Special Movie Debate: David Fincher

[Reed Rothchild | 9,964]

[Bearcat-Doug | 5,124]

The poll only let me pick one movie, but that's all I've see from the list anyway. 

[DoctorEncore | 3,691]

I've seen his first six movies and nothing since then. I don't really understand his choices for projects after Fight Club and he kind of lost his shine after that. I do think that Fight Club, Seven, and Zodiac are all pretty good, but I went with Seven since it's the most impactful. Fincher has always felt like a style over substance kind of director to me and I've never been a huge fan of anything he's done. We can argue all day about studio interference when it comes to Alien 3, but even the director's cut is still a mediocre film at best. I also find all the love for Mindhunter somewhat mind boggling. The general plot beats feel like bargain-bin Seven/Zodiac and the acting from the cast is so wooden and stilted, it totally ruined the show for me. Some of the supporting actors were excellent, but Jonathan Graff makes the entire thing unwatchable.

I am looking forward to The Killer though. The cast is stacked and it sounds like a movie that would benefit from his particular approach to directing. I believe it's heading directly to Netflix, so we'll see if that kind of directorial freedom benefits or hinders him.

[Link | 2,884]

I've seen less than half of them but loved what I have seen (Se7en, The Game, Fight Club, Button) and I'm interested in some others. My favorite is probably the first one I saw, Se7en but I don't think that's a bad reflection on the others (out of what I have seen). I'm sort of interested in seeing TGWTDragon Tattoo, but after seeing the Swedish movies, reading the books, and then watching the extended version Swedish movies, I'm kind of done with that story, especially if it's not going to be completed in English. 

I didn't know Mindhunter was his. I watched three episodes and wasn't very impressed. 

35 minutes ago, DoctorEncore said:

the acting from the cast is so wooden and stilted, it totally ruined the show for me.

This sounds like valid criticism and it's most of a director's job to do better specifically on that front. 

[mbd39 | 2,099]

I've seen most of them. Went with Gone Girl as the best, but Zodiac and Se7en are right up there.

 

[a3quit4s | 4,370]

I’ve seen a lot of his work apparently. I went with the social network as my favorite. It probably would have been Fight Club until social network came out. Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is up there as well but really not anything to do with Fincher more Daniel Craig is awesome. Out of all the movies on the list I’m most likely to rewatch Social Network though because I’ve done so many many times

[Gloves | 12,274]

The only movie listed that I've seen is Fight Club.

[Reed Rothchild | 9,964]

27 minutes ago, Gloves said:

The only movie listed that I've seen is Fight Club.

 

7 hours ago, Bearcat-Doug said:

The poll only let me pick one movie, but that's all I've see from the list anyway. 

Frickin' Dougs...

[doner24 | 1,227]

I’ve seen them all except for Alien 3 and Mank. Picked Fight Club for my favorite, it’s a fun movie and I haven’t read the book to compare it. I really like most of them though. 

[Reed Rothchild | 9,964]

1. Seven
2. Fight Club
3. The Game
4. Gone Girl
5. Zodiac
6. Social Network
7. Alien 3
8. Panic Room
9. Benjamin Button

Never hard of Mank, and I've seen the original Dragon Tattoo, so never really bothered with his remake

[Bearcat-Doug | 5,124]

8 minutes ago, Reed Rothchild said:

 

Frickin' Dougs...

We are efficient and just watch the best movie!

[Reed Rothchild | 9,964]

Just now, Bearcat-Doug said:

We are efficient and just watch the best movie!

Unless you both watched Seven and decided that was your favorite movie.  Then the poll would reflect differently.  But now we'll never know.

[Bearcat-Doug | 5,124]

1 minute ago, Reed Rothchild said:

Unless you both watched Seven and decided that was your favorite movie.  Then the poll would reflect differently.  But now we'll never know.

I have seen Seven come to think of it, but the poll still would only let me pick one movie so I just went with Fight Club since I was going to pick it for my favorite anyway. The "What's in the box?" ending is pretty memorable though.

[Gloves | 12,274]

10 minutes ago, Reed Rothchild said:

Unless you both watched Seven and decided that was your favorite movie.  Then the poll would reflect differently.  But now we'll never know.

To make it easier on you, I'll just never watch Seven.

[Bearcat-Doug | 5,124]

2 minutes ago, Gloves said:

To make it easier on you, I'll just never watch Seven.

But then you'll never know what's in the box.

Edited August 20, 2023 by Bearcat-Doug

[doner24 | 1,227]

Just now, Bearcat-Doug said:

But then you'll never know what's in the box.

[Reed Rothchild | 9,964]

2 minutes ago, Gloves said:

To make it easier on you, I'll just never watch Seven.

I mean, we both know that was never in doubt.

[Bearcat-Doug | 5,124]

13 minutes ago, doner24 said:

That was my guess, but the mystery box could be anything, even a box!

Edited August 20, 2023 by Bearcat-Doug

[Splain | 2,720]

[Hammerfestus | 4,107]

I’ve only seen fight club, seven, and the social network.  Maybe some of the others but I don’t remember.  They were pretty good.  

[Brickman | 4,215]

Seen most of his stuff and have loved it all for different reasons. Seven is still my favourite of his. 

[G-type | 2,816]

lets be honest, the only ones that are really in the conversation are Fight Club, Seven, and The Social Network... although I think The Game and Zodiac are both praiseworthy.  And Girl with a Dragon Tattoo is good too, but it feels kind of weird to be covering the same material that had already been very well done by the Swedish films just a couple years earlier.

[Link | 2,884]

18 hours ago, Bearcat-Doug said:

That was my guess, but the mystery box could be anything, even a box!

 

[Sumez | 3,166]

Just a great "craftmanship" style movie maker. His movies aren't always equally memorable, yet if his name is on it you still know what you're gonna see is good and incredibly solid.

But I can't pick a favourite. I like all of the ones I've seen, but none of them mean that much to me really. I'm inclined to say Alien 3, since it's kind of the more unique of the bunch (I guess outside Fight Club), but it's also probably the only one that's not a solid movie. The "Director's Cut" version is super good (bar the horrible alien vfx), until the terrible ending which is a complete mess
If someone would shoot a new ending for Alien 3 that gives it a solid third act, it would actually likely by my favourite Alien movie!

I had no idea he was the one who directed the remake of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. I've only seen the original movie, and found it pretty trite and formulaic even if it was super well made. I wonder if his version manages to change any of that?

[JamesRobot | 6,030]

The Game is a masterpiece thriller.  Solid 10.  Can't believe @Richardhead is the only other sane person on VGS.  And that's saying something considering recent events.

Seen them all up through Zodiac.  Solid director from my experience.  Probably a 8 or 9 on the Reed scale.