David Fincherfilms are often described as cold.
This seems frankly unfair, at least in most cases.
And its hot to the touch.
Thats because the trick about a Fincher film is that his own peculiar brand of madness is infectious.
Heres how we rank them.
However,The Gamehas developed something of a cult following in recent years.
Its admirers argue this is a misunderstood masterpiece.
The film is likewise a shell game, designed to keep viewers guessing.
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11.
We still wish the blasphemousAlien 3set in a medieval monastery in space was what Fincher made.
Little do they realize though that theyre about to meet the Devil, and he bleeds acid.
In retrospect, the best thing aboutAlien 3is its pitiless nihilism.
This is as bleak a piece of cinema as ever made with a numeral in the title.
The Killer (2023)
The latest David Fincher film might be his slickest.
She evidently enjoys the finer things in life that Fassbenders Killer eschews.
She seems more human, but perhaps thats why their date occurs only when Fassbender is holding the gun.
But audiences wrote off Finchers American version at their own peril.
But even if its one just for him, it appealed quite a bit to us too.
Its taut, twisty, and features complex characters who provide a dim view on the species.
And unlike some of the directors more brooding efforts, its also plainly fun in its demented way.
Pikes Amy offers a scathing indictment of her own marriage and perhaps the institution of matrimony as a whole.
The revelations which occur there are among the most pessimistic of a major American film.
The sun may be shining, but no daylight enters this thing once.
Fight Club (1999)
Folks have never been very good at obeying the first rule of fight club.
To this day, we keep talking aboutFight Club!
Brad Pitts Tyler Durden doesnt exist!
Yeah, its easy to see why Pitts six-pack abs and collection of sway jackets could be so alluring.
Its also a blast to watch.
Zodiac (2007)
A case can be made thatZodiacis Finchers true masterpiece.
The film also marked Finchers first foray into digital photography, an approach hed come to swear by.
What could a couple of middle-aged guys like Fincher and screenwriterAaron Sorkinknow about the millennial experience?
Well, it did, and in retrospectThe Social Networkwas both prophetic and too kind to Mark Zuckerberg.
Featuring Sorkins usual ratatatat dialogue,The Social Networkremains the best showcase for that jargony screwball style.
It even becomes faintly insidious and operatic when drenched in Finchers love of shadows.
Were witnessing children playing with Promethean power.
