Some thoughts on David Fincher's 60th birthday
Sunday, August 28, 2022 at 2:13PM
NATHANIEL R in David Fincher, Directors, Fight Club, Gone Girl, Mank, Panic Room, Se7en, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The Killer, The Social Network, Zodiac, music videos

Today, The Academy tweeted this image of David Fincher's filmography and asked which three you'd choose to watch in a marathon.

But even before they did we were thinking about David Fincher...

On Instagram stories early this morning (please follow, we're trying to be regular now on social media) we already asked something that's been haunting us for ever. How does this man have 2 Grammys* and 3 Emmys but no Oscars? And none of those Emmys are for Mindhunter? His awards history makes zero sense. But, alas, there are a lot of artists whose awards histories don't line up with the value of their work.

But speaking of value of his work. How would you rank his pictures? The Academy left out Alien³ his first movie and Mank his latest. He's made 11 pictures in full We'd personally rank his pictures like so

 

  1. The Social Network (2010)
  2. Se7en (1995)
      both of them masterful... we'd place the series Mindhunter at #3 if we were including television work

    ...very rewatchable!!!
  3. Gone Girl (2014)

    lots to enjoy and debate
  4. Zodiac (2007)
  5. Panic Room (2002)
  6. Fight Club (1999)

    divisive but we'd argue undervalued
  7. Alien³ (1992)

    too new to have permanent feelings about... but why do Oscar voters only really get excited about his "mild" films?
  8. Mank (2020)

    excellent technically... but to what end? 
  9. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011)

    meh
  10. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)

    the only one we've never remotely had a desire to revisit
  11. The Game (1997)

 

Michael Fassbender as "The Killer" (image via IMDb)

His next film is The Killer starring Michael Fassbender in the titular role as an assassin who develops a conscience. It's a Netflix production that's been in post for several months but since we haven't heard anything on a release date we'll assume 2023. 

* For the record his Grammys are for the music videos "Suit and Tie" (Justin Timberlake) and "Love is Strong" (The Rolling Stones). Somehow he lost for the all time classic "Express Yourself" (Madonna). 

 

Article originally appeared on The Film Experience (http://thefilmexperience.net/).
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