Tag Archives: David Fincher

Gone Girl {Film Review}

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This particular movie was built on the marketing that you had to see this movie (or read the book) to understand why you had to go see it yourself. The trailers were reminiscent to when Alfred Hitchcock gave away little to nothing about the plot, only snippets here and there. Our curiosity only grew and grew from movie posters designed as ‘Missing Person’ posters and word of mouth. David Fincher had our curiosity and now has our attention. That is the power Fincher has used to full use and the film itself doesn’t disappoint.

 

The movie is based on the best-selling novel of the same name by Gillian Flynn (who also wrote the screenplay). The story revolves around Nick Dunne (Ben Affleck), who one morning on his wedding anniversary finds his wife Amy Dunne (Rosamund Pike) missing. The police investigate the crime scene, finding no evidence to suspect a kidnapping. Eventually, everyone starts pointing fingers at

gone_girl_ver2_xlgNick, from police, neighbours and even talk show hosts. Though as the story progresses, we cut back to diary entries from Amy herself. Giving two completely different perspectives and asking ourselves; who is telling the truth?

 

This movie is the definition of edge-on-your-seat. Fincher is the master of mystery/thriller filmmaking (as evidenced in Se7en, The Game and Zodiac). His eye to detail is so immaculate, with the production design to the bleak but beautiful cinematography by Jeff Cronenweth. Every clue is never left unnoticed. The score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross is discomforting but also hypnotic (as Fincher said when giving direction for the score “Think about the really terrible music you hear in massage parlors. The way that it artificially tries to make you feel like everything’s OK. And then imagine that sound starting to curdle and unravel.“). That direction to the music is certainly what is felt through-out the entire duration of the movie. The more we find out Nick and Amy’s marriage, the more we realise it is not what we perceived from the start. This movie satarises the media, forcing us to rethink how we look at the stories that are laid in front of us. Even when answers are not met or answered, we’re so eager to accuse anyone to have some sort of resolution (just like Robert Graysmith in Zodiac). Even when one talk show host (played by Missi Pyle) flat out accuses Nick to not only be Amy’s killer but also accuses him to have a incestuous relationship with his sister.

 

Ben Affleck is continuing to mature as an actor. Fincher cast him the part as Nick Dunne because Affleck himself has been through hell in the eyes of the media and public. You can certainly see the weight that has been brought down on his shoulders. The supporting cast members were equally terrific, especially the surprise performance from Tyler Perry (probably given the most hilarious line in the entire movie, and one that summarises the Dunne’s; “You two are the most fucked up people I’ve ever met and I deal with fucked up people for a living.“) Though the stand-out performance has to be Rosamund Pike as Amy Dunne. She is unbelievably outstanding and one I would vote to get a Best Actress nomination. As mentioned earlier, talking more about her role would reveal a lot of the twists. Suffice to say, it is a performance everyone will be talking about the rest of the year (especially the ending may make couples feel uncomfortable or at least awkward).

 

Overall; David Fincher delivers an intense, no holds barred thriller. It is expertly crafted from everyone in the production. Stellar performances and award-worthy performance from Rosamund Pike. Easily one of the best movies of this year and highly recommended.

4 out of 5

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (2011) {Film Review}

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*WARNING – MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS!*

“The Feel Bad Movie Of Christmas” One of many taglines given during this holiday season, though not a very festive movie at all! David Fincher makes a return to investigative thrillers and making a controversial decision by remaking Steig Larsson’s original best selling book on which a Swedish TV/ Movie was made only two years earlier. Many were already skeptical and assuming it would be set in the United States and the featured sexualised violence would be softened. More talented cast and crew were brought aboard the project encouraging the public to take it more seriously.

The story is of the journalist Mikael Blomkvist (Daniel Craig), who has been disgraced after filing a report on his opponent Wennerström. He gets called in to investigate a missing person report for Henrik Vanger (Christopher Plummer), even though this person has been missing for forty years. Blomkvist eventually teams up with computer hacker Lisbeth Salander (Rooney Mara).

The film is phenomenally well made, all down to the casting, cinematography, writing and direction. David Fincher was born to make these kinds of films, this film all smells familiar from his previous work (Se7en, Fight Club, Zodiac and even The Social Network). Jeff Cronenworth brings an icy cold presence to the Swedish landscapes but he also creates so arresting cinematography that takes your breath away at times. Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross make another hit on their fantastic score, still containing conventional and electronic musical notes that we heard from their score for The Social Network but Dragon Tattoo‘s score delves deep into Lisbeth Salander’s psyche and probably the only thing that shows any sign of humanity within Lisbeth. The editing from both Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall is fast and fluid. The 158 minute running time may put some viewers off but the story goes by before you could even check the time on your watch. The difference between Fincher’s Dragon Tattoo and Niels Arden Oplev’s original is 2011 version is a more cinematic aroma to it (in terms of its direction and production value behind it).

