Se7en

Right in the meaty part of Brad Pitt's godlike existence, he hooks up with David Fincher and grits his way into one of his best pre-Ocean's 11-13 roles of his career. If he was gorgeous in Legends of the Fall, he is blue-collar beautiful in Se7en playing Detective Mills, a recently transferred cop taking over for Morgan Freeman's Detective Somerset, who has been playing guys "too old for this shit" ever since he chauffeured a certain Daisy in the late 80's. How many references come out of Se7en? Only a few that are clearly identifiable, but many more throughout pop cultural cult communities. Even Seinfeld, if you want to make that connection.


Here's the first one: the Nine Inch Nails soundtrack mixed with gross images of gore, rot and dismemberment open for anything trying to be "scary".



Now compare that to the new FX's American Horror story:



From Nine Inch Nails to Johann Sebastian Bach, there is a glamorous range in tastes working here. If you want to class up your "coming out my ass" quote, play Air on a G String in the background as you recreate this reference one from the library cop, who's also the bus driver in Speed.


The Bad Guys


Fincher has a feel for the misfits, a way of immortalizing their trashiness. As if professional serial killers transcend the petty crimes and misdemeanors of simple criminals. The villains are heroes, too. And they not only deserve a voice in his films, in this case, they command it. Kevin Spacey is an unlikely choice to play John Doe, but it does fit his type-casting for that period of his career. And in the cameo-like appearance he has towards the end, Spacey's Doe delivers one of the best bad-guy-why-I-did-it moments to date.

Not to advocate getting caught committing heinous crimes, or getting caught at all; but if you are truly busted, the very best way to save face is to maintain the upper hand in front of the authorities. When Spacey is detailing his victims, it really gets you jacked up for some self-righteous fantasy that exists deep in your mind. A WOMAN! But here's the most quotable quote, as a retort to anything starting with I seem to remember..."Oh, that's right. And I seem to remember breaking your face." It's the kind of madness that makes Spacey go from comatose to outraged, back to comatose with the insanity of a John Doe by choice. If you are insane, which you clearly are (he said referencing Brad Pitt in the car), then feel free to ramp up to crazy in a hurry when trying to get someone's attention: deTECTIVE!!! 

Even the Bad Guys who should be thrown away as trash, such as sex dungeon desk clerks, get their own sad platforms to showcase sympathetic self-acceptance. Like if the Occupy Wall Street lot decided to get the jobs that were abvailable to them and faced up to their skill set, this is what they would sound like:

Do You Like What You Do For A Living?


The Good Guys


Don't sell Morgan Freeman down the river as a Mr. Fox to Bruce Wayne/Batman just yet in this movie. He accompanies the unfair good looks Pitt brings to the table with a showcase of his equally unfair soothing voice. And Fincher exploits it by making him read insanity, the likes of which have not been read since Jack Nicholson dabbled in audio books.

Universally accepted as one of life's great narrators, Morgan Freeman's voice is reference class all his own. From his time as Otis "Red" Redding, to Somerset's beaten down veteran detective, references are aplenty. See Family Guy's use:

WHAT'S IN THE BOX?


The finale for our purposes is the most lasting reference from Se7en. Spacey's purposeful, controlled lunacy mixed with the most worked up Morgan Freeman will ever get on screen and Brad Pitt's forgivable bad acting make for one memorable climax: WHAT'S IN THE BOX?

If there's ever a box in your life, and there will be plenty, go crazy with this reference. Daniel Tosh shows us how to best work it in. It helps if you have an internet video clip show, but fans will react in real life just as well.