Tech Film Festival: Movies and TV that nailed, or failed, the industry we love
Jobs, which opened Friday, is pretty much the story of Apple—even the director agrees to that. And while Ashton Kutcher’s performance didn’t reveal much about Steve Jobs that you couldn’t pick up from YouTube videos, we very much enjoyed the scenes focusing on Apple history. Watching the company's humble garage beginnings, meteoric rise, and boardroom machinations (which ousted our hero Jobs and eventually brought him back) were the best part of the movie. And they made us itchy for a Tech Film Festival to check out all the ways Hollywood has nailed—and failed—the technology industry over the years.
The Social Network
David Fincher’s look at the founding of Facebook—and the lawsuits that followed—has a good deal in common with Jobs: Both feature a college dropout visionary who grows a hugely successful company from nothing; a sympathetic sidekick who grows disillusioned with his former BFF; and no love story to speak of, save the love between a founder and his creation.
But The Social Network features better acting—Jesse Eisenberg and Justin Timberlake, as Mark Zuckerberg and Sean Parker respectively, are particularly great. It's also beautifully shot, and enhanced by excellent Aaron Sorkin dialogue and a dark, subtle score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. Now that’s a movie. You can’t rent it online right now, but iTunes sells it cheapest for $10 in HD and $8 in SD. It's on Amazon and Google Play too.
Pirates of Silicon Valley
The other movie about Apple’s origins puts the story in the context of the larger industry: Pirates of Silicon Valley weaves back and forth between the adventures of Jobs and Woz and the equally fascinating tale of Microsoft's Bill Gates, Paul Allen, and Steve Ballmer. At just 96 minutes, the pacing is quick, and the characters break the fourth wall to explain what’s happening, instead of the clunkier biopic method employed in Jobs that shoehorns this information into dialogue. Pirates can be rented for $2 from Google Play, or from iTunes or Amazon for $3.
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