Who would have guessed a movie about a computer nerd could be such a big deal? Now
that the tale of the world's youngest billionaire is receiving raves from critics
and audiences alike, we thought we'd put together a fun little feature to
celebrate David Fincher's The
Social Network. Here, from #15 to #1, are the results of our Fandango
user survey, asking all of you, who are the all-time movie computer geeks?
By Chuck Walton
The #15 spot on our survey is owned by Jeff Fahey, known to modern audiences as fan favorite Captain Frank Lapidus on "Lost," but also known back in the day as Jobe Smith, or "The Lawnmower Man." While not exactly a good guy (far from it in fact), Fahey's Jobe does make an impression as he transforms from simpleton lawnmower guy next door to experimental lab rat to all-powerful, virtual computer man. For early CGI, this is a pretty cool metamorphosis.
At #14, we have a young Charlie Korsmo as the picked-upon high school graduate who is determined to finally get even with the high school jock who's made his teen years miserable. In the process, he'll also learn about the joys of partying and getting completely hammered. He'll also eventually form a hugely profitable computer company. Just like another William we know.
Nerrrdddssss! Who can forget the rallying cry, or the ubiquitous (?) use of the Queen song "We Are the Champions" at the end of Revenge of the Nerds. Leading the charge is ultra-versatile Anthony Edwards as Gilbert Lowell, a pocket nerd in the year 1984. One year later, Edwards would morph into the over-partied frat boy in The Sure Thing.
The cool thing about Ilan Mitchell-Smith's nerd Wyatt Donnelly in Weird Science is that he can make cool things using his computer...like Kelly LeBrock. His creation, named "Lisa," is the kind of ultra-hip party girl who knows a smart and sensitive winner when she sees one, and promptly turns Wyatt into a porsche-driving stud geek.
Amongst computer auteurs, Angelina Jolie represents the ultimate femme nerd. In 1995, developers the world over got their wish - watching Jolie and lots of tech gadgets in the same film frame. She's the ultimate combo: beauty, brains and enough hacking creds to make even Neo the maginificent a bit jealous.
He's adored by millions and is now an Oscar winner. Twenty eight years ago, he was also a super duper computer programmer named Kevin Flynn, who sets into action a chain of events that will be continued this December in Tron: Legacy. The thing about Flynn is that while he's a mega nerd, he was also one of the first smart kids who seemed kind of cool, and even operated his own video game parlor.
Stupid is as stupid does. Same for smart. And same for smartass. Val Kilmer's Chris Knight is the smartass king, who does whatever he pleases and with such a total sense of Real Genius affability that a quarter century later, he's still the whip-smart cool dude we all wish we could be. To quote the man himself, "I was thinking of the immortal words of Socrates...who said...I drank what?"
Forget the computer. One of the all-time geeks period, Anthony Michael Hall practically made a living out of playing nerdlike over the course of his early film career. From Sixteen Candles to Weird Science to The Breakfast Club and beyond, Michael Hall effortlessy assayed geeks of varying i.q. and chutzpah.
The other Michael Bolton is such an underrated creation of geek specificity that David Herman is truly deserving of his lucky #7 rating. From the look (glasses, coif, button down shirt and on) to the mannerisms to the ever-increasing irritation over his namesake (plus a special way with gangsta rap), Herman's Bolton is a computer geek for the centuries.
After gaining fame as the endearing, beer-drinking, "eh"-spouting McKenzie brother Bob on SCTV, Moranis evolved from the goofy doof from Ghostbusters to full-fledged zany computer scientist dad in Honey, I Shrunk the Kids. Imagine the fun if he was your pops. Your backyard could become an adventure through an overgrown Amazon, and your allowance would be as big as a house.
He's not just the Apple guy. In Live Free or Die Hard, Justin Long proves believable as a computer nerd who could literally fight side by side with Bruce Willis. Not too geeky or too polished, Long's Matt Farrell serves as audience substitute for the over-the-top scenarios, and a handy hacker capable of nullifying a bad guy's bank account or utility bill.
Matthew Broderick was the first leading man, movie computer geek star in War Games. He made plugging your phone into a modem, and turning on that nifty audio doo-dad as fun as anything James Bond could pull off. Along with Bridges' Kevin Flynn, Broderick ushered in a golden age of movie computer geekdom.
If you ever need a credible hip computer geek in your movie who's believable as the smart guy, but doesn't need to be on the Mark Wahlberg level of coolness, then Seth Green's your man. He looks like he'd know his way around javascript, and he'd be able to keep his calm around world-class beauties such as Charlize Theron.
While Angelina Jolie's hacker might be the more downloaded one on certain geeks' computers, if you were actually to spend a project together poring through data matrices, Sandra Bullock's the beauty whose next-door-neighbor, down-to-earth appeal and smarts make her the movie star nerd with whom guys and girls would love to share an online chat.
He's not the greatest thespian on the planet. But would you rather see Ben
Affleck in The Matrix? If you asked any real computer geek, who
would be your idealized
comic book superhero version of yourself, then 9 nerds out of 10 say
Keanu Reeves in The Matrix...as long as it's
the first Matrix.
Did the voters miss anyone? Let us know below!
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