urbanpatrician
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"I just wanna go back, back to 1999. back to hit me baby one more time" - Charli XCX
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Post by urbanpatrician on Feb 13, 2018 22:30:26 GMT
Lord_Buscemi urbanpatrician Don't mind me, I'll just over there with my gifs! (no, but seriously don't mind me I'll be sure not to respond to either of you in the future since I'm a giant manchild who loves his pop culture... and his gifs!) I didn't take offense to your gif at all. I was just trying to discuss movies since you replied. And then it just seemed like I was taken way seriously than I expected. And it's not an insult to "pop culture" lovers. I just see people here make some snide remark about Star Wars being pop culture, and 4 or 5 people "likes" those posts, because it's apparently cool to rip on Star Wars and nobody combats them. I just think people distinguish between "cinema" and "pop culture" all the time in discussion, I see it all the time - even here. I did the same thing. But I think Se7en is superior because it's superior cinema. Same reason I think L'Avventura is far better than Psycho. Cinema > pop culture. Call me a grumpy fuck if you want, but I naturally respond to movies that way.
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Post by FrancescoAbides on Feb 13, 2018 22:43:16 GMT
Best Fincher's film so far, perfection
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Feb 13, 2018 22:52:51 GMT
Favorite Fincher. A year ago I would've ranked it somewhere in the middle of his filmography (that I've seen), but overtime my affinity for some of his other stuff (Fight Club, The Social Network, etc.) weakened. Se7en, though, I consistently consider great.
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Post by moonman157 on Feb 14, 2018 1:15:39 GMT
Absolutely fucking genius. One of the few classics of the 90s that deserves its reputation. Like many people, I feel Fincher is a little bit overrated. The Social Network came on and gets called "revolutionary" despite the story being not too revolutionary. Fight Club is entertaining, but I can't exactly grasp its clear achievement and resolution, and it's just not as good as Se7en. And obviously the new stuff he's done isn't on the level of any of these. But.... still, there's nothing to exaggerate with his earlier films. and while Fincher took a path that I didn't necessarily agree with later on, those early films of his merit the praise he deserves. I just think it's very innovative, very visionary, very climactic, very alternative and Fincher's characters are understatedly nihilistic. Just one of the most memorable stages of unique characters with their folly. Also, Fincher also did well eradicating some cheesy 80s trends, by the time he came on, he was boss and people instantly forgot some of that 80s shit. Similar to what Cobain did with Nirvana, he made movies of that caliber highly appealing. Where previously no cinephiles were excited at violent thrillers because those could easily be dismissed as generic or commercial, Fincher made neo-thrillers the forefront of anticipation. Keep in mind, he was going against the immaculate Paul Verhoeven at the time with his own vision (Basic Instinct) and take on neo-thrillers. The new cinema wave of the 90s was such an exciting period. I'd love to be back in 1994-1995 with those great new crime movies dominating the circuit. It's a damn masterpiece and without a shadow of a doubt, my favorite Fincher by a mile. I'm on The Silence of the Lambs thread and watch it get unanimous uniform opinions, but Se7en simply destroys The Silence of the Lambs based on all criteria I value. Silence of the Lambs is pop culture. Se7en is cinema. They're two different tiers. Writing a long post doing a retrospective on Fincher's career without even mentioning Zodiac, the movie that is quite obviously the only masterpiece he'll likely ever make and an astonishingly huge leap beyond everything else he's made, is rather odd.
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Post by Johnny_Hellzapoppin on Feb 15, 2018 14:37:55 GMT
It's a remarkable film, and incredibly fresh considering it is approaching 25 years of age. I watched it a few months ago, and my love for it remains untainted. The script is marvelous, the direction impeccable and the performances uniform in their excellence. Freeman has never been better, Spacey willl never be better, I'm totally on the side of Pitt, especially in his oft derided 'box' scene and this is my favourite performance from Paltrow too. Also, best opening credits ever!
1994 / 1995 was when I started to get into film, and Se7en was one of the ones that planted the seed of my love of the art-form. I didn't have a Top 10 per se back then, but had I, I have no doubt Se7en would have been in it, and 23 years later it is still there at #6 (not 7...shame).
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Post by Johnny_Hellzapoppin on Feb 15, 2018 14:39:23 GMT
Favorite Fincher. A year ago I would've ranked it somewhere in the middle of his filmography (that I've seen), but overtime my affinity for some of his other stuff ( Fight Club, The Social Network, etc.) weakened. Se7en, though, I consistently consider great. No film, excepting perhaps The Dark Knight, has diminished for me over time quite like Fight Club.
