Today, JoBlo posted a link to a “Guardian” interview with director David Fincher. It’s a pretty cool read and covers a lot of subjects from his films. Of particular note was the exchange where Fincher acknowledged there was a time when he was approached to direct Spider-Man. Here’s the direct quote if you don’t feel like navigating the interview your yourself:

Q4: You’ve made films where improbable things look realistic. Did you ever consider making a superhero movie or fantasy, where things are bit more difficult to make believable?

DF: I was asked if I might be interested in the first Spider-Man, and I went in and told them what I might be interested in doing, and they hated it. No, I’m not interested in doing “A Superhero”. The thing I liked about Spider-Man was I liked the idea of a teenager, the notion of this moment in time when you’re so vulnerable yet completely invulnerable. But I wasn’t interested in the genesis, I just couldn’t shoot somebody being bitten by a radioactive spider – just couldn’t sleep knowing I’d done that. [audience laughs]

At the risk of not wanting to ape that story completely, I looked back at an “Empire” magazine and found this quick hit about the same subject:

“Would you ever make a superhero movie?”

“I wanted to do Spider-Man, but my take was a little too weird for everybody…I liked the superhero thing eight years ago, when it was quaint and passe, but now it seems too…We’ll see. Watchmen looks cool. I look forward to seeing them. There’s not any I want to make.”

Neither time did he particularly describe what his take was, but I guess it doesn’t really matter since we’re not going to see it anyway. It’s nice to dream, but sometimes dreams just lead you to frustration, like the Frank Darabont draft of Indy IV that went unfilmed thanks to George Lucas. Sometimes it’s best to just let it go…Damn you, George!

Here’s another tidbit of a possible future Fincher/Pitt re-team, from that same “Empire” interview:

Empire: You’ve talked about various projects together, like Fertig (aka They Fought Alone, based on the biography of American civil engineer-turned-World War II guerrilla fighter Wendell Fertig). Could that happen?

Fincher: (Deadpan) I’m not at liberty to comment. That’s ongoing litigation and I’m not a liberty to comment…Yeah, we’ve talked about a lot of stuff. I’m working on this thing right now, Black Hole (an adaptation of Charles Burns’ brilliant, bizarre graphic novel about an STD that causes mutations), which is Plan B, [Pitt's] company. We’ve talked about a lot of things, Fertig being one of them. I still have to talk him into Fertig. He doesn’t…

Empire: …fancy the idea of 18 months in the jungle?

Fincher: I don’t think anybody fancies the idea of that, unless we can shoot in, I don’t know, a resort! No, I think all of the criticisms leveled at the script, up until this point, have been valid ones, but I also think it’s just one of the great f*cking stories. I talk with (Chinatown screenwriter) Robert Towne twice a week and he’s working…It could be one of the five greatest movies ever made. It’s that huge. So hopefully we’ll get a script and we’ll put it in front of him and he’ll die to be involved.

I have to imagine we’ll all hop onboard after those boastful words.

That ends this edition of the David Fincher news watch. Also, if you were wondering, the headline is a reference to an old “Friends” joke I always thought was amusing. Check it out below:

We might just end up changing our coverage to all Fincher, all day, every day. This update on the one with the menacing demeanor yet maker of fine films across the board, including this year’s best Curious Case of Benjamin Button, reveals his plans for a Fight Club musical amongst other things. An excerpt talking about how Button is similar to Gump (dude, stole my words!–see my review for more info) is below.  Thanks to MTV Movies Blog who break down more if you need to goods.

MTV: Do the “Forrest Gump” comparisons bother you?

Fincher: “Forrest Gump”? What’s that? Instead of the ordinary man in extraordinary circumstances, I thought of [Benjamin] as an extraordinary man in very ordinary circumstances. I don’t know how much an audience can relate to a guy who’s aging backwards that ends up looking like Brad Pitt. My whole thing from the beginning has been that it’s not high concept. The reason it’s relatable is how it’s dramatized. Everybody remembers their first kiss and hangover and person they fell in love with.

