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Under the Sign of Fincher

The Film Society of Lincoln Center will host director David Fincher on stage for the culminating event of its Walter Reade Theater film series, Under the Sign of Fincher, Jan. 1-4, 2009. The showcase highlights four of Fincher's key works: SE7EN, FIGHT CLUB, the rarely screened director's cut of ZODIAC and his much-anticipated 2008 release THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON, from Paramount Pictures and Warner Bros., starring Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett. They are paired with three milestone films handpicked by Fincher as formative influences: MARY POPPINS, BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID and CHINATOWN.

On Sunday, Jan. 4, the director will join Kent Jones, associate director of programming at the Film Society, for Behind Button: David Fincher on the Making of his Newest Curiosity, an onstage conversation on the making of THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON at the Frederick P. Rose Hall, home of Jazz at Lincoln Center, at 7:30 p.m. The conversation follows a screening of the film at the Walter Reade Theater at 3 p.m.

The other films in the series are screening in unique double bills. Through the Film Society's special Back-2-Back ticket offer, New York film lovers can see any two films screening together for the price of one. The result is a fresh and engaging perspective on a prodigious American artist whose "technical expertise is combined with peerless storytelling, a jeweler's eye for detail, and a special gift for giving form to the mysteries of time's passing," says Jones.

The series opens on Thursday, Jan. 1, with Fincher's breakout police thriller SE7EN screening alongside the Disney musical favorite MARY POPPINS. On successive days, Fincher's celebrated Chuck Palahniuk adaptation FIGHT CLUB screens together with George Roy Hill's Western landmark BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID and the director's cut of the procedural masterpiece ZODIAC screens with Roman Polanski's celebrated neo-noir CHINATOWN.

Born in Denver in 1962, David Fincher began his filmmaking career as a teenage assistant at George Lucas's Industrial Light and Magic, followed by a lauded career as a director of commercials and music videos for clients including Nike, Aerosmith and Madonna. Overcoming on-set difficulties and the box office disappointment of his cinematic debut, ALIEN 3 (1992), Fincher has gone on to establish one of the most acclaimed and creative careers in modern American cinema.

"I don't know how much movies should entertain," he said. "To me, I'm always interested in movies that scar. The thing I love about JAWS is that I've never gone swimming in the ocean again."

Single screening tickets for Under the Sign of Fincher are $11; $7 for Film Society members, students and children (6-12, accompanied by an adult); and $8 for seniors (62+). With the Back-2-Back Double Feature offer, audience members can buy a ticket to any screening and stay for the following film on the same day (excludes THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON).

Tickets are available at both the Walter Reade Theater box office and online at available at the Walter Reade Theater box office and online at filmlinc.com. No Walter Reade Theater series pass is available for this series. For more information, call (212) 875-5601 or log onto http://www.filmlinc.com/.

Dates 
Thursday, January 1, 2009 - 12:00pm to Sunday, January 4, 2009 - 8:00pm
Submission Deadline 
Thursday, January 1, 2009 - 12:00pm
Location 
New York
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