he's a fairly new director, but i love all his movies. and i think he has real potential to being one of the best.

Mr. Fincher's first effort was most notably one of the worst directorial efforts as his Alien 3 (1992) was pretty much panned as terrible for its stereotypical, one-dimensional character acting. He did come back strong, very strong in Seven (1995), a murder, mystery, thriller that ranks among the best of its genre. The Game (1997) was received with mixed reviews, though I personally thought it was solid and intricate. I missed Fight Club (1999). I thought the Panic Room (2002) wasn't much of anything special - compare Wait Until Dark (1967). I don't think that Mr. Fincher's accomplishments to date allow anyone to predict how he'll come off over the long run. He's had one great movie, one terrible movie. He has yet to direct anything substantive, heavy-weight. His next movie Zodiac (2006) appears to be return to his Seven days and looks promising with Robert Downey Jr., Jake Gyllenhaal, and Mark Ruffalo though its success still won't propell Mr. Fincher into the big leagues yet. If Benjamin Buttons (2007), a comedy works, then it will demonstrate his versatility with two world-class actors in Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett.

You should really watch Fight Club if you're gonna discuss Fincher. Come back and post what you think. Alien 3 wasn't that bad.

I wouldn't necessarily count "Alien 3". Fincher has said in repeated interviews that he had huge fights with the studio, who wouldn't let him make the film he wanted to make. As a result, he doesn't even stand behind the film. It's sort of like what happened to David Lynch with "Dune". I didn't really love "Panic Room", but "Seven", "The Game" and "Fight Club" are all excellent.

Not only is Fight Club excellent, but it will surely go down in history as one of the true original classics of the 90's....or was it released in 2000? Either way, Mark is right - see it now.

Sliiiide

Fincher has proven that he is capable of great things. He seems to alternate.
*Alien 3 - yuck
*Se7en - wow
*The Game - honestly, haven't seen it (so maybe my point is crap until I do)
*Fight Club - I think we all agree on this. It's definately one of my favorite movies.
*Panic Room - not a horrible film, but pretty forgettable, and disappointing knowing what he is capable of.

He alternates between his wallet and his soul, and I can't say I blame him, having to keep up with the Summer-Blockbuster-POS-American-film-going-likes -popcorn community.

quote:

Originally posted by briggsjazzgroup:
Fincher has proven that he is capable of great things. He seems to alternate.
*Alien 3 - yuck
*Se7en - wow
*The Game - honestly, haven't seen it (so maybe my point is crap until I do)
*Fight Club - I think we all agree on this. It's definately one of my favorite movies.
*Panic Room - not a horrible film, but pretty forgettable, and disappointing knowing what he is capable of.

He alternates between his wallet and his soul, and I can't say I blame him, having to keep up with the Summer-Blockbuster-POS-American-film-going-likes -popcorn community.

I don't think the Game is neccisarily a commerical attempt for Fincher. If you haven't seen it, it is worth seeing. It got some bad reviews because the twist ending is a little far-fetched. But, it's a great thriller while you're watching it for the first time.

I think the collection of Seven, The Game, and Fight Club is one of the best 3 film runs of the last 10 years. Although I wasn't that taken with Panic Room, I always looking forward to his new projects.

quote:

Originally posted by MJmovieluver88:
wow, i loved "Panic Room", i thought it was just as good as his other films, ( well, fight club was better) i thought it was amazingly entertaining, it reminded me of something hitchcock would do if he were live today. is there anyone who feels as strongly about
" Panic Room" as i do?

I agree that it was very Hitchcockian, but part of the problem for me was that it was more Hitchcock than Fincher. Again, it wasn't bad, but it wasn't as memorable as his other films.

ALIEN 3 wasn't exactly an auspicious debut for Fincher, though to one degree or another I've liked all of his films since. SEVEN is my favorite of the bunch.

Fincher is one of the best younger stylists out there.

He's also incredibly cold...and it's his brutal heartlessness that gave Seven and to a lesser degree Fight Club, their power.

But I agree with others in that I'm not sure how he'll pan out in the long run...doesn't seem to have much to say beyond matters of style and Nihilism.

