Se7en 1995
The first Fincher movie that felt like a bomb going off for a certain kind of teenager; rewatching it now, Sean reads it less as a serial-killer thriller and more as a mournful movie about the death of the nuclear family.
The Big Picture · Discussion · Draft
The David Fincher Movie Draft
November 3, 2023/ 100 min/ Sean Fennessey · Amanda Dobbins · Chris Ryan
Sean, Amanda, and Chris Ryan draft the 12 films of David Fincher's filmography across six categories (thriller, blockbuster, Oscar nominee, wildcard, sequence or scene, and music video or commercial), then scrap the no-repeats rule and run the whole thing back.
38 films across 4 segments.
AI-generated This episode was transcribed and analyzed with AI models. The matches aren't perfect — expect the occasional misheard title or a link to the wrong film.
Remembering Fincherbefore the draft
Alien 3 1992
The first Fincher film Chris Ryan saw in a theater, without realizing at the time he was watching a Fincher movie.
Fight Club 1999
Amanda's first Fincher movie, seen alone at 14; she and Sean revisit the Blank Check argument that the film's anti-consumerist point of view reads as more juvenile now, even if it's still a thrilling piece of pure filmmaking.
Gone Girl 2014
Amanda rewatched it the night before taping and found it plays differently now, funnier, and colored by "the Ben Affleck of it all."
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo 2011
Cited alongside Se7en and The Game as a film that hits differently on rewatch as the hosts get older.
Mank 2020
The one Fincher film that plays like autobiography as much as craft: his most direct reckoning with his father.
The Killer 2023
The occasion for the episode; Sean saw it at the Academy Museum with Fincher on stage, Chris at its Venice premiere. Streaming on Netflix November 10, the date they plan to cover it properly.
The first draft drafting David Fincher's films
Sean Fennessey
Thriller
Zodiac 2007
His first pick, and his favorite Fincher movie: the masterwork, not eligible for Oscar or Blockbuster, so thriller was really the only slot for it.
Sequence or Scene
Fight Club 1999
The Where Is My Mind ending: Jack revealed as Tyler Durden, the exploding buildings, Marla and the narrator holding hands.
Music Video or Commercial
Freedom 90
George Michael's video with the supermodels: Turlington, Crawford, Evangelista. Sean argues it invented the modern supermodel era and got Fincher his shot at Alien 3.
Blockbuster
Panic Room 2002
Sean's pick; Amanda calls it the number one movie about a house in the Fincher canon while defending her own choice of The Game as the underrated house movie.
Oscar Nominee
Mank 2020
The only Oscar-eligible film left once Gone Girl and Social Network were off the board; Sean still rates it highly.
Wildcard
Alien 3 1992
"If given the opportunity to take a movie I will always take a movie," passing on the gimmick picks. Sean argues its chaotic production is what taught Fincher to control everything after.
Amanda Dobbins
Thriller
The Game 1997
A value pick since it was still on the board; she calls it underrated, and 'pretty fucked up' in a good way.
Music Video or Commercial
Vogue
Madonna's video, picked after Sean claimed Freedom 90; Amanda argues it's more iconic than Madonna's Express Yourself.
Blockbuster
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button 2008
Her defense: it's basically a movie about being in love with an old man baby, and it still made her cry.
Oscar Nominee
The Social Network 2010
Her first pick and favorite Fincher film: she and Sean call it the best movie of the 21st century so far.
Wildcard
Ben Affleck interviewing David Fincher
A Mank-era press conversation, picked over options like footage of Fincher driving around Hollywood in his white Mercedes.
Chris Ryan
Thriller
Se7en 1995
His first pick: the movie that made a generation want to be serial-killer-movie people.
Music Video or Commercial
Leave Nothing
The Nike track-and-field ad set to Ennio Morricone; Chris calls it better than any sports movie made in the 21st century.
Wildcard
Mindhunter
Specifically the season one finale: Holden visiting Ed Kemper in the hospital, scored to Led Zeppelin's 'In the Light.' Chris calls it as radiant a sequence as Fincher has ever made, and notes he technically didn't direct every episode.
The redraft drafting David Fincher's films
Chris Ryan
Oscar Nominee
The Social Network 2010
Goes first this round and re-drafts it from Amanda, now that repeats are allowed.
Thriller
Fight Club 1999
Sequence or Scene
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button 2008
The U-boat battle in the middle of the movie.
Music Video or Commercial
Golf
From 'Dress Normal,' Fincher's quartet of black-and-white Gap ads (Golf, Drive, Stairs, The Kiss), probably his last known commercial work.
Blockbuster
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo 2011
Wildcard
Hitchcock/Truffaut
Fincher's talking-head contribution to the Hitchcock/Truffaut documentary, where he describes his dad giving him the Truffaut-Hitchcock book as a kid, clearly talking about himself as much as Hitchcock.
Sean Fennessey
Sequence or Scene
The Social Network 2010
"You better lawyer up, asshole": Eduardo's confrontation with Zuckerberg and Sean Parker.
Music Video or Commercial
Only
Fincher's 2005 Nine Inch Nails video, a digitally animated Trent Reznor head, the first of Fincher and Reznor's collaborations, years before The Social Network and Gone Girl scores.
Blockbuster
Se7en 1995
Oscar Nominee
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button 2008
Wildcard
The Game 1997
It went undrafted the second time around, so Sean takes it as his wildcard rather than pick a novelty item.
Amanda Dobbins
Thriller
The Killer 2023
Music Video or Commercial
Freedom 90
Takes it back this round, having lost it to Sean the first time.
Blockbuster
Gone Girl 2014
Oscar Nominee
Mank 2020
Wildcard
Gone Girl (director's commentary)
Ruled ineligible the first round because you can't take the commentary without the film; with the rules loosened, she finally gets it.
Left on the boardhonorable mentions
Se7en 1995
What's in the box never got drafted, and neither did the ending: 'Explain to me what I'm not understanding. John Doe has the upper hand!'
The Game 1997
The ending, and the cab ride, both went undrafted.
Fight Club 1999
The basement fight-club scenes and the taxi-driver murder both got left off.
Zodiac 2007
The door-to-door canvassing, the cab ride, and the final interrogation of Arthur Leigh Allen by Ruffalo, Elias Koteas, and Anthony Edwards, a scene Sean says he almost stood up and applauded.
The Social Network 2010
The Henley Royal Regatta rowing sequence and the opening breakup scene both went undrafted, the latter singled out as Fincher and Sorkin at their best.
Gone Girl 2014
Desi's murder ('I've killed for you') and the 'I'm that c-word' reunion scene both got left on the table.
Also mentioned raised along the way
Callbacks to past drafts Michael ClaytonTalladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky BobbyThe Devil Wears PradaMarie AntoinetteThe Queen
On adaptation Killers of the Flower MoonNo Country for Old MenThere Will Be Blood
Coming up on the show PriscillaFive Nights at Freddy'sThe Pigeon Tunnel
Not films filtered out: TV, games, ads
TV House of CardsThe Morning Show
Podcasts DissectThe RewatchablesBlank CheckThe Bill Simmons Podcast
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