Let's talk about David Fincher

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If I had to choose a favorite director working in movies today, it just might be David Fincher. I think that he is a master filmmaker who has made several legitimate masterpieces.

Just consider some of his best work:

Se7en
Fight Club
The Game
Zodiac
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
The Social Network
Gone Girl

That's a strong fucking lineup!

Fincher has a way of choosing interesting, off-beat subjects, and presenting them in a way that is visually compelling, getting perfect performances out of his actors, and imbibing every scene with an excess of atmosphere.

Can I get some thoughts on David Fincher? Is he as good as I think he is or am I overrating him?
 
He is as good as you say he is.

It's too bad he was so handcuffed by studio bullshit with Alien 3, or it might have been really good.

Seven and Zodiac are fantastic movies.
 
BisexualMMA said:
He is as good as you say he is.

It's too bad he was so handcuffed by studio bullshit with Alien 3, or it might have been really good.

Seven and Zodiac are fantastic movies.
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Have you seen the Assembly Cut of Alien3? I found it much more enjoyable than the studio release. But yes, I agree it's too bad they pulled the rug out from under him. I'd love to see him get a do-over.
 
CinderBlox said:
Have you seen the Assembly Cut of Alien3? I found it much more enjoyable than the studio release. But yes, I agree it's too bad they pulled the rug out from under him. I'd love to see him get a do-over.
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I have. It's definitely better than the version that was originally released.

Still nowhere near the first two, but substantially better than Alien: Resurrection.
 
Yeah I love Fincher. His body of work is super impressive.
 
The Game is one of my favorite movies. I love Fincher but thought Gone Girl could have been much better.
 
Obligatory:



I prefer his initial subversive sensibilities. He had a voice, and it was meant for disquietude. He was king of high gloss independent pictures but somewhere along the way he, heh, lost his narrative. While his storytelling is better than ever, I dislike the Oscar-chasing borefest he's become. PANIC ROOM was the last film I really enjoyed; and I think he hit his stride with THE GAME, which I consider his best film.
 
dc007 said:
The Game is one of my favorite movies. I love Fincher but thought Gone Girl could have been much better.
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I still remember going to see The Game in the theater. I was, I think, 15 and I went with my dad. I specifically remember thinking during the first 20ish minutes that this was a shitty movie and it was going to suck and by the end it was one of the most memorable theatrical experiences of my life.

As for Gone Girl, I think the first half kind of drags. But once the twist comes, the movie goes insane. It's not his best work, but I still think it's solid.
 
Three Gun Fish said:
Obligatory:



I prefer his initial subversive sensibilities. He had a voice, and it was meant for disquietude. He was king of high gloss independent pictures but somewhere along the way he, heh, lost his narrative. While his storytelling is better than ever, I dislike the Oscar-chasing borefest he's become. PANIC ROOM was the last film I really enjoyed; and I think he hit his stride with THE GAME, which I consider his best film.
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That video was pretty interesting. Thanks.

As for your other comments, I honestly consider Panic Room one of his two lesser/weaker films (the other being Benjamin Button).
You didn't like Zodiac? I thought it was excellent. And The Social Network is one of my favorite movies of all time.
 
shadow_priest_x said:
I still remember going to see The Game in the theater. I was, I think, 15 and I went with my dad. I specifically remember thinking during the first 20ish minutes that this was a shitty movie and it was going to suck and by the end it was one of the most memorable theatrical experiences of my life.

As for Gone Girl, I think the first half kind of drags. But once the twist comes, the movie goes insane. It's not his best work, but I still think it's solid.
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Agreed. Solid but not up to the high bar he has set with other films. And yeah The Game is just so much awesome. I can watch it over and over.
 
Se7en, Tattoo, Social Network, and Fight Club were excellent. Fincher has a knack for building tension from scene to scene and creating an atmosphere that I really appreciate.
 
100% respect for Fincher.

I have a few directors I respect more, but not many.
 
I just re-watched Fight Club last night. Such an awesome movie. I didn't fully appreciate it the first time I saw it in the theater--I think I was too young and hadn't lived enough--but I sure as hell do now.

It brings up such an interesting question in my mind: How far should we go to break out of the dead, stale, humdrum life that many of us find ourselves living? How far is too far?
 
He's a power hitter director to me; when he connects well he knocks it out of the park, but when he does not connect, he misses huge.

Fight Club, Social Network, Se7en, - amazing

Ben' Button, Panic Room, Dragon Tattoo - all misses.

Im also curious to see him actually write a screenplay.
 
JudoThrowFiasco said:
He's a power hitter director to me; when he connects well he knocks it out of the park, but when he does not connect, he misses huge.

Fight Club, Social Network, Se7en, - amazing

Ben' Button, Panic Room, Dragon Tattoo - all misses.

Im also curious to see him actually write a screenplay.
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Why do you count Dragon Tattoo as a miss?
 
JudoThrowFiasco said:
because you can directly compare it to a counterpart which was better acted, more suspenseful and more gritty.
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I do think the original was better, but unlike most American remakes of foreign films, I still thought that Fincher's take on the story was really well-done.
 
shadow_priest_x said:
I do think the original was better, but unlike most American remakes of foreign films, I still thought that Fincher's take on the story was really well-done.
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I just found it very pedantic and banal. Thought Mara and Craig were sub par in their performances and that the Fincher-esq styling did nothing of merit for the film.
 
He's a damn good director. Was pissed HBO couldn't work out the budget needed for Utopia. No doubt it would of been amazing.

And Fincher's The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo was in no way a miss. I loved the Swedish version as well (and liked some aspects of it better than Fincher's version), but Fincher's ending puts it over the top. Rapace was amazing in the Swedish version though, which really helped the film. And the Swedish version had a more mystery feel to it as well.
 
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