Daniel Craig suits the character of Mikael Blomkvist. It is hard at times to look past Craig as 007 but he shows he can be just as clumsy as we all would be. His dress sense isn’t as elegant as Bond and sometimes has his glasses hanging underneath his chin while he is putting the clues together. Though the driving force of the Millennium trilogy (both from the novels and the films) is Lisbeth Salander, played previously by Noomi Rapace and now played by Rooney Mara. Mara worked with Fincher in a small role as Mark Zuckerberg’s fictional ex-girlfriend in The Social Network and it is not a surprise why Fincher chose her over the likes of Carey Mulligan, Scarlett Johansson, Keira Knightley and even Kristen Stewart. She looks childlike, almost alien from the bleached eyebrows and jet black hair-style. We find it hard to imagine at first glance that such an intelligent loner can handle herself but when she does get her vengeance back (being raped by her guardian, Bjurman (Yorick van Wageningen)), she rises up like a phoenix and we root for her. The difference in direction is the scene where Lisbeth tells Mikael her childhood isn’t done by flashbacks as the original did but keeps focused on Lisbeth telling the story. It is just as emotional and affective without any flashbacks and I prefer Fincher’s simple direction with Lisbeth’s back-story.

For those who have read the novel or 2009 original, it won’t come as a surprise to the reveal. Steven Zaillian (previous credits include Schindler’s List, American Gangster and co-wrote Moneyball along with Aaron Sorkin) adapts the novel very well but brings a few touches that stands apart from the original and doesn’t entirely fall onto the feeling of deja vu. The story itself, written by the late Stieg Larsson, isn’t a masterpiece and it is your basic ‘whodunit’ mystery thriller (though in the hands of Fincher, he creates something as exciting and fresh). Both Zaillian and Fincher both stated they wanted to make an adult thriller from the very start and this really isn’t something a PG-13 rated audience should watch. The as mentioned rape and torture scenes are really hard to watch and Fincher puts the subject matter up-front.

Overall; an intelligent dark thriller that is immensely entertaining and all credit goes to David Fincher and his incredibly talented crew. Rooney Mara makes a career making performance and I am looking forward to seeing the rest of this new Millennium trilogy.

5 out of 5!

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (2011) trailer

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I will talk about the trailer in a bit, but first some context for those who are diving straight in without knowing this particular film. As we all know, it is based on a Swedish novel (and first in the Millennium trilogy) by the late Stieg Larsson and has already been adapted as a TV-movie in 2009 (starring Michael Nyqvist as Mikael Blomkvist and Noomi Rapace as Lisbeth Salander). It received three BAFTA nominations (including Best Leading Actress – Noomi Rapace and Best Adapted Screenplay), though it left with one; Best Film not in the English Language.

It wouldn’t be long till Hollywood would decide to grab their hands on it and develop their own version. It cause some outcry and some saying that it should be left alone. I will admit, I was pretty adamant on the idea of a Hollywood version of the novel/TV-movie. Though the talent behind it started to make me have some sigh of hope; they recruited Steven Zaillian to adapt the novel (previous credits – Schindler’s List, Gangs of New York and American Gangster) and David Fincher was hired to direct the film (previous credits – Se7en, Fight Club and The Social Network) Who was going to play the leading players? Daniel Craig (Casino Royale) as troubled yet talented journalist and Rooney Mara (The Social Network) as the socially awkward goth/punk hacker. This is a team that no one could ask anymore better from them! Fincher, especially, is in familiar ground; a dark mystery thriller that practically runs in his veins.

Now our questions were what was the film going to look like? Would the actors attempt to pull a Swedish/English dialect? Well the look is very slick and top notch, Rooney Mara really becomes Salander but actually more like a punk/goth than Rapace did (sorry fans of the original movies but I quite like this new Salander). It features the Oscar winning composers, Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross, music in the trailer (Reznor even created a cover of ‘Immigrant Song’ by Led Zeppelin with Karen-O for the teaser trailer). Even the trailer runs at 3 minutes and 40 seconds (usually average running time for a theatrical trailer is 2 minutes 30 seconds) reveals only enough to not spoil anything for those who have not read the book or seen the previous films.

