translation to the silver screen.

For example:

Read More...