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Faceplams: OK I saw the movie, and am I a bit out of line by saying that it's Fincher's best work?
Throbbing Member
OK I saw the movie, and am I a bit out of line by saying that it's Fincher's best work?
Active Member
I had to wait to get to see it until last night, and damn was it worth it. Pretty much everyone has delved into a lot of what makes it so great, and the subreddit truefilm has some spectacular discussions on it already, so I'm not going to really say a ton about it. In general it took so many of the themes, issues and aspects of the novel and either nailed them just as well or refined them into something more. I really enjoyed the book, so for me it was great that they changed very little, instead just cutting out minor scenes and aspects that would've made it overlong or taken some of the steam out of the film (it just seems like you can have a wider range of plot and stories in a novel than a film, and I'm glad Flynn seems to realize that, because this was a great adaptation screenplay-wise and rarely is it the actual author who pulls that off).
I was very happily surprised to see how well this is doing in my area, too. It's a week after release, new stuff is out, etc., and a 7 PM showing was totally sold out. The people I went with and I got our tickets and then found out the only rows left were the three directly in front of the screen, so we changed our times to 10, which where we are is pretty late for that sort of thing, and even then it was around half full. It's definitely one of those films that I think is benefiting greatly from word of mouth, and it's awesome to see Fincher getting such a big success; Dragon Tattoo had a half-empty theater day of release where I saw it, for comparison. We were waiting outside after the showing we missed that was packed, and every conversation I overheard was about the actual film, and the same went for the later one we caught.
Having read the book already I knew when to expect the more impacting scenes/moments, and it was so wonderful to just hear the reactions of everyone when they kicked in. During the scene that uses Consummation, people gasped and after a few seconds you could audibly hear someone's phone dropping out of their hand, that was just remarkable. As a whole, the way they presented and shifted and framed every little narrative twist and moment, the way Affleck and Pike interact and the way the story itself unfolds made it a great theater experience.
If anyone's seen a better performance from a lead actress this year that beats Rosamund Pike, by all means let me know, because as of right now she's the only person who fully deserves pretty much any award you can throw at her.
Fincher's my favorite working director, and I have a hard time ranking his films in my head, but this one makes it up there for sure. It's like every movie he makes gets a little less hopeful about human beings, and yet he manages to avoid making it feel childish or over-dramatic.
Of all of his work this reminded me the most, by far, of a really brilliant blend between Zodiac and Dragon Tattoo. I am really, really hoping this gets at least a lot of nominations come Awards season.
I was nobody. Nothing.
I don't either, @Charmingly Miserable .Originally Posted by Charmingly Miserable
If anything, it's misanthropic. Nick is a terrible person and so is Amy.
I think that the movie (and book) is about never really knowing one another and the nature of individual existence.
I can't go to far because I can't find the fucking spoiler function.
But I will speak broadly.
I've always felt that love is about seeing yourself through someone else's eyes.
Nick is NEVER genuine...and he exists exactly how the women in his life wants him to be.
And with Amy, there are more examples of course, but look at the difference between young Amy and Amazing Amy (who is an idealized version of Amy, the way her parents see her...remember, they do say that she IS Amazing Amy.)
So yeah, the subtext of this thing is about how malleable our personalities are, and how this makes us ultimately disingenuous...all of us, psychopathy or no psychopathy.
I think that the split narration in the book serves to illustrate this further.
I will write more when I have more internet time and someone reminds me of how to use the spoiler tag.
Oh yeah...and as far as Afflack goes (I like to call him AFLAK! like the insurance,) he has gotten better and better.
I thought he was just a pretty face until The Town.
Now I think he is a great director and talented actor.
AFLACK!
Last edited by elevenism; 10-11-2014 at 04:32 PM.
Active Member
I want to see if a few more times before I say that for sure, but right now I can't stop thinking about it.
Active Member
Fincher is definitely on one hell of a streak with The Social Network, Dragon Tattoo and now Gone Girl. This definitely has me excited for whatever film he makes next, and it's another great example of how good this guy is at adapting novels into movies. He's not done even one bad adaptation whatsoever, it's pretty remarkable.
@elevenism don't forget how much the book mentions that Nick's father had a very aggressive, anti-woman attitude, and that his mother heavily impressed upon him to always act as nice and pleasant as possible. Those two attitudes clash and lead to him really wanting to never be like his father, while the attitude his mother's given him makes him seem like a serious tool at times. I understand why they heavily cut down on those aspects in the film and just hinted at them, but they're really vital to his character. Conversely Amy is raised constantly having her faults passive-aggressively remedied through her parents book series, leading to her always having a "perfect" and completely fictional image of herself to live up to, and her character in turn relies on every facet of everything having a fictional and fake surface of perfection.
Fincher said how much this movie is about showing the darkness behind the tranquil and perfect community and marriage, and it really nails that. So much of his work deals with the corruption beneath the surface (which reminds me a whole lot of Lynch) and this takes that a lot further than his previous work on a relationship level; I remember reading the book and thinking that it really was perfect for his style and tone, and needless to say he knocked it out of the park.