What do you think?  Could Fight Club work as a musical?  And for the record, I don’t remember my first hangover, been blacked out and hungover too many times since to remember that isht.

A potential Oscar-favorite and one of this year’s most anticipated films, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, is a coming of age/love story that touches all of the right chords.  Button is an orphan, left on a porch by his father (Snatch’s Jason Flemyng) after being born horrifically disfigured with his mother dying during child birth.  Button’s tale is told essentially via flashbacks, through a diary that he himself penned.  Brad Pitt stars, playing the titular lead with a striking innocence that particularly comes across during his youth/old age years.  This is a charming, occasionally funny, and sweeping yarn that is likely to please most audiences.

A black house-aid named Queenie, finds Benjamin on the steps to a halfway house/retirement home, where Button’s life is saved and he is raised amongst the elderly.  Taraji P. Henson (Baby Boy) gives a touching performance as Queenie, the woman who becomes Benjamin’s mother.  While living there, they routinely see people come and go, literally and figuratively.  It’s the relationship that Benjamin forms with Daisy (Cate Blanchett), a young grand-daughter of a woman there, that catapults the film forward.

Button was born"puros viejo."

The tale encompasses Button’s entire life, with some ups and downs, but the clear focus is on what is good and perhaps bittersweet.  The challenges that Button faces are largely over-looked and the viewer gets to experience the kind soul that he is, all the while taking in various parts of New Orleans and in some respects, locations like Paris and Manhattan, through his travels.  Benjamin’s unique journey and desire to fulfill his love is ever-present.  The seizing of opportunity and capitalizing on chance are evident themes.

This movie shares many similarities to past Oscar-winner, Forrest Gump.  The sweet tone of the movie, the longing for a woman who is in-and-out of Benjamin’s life, and the comic-relief in the film, in Jared Harris’ Captain Mike echoing Gary Sinise’s Lt. Dan in Gump, are traits that come to mind.  Through the Captain, Benjamin experiences the world and in many ways is taught how to become a man, even though he has long looked like one.  Benjamin gets to experience the pleasures of a brothel, the sweet elixir of alcohol, and the delights of travel while out at sea.   In Forrest Gump there is a feather that wafts in the wind, a whimsical, if fleeting and magical footnote in the story and with The Curious Case, that presence is a hummingbird.

That David Fincher, the director of notably dark and obsessive films like Se7en, Fight Club and Zodiac, helmed this, makes the achievement all the more astounding.  He lets the story play itself out on screen and rarely do you see hints of the Fincher that we have seen before.  However, it does creep up in a brilliantly shot scene about the passing of seconds in time that lead to chance moments in our life, in this case, as part of Daisy’s story.  Fincher should be on target for some just rewards come awards season.

The technical wizardry behind the film cannot be overlooked.  Pitt’s performance is enhanced as he concocts voice dialogue to match with the figure of his youthful/old man who takes up a large portion of the film’s running time.  Many of those moments are the funniest in the film and seeing Pitt’s face digitally and accurately matched to the other actors who play Benjamin is a real treat.  It’s hard to imagine anyone not appreciating that aspect of the film at the very least.  For what it’s worth, to this juncture, this is the finest film I have seen this year.  A strong recommend for the Holiday season.

One of my favorite Directors and one of the best directors working today, David Fincher, apparently had written this as his list of his favorite movies of all time.  Thanks to the great blog over at /film which also has the full text if interested.

I love Fincher’s style, particularly his work in The Game and Fight Club which rank as two of my favorite films ever.   It’s always interesting to see what work inspires a guy like this.  He’s definitely got some good movies on here, Chinatown, Godfather 2, The Graduate, and Citizen Kane among them. Kind of an eclectic list, as any good list should be I suppose.  Nothing from the last 15-20 years or so though.  What does that mean, movies suck nowadays?  Just kidding…kinda.   This list is just another little reason to get fired up for his next effort, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button coming later this year.  Hoping for BIG things from that.  Your thoughts?