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Post by wilcinema on Feb 15, 2018 14:59:54 GMT
Favorite Fincher. A year ago I would've ranked it somewhere in the middle of his filmography (that I've seen), but overtime my affinity for some of his other stuff ( Fight Club, The Social Network, etc.) weakened. Se7en, though, I consistently consider great. No film, excepting perhaps The Dark Knight, has diminished for me over time quite like Fight Club. Maybe it's because I read the book (a masterpiece) first, but I've never found Fight Club as good as people have always said it is. There's something off about that movie.
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Post by Johnny_Hellzapoppin on Feb 15, 2018 15:02:10 GMT
No film, excepting perhaps The Dark Knight, has diminished for me over time quite like Fight Club. Maybe it's because I read the book (a masterpiece) first, but I've never found Fight Club as good as people have always said it is. There's something off about that movie. There is something off about the film...the whole crappy second half of it.
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Post by tastytomatoes on Feb 16, 2018 15:37:31 GMT
Very atmospheric and thrilling. One of the few movies where each minute is gripping and tense. Perfect casting with Freeman as the experienced and reliable detective, contrasting the young and hot-headed Detective Mills excellently portrayed by Pitt. I often wander between Fincher's masterpiece - is it Se7en of Fight Club? Two vastly different films, but perhaps both.
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Film Socialism
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Post by Film Socialism on Feb 16, 2018 19:33:41 GMT
hard eh
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Post by idioticbunny on Feb 18, 2018 6:09:35 GMT
It's a remarkable film, and incredibly fresh considering it is approaching 25 years of age. I watched it a few months ago, and my love for it remains untainted. The script is marvelous, the direction impeccable and the performances uniform in their excellence. Freeman has never been better, Spacey willl never be better, I'm totally on the side of Pitt, especially in his oft derided 'box' scene and this is my favourite performance from Paltrow too. Also, best opening credits ever!1994 / 1995 was when I started to get into film, and Se7en was one of the ones that planted the seed of my love of the art-form. I didn't have a Top 10 per se back then, but had I, I have no doubt Se7en would have been in it, and 23 years later it is still there at #6 (not 7...shame). Yes! I oscillate between Vertigo and this for the best opening credits of all-time, but man Se7en is just so damn unnerving and perfectly sets you up for the film you're about to watch. And the craft that went into making just those credits is amazing.
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cherry68
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Post by cherry68 on Feb 18, 2018 6:23:04 GMT
I totally agree with you guys about opening credits. The frames and perspective were absolutely astonishing.
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Post by Tommen_Saperstein on Feb 18, 2018 6:53:31 GMT
I don't know...I used to love it but have softened on it since. It's so on-the-nose.
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AKenjiB
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Post by AKenjiB on Feb 18, 2018 7:13:18 GMT
I think Se7en is a masterpiece. It’s got a few plot contrivances but there are so many things that work that I can’t help but love it. I think it’s easily one of Morgan Freeman’s best performances and it deserved way more Oscar buzz. Brad Pitt has a couple hammy moments but is an otherwise excellent foil. And Kevin Spacey plays one of the best villains in cinematic history. He nearly steals the entire movie. And of course, it’s gorgeously shot, cynical but not pointlessly so, and has one of the most memorable and tense climaxes I’ve ever seen.
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no
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Post by no on Feb 20, 2018 2:30:45 GMT
I think Se7en and Fight Club are Fincher's two good films, but the latter is better than the former.
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Post by taranofprydain on Feb 20, 2018 7:33:40 GMT
5/10. Not for me.
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no
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Post by no on Feb 20, 2018 14:22:43 GMT
It's a damn masterpiece and without a shadow of a doubt, my favorite Fincher by a mile. I'm on The Silence of the Lambs thread and watch it get unanimous uniform opinions, but Se7en simply destroys The Silence of the Lambs based on all criteria I value. Silence of the Lambs is pop culture. Se7en is cinema. They're two different tiers. What makes one pop culture and the other cinema?
