New on DVD: 'Social Network,' 'Piranha 3D'

THE SOCIAL NETWORK

(PG-13) 3.5 stars

PLOT When a talky movie's talk has been written by Aaron Sorkin ("The West Wing"), and those words have been animated by the visual brio of director David Fincher, what looks on paper like a static series of dead-end conversations comes to life as a vital, engaging, even urgent parable for our age. As the dramatized story of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg), who invented the site in 2003 as a Harvard sophomore, the film can't be taken as the literal record of events, which involved Zuckerberg being sued by his partners and competitors. Clearly Sorkin and Fincher had higher aspirations for their film. With surgical precision, exhilarating insight and storytelling flair, they bring viewers along on an infectiously giddy journey.

EXTRAS Commentary with Fincher and a second commentary with Sorkin and the cast (DVD). In addition, on Blu-ray: a feature-length making-of documentary; and several featurettes, including interviews with Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross on the score and a multi-angle scene breakdown.

LIST PRICES Blu-ray: $34.95; DVD: $28.96

PIRANHA 3D

(R) 2 stars

PLOT Scores of prehistoric man-eating fish are coming after the humans in director Alexandre Aja's ode to Joe Dante's 1978 original and the excesses of '80s genre films in general.

EXTRAS Filmmaker commentary, behind-the-scenes featurettes

LIST PRICES Blu-ray: $34.95; 3-D Blu-ray: $39.95; DVD: $28.95

- The Washington Post