Some Fresh Fincher Links For Your Clicking Pleasure

People, I apologize I have no time to put together a fancy post, but definitely want to share all these fantastic items that have started piling up in the inbox. No game changers, possibly, nothing revolutionary — but certainly some cool clicks, I hope you will enjoy. Thanks to all wonderful contributors, Philipp, Anna, Robert, Wendell!

Allow me to be brief:

• Some really cool artwork of the Japanese 'Dragon Tattoo' BluRay.
• From the archives: MIX Mag has an extensive piece on 'Zodiac'.
• 'House of Cards' casting is calling for 2,000 Extras in Baltimore.
• Anna can't sleep over a flash-frame nipple she spotted in the 'Dragon Tattoo' titles. Poor thing!
• Someone uploaded Fincher's TGWTDT commentary. But do yourself a favor — and buy!

And also, Craig Marks and Rob Tannenbaum's "I Want My MTV" book has a sh'tload of Fincher related quotes in it.

Among a countless number of quotes about working with, for, around, and aside Fincher — an invaluable insight into Fincher's early career and his rivalry with Michael bay —, the book claims that Fincher was hired to direct Patrick Swayze's "She's like the wind" — if true, certainly an interesting addition to what we know of Fincher's music videography.

The book dedicates a full chapter (#26) to David Fincher. You might want to check it out.

To give you an idea, here are some of the quotes:

PETER BARON: I played David Fincher the Aerosmith song “Janie’s Got a Gun,” which no one outside the offices had heard yet. I said, “David, I want you to do this video.” I pressed play again and he listened for a couple of minutes and said, “Okay, this is what we’re going to do. The first shot’s going to have yellow police tape, rippling in the wind . . .” He already had a visual of how to start the video.

BETH BRODAY: David Fincher walked into my office one day with his reel. He’d done a video for Rick Springfield. I could see he had a good feel. When I listened to him talk about filmmaking, I knew he was a star. I signed him on the spot. On the spot.

MICK KLEBER: I think I did the second-ever David Fincher video, for the Motels’ “Shame.” He grew up in northern California, lived a couple houses down from George Lucas, so as a young kid,he worked on Neverending Story. Look in the credits, you’ll see Dave Fincher in the visual effects department. I never saw anybody rehearse camera moves as much as he did. When you’re shooting models for Industrial Light & Magic, that’s what you do. You do it over and over, until you get it exactly right. Those videos for the Motels were very stylish.

JEAN-BAPTISTE MONDINO: For me, David Fincher was the boss. He was the one. When you have a small budget, you have less pressure, and you can feel more free. But David could deal with pressure and be as free as if he was dealing with a small budget. He was not afraid to embrace big shooting. And graphically, his videos were incredibly well done.

DOMINIC SENA: Michael Bay was the first guy beyond the original founders who was invited to join Propaganda. David Fincher and Michael were not each other’s biggest fans. David was not fond of Michael’s work. They were oil and water. They never spoke to each other. They were highly competitive and preferred not to associate. Which remains true to this day.

MEAT LOAF: I asked David Fincher to direct “Anything for Love.” I gave him the whole Beauty and the Beast premise, and Fincher said, “Ah, I love it.” And he gave me a budget of $2.3 million. I said, “I-I . . .” I stuttered. And he goes, “Let me try to rework the budget.” So he came back a few days later and gave me a budget of $1.7 million. I said, “David, we don’t have that kind of money.” And Fincher said, “Well then, get Michael Bay.” That’s the last time Michael Bay was the cheaper option.