Going to the Movies. The Social Network.

I love going to the movies. The whole ritual of it. Standing in line outside the box office. The smell of the popcorn in the lobby. Paying too much for Junior Mints at the concession booth and knowing the entire box will be eaten before the previews are over.

Every once in a great while you‘ll find that the entire place is yours. Not a seat taken. An empty house. Your own private movie theater.

Such was the case when we went to see The Social Network last night. It was the Sunday late show, so I didn’t think there would be too many people there, but lo and behold—empty.

Once the projector rolled, we kicked off the shoes, put our feet up on the seats, and began rapid consumption of Junior Mints as the previews rolled on. This was a successful night regardless of how the movie turned out.

Lucky for us, The Social Network delivered. And while it was sort of odd watching a movie about social networking with nobody else in the theatre, I thoroughly enjoyed it, and highly recommend it. Even if you’re not on Facebook or Twitter or Youtube or any other social network. It’s really a story about friendship and ambition and greed, and it’s fascinating. With Aaron Sorkin on script duty, there is a lot of talking, but David Fincher keeps a His Girl Friday pace going, so it moves right along.

I still can’t my head around the fact that in the past six years, Facebook has acquired 500 million users and is worth 25 billion dollars. And it was all created by a 20-year old. Amazing.

And as far as the movie goes, if I had a “Like” button, I would click it.

Because often the best part of going to the movies is the leaving, and having something really interesting to talk about on the way home.

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