by Damon Martin

It’s funny to look back just over the last decade and realize how much social networking has changed everyone’s lives. From the musicians who were launched on MySpace, to the friends who reconnected on Facebook, to the endless (and often inane) updates on Twitter, social networking has become a ubiquitous part of everyday life for millions all over the world. It’s a way to stay connected, it’s a way to stay interested, and for the 26-yeaor old creator of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, it’s a way to become the world’s youngest billionaire.

The story of Zuckerberg, and the creation and launch of Facebook, will hit the big screens today. However, even pre-release, the critics have given high praise to The Social Network, which was directed by David Fincher (Fight Club) and written by Aaron Sorkin (West Wing). The movie follows Zuckerberg as he awkwardly tries to make his way in upper crust society while attending an Ivy League school. It was during his time at Harvard that Zuckerberg, along with some classmates, created The Facebook, as it was originally known.

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by Nicole Powers

“I have a knack for penises,” isn’t the kind of confession you’d expect from a memoir penned by Samantha Bee, The Daily Show’s Most Senior Correspondent. But then I Know I Am, But What Are You? isn’t the kind of book you’d expect her to write. Leaving politics and talk of Jon Stewart & Co. mostly to one side, the collection of humorous essays sheds light on Samantha’s unconventional upbringing, which in turn sheds light on why her recipe for success includes a hearty helping of sexually explicit material – ergo her theory that “we need to bring more of a porn sensibility to our financial regulatory mechanisms” (see April 27, 2010 Sex-curities XXXchange Cumission report).

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By Dave Anthony (a.k.a. FearTheReaper)

As most of you probably know, Greg Giraldo passed away yesterday. He was, far and away, one of the best comedians. Every time I saw him perform, whether on television or live, I was always surprised at how smart and incisive his comedy was. The dude knew how to have a take on a subject and how to crack that thing for every morsel. I would actually go as far as to say he was the smartest comedian working today. He tackled subjects intelligently, which is hard to do. You’ll often see comics take on subjects that require intelligence to master, only for them to end it with a dick joke. Giraldo managed to get to the core of most subjects in a hilarious and meaningful way. And he seemed to lose nothing when doing a set on television. That’s a very difficult thing to do.

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by Nicole Powers

““I like my crotch.”
-Tommy Lee

Tommy Lee gives good phone. He’s the consummate professional when it comes to interviews. Don’t be fooled by his easy going charm and natural flirtatiousness; Behind it lies a disarming intelligence and an instinct that knows exactly how to perpetuate and sell the rock & roll myth we all want – and need – to buy into.

It’s not that he’s is being insincere – far from it – it’s well documented that the drummer-turned-multi instrumentalist walks the walk as well as talking the talk. However, all rock & roll shenanigans aside, when it counts, Lee seriously has his shit together – like on the designated press day for his new Methods of Mayhem album, A Public Disservice Announcement.

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by AJ Focht

The film industry has finally decided to put both feet in on the 3-D bandwagon and as a result cinemas have been overrun by glasses-required films in 2010. According to The Illustrated 3D Movie List over 40 movie titles have will be released in 3-D this year. While animated films have primarily dominated the 3-D market over the past decade, live action movies make up almost half of the 3-D films released this past year.

For most of these movies 3-D filming seems to be a gimmick to get more people in seats. Unfortunately many of the movies using 3-D effect don’t really need them. Resident Evil 3D, Saw 3D, and Jackass 3D are all examples of movies that had no good use for 3-D in their execution. I am confident that you won’t miss any gory moments or idiotic stunts if you see the movie in 2-D. Killing zombies is always good but Resident Evil has beaten its franchise to death and not even 3-D can save it.

These movies are only utilizing 3-D imaging as a sales gimmick; and we may soon see many more live action films that are shot in 3-D primarily to sell tickets rather than being motivated by more legitimate artistic reasons. Large film companies are starting to make a wholesale changeover to 3-D. Warner Bros will be releasing most of their movies in 3-D from now on; All future DC superhero movies produced by Warner Bros will be in 3-D, as will all of their tent pole movies.

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by Ryan Stewart

“If you want to live a rock star lifestyle, that’s your prerogative.”
– Jonah Hill

Famously discovered by Dustin Hoffman, whose children were fans of his one-man plays in Manhattan’s East Village, Jonah Hill was already going places in the comedy business when he had the good fortune to acquire a second mentor in comedy mogul Judd Apatow — the rest is history.

After killing with smallish parts in Apatow-directed comedies The 40 Year-Old Virgin and Knocked Up, the acerbic young comedian (then 24) landed a lead role specifically tailored to his strengths in Superbad, a teen bromance more foul-mouthed and uninhibited than any of the ’80s comedies that inspired it.

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by Brett Warner

“The history of all previous societies has been the history of class struggle.” – Karl Marx

“It’s always about the money, isn’t it?” – Coach Eric Taylor

There is a scene late in the fourth season of NBC’s Friday Night Lights in which a sixteen year-old high school student named Becky Sproles confronts the football team’s star running back, Luke Cafferty, with some bad news: “I’m pregnant, and it’s yours, and I need an abortion…It’s really expensive, it’s like $300. And I don’t have all of it right now, but I can come up with half if you can come up with the other half.”

Television critics were quick to praise the show for its brave pro-choice stance, but Friday Night Lights adheres consistently to its “quasi-Marixst understanding that economics dictate everything.” (Ginia Bellafante, NY Times) Despite their clear eyes and full hearts, the residents of fictional working class town Dillon, Texas wind up losing quite a bit over the course of four football seasons; their televised drama reflects the struggles, worries, and economic woes of a significant percentage of the United States for whom the recession is far from over.

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