Tag Archives: David Fincher

Cure + Zodiac

Posted on November 18, 2021 by Alice Thirteen
Cure + Zodiac

Mysterious crimes and the people who are obsessed with them. Also, mandatory darkwave jokes. People are sucking for The Cure Ending Explained. Agreeing on a premise for Cure. The so-called killer – what he does and how the role is played. Trying to work backwards from the concept of the sleeper cell. Checking in to see how science-based skeptic and resident critical-thinker Michael feels about hypnosis. The mind virus comes for us all. Sound design in Cure and the impact on the audience’s feeling. The most and least supernatural interpretations of Cure. Many audience wanted the film Zodiac to solve the Zodiac Murders. The built-in problem with all true crime, be it documentary or fiction. Zodiac as a precursor to David Fincher’s Mindhunter. Continue reading →

Mank + The Assistant

Posted on December 24, 2020 by Alice Thirteen
Mank + The Assistant

Time is running out for 2020. The invisible authority and the roman à clef. David Fincher and Netflix. What the film Mank says it’s about vs what it is actually about. Imagining the story of Mank just 25 years ago. A film torn from today’s headlines, masquerading as a story from the 30s. No one else wants to talk about how gross classic Hollywood was. Why are we still romanticizing this old way of thinking? Nine Inch Nails also released a Ghosts double album this year: [HALO 33] Ghosts V: Together and [HALO 34] Ghosts VI: Locusts. The Assistant as an example of film à clef. When social injustice becomes a cliche. Finding a unique vantage point into a story the audience knows. How long before the whistleblower can blow the whistle? Continue reading →

Forrest Gump + The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Posted on November 15, 2018 by Alice Thirteen
Forrest Gump + The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

The lives of individual men as told through bizarre high-concept epics! Double Feature talks about the films of Alice Roth. An examination of the lives of others and what can be learned from them. Indulging the wild premise hooks of Forrest Gump and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. What does Forrest Gump look like without the historical cameos? Robert Zemeckis has high-tech dreams. Remembering the popular introduction to arthouse via the discovery of David Fincher. Michael refuses to believe a film is actually about what it claims to be about. What can be learned from aging backwards? A midpoint turn brought about through the fantasy mechanic. Continue reading →

Gone Girl + Rachel Getting Married

Posted on April 14, 2016 by Alice Thirteen
Gone Girl + Rachel Getting Married

Stains on the American dream. Family life in the twenty-first century. The Gone Girl on David Fincher, Trent Reznor, and Atticus Ross down to a science. A terrible marathon of awful. Compliments to Tyler Perry. Missi Pyle on Fox News on Gone Girl. Selling the turns. No one will believe Rachel Getting Married is not awful, and, in fact, is a great Dogma95 style film. Blame the terrible cover. Not this cover, the one with Anne Hathaway’s smudged uncanny-valley face. The tragedy of no one seeing Rachel Getting Married because of this cover. Box office numbers that could have been better (had someone not fucked up the cover of Rachel Getting Married). Alright, really, look up the cover to this movie. You won’t believe it. Revisiting a conversation from Melancholia. Making time for twelve-step. Continue reading →

The Social Network + The Hudsucker Proxy

Posted on February 10, 2011 by Alice Thirteen
The Social Network + The Hudsucker Proxy

Titans of industry! The awards. Skeptical of The Social Network? Having nostalgia for the first time. AwesomeStart.com. Apache, Perl, Livejournal, Firefox! A look into the actual life of a teenage programmer. How do we monetize? How the movie treats Mark Zuckerburg. Thinking out loud and living in a bubble. The relationship between Mark Zuckerberg and Sean Parker. Justin Timberlake. Tilt shift photography. Trent Reznor. Atticus Ross. Rob Sheridan. What the movie doesn’t do! What is a hudsucker proxy? Making a film for laughs. The opposite of The Social Network. Art Deco. Time capsule…of the 90s. The Coen Brothers and Sam Raimi? Dark Humor in The Hudsucker Proxy. Continue reading →

Confessions of a Dangerous Mind + Fight Club

Posted on June 24, 2010 by Alice Thirteen
Confessions of a Dangerous Mind + Fight Club

Two films about bottoming out. Insomnia. Actors who direct. Chuck Barris, Charlie Kaufman, and the Confessions of a Dangerous Mind. George Clooney likes to play CIA. Set design. Bleach bypass. Old Spice commercial. The Gong Show. Our secret CIA drone war with Pakistan. Is the Fight Club twist OK? A conversation for people who don’t care about the kitsch of Fight Club. Michael finally explains his Fight Club issues. Chuck Palahniuk. Hitting rock bottom. A better side of the Frankenstein myth. Film making techniques used to further the dirty impoverished tone of the movie. Homoeroticism! Continue reading →

Blue Velvet + The Game

Posted on June 3, 2010 by Alice Thirteen
Blue Velvet + The Game

There’s two films, and something’s not quite right. The beginning of a string of Double Feature celebrations. 100 episodes…and people are still listening. New ones, even! Why we still don’t talk about symbolism. An apology to David Lynch before talking Blue Velvet. Noir without the usual suspects. Making the normal seem bizarre. The horror moments. The lighting and environments in Blue Velvet. The impending darkness. Candles. The role Frank plays. Voyeurism. Imagery. David Fincher and The Game. Why one billion twists are actually ok. What’s actually part of the game? When you actually want a film to wrap up at the end. Anticipating audience questions and pointing them towards the right ones. Continue reading →

M + Seven

Posted on August 13, 2009 by Alice Thirteen
M + Seven

Noir, Neo Noir, and the secret theme of the show. Fritz Lang’s German pre-noir M. Lighting and iconic imagry. The missing protagonist. Peter Lorre. Silence. Leitmotif and the now standard practice of reoccurring character themes in score. The overblown state of fear regarding stranger danger. Mob justice. The insanity plea. Alice hates endings. Seven – better than those bullshit films you like. An alternate take on buddy cop. Neo noir archetypes. Tracy the femme fatale. Cynicism. Give your audience a little credit. How Seven deals with mystery and clues. David Fincher’s visuals. Seven deadly kills. Building up Jon Doe. It’s just a guy! The pros and cons of the alternate endings. Continue reading →