I have to say that I hate that I now have to admit that Tyler Perry did really well in a movie. Seriously, he was ridiculously entertaining to watch, and having never seen anything past his Madea image, it took me off guard. I could've watched him throw gummy bears at Ben Affleck for the rest of the film.
Active Member
It's number one for the second week in the US and tieing with Annabelle for 3rd place internationally (beaten by Dracula Untold and Guardians of the Galaxy being released in China) so doing really well
http://deadline.com/2014/10/gone-gir...office-848782/
http://deadline.com/2014/10/internat...e-girl-849934/
Member
I finally saw it earlier today and man, that was great. I think it's Fincher's best work and certainly his funniest. I got a kick out of watching Tyler Perry throwing gummi bears at Ben while it had some funny one-liners. There were a couple of old ladies sitting a couple of rows behind me that were laughing constantly during the film.
I was nobody. Nothing.
@kleiner352 , I can't stop thinking about the underlying themes of the story, both book and movie, but it's insanely hard to type on this fucking phone.
We will go back home someday I think.
Quiet Member
loved the movie. it was superb classic Fincher. Rosomund Pike crushed it and trent and ross delivered another fantastic score.
Member
Right now, if I was going to do some Oscar campaigning. I would have the film nominated for Best Picture, Best Director for Fincher, Best Adapted Screenplay for Gillian Flynn, Best Actor for Ben Affleck, Best Actress to Rosamund Pike, Best Supporting Actor to Tyler Perry, Best Supporting Actress to both Kim Dickens and Carrie Coon, Best Cinematography, Best Editing, Best Sound Mixing, and of course, Best Score for Trent & Atticus. I also think there should be a Best Casting category as the credit should go to its casting director for assembling what is essentially one hell of a cast.
Active Member
I think it's at least just as good as Social Network and Zodiac, I'll vouch for that statement.
Member
Here is my full review of Gone Girl and while the review is spoiler free, for those of you who hadn't seen the film. It's best of you don't watch this clip but for those who have seen the film...
***SPOILERS***
Here is an example of the life that Amy and Nick will have in the aftermath of the film...
Saul Williams fan.
Great flick, all around. Trentticus' score stole the show for me. I've been seeing Rosamund Pike in movies for a LONG time: Die Another Day, Pride and Prejudice, Doom (which had a Clint Mansell remix of a NIN song!) and I'm stunned by how she has evolved as an actress. Affleck was excellent.
As for the supporting cast... Okay, I've never seen a Madea movie or that Alex Cross movie, I don't know why everyone has been hating Tyler Perry in the past few years (plus, I barely remember his appearances in J.J. Abrams' Star Trek), but he pulled one hell of a performance here. I loved him. Also, Carrie Coon. I loved her in The Leftovers and she was just as amazing here. Kim Dickens, she was Sawyer's love interest in Lost, she nailed the part. Neil Patrick Harris, great... just... everyone... played their parts beautifully.
Real Hippie Asshole
I thought I spotted a few of the framed flowers from TGWTDT in the background at one point but probaly not.
Was it just my theater or did the sound seemed mixed strangely at the beginning when they met at the party? I could barely make out what they were saying, the music was too loud. Though I was thinking maybe that was kind of the point (or I'm just getting deaf in my old age! )
Active Member
^I noticed that, too!
You know what's funny is, the first time I saw it I didn't notice that at all. The next day I took my sister and it was REALLY hard to hear. I leaned over and asked her if she noticed it too, wondering if I was just imaging it and sure enough she said she was having a hard time even making out the dialogue.
I figured there must have been something wrong so I went to the lobby and let the manager know that something seemed to be wrong with the sound. She said that they had had a lot of complains about it but they had contacted the studio and were told that that was done on purpose and that later in the movie it would get louder. Sure enough, it did, though I don't know at what point it started to get easier to hear.
Throbbing Member
Saw this for a 3rd time last night, and it was a joy watching my friend lean forward in his seat and generally have his mind blown throughout.
*minor spoilers*
I think I've decided that my favorite Rosamund/Amy moment (or at least one of them) is during the argument flashback - Nick says "a child is not a hobby, Amy" and Ros delivers this beautiful line reading of "Not a hobby... an inspiration." So good.
Spoiler: Also, can we talk about how the movie leaves the matter of Nick & Amy's child quite ambiguous? Is it implied that Amy will go to such lengths that she somehow acquired Nick's semen? Or is Amy pregnant with Desi's child? OR, as I theorized to my buddy last night, is the point that Amy is just pregnant and it doesn't matter who the father is because in the media's eyes, it will ultimately be Nick's kid regardless of paternity.
Last edited by Deadpool; 10-17-2014 at 11:10 AM.
she/her/hers
Spoiler: i actually don't think it's ambiguous at all. she used the semen sample that was going to be destroyed by the lab (which she didn't allow to happen) to artificially inseminate herself, and she is, therefore, pregnant with nick's child.
totally agree with you on that inspiration line.
