THE SOCIAL NETWORK, directed by David Fincher, written by Aaron Sorkin, 120 minutes rated PG-13.

We don’t talk much anymore, but we certainly do “like.” And we “share,” though not necessarily face-to-face. We’re fans and we’re friends, even if we’ve never met some of our 800 “friends.” For many, (they’ll tell you otherwise), this is a game of numbers, baby. The more “friends” we have, the more self-esteem we have, the better we are and thus the easier it is to sleep at night on that pillow of faux popularity.

Welcome to the world of “The Social Network,” which is the story of Facebook where many readers likely spend at least some of their time. David Fincher directs from Aaron Sorkin’s script, itself based on the book “The Accidental Billionaires,” and what they’ve captured is a zeitgeist for the times in a movie that exposes not only the makers of Facebook but also, slyly, more than a trace of ourselves.

Have we ever been so isolated and social at once? Have we ever put such an effort into being social? And what about building our own social myths? We like to do that — a lot. Facebook is, after all, about personal myth building. Smile just right for the camera, say something meaningful or witty or provocative on your wall, and become the person you always wanted to be.

With a few keystrokes, you’ve positioned yourself with those who matter. You know, your 800 “friends.” And just imagine if they share your thoughts with their friends — that’s money in the bank. You might, after all, get even more “friends” out of it. And, as a result, you’d look more important to those around you.

And what’s better than that? Well, plenty, but that’s for psychologists to figure out.

All of this, of course, is the core of “The Social Network,” a movie that focuses on how a few Harvard students had the genius to tap into the human psyche and realize what they wanted most — recognition and validation. And friends.

For the founders of Facebook, it was something a little more intense. They wanted power, money, fame and sex, which Sorkin examines in a film that mostly exposes Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg, dark and excellent), who ruthlessly (sociopathically?) decided that possessing those elements was far more important than having real friends. The irony is staggering.

So beyond Zuckerberg, who created Facebook? As the movie sees it, a handful of people, most significantly twins Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss (Armie Hammer), Eduardo Saverin (Andrew Garfield) and Sean Parker (Justin Timberlake, exceeding expectations). Parker founded Napster and was nailed to the wall for it.

It’s how he greases his way into Mark’s life that at once lifts Facebook into the stratosphere with his contacts and which also makes him lose face to his best friend, Saverin. Again, the irony.

“The Social Network” has an unusually difficult task to pull off — it has to make computer programming exciting — and it does so with aplomb.

Sorkin’s script is one of the film’s stars. It’s consistently smart, tense and witty, particularly in the scenes that take place in the present, when Zuckerberg is being sued by the Winklevi, as he condescendingly calls them, and also by Saverin for their fair cut in a company all were instrumental in creating. The movie is at once light and brisk, but because Zuckerberg is filled with such self-loathing, bitterness and social ineptitude, it’s also something of a tragedy.

Mark Zuckerberg may have designed a network that has created a virtual storage bin of 500 million people hoarding friends, but after seeing this movie, you have to wonder how many friends he truly can call his own. Grade: A

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On DVD and Blu-ray disc

THE EXORCIST: EXTENDED DIRECTOR’S CUT, directed by William Friedkin, written by William Peter Blatty, based on his novel, 132 minutes, rated R.

In 1973, smack in the middle of a tumultuous political environment that saw the fall of a U.S. president and our country caught in the throes of war, came William Friedkin’s “The Exorcist,” a horror film like none other that would go on to be denounced by Billy Graham, championed by the Catholic church, embraced by film critics and finally by the Academy Awards, where it won two of 10 nominations.

The film came during the last golden age of Hollywood — a time when it wasn’t rare for artistry to take precedence over box office receipts — and it was groundbreaking, a movie that shook audiences with its depiction of Regan (Linda Blair), a sweet 12-year-old girl whose soul is gradually — then violently — possessed by the devil.

“The Exorcist,” just re-released again, this time on DVD and Blu-ray in an “Extended Director’s Cut,” is about the discovery of one’s religious faith — that’s its core. Everything that happens to Regan — the head spinning, the projectile vomiting, the levitations, the infamous “spider walk,” those blasphemous, bloody plunges with the crucifix and her remarkably raunchy mouth (beautifully dubbed by Mercedes McCambridge) — is window dressing.

This film isn’t so much about Regan’s transformation as it is about the transformation of her mother and the priest who eventually comes to help them.

Played superbly by Ellen Burstyn, Regan’s mother, Chris MacNeil, a popular movie star shooting a film on location in Georgetown, is a woman who finds herself caught between the concrete world of medical science and — to her — the more foreign world of religion, which she only turns to once she’s sought the help of “88 doctors” and is desperate to try anything to save her daughter.

When it’s suggested to her that Regan should have an exorcism, a stunned Chris turns to Father Karras (Jason Miller), a man fighting his own demons after his mother died alone in her home. With its relationships established, the film then becomes Chris and Karras’ journey into themselves with Regan’s possession used as the catalyst for change and personal reawakening.

Besides the performances, which are uniformly strong, especially Linda Blair’s, which borders on brilliance (consider the range she displays as Regan), what’s so terrific about “The Exorcist” is how the film is in no hurry to get to the meat of its horror. It isn’t exploitative. First and foremost, it’s about its characters, people we come to care about before their lives are viciously torn apart on screen.

This is one of the reasons the film became a classic. Before Regan ever blew pea soup out of her mouth or flipped about on a bed, audiences had a strong sense of who she and her mother were. For those who believed in what they were seeing — and there were those in 1973 who absolutely believed — there was the lingering, creepy sense that this could happen to them.

This new, extended version does add to the experience, particularly in the excellent three-part documentary on the movie’s production and its legacy, which allows us behind the scenes. But beyond all the extras in this set — and there are many — “The Exorcist” remains a must-see because it changed movies forever. It stands as that rare original, a movie whose influence continues to be seen even if today’s modern directors don’t fully understand the reasons why this terrific movie worked.

Grade: A

WeekinRewind.com is the site for Bangor Daily News film critic Christopher Smith’s blog, DVD giveaways and archive of movie reviews. Smith’s film reviews appear Fridays in Lifestyle, and his video movie previews appear Wednesdays in the Lifestyle section of bangordailynews.com. He may be reached at Christopher@weekinrewind.com.