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urbanpatrician
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"I just wanna go back, back to 1999. back to hit me baby one more time" - Charli XCX
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Post by urbanpatrician on Feb 20, 2018 14:38:12 GMT
It's a damn masterpiece and without a shadow of a doubt, my favorite Fincher by a mile. I'm on The Silence of the Lambs thread and watch it get unanimous uniform opinions, but Se7en simply destroys The Silence of the Lambs based on all criteria I value. Silence of the Lambs is pop culture. Se7en is cinema. They're two different tiers. What makes one pop culture and the other cinema? When you watch those AFI montages in Oscar ceremonies, it begins with: "Dorothy, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore." "Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn." then it's the shower scene in Psycho. Then the crop duster, and crawling up Mount Rushmore's nose in North by Northwest. then it ends with "Clarice. Have the lambs stop screaming?" It has an iconographic villain/heroine, that aspect clearly distinguished - it's the exact type of stuff that you would expect AFI culture to propagate as a product. Also, Se7en is seen by far less people if we go outside of film buffs and this board. Make no mistake, I've seen my high school talk about Se7en, but those are teenagers, in 2001. If you add adults, Silence of the Lambs is far more seen. It had far more ad time in its day, and it's almost understandably something exposed to the masses back in 1991 and carried on through the 90s. Se7en never makes those AFI montages. And the critics praised the two differently at initial release, the tenor is certainly different. Like, if you read the reviews of Titanic and L.A. Confidential, you can't say the acclaim is necessarily similar even if the general impression is that they're both positive.
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Post by Lord_Buscemi on Feb 20, 2018 21:10:33 GMT
Also, I know this is slightly irrelevant to the OP, but I just wanted to say that The Social Network is undoubtedly Fincher's finest and nothing else even comes remotely close. It's honestly weird how a director can make something so good, and their other work only ranges between just good to meh or sometimes plain bad.
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clunkybob2
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Post by clunkybob2 on Feb 20, 2018 23:21:36 GMT
Much more mediocre fincher belongs in the panic room ben button realms. Worlds apart from zodiac social network fight club gwtdt.
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Post by Allenism on Feb 20, 2021 16:54:08 GMT
And while I agree “Zodiac” is Fincher’s most accomplished film just in terms of its scope, I think “Se7en” is the best representative of his overall vision and sensibility. Not many films of this genre body-slam you the way this way one does in the end.
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Post by stabcaesar on Feb 20, 2021 17:14:03 GMT
It's pretty good. Amongst the best Freeman, Paltrow and Pitt have done (though Pitt was a league below the other two). Didn't really care for Spacey though.
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Post by Allenism on Feb 21, 2021 23:46:18 GMT
Also, this is probaly an unpopular opinion but I think this holds up better than Silence of the Lambs, to which it's often compared. I rewatched both films very recently (my city's still in a non-essential lockdown), and for all of SitL's virtues, I was taken aback by how hokey and broad a lot of it came across. Much of this probaly the result of how ubiquitously parodied the film has been, but even looking passed that, some scenes involving Lecter just reek of stiff theatricality. Not that Se7en doesn't have its own trappings of artificiality, but as a whole I think it makes a more persuasive case for itself.
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Post by dadsburgers on Feb 22, 2021 0:38:47 GMT
Also, this is probaly an unpopular opinion but I think this holds up better than Silence of the Lambs, to which it's often compared. I rewatched both films very recently (my city's still in a non-essential lockdown), and for all of SitL's virtues, I was taken aback by how hokey and broad a lot of it came across. Much of this probaly the result of how ubiquitously parodied the film has been, but even looking passed that, some scenes involving Lecter just reek of stiff theatricality. Not that Se7en doesn't have its own trappings of artificiality, but as a whole I think it makes a more persuasive case for itself. I was just going to say, I think it is a hell of a lot more exciting than Silence of the Lambs. If it weren't for Kids, this would be my Picture/Director/Editing winner for 1995. As it stands, I'd give it the following 11 noms and 3 wins (although going back in time, I'd 'cancel' Spacey's win): Cinematography*
Director Ensemble Film Editing Hair & Makeup Lead Actor (Pitt) Motion Picture Original Screenplay Production Design* Supporting Actor (Spacey)*Supporting Actress (Paltrow)
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Post by countjohn on Feb 22, 2021 2:24:00 GMT
I'm not a particular fan of this. Spacey is good and the title sequence is cool but other than that it's one of those empty, superficially "clever" thrillers where it's all mechanical with no beating heart. It has the seven deadly sins gimmick but other than that what's it "about"? It could have been a lot better if I'd cared about the detectives but Freeman is just doing his usual gravelly authority figure thing and Pitt is in way over his head and can't handle the big dramatic moments. Other than the slick visual style I'm not sure what's particularly "modern" about it either. And no, it's not in the same stratosphere as Silence of the Lambs, particularly in regards to the acting and screenplay. SotL does have a bit of that flat, confined 80's visual style, but it's executed so well (things like the compositions and lighting are pitch perfect) I can't really complain even if that style isn't my favorite. Going with Se7en over Silence of the Lambs feels like taking style over substance.
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