BACKROLLS?!
Finally saw it with two friends. It was GLORIOUS. We were cackling throughout and Pike is just fabulous.
Stubby Member
Me and my sister went to see the movie today. We both read the book and while I think you leave the cinema feeling uneasy, It's by far one of the best adaptations of a book that I've seen on screen on a long long time. The time, the characters, the feelings you go through while reading it. It's genius. I love my Se7en movie so much, that I'm not ready to consider Gone Girl his best work. But it might be and with good reason.
Oh and during DAT scene I felt really sick and had to lay back for a good 10 minutes lol, thank god I put my head in a position where I was able to see the rest of the movie through the dizziness lol. Am I a pansy or what. Spoiler: To be fair, rape scenes (even when GG Desi-Amy scene is hardly a ''rape'' scene) normally have one of two effects on me, either make me really angry or make me sick if there is some kind of blood stuff. But add slit throats and Thump! I hit the ground quick lol
Good to see Tyler Perry playing a role that doesn't involve any kind of cross-dressing as an old lady. He kills it as Bolt Tanner. And when it comes to Neil Patrick Harris, I have to say he pulled it off imo. I was a little exceptic when I found out about Fincher casting him and the character he would be portraying, but he played a convincing Desi Collings with that perfect little dose of creepy.
And there's only praise for the main roles. Both Ben and Rosamund nailed their respective characters. If there's not an Oscar for Amy I will be dissapointed.
Throbbing Member
I love how everyone in the theater eats shit once Consummation (the scene) peaks, and how every SPA'esque note building up from the start of the film comes together in beautiful fucking sense.
Stubby Member
not sure i have much to add to the topic (finished the book last Fri and saw the movie on Sun), still processing, but one thing is for sure -- i don't think i've ever seen a movie with so much product placement!
Active Member
Go watch a Michael Bay movie.
I will say, Fincher has done that a lot lately.
In TGWTDT: Coke, Apple, Sony
TSN: Adidas, Apple, Sony
Stubby Member
hahaha. at least Michael Bay's work isn't dubbed as "prestige" moviemaking! but this is beside the point, since in the book brands were quite omnipresent in the internal monologue the 2 characters were having, and i guess it was a commentary on modern living and self identification with brands. i found it quite amusing whenever Amy would look down on people and typecast them using brands to make her point.
anyway, since i knew what was going to happen at almost any point, having read the book so recently, i was probably less engrossed in the plot and more picking on the product placement. so off the top of my head:
Leffe, Hoegaarden, Stella Artoa beer
KitKats
Big-Lots
Bulleit bourbon
Fritos
Starbucks
Dunkin Donuts
Diet Coke followed by CVS Aspirin within a second
Mountain Dew
Dreyers ice cream
Roku
Netflix
MacBook Air
New Balance shoes/shoebox
Sony Bravia and robot dog (repeatedly)
KFC
T-Mobile
i'm sure the cars weren't random either, signifying socioeconomic status or whatever. and there were a bunch of board games that were clearly shown
Active Member
I have less of a problem with product placement considering the alternative, unimaginative fake brands of stuff like you'd see on a fucking episode of NCIS.
Stubby Member
I want to watch it again,just to enjoy the last minutes I couldn't really enjoy that much because of the dizziness.
Also, are we ranking DF movies anytime soon? Mine is getting some changes for sure.
Hairy Member
Hollywood films from the late 80's to mid 90's are even worse. The Coke/Pepsi "war" was in full swing.
Speaking of product placement, has anyone payed close attention to 'Seinfeld'? It goes way beyond the boxes of cereal.
(Edit): Also, Superman is "in" every episode of 'Seinfeld'. He's mostly represented by a statue that Jerry has with his movie collection, but there are fridge magnets, too.
Last edited by Aywok; 10-26-2014 at 01:46 AM.
Stubby Member
Saw it for the second time last week. Third movie I've ever seen multiple times in theaters (Toy Story 3 and Inception, for those who are keeping track).
Wasn't planning on commenting again, but after a week+ of thinking about it, apparently I do have more to say about Spoiler: "that one scene." On first viewing I had no idea it was coming and was mainly just intrigued and watched in semi-shock, not really knowing what the freakiness on Consummation was all about (have read of multiple accounts of ppl being woken up to Consummation and freaked out).
On second pass, I knew exactly what was coming. I watched it more closely, and I squirmed/freaked out/my heart rate rose/I payed attention to people around me while trying not to look away and also trying not to lose my lunch. Very bizarre experience. Quite a scene; very curious to see how it's written in the book (should be to that chapter within a few days).
Edit: spoilers
Last edited by pwing47; 10-27-2014 at 09:16 AM.
she/her/hers
type the word SPOILER in the straight brackets before and then /SPOILER (also in straight brackets) after.
i didn't think it was nearly as effective in the book (one of the things i definitely liked better about the movie)
Active Member
Troof. Only a sentence or two in the book. Nothing as shocking as the film.
Super Moderator
Saw it today. Excellent film, and score.
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