david fincher | the m0vie blog

Non-Review Review: Fight Club

Posted on June 4, 2014 by Darren

Fight Club was released in 1999, and seems to perfectly capture a brief moment in the history of disemfranchised American masculinity.

Situated between the end of the Cold War and the start of the War on Terror, Fight Club is the story of disenfranchised middle-class masculinity, a cultural group gripped by sense of impotence and despair and lost amid an era of financial prosperity and material success. “We’re the middle children of history, man,” Tyler Durden informs his followers. “No purpose or place. We have no Great War… no Great Depression.” It’s a line that gets more bitterly ironic with each re-watch.

A film frequently misunderstood by a significant portion of its fans and its critics, Fight Club is perhaps the quintessential cult film of the nineties. A clever hook that encourages further viewings, a mean subversive streak and a bleak irreverence that is impossible to look away from, Fight Club manages to perfectly encapsulate a moment of shared cultural consciousness and insecurity.

Seeking a friend at the end of the world…

Note: This review contains spoilers for Fight Club. Consider yourself warned.

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: brad pitt, class warfare, david fincher, ed norton, fight club, film, helena bonham carter, masculinity, Movie, non-review review, review, the narrator | Leave a comment »

Win! Tickets to the Jameson Cult Film Club Screening of Fight Club!

Posted on May 27, 2014 by Darren

Due to popular demand, the Jameson Cult Film Club returns to Dublin for one of the biggest double screenings to-date. Continuing on from the successful Jameson Cult Film Club screenings of The Usual Suspects, Jaws, Predator and Intermission, organisers will be challenged with transporting the audience right into the world of 1999 cult classic FIGHT CLUB, which will be screened at a secret location on Wednesday 4th and Thursday 5th June 2014.

These free events are much more than just your typical screening as attendees are treated to live theatre and special effects timed perfectly with on-screen action creating an electric atmosphere throughout. The secret venue is only revealed to ticket holders and will be completely transformed into a series of sets from the movie. Lucky ticket holders can expect to see an insomniac office worker and a devil-may-care soap maker get the Jameson Cult Film Club treatment on the night.

The first rule of Jameson Cult Film Club is to register for free tickets. Join the fight on www.jamesoncultfilmclub.ie.

If you would like to get your hands on TWO TICKETS to the Thursday 5th the below question:

This competition is now closed. The winner will be contact

Please note that the information provided will only be used to contact the winner of the competition.

All entrants must be over 18. Enjoy Jameson Sensibly. Visit DrinkAware.ie.

Available on Blu-ray & Digital HD™

Filed under: Movies | Tagged: david fincher, fight club, jameson cult film club | Leave a comment »

Jameson Cult Film Club Screenings of Fight Club, June 4th and 5th 2014!

Posted on May 24, 2014 by Darren

The Jameson Cult Film Club is a wonderful excuse to celebrate cinematic classics. The group organise screenings throughout the year inviting audiences to immerse themselves in a much-loved cinematic classic – for example, Silence of the Lambs, Predator, or even The Blues Brothers. Taking a familiar Dublin location and turning it into something like a set from the film, the Jameson Cult Film Club works as a celebration of these iconic films.

This summer, the team are doing a double screening of David Fincher’s classic Fight Club on the 4th and 5th of June at a top secret location in Dublin. I’m violating the first and seconds rules of Fight Club by telling you this, but I’m sure it’ll work out okay at the end. One of the better things about the Jameson Cult Film Club is that the screening are absolutely free – tickets are raffled to film fans who apply via the Jameson Cult Film Club website.

Whether you’ve seen Fight Club, or whether you haven’t, it’s a wonderful excuse to appreciate one of David Fincher’s defining cinematic works, and one of the films that solidified him as a talent to watch, only a few months before the release of Gone Girl, his latest effort and adaptation of Gillian Flynn’s best-selling thriller.

I’ve included the fill press release below, but you can head over to the Jameson Cult Film Club website and apply for tickets. (By the way, I love the poster design.)

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: david fincher, fight club, jameson cult film club, Movie | Leave a comment »

House of Cards (US, 2013): Chapter 5 (Review)

Posted on February 15, 2013 by Darren

Friends make the worst enemies

– Frank Underwood

There is a sense now that House of Cards has figured out what it wants to be and how it wants to go about being that sort of thing. After the first three episodes were surprisingly non-committal, the fourth and fifth episodes make it clear that Frank has a plan for revenge against those who betrayed him, one that stretches a bit further than scuttling Michael Kern’s chance to be Secretary of State. There’s a wonderfully understated moment in the middle of this fifth episode where it looks like Frank has finally figured everything out, the pieces have aligned in such a way that he is positioned to speed up what is likely to be a pretty far-reaching payback scheme.

A name you can trust…

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Filed under: Television | Tagged: bbc, business, Chapter 7 Title 11 United States Code, Claire, david fincher, Francis Urquhart, Frank, Frank Underwood, House of Card, House of Cards, kevin spacey, netflix, Peter Russo, Robin Wright, twitter, Underwood, United States, Zoe | Leave a comment »

House of Cards (US, 2013): Chapter 4 (Review)

Posted on February 13, 2013 by Darren

So you lied to his face?

No. I revised the parametres of my promise.

Which is lying.

Which is politics.

