I only began watching movies passionately about a year ago, and until recently if you asked me who my favourite director was, I wouldn’t have had a clue. But since then it has become very clear who my top 2 are: Christopher Nolan and David Fincher.
Nolan is a filmmaker whom every movie he makes I seem to love. His films are so well made, always have a point to them and they are executed brilliantly. All 7 of his films have gripped me, I was pretty certain he was going to be my #1 Director. But then I took a look, and noticed that Fincher’s films also rate very highly in my eyes. He’s been around longer, and with 9 feature films also seems to be an advocate of quality not quantity.
So with The Dark Knight Rises around the corner, I decided to rank the combined 16 films in order of preference. I love both director’s work and thought I would showcase how good they are! I am sure some of my rankings will surprise, and I would love to hear your thoughts and rankings too.
Here’s #16 to #9!
#16: Panic Room (Fincher)
The battle for 16th was a tough one but ultimately Panic Room had to get it. I enjoyed it, and considering 90% of the movie is set in the same location, Fincher did a really good job to make it work. Stewart’s performance as a child actress is great, as is Jodie Foster’s.
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#15: Zodiac (Fincher)
Especially considering it’s 157 minute runtime, I was gripped by this movie the whole way. The acting is great, the suspense build ups are fantastic too. Ultimately I was let down by the ending. As far as I can tell, it’s a very likeable movie, but not so much a lovable one.
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#14: Fight Club (Fincher)
Many will be shocked I put this cult classic so low. I hadn’t seen Fight Club until a year or so ago, so the hype for it was huge. I enjoyed the twist and it’s probably a movie that I would like more on a 2nd viewing. Norton, Pitt and Carter are awesome too. When it comes to unexpected mind-messing twists, I think Nolan does it better.-
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#13: The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (Fincher)
While I gave this a better grade then my #12 and #11 films, I’m not sure it stands the test of time. I thought it was great last year, it probably has the best opening credits I’ve seen. The rape scene was extreme and the movie was beautifully shot and edited. I think it was really brave of Fincher too to include it in a mainstream movie.
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#12: The Game (Fincher)
The last of the Fincher films for me to see, I was not expecting much. But I had to think for ages to split it with the #11 film and I was pleasantly surprised at how good it was. I probably shouldn’t have expected any less seeing as I love Fincher, however I had heard that this was probably his worst film. Clearly I disagree and while I said Nolan does unexpected twists better, this was very well executed by Fincher. It also amazingly turns out it’s the first film I’ve seen with Michael Douglas in it! Who would have thought.
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#11: Alien 3 (Fincher)
Widely regarded as the worst of the series (I think?) I absolutely loved Alien3. It was so different to the first two but brought so many unique features as well. It was haunting. I don’t think many people would have this movie above Fight Club but it definitely is for me.
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#10: Insomnia (Nolan)
Nolan’s first movie to enter my countdown, it’s one that probably gets brushed aside due to Nolan’s high benchmark he has set with his movies. I thought it was great, Williams, Swank and Pacino are all actors I don’t particularly love but there performances were magnified well by Nolan and it had a great plot. Towards the end of the movie I found myself totally immersed.
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#9: Following (Nolan)
Nolan’s first feature film is magnificent and one most wouldn’t have seen. It is so incredibly simple yet tells such a great story and yet again does not disappoint with it’s ending. The budget could have been counted in pennies yet I still would watch it at any given chance. Masterful.
I am quickly realising that something Nolan does well is his endings. It probably makes sense as I’m a big ‘ending’ fan, if a movie doesn’t have a good ending it spoils the whole film to me.
Interesting that my bottom 6 films are all from Fincher. I still enjoyed every one of them though. I would love to hear your thoughts on these 8, and which you would have lower or higher. Stay tuned for Part 2 over the next few days, where I’ll look at my favourite 8 movies from the two. I can’t wait to share them!
A very fine list though i would have loved to see Zodiac and Fight Club around 11 and 12!
I think everyone liked Fight Club more then me! Thanks for your thoughts Asif.
Woah, I’m not going to like this list
For me everything Fincher did except for Panic Room and Alien 3 outranks Nolan’s best efforts. Fight Club, Se7en and Dragon Tattoo are my favorites from him.
Yeah, I knew I was going to upset some Fincher fans
At least we can agree on Panic Room. Nolan doesn’t do it for you? My Top 8 will probably surprise you just as much.
Still yet to see Zodiac and Alien 3, but here is my order:
1. Memento
2. The Prestige
3. Fight Club
4. The Dark Knight
5. Se7en
6. Batman Begins
7. Inception
8. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
9. The Social Network
10. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
11. Insomnia
12. The Following
13. The Game
14. Panic Room
I have found that over time Inception is the one that has gone down the most, probably due to the fact that a lot of the dialogue is explaining so much stuff and once you know it already it isn’t as innovative as it was the 1st time you had seen it, still one of the funnest cinema experiences I have had when I saw it for the first time.
Inception moved down my list as I wrote it up!! I don’t want to watch it ever again because I want to remember it as it was the first time, an awesome experience. Where did you find my leaked list by the way
Very similar indeed, except of course Fight Club. You probably aren’t missing out on much with the two you haven’t seen, although I did love the Alien quadrilogy as a whole.
Whoa this is interesting. I think Zodiac is one of Fincher’s best (behind TSN and Se7en I’d say) and yeah most of Fincher’s work outranks Nolan for me too. I loved TGWTDT and I think The Game is seriously underrated. As for Nolan, I haven’t seen Following and I don’t like The Prestige. Alien3 would be at the bottom for me. I can’t do this list but for Nolan Inception and Memento would be at the top. #1 for me would be Se7en so I hope to see it near there
I thought it was an interesting idea to rank these two directors as some love Fincher and others Nolan. I need to see TGWTDT again because it was probably the hardest movie for me to rank – I wanted to put it higher. Following is definitely a movie I’d recommend. Thanks for the thoughts mate, hope you aren’t too disappointed with my Top 8
Can’t wait to see Part 2 of the list! My favourite Fincher film (and I haven’t seen all of them) would have to be The Social Network, whereas with Nolan I love The Dark Knight and Inception. the Prestige was really great too!