My reaction to the trailer? I cannot wait for it! It has moved from being number 2 to number 1 on my most anticipated list (http://frostmagazine.com/2011/03/top-most-anticipated-movies-of-2011/). Plus it’s directed by David Fincher! Do I need to explain why that’s a good thing? As you’ve seen from his credits, he has made a movie that everyone likes! What do you think? Are you excited for it as much as I am or do you think it should’ve been left alone from the very start?

Top Most Anticipated Movies of 2011

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As we came to a close of 2010 and the awards season have been gone and dusted, I’ve decided to make a list of films that I’m looking forward to this year. I expected this list to be quite long, but there’s not a lot I’m looking forward or consider to be really excited to quite frankly. So I’m going to reveal my top 3 most anticipated films of 2011;

Sucker Punch: I’ll admit, I’m not a fan of Zack Snyder but I don’t hate him as well. His Dawn of the Dead remake back in 2004 was pretty decent, considering the shamelessly Michael Bay produced horror remakes we’ve been getting every year or so. Then he adapted Frank Miller’s 300, visually faithful to its source material but lacked on being a memorable movie altogether. Watchmen was the high-point of his career, especially since adapting Alan Moore’s 400+ page comic book had been in development as long you could remember! While some bits hit the mark (visual style, costumes, performances from Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Jackie Earl Haley), some completely missed (both Malin Akerman and Carla Gugino gave bland performances and some of the choice of music). Of course, his trademark is his heavy use of slow-motion. If you’d take a drinking game whenever the slow-motion was used, you’d either be in the hospital or the morgue!

Now Zack Snyder has decided to come up with something original, rather than being a remake or based on a comic book. It is inevitable to label it as ‘Alice in Wonderland meets Inception’ (or as Snyder describes it, Alice in Wonderland with guns) but Snyder at least has shown he’s not loosing his creative edge. The film looks fantastic, even more so than his previous films. Although slightly bizarre that the film is set in the 1950s psychiatric ward and they come up with anime-alike robot mechs, giant samurais with a mini-gun, futuristic city and transport that hasn’t existed yet! Maybe I’m thinking about it too much than needed, but this does stand-out from most other blockbusters this year. (Released on March 25, 2011 in USA and April 1, 2011 in UK)

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo: Probably the most controversial choice on this list, as the Swedish original was praised by critics and audiences (even went to win a BAFTA for Best Film not in the English Language and 2 nominations including Best Actress – Noomi Rapace). The reason I put this relatively high on this list is because of David Fincher. I am a huge fan of David Fincher, and I personally think The Social Network is the best film made in the past decade. This sort of material is right in Fincher’s alley; a dark mystery thriller, the sort he’s done with Zodiac and Se7en.

The film stars Daniel Craig as Mikael Blomkvist, an interesting choice to play the troubled journalist and is accompanied by Rooney Mara as Lisbeth Salander. Mara worked with Fincher in The Social Network, as Mark Zuckerberg’s fictional ex-girlfriend. It is a bizarre choice but it really have to admire a beautiful actress as Mara to transform a character that looks both gothic and punk. If you have not yet seen the published photos of Mara’s transformation, I strongly you have a look before you make an judgements (http://www.wmagazine.com/celebrities/2011/02/rooney_mara_girl_with_the_dragon_tattoo_lisbeth_salander_ss#slide=3). She looks other-worldly and makes me fascinated how she’d portray the character that’d be different what we’ve already seen. Steven Zaillian is adapting the novel, which he has done very good movies in the past with Schindler’s List, Gangs of New York and American Gangster. So I am very optimistic on this English adaptation. (Released on December 21, 2011)

The Tree Of Life: This film being a complete mystery intensifies my anticipation levels through the roof! It’s slightly odd that a non-blockbuster such as this movie would be my number 1!? The synopsis on IMDb is only given very briefly; The story centers around a family with three boys in the 1950s. The eldest son witnesses the loss of innocence.

Probably a few reasons being that it is written and directed by Terrence Malick, who is known to shoot an unimaginable amount of footage and has made films such as Badlands, Days of Heaven, The Thin Red Line and The New World. Another reason is it features my favourite actors; Brad Pitt and Sean Penn. There’s not much to say about the film, except if you know Malick’s work then there’s everything to be excited about it. I strongly suggest to check out the trailer, the only preview of the film thus far! (Released on May 27, 2011)

If you’re excited about these films as I am or looking forward to any other films that didn’t make this (very short) list, send comments below!