As a side note, despite his skill, I hope he's been pulled off Rendezvous with Rama...based on all his previous work, tonally he's a horrible fit with that science fiction classic.

quote:

Illiniq posted:

As a side note, despite his skill, I hope he's been pulled off Rendezvous with Rama...based on all his previous work, tonally he's a horrible fit with that science fiction classic.

Tell me more. Sounds like a great movie if it gets made.

Rendezvous with Rama was Arthur C. Clarke's last great SF novel.

Written in 72, it's the ultimate Big Dumb Object novel. Set a couple of hundred years in the future, scientists discover the first proof of intelligent life when they catch a huge cylindrical spaceship entering our solar system.

Not having time to prep a military crew proper, a commercial space vessel already in space is commissioned to attempt a landing and entry. When they enter, they discover all manner of fascinating things.

My concerns with Fincher directing are many. First, Rama is essentially a mystery and a celebration of how much we can learn, and how little we know...in the book, for every thing the exploring spacers learn, ten new questions arise, so that by the end of the story, though having learned much, we end up with thousands more questions than when the ship is first discovered. What it is not is an exercise in dread, which is Fincher's speciality.

2nd, rumor has it Scott Brick's first draft really nailed the feel of the novel, but Fincher the stylist, has completely rejected it, because being more concerned about visual cliche's, he's realized several science fiction films since the book's publication have blatantly pilfered many of the books key visual and contentual elements, from the ship's design in Star Trek 4, to the structural back and forth between the exploring party and scientist's back on the moon (which strongly echos Appollo 13).

In short, the version Fincher wants to make will have nothing to do with the original novel...a huge mistake in my view...though certain elements may seem familiar, once inside the ship, the central set pieces remain incredibly fresh, including a vast array of Biologically generated Robots, a hang glide flight through the 0 gee center of the ship, and a tidal wave on a cylindrical sea.

Done right, with the right lightness of touch yet still seriousness of tone, it still holds the potential to be one of the best SF movies ever made. Morgan Freeman, who owns the rights, is an excellent choice to play the exploring ships down-to-earth captain, though now in his seventies that window of opportunity is rapidly closing.

To be honest, though he works generally on a much smaller template, M. Night would be a much better fit in terms of tone.

Who is this Illiniq? Amazing stuff.

I've yet to see a bad Fincher movie. Panic Room was possibly possibly the weakest (excluding Alien 3), but I'd say he'll go down in history for Fight Club if nothing else.

Although Alien 3 gets a lot of bad press, it does have some good qualities in amongst all the confusion. It has some of the best acting in the whole franchise and the cinematography is outstanding. You just get the impression it's been 'over-produced'. A great shame and very frustrating.

Alien 3 - I enjoyed it, so sue me.
Se7en - I enjoyed it, so praise me.
The Game - Saw it, forgot it.
Fight Club - I'm one of those rare folk who find this a 'good' film, not great.
Panic Room - Haven't seen it.
Zodiac - Read the book, waiting for the DVD.

90% 0f people rubbish Alien 3, but they are dead wrong.

It is an excellent film. And I could write a book on why I think so, but who cares what I say...

I've never seen three consecutive positive comments for Alien 3. Wow! I really didn't like it and I've seen it twice long time ago. One of the difficulties I had was the very first impression of the movie when some of my favorite, almost all of the remaining survivors from the previous movie died and I really got down on whatever came next. Perhaps I saw the movie through clouded and misty, angry eyes.

That's why a lot of people hated it - Hicks was dead, Newt was dead, Bishop was mostly dead. Ripley was about to be dead.

None of that was very fair on David Fincher. He walked in halfway through the whole mess and had to clean everything up and I think he did an admirable job.

The film is hampered by a downbeat story, but everything else is first rate - excellent direction, strong performances and amazing visuals.

I know Alien 3 is flawed, but it would've been magnificent if the producers and editors hadn't messed up. I've watched it with people who openly hate the Alien franchise and they enjoyed it a lot.

Interestingly, Alien 3 was pronounced the best in the series in France on it's theatrical release - they went mad for it.

Ahh, those froggies...I knew they were good for somethin'.... , although I consider the first the best...