– Bob Birch and Frank Underwood

After spending three episodes lining everything up and getting all the plot points and characters to where they need to be, it looks like House of Cards is finally ready to kick into high gear. There’s still a sense that show isn’t as comfortable with its amoral and sociopathic lead character as it should be, but there’s finally a sense of what Frank Underwood is capable of. We’ve seen him topple the incoming Secretary of State using just a college article that the man didn’t write, but that sort of politicking should be second-nature to Underwood at this point. Here, Frank is a bit more ruthless, a bit less concerned about collateral damage.

That’s really the key here. House of Cards needs us to root for Frank despite his drive for power at all costs, without excusing it. It looks like we’re getting to where we need to be.

Speaking Frankly…

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Filed under: Television | Tagged: bbc, Bob Birch, David, david fincher, Francis Urquhart, Frank, Frank Underwood, Freddie, House of Card, House of Cards, kevin spacey, netflix, Republican, republicans, Underwood, United States, Zoe | 1 Comment »

House of Cards (US, 2013): Chapter 2 (Review)

Posted on February 6, 2013 by Darren

Get ready, Cathy, things are about to move very quickly.

– Frank is moving

That’s more like it. After a rocky season premiere, it looks like House of Cards might finally be settling into a groove. It’s very strange to see a four-part BBC drama adapted into a full thirteen-episode season of an American television show. Of course, the United States has a very different political system, so the machinations of the Chief Whip of the House of Representatives could never overlap fully with those of Sir Francis Urquhart. However, the first episode needed a sense of traction that was so sorely lacking.

Luckily, the second episode picks up the slack. The pieces are all in play, the characters are established. The game can be afoot.

Underwood tactics…

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Filed under: Television | Tagged: Cathy, Claire, Corey Stoll, david fincher, Francis Urquhart, Frank, Frank Underwood, Freddie, House of Cards, Ian Richardson, Jeff Beal, Kate Mara, kevin spacey, netflix, Reed Hastings, Robin Wright, Spacey, Underwood, United States, white house | 2 Comments »

House of Cards (US, 2013): Chapter 1 (Review)

Posted on February 4, 2013 by Darren

House of Cards is a classic piece of BBC television, the story of a Chief Whip in the House of Parliament who is so slighted by the incoming Prime Minister’s refusal to promote him that he decides to bring the whole Conservative Party crashing down around him. If you’re at all interested in political drama, British wit or even great television, I can’t recommend it highly enough.

Still, I suppose that an American adaptation was inevitable. And, to be fair, you couldn’t have asked for greater talent. Kevin Spacey stars as Francis Underwood, the Majority Whip in the House of Representatives. David Fincher is producing and directing the two first episodes. It’s written by Beau Willimon, who wrote both The Ides of March and the stage play Farragut North, upon which it was based. That’s a very talented bunch of people.

And yet, one episode in, it feels a little uneven. It’s not so much the sense that the new House of Cards seems to have a bit of bother figuring out what made the original so great, nor is it the fact that changes have to be made in translating the story from London to Washington. It’s more a sense that show is really trying to figure out what it wants to be.

Let’s be Frank…

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Filed under: Television | Tagged: bbc, business, Congress, david fincher, Francis Urquhart, Frank Underwood, House of Cards, kevin spacey, Satan, Underwood, United States, United States Congress, Washington | Leave a comment »

Stuck in the Moment: The Mood for a (Particular) Movie…

Posted on November 15, 2012 by Darren

I’ve been thinking a bit, lately, about how I form an opinion about a particular film. Of course, it should be somewhat objective. I should be able to take out any possibly subjective influences and divorce a movie from any of those countless outside factors, to judge it entirely on its own merits. (Or, as the case might be, its lack of merits.) However, I am honest enough to admit that this isn’t always the case. There are any number of reasons I might feel a particular way about the movie. I find J. Edgar interesting to place in the context of Clint Eastwood’s body of work. I approached Cabin of the Woods with an admitted fondness for cheesy horror. I’ll admit that these facets colour my opinions somewhat – I am more likely to respond to a film that resonates with me on something I feel strongly about.

However, sometimes that influence factor isn’t anything to do with the movie in question at all. Sometimes, I can’t help but wonder, whether my opinion is down to something as arbitrary as the mood I was in when I watched the film.

I will not have my tastes subjected to this sort of double-guessing!

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: Barack Obama, casino royale, Charlie Kaufman, Clint Eastwood, Clothing, cnn, david fincher, David O. Russell, Gran Torino, J Edgar, Languages, Million Dollar Baby, Oscar de la Renta, Pauline Kael, programming, Relationships, Republican National Convention, Samsung Electronics, Self-Help, Silver Linings Playbook, stanley kubrick, Television | 6 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Total Recall (2012)

Posted on August 29, 2012 by Darren

Len Wiseman’s Total Recall is a total mess. While the film features some superb production design and some passable action sequences, with an obvious affection for the design of contemporary science-fiction classics, the direction is muddled,the pacing is awkward and the script is constantly tripping over itself. At one point it’s suggested that the lead might have had has memory scrambled during a muddled recall session, the result of procedure started and yet not quite finished. In many ways, that feels a lot like what happens here – a choppy, uneven and unsatisfying movie that is a result of a muddled production and post-production process. “We can remember it for you,” an advertisement for the Rekall service boasts, homaging the classic short story that inspired the film. Unfortunately, they omitted “wholesale”, which is about the only price I could recommend this at.